dead AGM batteries By royldoc (Read 1,453 times)

[royldoc]

I am not liking these AGM batteries. I had a few errands to do today. It being a nice day I decided to do a little sight seeing also. Put about a hundy on the magnum then decided to do my errands. So I stopped at first Place and when I came out to leave the battery was dead. There is an advance auto about a block from where I was, so I took battery in to have it checked. They put it on there little tester and then told me it was dead and needed charged,Duh! Tester showed a voltage of 11.44 volts and 56 cca. Expected charge time 0f 40- 50 min at 40 amp. I didn't have that long to wait, so I just I bought a new battery. I paid the core charge of $10 bucks, brought the old battery home and put in on charger and it goes pop as soon as I plugged it. Now this is the second one of these type of batteries that have done this to me. I am going to check the charging system tomorrow, didn't have time today. The saga continues. Now my 50cc also has one of these batteries in it and it is also not charging. so will have to check it as well. both of these scooters were started once a week or so through the winter months and ridden occasionally. I Rode both of them yesterday for about a half hour each. Now it is hard to believe that both of these batteries would go dead at the same time or the charging system went bad on two different scooters at the same time. has any body else had trouble with agm batteries not charging? I will probably order regular lead acid batteries. all the auto stores carry in the sizes I need is agm's. I also will be adding a spare battery box on the magnum. Pushing this 600 lb three wheel beast sucks, also I don't really want to wait on a jump either. At least the 50 cc has a kick start. I'm done ranting for now.

Roy

[cyborg]

I think I would be pissed

[tvnacman]

power sport battery suck

[dmartin95]

Apr 14, 2015 21:06:13 GMT -6 royldoc said:

I am not liking these AGM batteries. I had a few errands to do today. It being a nice day I decided to do a little sight seeing also. Put about a hundy on the magnum then decided to do my errands. So I stopped at first Place and when I came out to leave the battery was dead. There is an advance auto about a block from where I was, so I took battery in to have it checked. They put it on there little tester and then told me it was dead and needed charged,Duh! Tester showed a voltage of 11.44 volts and 56 cca. Expected charge time 0f 40- 50 min at 40 amp. I didn't have that long to wait, so I just I bought a new battery. I paid the core charge of $10 bucks, brought the old battery home and put in on charger and it goes pop as soon as I plugged it. Now this is the second one of these type of batteries that have done this to me. I am going to check the charging system tomorrow, didn't have time today. The saga continues. Now my 50cc also has one of these batteries in it and it is also not charging. so will have to check it as well. both of these scooters were started once a week or so through the winter months and ridden occasionally. I Rode both of them yesterday for about a half hour each. Now it is hard to believe that both of these batteries would go dead at the same time or the charging system went bad on two different scooters at the same time. has any body else had trouble with agm batteries not charging? I will probably order regular lead acid batteries. all the auto stores carry in the sizes I need is agm's. I also will be adding a spare battery box on the magnum. Pushing this 600 lb three wheel beast sucks, also I don't really want to wait on a jump either. At least the 50 cc has a kick start. I'm done ranting for now.

Roy

Hi Roy,
      I'm not sure what brand of battery you're using, but I use AGM motobatt batteries and never had an issue in over year. There are many knock off's, generic and "sealed types" of batteries that people try and pass off as AGM.... 

      Another really good battery is ballistic batteries. Pretty expensive but IMO, they're THE best.

[scooter2]

Apr 15, 2015 1:25:49 GMT -6 dmartin95 said:

Apr 14, 2015 21:06:13 GMT -6 royldoc said:

I am not liking these AGM batteries. I had a few errands to do today. It being a nice day I decided to do a little sight seeing also. Put about a hundy on the magnum then decided to do my errands. So I stopped at first Place and when I came out to leave the battery was dead. There is an advance auto about a block from where I was, so I took battery in to have it checked. They put it on there little tester and then told me it was dead and needed charged,Duh! Tester showed a voltage of 11.44 volts and 56 cca. Expected charge time 0f 40- 50 min at 40 amp. I didn't have that long to wait, so I just I bought a new battery. I paid the core charge of $10 bucks, brought the old battery home and put in on charger and it goes pop as soon as I plugged it. Now this is the second one of these type of batteries that have done this to me. I am going to check the charging system tomorrow, didn't have time today. The saga continues. Now my 50cc also has one of these batteries in it and it is also not charging. so will have to check it as well. both of these scooters were started once a week or so through the winter months and ridden occasionally. I Rode both of them yesterday for about a half hour each. Now it is hard to believe that both of these batteries would go dead at the same time or the charging system went bad on two different scooters at the same time. has any body else had trouble with agm batteries not charging? I will probably order regular lead acid batteries. all the auto stores carry in the sizes I need is agm's. I also will be adding a spare battery box on the magnum. Pushing this 600 lb three wheel beast sucks, also I don't really want to wait on a jump either. At least the 50 cc has a kick start. I'm done ranting for now.

Roy

Hi Roy,
      I'm not sure what brand of battery you're using, but I use AGM motobatt batteries and never had an issue in over year. There are many knock off's, generic and "sealed types" of batteries that people try and pass off as AGM.... 

      Another really good battery is ballistic batteries. Pretty expensive but IMO, they're THE best.

