Battery dead
Thread Starter
|
Intermediate
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 35
Likes: 0
From: Western MA.
Battery dead
Say I screwed up and left the key on for about 45 minutes and bike wouln't start. I jump started it. Should'nt the alternator charge the battery after running it awhile? I rode the bike trying to make it home about 50 miles, half way home it quit, just died, nothing, no lights, dead. A fellow biker came along and we hooked his jumpers up (from his pickup) and let it charge my battery for a while, about 15-20 minutes. The bike fired right up and ran fine. I made it home and checked the battery with my snap-on tester, it read 12 volts and tested ok. I guess my question is would leaving the key on drain the battery that quick and if the battery was down that low would the alternator not be able to charge it? 92 FXR always ran good.
2nd Gear
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
From: San Jose
leaving your bike on without headlights will drain your battery. If it charges up thats good but be careful, a soso battery can kill your stator. your stator will try to charge the battery until it burns a one of the coils on the stator. if it doesnt charge you may have an intermittent stator.
Road Master
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,062
Likes: 18
From: Beautiful SW Missouri Ozark Mountain Country
Alternators were never designed to charge dead batteries. Will they? Yes. If the battery is in good condition. A 12 volt reading does not indicate the battery is "good." You can have a dead or shorted cell, and if the other cells are in tip top condition, it'll show 12 volts or very close to it. But cranking amps will be down tremendously. Total battery condition needs to be tested. Also, if you do have a bad cell, sometimes they can be revived. There is a charging procedure that can sometimes condition a battery back to "good" status.
And that procedure has been posted here.
And that procedure has been posted here.
Thread Starter
|
Intermediate
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 35
Likes: 0
From: Western MA.
I left it on a trickle charge all night will check it out today. It is an AGM battery. So if the battery is dead the alternator/stator won't produce enough juice to keep it running or recharge the battery? I guess I don't understand why it quit once I got it running then fired right up with a little bit of charging from a brothers pickup. Thanks for the info.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 3,039
Likes: 11
From: Northern Ontario
You will be much further ahead with a long charge on a 2 amp compred to a trickle charger. I found this out with my battery tender, battery tender is just that it tends to the healthy battery where as a good 2 amp charge will make it healthy if the battery is ok.
Club Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 45,429
Likes: 2,897
From: Bedford UK
You have too many unknowns at present. By all means charge your battery for a good while, to get the best out of it. Do a proper check of your battery and charging circuit, as you may have a charging problem.
Road Master
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 1,205
Likes: 18
From: SE Michigan
Trickle down?
Actually a "trickle" charger will accomplish the same full charge. It just takes longer. I didn't used to think so and some research confirmed that I was mistaken in that belief. Also check that voltage regulator real close as they seem to be the weak link of the electrical charging system. I've replaced two of them in about 5 yrs. both times thinking it was the battery and it wasn't.
Last edited by Tactical111; Jun 2, 2012 at 07:14 PM.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Road Gliderman
Electrical/Lighting/Alarm
17
Feb 24, 2019 12:34 AM
