Battery problem By billg (Read 896 times)

[billg]

Does charging these small batteries with an auto charger somehow destroy them?  My Lance Duke Touring has a 12 V, 8 amp hour battery that I charge with a sears 10 amp auto charger.  I recently installed a brand new battery.  It worked fine for a couple of weeks.  Now it won't hold a charge overnight, even with the alarm system disconnected.  After a cold night, I could connect the charger for a few minutes and get a start.  After that, it would start for the rest of the day's use.  Now, I can't get it to charge enough to turn the engine over enough to get a start at all no matter how long the charger is connected.  I pulled the plug and confirmed it was getting a spark but it looks weak.  It is getting gas.

There is a 40 u amp (micro amp?) parasitic draw with the key off.  Is this normal?

The funny thing is, I switched out the battery for a new one and it acts the same way.  Is it possible my starter is dying and pulling mega amps? and killing the battery?

Color me confused.

[cyborg]

i'd go thru all the connections to the battery and starting circuits solenoid , cables ,everything,,,and chase down the drain,,,i don't think that's normal,,,and i think the solenoid is the culprit here

[richardv]

A 10amp charge is way to large and you may have warped the batteries plates. Don't exceed 2amps with these small batteries and then with a 2amp charger it shouldn't be connected to the 8 amp/hr battery for more than 4 hours. An auto flouting battery maintainer is what you really want.

This is what should be used;
www.motosport.com/dirtbike/product/?psreferrer=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.bing.com%252Fsearch%253Fq%253Dbattery%252Btender%2526form%253DPRUSEN%2526pc%253DmsnHomeST%2526mkt%253Den-us%2526refig%253D4515835447f4487b807520b93b97e258%2526qs%253DPA%2526pq%253Dbattery%252B%2526sc%253D8-8%2526sp%253D1%2526cvid%253D4515835447f4487b807520b93b97e258&pssource=true&segment=badger&key=Battery-Tender-Jr-Battery-Charger&utm_source=Bing_PLA&utm_medium=cpc

[billg]

The solenoid works properly.  The parasitic drain is 12.5 micro amps.  With the alarm system connected it is 5 milli amps, almost 3000 times greater.  My guess is 12.5 micro amps is negligible.

The battery voltage is 12.5 volts and drops to 10 volts when the starter is turning the engine over.  Could this voltage drop be enough to starve the CDI and ultimately the coil of enough voltage to get a decent spark.  I pulled the plug and verified a spark, but it looks really weak to me.

I worked this starter really hard getting the engine started before I replaced the head gasket.  Since then it has always started very easily until now.  Could the starter be pulling an inordinate amount of current?

I have an 'around the wire' amp meter with which I can measure the draw to the starter.  Does anyone know how much these starters are supposed to draw?

[billg]

Doesn't a battery have to heat up during charging to warp the plates?  This battery has never been heated up.  I bought a battery tender like the one you suggested.  The directions said to only connect it to an already charged battery.

[richardv]

If it's getting warm it's already damaged. Really warm and your near an explosion. I wouldn't even us a 10amp charger on my Gold Wing. I use a 1amp and take my time using a specific gravity meter to monitor the charging.

[billg]

billg,cyborg,richardv

I checked the current the starter is drawing. It varies with the engine stroke but gets to 400 amps +. Does anyone know if that is normal?

[billg]

I ordered a replacement battery and a 1 amp charger/tender.  I also ordered a replacement starter motor (good to have on hand even if the present one is OK).  Love AliExpress.

[billg]

OK. I bought a new battery and prepared it properly with a battery buddy at less than 1 amp charging. Acted just like a dead battery. I suspected the starter was bad and got another starter. That was the problem. Apparently, a starter can degrade to the point that it loads the electrical system of battery operated CDI's so that they will not deliver a viable spark. Not a bad thing to keep in mind.

[adamhoyer]

Does it sound like it's turning over or just clicking?

[Bashan]

I just saw this thread....sorry. A bad starter will definitely pull too much juice. I'm not sure what they're supposed to pull but if they get hot or the cables get hot they're probably bad. I think it's safe to say 400 is too much. But if a battery gets drained with minimal cranking, the battery or starter is probably bad. If you try another battery and it does the same thing, it's the starter. We went through this with Kaveman, I'll see if I can find the thread.

[Bashan]

Here it is.

[billg]

My bad starter would turn the engine over a few times and then quite like it had a bad battery.  Taking the plug out to check for a spark, it would turn the engine over longer without the plug in and then die anyway.  Spark was present but weak.

[billg]

No sweat, I found it anyway.  The confusing thing is that the bad starter acts like a weak battery.  I wasn't able to know that until installing a new properly charged battery and getting the same action.  I then installed the new starter and with the same (new) battery and no additional charging and it turned over and started normally.  The wires never did get hot.

I'm going to tear into the bad starter to see if I can find out what the problem was.  This bike has less than 5000 miles, I'd like to know.