I have two MotoBatt AGMs and they work fine. What's odd is that I'm told I should charge them in AGM mode on the charger, which I have, but they charge fine on the scoots which also use lead acids. 
The only difference I read about the two types of batteries is that the AGMs are supposed to charge to a lesser voltage.

One site says:
"As with all gelled and sealed units, AGM batteries are sensitive to overcharging. These batteries can be charged to 2.40V/cell (and higher) without problem; however, the float charge should be reduced to between 2.25 and 2.30V/cell (summer temperatures may require lower voltages). Automotive charging systems for flooded lead acid often have a fixed float voltage setting of 14.40V (2.40V/cell), and a direct replacement with a sealed unit could spell trouble by exposing the battery to undue overcharge on a long drive. "

 
So the AGM can be charged to 2.4X6=14.4v, but the float charge should be reduced to 2.2X6 and 2.3X6=13.5 to 13.8v. Maybe they are being overcharged?

[Guitarman]

AGM's are great batteries but are VERY easy to overcharge. You need to make sure your regulator is not putting out too much juice for it or you'll go thru them like a hot knife thru warm butter.

For a Chino scoot, I'd stick with Lead Acid. They are much more durable in over charging situations.

I have an AGM on my bike, but I also have a really good regulator.

EDIT:

Now that I think about it, this is probably the reason so many people have battery problems like this.  Got to make sure your R/R is not blasting the battery with too much.  It might be a good idea to add a control resistor right in front of your battery to make sure it's not getting slammed.

[royldoc]

Well the battery in the magnum is a Duracrap. The other one is a magnapower. Not the best brands. The instruction pamphlet for the new battery states, charging voltage should not exceed 15v and max of 2amps. My charger/maintainer puts out 12v @1.5amp. But neither of these batteries has been on the charger. However I'm not sure of the amps of the charging system in the scoots yet. I stated in earlier post that I run them at least every two weeks to make sure the batteries stay charged through the winter months. I also disconnect them to be sure there is no parasitic drain. Agm batteries should hold a charge for at least three months before needing to be topped off. The original lead/acid batteries lasted 3+ years. I have yet to get more than 1 out of agm's

Roy

[cyborg]

good idea guitar,,,so there is more than music and voices in that pointy head of yours,,,, ,,,,just goofin on you calm down,,,,i always use yuasa,,they work for me,,altho i did have one break internally 4 bikes back,,they replaced it no charge and no questions asked,,,it still stranded me 3 miles from home ,,,,all uphill too,,,what a push that was,,,major drag,,,yep nothin makes my day any better than havin a battery take a nice big fat sh!t ,,,

[Guitarman]

Yo Pedro, Don't make me twang my magic twanger in your general direction....

[royldoc]

Apr 15, 2015 15:24:23 GMT -6 Guitarman said:

AGM's are great batteries but are VERY easy to overcharge. You need to make sure your regulator is not putting out too much juice for it or you'll go thru them like a hot knife thru warm butter.

For a Chino scoot, I'd stick with Lead Acid. They are much more durable in over charging situations.

I have an AGM on my bike, but I also have a really good regulator.

EDIT:

Now that I think about it, this is probably the reason so many people have battery problems like this.  Got to make sure your R/R is not blasting the battery with too much.  It might be a good idea to add a control resistor right in front of your battery to make sure it's not getting slammed.

You are probably right. however I have yet to see Higher than 15v of the charging system. The magnum max charging volt has been around 14.2 drops down quit a bit to around 12.8v with all the lights on. It has 4 55w headlamps. so it may be undercharging. even with two 55w low beams on it tests at 13.5. The charging on my fiddy is minimal as I am running e.f.i. and the fuel pump draws a lot. The charge voltage on it is around 13v. so I don't thing over charging is the issue.

Roy

[Guitarman]

I don't doubt you Roy, but it's not the volts we're looking at, it's the amps. How many amps is it pushing thru to the battery? Unless you put a recording meter, or a silly scope on it, you have no way of knowing. You could be feeding it some really dirty power that is still within the voltage limits.

[royldoc]

Apr 15, 2015 16:02:07 GMT -6 Guitarman said:

I don't doubt you Roy, but it's not the volts we're looking at, it's the amps. How many amps is it pushing thru to the battery? Unless you put a recording meter, or a silly scope on it, you have no way of knowing. You could be feeding it some really dirty power that is still within the voltage limits.

Ya not sure of the amps yet. I really don't feel like dragging my scope out to the garage, but might later. Like I said I'm just gonna get lead acid batteries. My boy ran off with my tektronix scope and left me with the old beckman. Its an oldie but goodie. They don't make em like that anymore.

Roy

[cyborg]

Hey Roy have you considered upgrading the stators ?,,,sounds like you may need it with the efi on one and all the lites on the other ,, a switch to led lites will cure the one,,, the efi job may need an upgraded stator

[royldoc]

Ya. 11 pole stator going in. I already switched to led's when I did the efi. The magnum also already has led's. I found some 35w h1 bulbs for the low beam head lights. 35w h1 bulbs are hard to find. I Haven't looked for stator for the 300 yet. it has an 18 pole stator on it.

Roy

[cyborg]

An 18 pole is as good as it gets unless you go with a custom hand wound one I would think,,,looks like you have it covered,,,I'm surprised the 300 isn't awash in power with an 18 pole