Bad Battery Tender?!?!?!?!
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 119
Likes: 0
From: Cincinnati
Yeah didn't put the battery back in yet, and for good reason. I received the following volts from the following test.
• Battery Test (Nothing Connected): 7.62 Volts
• Tender Test (Nothing Connected): .01 Volts
• Battery Test (Tender Connected): Volts jumping back and forth between 7.62 & 7.63
Since battery is obviously not charged enough to even start the bike I decided not to put the battery back in due to there being a drain somewhere on the bike (Thinking the culprit is the IAC Pinter I'm waiting to arrive)
Since with the tender attached it was jumping from 7.62 & 7.63, I am assuming regardless the tender light is green, that is is in fact charging the battery. Will test the battery in a few hours to see if it measures higher then the 7.63, Hopefully that will mean that letting the tender work until my parts arrive will give me a full charge on the battery. If it does, then i will put the battery in once the new pinter is installed (hopefully curing the drain), and test it with the other test the video showed me how to do.
Any other input for the test i've done so far?
• Battery Test (Nothing Connected): 7.62 Volts
• Tender Test (Nothing Connected): .01 Volts
• Battery Test (Tender Connected): Volts jumping back and forth between 7.62 & 7.63
Since battery is obviously not charged enough to even start the bike I decided not to put the battery back in due to there being a drain somewhere on the bike (Thinking the culprit is the IAC Pinter I'm waiting to arrive)
Since with the tender attached it was jumping from 7.62 & 7.63, I am assuming regardless the tender light is green, that is is in fact charging the battery. Will test the battery in a few hours to see if it measures higher then the 7.63, Hopefully that will mean that letting the tender work until my parts arrive will give me a full charge on the battery. If it does, then i will put the battery in once the new pinter is installed (hopefully curing the drain), and test it with the other test the video showed me how to do.
Any other input for the test i've done so far?
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 119
Likes: 0
From: Cincinnati
The Tender is Brand New. Obviously anything man made is prone to fault. I will have to wait for the wife to get home and I can hook it up to the battery in her car. Do i need to pull her battery out completely, or just hook the tender up and compare the volts from it not connected and with it connected? Only takes 5 minutes to pull it out if you think i'd get a better read from it uninstalled from the car?
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 119
Likes: 0
From: Cincinnati
Also, I assume that the tender light should stay yellow if the battery isn't fully charged yet, correct? Because It turns green before the battery is fully charged.
I'm also curious if whatever is draining the battery from my bike could deplete the maximum amount of life that the battery can hold. Say the battery should hold a maximum of 12v (just example numbers here), and if i'm somehow sending a strait dead to the battery, could (like LithIon Batteries in phones/laptops) the new maximum output be lower (like mine that is reading 7.63v)? Hopefully i explain my question correctly. Thanks again cHarley.
I'm also curious if whatever is draining the battery from my bike could deplete the maximum amount of life that the battery can hold. Say the battery should hold a maximum of 12v (just example numbers here), and if i'm somehow sending a strait dead to the battery, could (like LithIon Batteries in phones/laptops) the new maximum output be lower (like mine that is reading 7.63v)? Hopefully i explain my question correctly. Thanks again cHarley.
Club Member
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 16,320
Likes: 306
From: Boynton Beach, FloriDuh
No need to pull it, just hook it up.
Measure the battery (car off) before connecting the tender, and then after connecting it.
Battery Tenders, unlike regular battery chargers, don't usually put out much of a measurable voltage until they are hooked up to a battery. Hooked to the car, I would expect it to read ~13.1 volts.
Measure the battery (car off) before connecting the tender, and then after connecting it.
Battery Tenders, unlike regular battery chargers, don't usually put out much of a measurable voltage until they are hooked up to a battery. Hooked to the car, I would expect it to read ~13.1 volts.
Thread Starter
|
Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 119
Likes: 0
From: Cincinnati
No need to pull it, just hook it up.
Measure the battery (car off) before connecting the tender, and then after connecting it.
Battery Tenders, unlike regular battery chargers, don't usually put out much of a measurable voltage until they are hooked up to a battery. Hooked to the car, I would expect it to read ~13.1 volts.
Measure the battery (car off) before connecting the tender, and then after connecting it.
Battery Tenders, unlike regular battery chargers, don't usually put out much of a measurable voltage until they are hooked up to a battery. Hooked to the car, I would expect it to read ~13.1 volts.
I just had a brother tell me i could roll over to his place and pop the seat off his roadking and do my test. After consideration our car battery may not be the best option as it's way old and we've needed to replace it for about two years now.
Could i just keep the road kings battery hooked up as well with the bike turned off and test it, and then again with my DVM leads attached to it? If so what numbers would you expect for the road king battery? 12.xx volts or so, and then slightly more with the tender hooked up?
I'll be happy a a fly on !#%$ if all this ended up being just a crap tender because i bought it last week and they will replace it without question. at that point, if my IAC pinter replacement fixes my drain issue then that means i can get back to enjoying my summer instead of feeling like i'm about to lose it, lol. Pretty sure the IAC is the culprit as the one night i unplugged it, i could still start the bike the next day, lol.
Club Member
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 16,320
Likes: 306
From: Boynton Beach, FloriDuh
Also, I assume that the tender light should stay yellow if the battery isn't fully charged yet, correct? Because It turns green before the battery is fully charged.
