Battery Charging Problem

Hi,

I sort of neglected my battery over the winter and now I'm having
problems getting it going again. It was a brand new battery that I
purchased last summer but I left it in the bike (connected) all
winter. The bike was stored in a heated garage.

I have a 1.2A trickle charger and I charged it for about 12hrs last
week. Then I started the bike twice without a problem to change the
oil.

Yesterday I wanted to go for a ride but the battery was dead

It's been charging for about 20hrs right now and it's still drawing
0.4 Amps on my ammeter! The acid is bubbling but the battery is not
particularly hot.

Does anyone know what could be going on here? Should I just let it
charge and charge until its begins to draw less and less or is there
something else I should do?

-deruckey

 

Lead acid batteries will deteriorate if not kept fully charged. If
your battery will not hold a charge it needs to be replaced. After you
install a fresh battery, start your bike and check the voltage across
the battery with a VOM. If the observed voltage goes up when you rev
the engine. 13.5 V to 14V and change, it varies a bit, consult the
shop manual for your bike.

Bill Smith

 

Short and not very helpful: That battery is fucked (more or less) and
your charger is, by the sound of it, a rather crude car battery charger
and will do more damage than good to motorcycle batteries if you
don't monitor and control the process carefully.

Good information is available on the net, e.g. on the Yuasa site.

 

What voltage are you reading ? At about 14 V (on the charger)
it's fully charged. Should drop to 13 - 13.5 or so when removed
and read about 12.5 or better when the bike's off.