Battery question

[JJZ 109]

Battery in my wife's motorcycle is 3-4 years old. I find that I generally don't get much more than that out of them.
It's been kept on a quality tender all winter and still didn't want to start. Long story short as I can make it - it was nearly dry. Filled with distilled water and put on Pro Logix charger. Charger brought it up to 97% and then went into the Energizing Phase mode where it supposedly conditions the battery. After a day or so of this the battery gets to 100% and charge is complete.
I took it off the charger and let the battery rest on the bench overnight. This morning I put the charger back on and it shows 84% charged. This probably is not an acceptable drop for an unloaded battery overnight. But I'd like someone who knows more about this than me to verify that.
I already ordered a new battery yesterday so it's kind of moot, but I like to learn about these things and file away for future reference.

 

[shovelmike]

Long time motorcyclist and automotive tech here. When I have had a battery get that low on water I've had no luck trying to save it.

 

[JJZ 109]

Long time motorcyclist and automotive tech here. When I have had a battery get that low on water I've had no luck trying to save it.

I rolled the dice on a couple of $35 AGM batteries. Awaiting shipment. We'll see out it goes. I'm not out a ton of money if it doesn't work out.
I have a feeling that you're right that the current battery is not long for the world.

 

[Rutman]

Back when I rode I always had good luck with NAPA legend batteries.

 

[DK35vince]

I got 9 years out of my original motorcycle battery (Yuasa)
Set for months through the winter. Never had a battery tender on it.

 

[shovelmike]

I rolled the dice on a couple of $35 AGM batteries. Awaiting shipment. We'll see out it goes. I'm not out a ton of money if it doesn't work out.
I have a feeling that you're right that the current battery is not long for the world.

That is n excellent price for AGM batteries if quality is good, keep us posted.

 

[JJZ 109]

I got 9 years out of my original motorcycle battery (Yuasa)
Set for months through the winter. Never had a battery tender on it.

I now have a pair of Yuasa tenders. So far so good with them.

That is n excellent price for AGM batteries if quality is good, keep us posted.

Here's where I ordered them. Deka ETX2L replacement Motorcycle Battery (12V 18Ah)
I'll report back on how it works out. May take a few months of use.

I'm not a lover of battery tenders left on small batteries for long periods of time for this very reason. I think a lot of them give something .75A charging current. If you have a 7 AH battery, in 10 hours the battery is at a point of overcharging. If it's a smart charger that goes into a maintenance mode, what is the charging current at that point?

I'll have to dig out the literature on the charger if I can find it. It's Harley Davidson branded. No idea at the moment of who made it for them.

 

[crazyal]

I had the same problem with lawn mower batteries. What I do now is take them inside for the winter. I put them up on a shelf in the basement. By doing this I occasionally see them sitting there and will connect them up to a charger for a day (maybe once or twice a winter). I haven't had to replace a battery now in the last 10 years. Before doing this I was converting any motorcycle/ ATV to taking a lawn mower battery because they were half the price of a motorcycle battery.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

If you have a 7 AH battery, in 10 hours the battery is at a point of overcharging. If it's a smart charger that goes into a maintenance mode, what is the charging current at that point?

Mine go to zero... Then come back on as needed.

SR

 

[jaxs]

I've had unbelievable battery life since I started using Deltran chargers 15 years ago. I have them connected to something all the time and never had one get low on water,much less go dry. The key isn't charging the battery before using it,it should be at 100% as much of time as possible. Quick charging is poison to batteries. If at all possible,you should slow charge battery rather than boosting then allowing vehicle to charge it up.