Batteries - by Pete T
Pete T supplied the following mini-masterpiece, worthy of a nice big round of applause, to guide folks through the
horrors that are battery problems. It's excellent stuff, well worth a read (especially before posting a question on
the board which it answers. If you get what I mean)
Over to you, Pete.
BATTERIES
I screwed up my battery by leaving it discharged (£70!! - ouch!) so I vowed never to do that again.
Batteries are a black art and this below is pretty nearly the whole truth. If you can't be bothered with all this then commercial battery managers (like "Optimate 3" as recommended by Eric!) are popular and work well.
If you're too poor or too mean to buy one of these then read on.
BATTERY BASICS
A 12Volt lead-acid battery consists of 6 x 2Volt cells in series. If any one of these cells is damaged then the battery is probably a write-off.
Battery capacity is usually measured three ways .
Volts : obvious (12)
Amp Hours (AH) : Number of amps it will make for an hour .
Cold Cranking Amps (CCA): How many amps it can make to crank your engine on a cold day.
Car batteries are typically 60+AH and make 300+CCA. The battery in a Fazer (98-03) is a 10AH Gel type lead-acid battery (about 120CCA) and it should last for several years.
There seem to be four common things that can make a battery die early.
1) Charging it too fast
2) Charging it for too long.
3) Leaving it discharged for a long time.
4) Abuse (shorting it out or dropping it)
To figure out what's going on you need a Digital Volt Meter and a charger that's designed for small batteries. You CAN use a car battery charger BUT you should use a series resistor to avoid damaging the battery.
CHARGING::
As a general rule, Lead Acid batteries should be charged at a rate that makes them reach their full charge in 10 hours or more (the "10 hour" rate). The Fazer battery is about 10 Amp Hours capacity so it needs charging at 1 amp or less. If you've only got a car battery charger then you'll need a series resistor to limit the current. (I use a meaty 8 ohm resistor with a croc clip at each end).
Don't fast charge any lead-acid battery - no matter what the charger manufacturer says!.
The battery should measure between 12.3 and 12.7 volts when its charged and there's no load (ignition and lights off)
If it's between 10.5 and 12.3V then it needs charging.
If its between 9 and 10.5 then it's probably dead.
If it's below 10.5 then it needs treating VERY CAREFULLY.
When it's being charged at 1 amp the voltage should rise gradually from:
12.3 (on-charge, fully discharged)
to 13.0 (on-charge, about half charged)
all the way up to 14.3 (on-charge, fully charged).
When you take it off charge the voltage will reduce gradually by a few 10ths of a volt.
CHARGING TOO FAST::
On its own, a car battery charger will charge at 5 amps or more and it will damage a 10AH battery
If you charge them too fast the oxide deposits onto the plates unevenly, it takes up too much
space between the plates and eventually one of the cells will go short-circuit and you'll have a
10 volt battery.
CHARGING FOR TOO LONG::
If you keep charging it at 14.3V then it will simply boil off the water in the acid. This makes
Hydrogen and Oxygen (AKA "Rocket Fuel") this can be dangerous in a confined space. The gas given off
can explode!!. Overcharging a Fazer sealed gel battery results in permanent loss of capacity.
LEAVING IT DISCHARGED::
A battery in good condition loses about 1 percent of its charge per day and they don't like being
left discharged so a brand new battery that's not being used should be charged at least once a month.
In practice I would charge it every 2 weeks.
Batteries are fragile when discharged and you can turn a "discharged but recoverable" battery into a
lump of useless scrap simply by pressing the "start" button.
If you know your battery is discharged then don't attempt to "see if it will start". Check it with the
headlight first If the headlight looks orange then charge it first.
now I've bored myself to sleep .............. zzzzzzzz!
PT
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Battery Suppliers
FOC-U's very own Miss Hornet can supply Fazer batteries at competitive prices.
Given that she's one of our own, I think it pretty much goes without saying that she should be the first person you ask should you need one (and anyone who doesn't gets a life ban from this site).
Either put a message to her on the FOC-U 'Messages for Users' board, or email her on miss.hornet@btinternet.com
If she can't help you, then the only other place I can point you at right now is:
Bush Battery Co. Ltd - Automotive battery specialists in Enfield, Middlesex
(If anyone has any more...)
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