Dead battery??

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May 9, 2014 | 08:55 AM

#11

larsfum

Stellar HDF Member

Joined: Jan 2009

Posts: 2,578

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From: On a Lake, not far from the Gulf

Quote:

Originally Posted by gkbailey78

Thanks for the input guys. I pulled the battery and took it to have it charged. Brought it home and it fired right up. It will stay on the tender while not being ridden. Hopefully there will be no more issues as I plan on trading it very soon for a SGS.

Did you have it tested to see if it was good? You still haven't found what discharged the battery in the first place. You may find yourself trying to start it one day, and scratching your head when it doesn't fire up.

If I were you I would do a full system test.

May 9, 2014 | 11:11 AM

#12

mkguitar

Extreme HDF Member

Joined: Sep 2010

Posts: 14,744

Likes: 402

From: Phoenix '53, '88, '09 Big Twins

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Trev

The alternator on my bike pushes 45 amps, and I'm sure the regulator is designed to cope with that.

If a duff battery is drawing ∞ amps due to short, then your charging system blows up.

a dead/ discharged battery wired into the system does not have a neutral effect, it is a "load" placed on the system- as the system tries to maintain 14+ volts.
The battery will continue to be a load until the battery is charged to about 80%+ at which point it will maintain a charge ( volts) at a level close to equal with the power being produced by the charging system

The stator is enclosed inside a hot environment- unlike an auto alternator it is less able to shed heat

heat builds resistance in the wiring of the stator, resistance results in ...more heat and a runaway effect can burn the stator wiring

Mike

Last edited by mkguitar; May 9, 2014 at 11:15 AM.

May 9, 2014 | 12:05 PM

#13

gkbailey78

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Joined: Mar 2014

Posts: 54

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From: Bristol, TN

Quote:

Originally Posted by larsfum

They tested the battery at the dealership and the battery tested good. I brought it home, installed and rode last night
I thought about doing the full system test, but I plan on trading next week and don't want to invest in doing more work before trading unless it fails again.

May 9, 2014 | 12:29 PM

#14

mkguitar

Extreme HDF Member

Joined: Sep 2010

Posts: 14,744

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From: Phoenix '53, '88, '09 Big Twins

Quote:

Originally Posted by gkbailey78

...invest in doing more work before trading unless it fails again.

if you keep the bike, a discharged battery will only recharge to about 60% of it's previous capacity
( so if rated for 300 CCA, expect that you may now have a battery with a real reserve of about 175 CCA).

so if you keep it, keep an eye on that and be prepared to order up a new one.

another common problem is poor connections at the other end of the battery cables- the easy time to check this is when the battery is out of the bike

mike

May 9, 2014 | 12:38 PM

#15

mwegryn

Road Warrior

Joined: Apr 2010

Posts: 1,542

Likes: 5

From: Cleveland, OH

Quote:

Originally Posted by larsfum

I doubt that a battery tender will be able to help you much. A tender is designed to maintain a charged battery, not to recharge a drained one.

Get it checked. I'd be curious to know the actual manufacture date. Did you keep it on a tender? I plug mine in every night when I park it, it only takes a few seconds.