I'm also curious if whatever is draining the battery from my bike could deplete the maximum amount of life that the battery can hold. Say the battery should hold a maximum of 12v (just example numbers here), and if i'm somehow sending a strait dead to the battery, could (like LithIon Batteries in phones/laptops) the new maximum output be lower (like mine that is reading 7.63v)? Hopefully i explain my question correctly. Thanks again cHarley.
I'm also curious if whatever is draining the battery from my bike could deplete the maximum amount of life that the battery can hold. Say the battery should hold a maximum of 12v (just example numbers here), and if i'm somehow sending a strait dead to the battery, could (like LithIon Batteries in phones/laptops) the new maximum output be lower (like mine that is reading 7.63v)? Hopefully i explain my question correctly. Thanks again cHarley.
Forget about confusing the issue with lithium and other voltages etc. A vehicle battery that measures 12.0 volts is actually considered dead. Drop it to 11 volts, the bike's electronics won't run.
Club Member
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 16,320
Likes: 306
From: Boynton Beach, FloriDuh
I just had a brother tell me i could roll over to his place and pop the seat off his roadking and do my test. After consideration our car battery may not be the best option as it's way old and we've needed to replace it for about two years now.
Could i just keep the road kings battery hooked up as well with the bike turned off and test it, and then again with my DVM leads attached to it? If so what numbers would you expect for the road king battery? 12.xx volts or so, and then slightly more with the tender hooked up?
I'll be happy a a fly on !#%$ if all this ended up being just a crap tender because i bought it last week and they will replace it without question. at that point, if my IAC pinter replacement fixes my drain issue then that means i can get back to enjoying my summer instead of feeling like i'm about to lose it, lol. Pretty sure the IAC is the culprit as the one night i unplugged it, i could still start the bike the next day, lol.
Could i just keep the road kings battery hooked up as well with the bike turned off and test it, and then again with my DVM leads attached to it? If so what numbers would you expect for the road king battery? 12.xx volts or so, and then slightly more with the tender hooked up?
I'll be happy a a fly on !#%$ if all this ended up being just a crap tender because i bought it last week and they will replace it without question. at that point, if my IAC pinter replacement fixes my drain issue then that means i can get back to enjoying my summer instead of feeling like i'm about to lose it, lol. Pretty sure the IAC is the culprit as the one night i unplugged it, i could still start the bike the next day, lol.
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Thread Starter
|
Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 119
Likes: 0
From: Cincinnati
Cool beans yo. When the wife gets home from classes, then i'll run over and test his battery, and then again with the tender hooked up, and i'll report my findings back here, and see what you think. You rock bro, I really appreciate your help and wisdom.
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 119
Likes: 0
From: Cincinnati
'98 Road King Battery Test w/ My Tender
Results as Follows;
Battery Volts
• 12.69
Battery Volts (Tender Attached)
• 12.69
Battery Volts (Tender Removed)
• 12.69
*Tender Light Stayed Green Throughout Testing
'07 Sportster 1200C Test w/ My Tender
Results as Follows;
Prior Test (5:30pm)
• Battery Test (Nothing Connected): 7.62 Volts
• Tender Test (Nothing Connected): .01 Volts
• Battery Test (Tender Connected): Volts jumping back and forth between 7.62 & 7.63
Current Test (9:20pm)
• 7.76v (w/o Tender) (Tender light was green for these four hours)
• 7.89v (I held tender clamps on, and light stayed yellow for about 20 seconds, and I watched the volts go up with DVM, then tender light turned green)
• 7.93v (clamping and unclamping tender to battery to keep a yellow light [every 3 seconds and light would turn green again], then got this number with no tender clamped on)
• 7.91v (w/o Tender)(Two minutes after reading 7.93v, and did not attach tender for these two minutes)
Hopefully this will help me figure out if my tender is bad, or if it's my battery. I'm hoping it's my tender as I can't explain why my tender would keep going to a green light if the battery is not charged all the way???
Results as Follows;
Battery Volts
• 12.69
Battery Volts (Tender Attached)
• 12.69
Battery Volts (Tender Removed)
• 12.69
*Tender Light Stayed Green Throughout Testing
'07 Sportster 1200C Test w/ My Tender
Results as Follows;
Prior Test (5:30pm)
• Battery Test (Nothing Connected): 7.62 Volts
• Tender Test (Nothing Connected): .01 Volts
• Battery Test (Tender Connected): Volts jumping back and forth between 7.62 & 7.63
Current Test (9:20pm)
• 7.76v (w/o Tender) (Tender light was green for these four hours)
• 7.89v (I held tender clamps on, and light stayed yellow for about 20 seconds, and I watched the volts go up with DVM, then tender light turned green)
• 7.93v (clamping and unclamping tender to battery to keep a yellow light [every 3 seconds and light would turn green again], then got this number with no tender clamped on)
• 7.91v (w/o Tender)(Two minutes after reading 7.93v, and did not attach tender for these two minutes)
Hopefully this will help me figure out if my tender is bad, or if it's my battery. I'm hoping it's my tender as I can't explain why my tender would keep going to a green light if the battery is not charged all the way???
Last edited by CinCityPyro; Jul 9, 2013 at 08:40 PM.