Having a battery problem!!! HELP...
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Tourer
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 433
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Having a battery problem!!! HELP...
Ok after reading 8+ pages after searching battery tender I didnt find anything very close to my issue so here it is...
About three weeks ago I put my bike in storage as I don't have a garage at our new house. Well it usually doesn't get terribly cold but for the first time ever Grand lake froze completely over for a few days and their was alot of cold warm cold warm days/nights so in the storage with an aluminum roof, the bike built up a lot of condensation... No biggy pulled the bike out on monday 50 degrees or so and started for about 5-10 min then rode exactly 1 mile to my folks turned the bike off then again hoped on it to suprise my son at school(8yrs old) a half mile away turned it off for a few mins to get him then hoped back on it and rode back to the folks another half mile, turned it off. couple hours later hoped on and noticed the key guard light wasn't blinking and so turned it on didnt hear the pump or anything no juice not even a little.
Didn't have a tester but had my smart trickle charger from harley so put it on their tuesday evening about 4ish and it lit up amber colored so I left it to charge... Well here it is friday night and the light is still solid amber... Nearest harley is 45 minutes away so trying on here before I take the battery to them seeing how it is under warranty still...
Any suggestions any of you might have... oh and before you ask the storage didn't have plug-ins power to tap into to plug the tender into...
Thanks
About three weeks ago I put my bike in storage as I don't have a garage at our new house. Well it usually doesn't get terribly cold but for the first time ever Grand lake froze completely over for a few days and their was alot of cold warm cold warm days/nights so in the storage with an aluminum roof, the bike built up a lot of condensation... No biggy pulled the bike out on monday 50 degrees or so and started for about 5-10 min then rode exactly 1 mile to my folks turned the bike off then again hoped on it to suprise my son at school(8yrs old) a half mile away turned it off for a few mins to get him then hoped back on it and rode back to the folks another half mile, turned it off. couple hours later hoped on and noticed the key guard light wasn't blinking and so turned it on didnt hear the pump or anything no juice not even a little.
Didn't have a tester but had my smart trickle charger from harley so put it on their tuesday evening about 4ish and it lit up amber colored so I left it to charge... Well here it is friday night and the light is still solid amber... Nearest harley is 45 minutes away so trying on here before I take the battery to them seeing how it is under warranty still...
Any suggestions any of you might have... oh and before you ask the storage didn't have plug-ins power to tap into to plug the tender into...
Thanks
I would have to think that all of the short trips, and then restarting the bike drained the battery, and the battery tender is doing just what it is designed to do, it is tending to the battery, you might be able to get a 12 volt charger and charge the battery on a 2 amp setting then after it is charged use the tender to maintain the proper charge level while not riding for prolonged periods of time.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 2,312
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From: Missouri
Id give it a couple more days on the tender, or like was suggested in previous post, if the battery dont hold a charge then, id say its dead, but id sure give it a chance before declaring it dead. if it takes the charge and holds, and your going to store it agian, Id pull that battery and take it home and leave it on the tender in the house.
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Tourer
Joined: May 2008
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Thanks for the quick replies I have till April 1st on the warranty but its just taking FOREVER to put a full charge on the battery with the tender... After this weekend it'll be in my folks climate controlled garage at my folks a mile away and it will be on a tender when not being riden. I just didn't know if the tender would take this damn long to charge from a completely drained battery and I pissed away SEVERAL beautiful riding days cause of this crap... but good to know its not a bigger problem... Do you think I should go ahead and drive the 45 min to the dealer and let them charge it over night so they can test it the next day then go back the next day and pick it up or should I leave on the tender a few more days and know that it just got a REALLY good slow charge to 100% ? thanks for the input...
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,438
Likes: 3
From: Chesterfield, VA
To do that much ridding, then suddenly nothing...... sounds to me like something else is going on.
I would start with checking you battery cable connections at both ends of ech cable.
I would start with checking you battery cable connections at both ends of ech cable.
Thanks for the quick replies I have till April 1st on the warranty but its just taking FOREVER to put a full charge on the battery with the tender... After this weekend it'll be in my folks climate controlled garage at my folks a mile away and it will be on a tender when not being riden. I just didn't know if the tender would take this damn long to charge from a completely drained battery and I pissed away SEVERAL beautiful riding days cause of this crap... but good to know its not a bigger problem... Do you think I should go ahead and drive the 45 min to the dealer and let them charge it over night so they can test it the next day then go back the next day and pick it up or should I leave on the tender a few more days and know that it just got a REALLY good slow charge to 100% ? thanks for the input...
Road Master
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 827
Likes: 3
From: NW Florida
Do you have an Advanced or AZone nearby? They may be able to load test the battery for you in a few minutes and if it checks good you will leave with a charged battery.
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Cruiser
Joined: Sep 2009
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a completly drainded battery can not be charged by a trickle charger the battery atleast needs a higher amp charge for atleast 30 min (dont cook the battery check make sure its not getting too hot) then you can use your trickle charger again
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Cruiser
Joined: Oct 2009
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You should really check it with a voltmeter, if the battery is below 11.5 you can probably call it dead. Hopefully the dealer will agree with that and not make you wait. If the tender is running and you don't see 13.0-14.0 volts it is also probably bad because it is loading the charger down too much. I have seen my batteries in other bikes die in really cold weather, they were weak to begin wth and the cold finishes 'em off.