Haven't ridden in a few weeks. Weather finally cleared up. Bike has been on the tender. Turn the key, nothing happens, no gauge sweep, starter button does nothing.
It's just been sitting in the garage, I leave the key in it like I always do.
After I turned the key a couple times, immobilizer light blinked like normal (it's been off fo more than 24 hours). I went and got the red key, still nothing.
WTF?
So I just went and checked it again. This time, the LCD panel lit up with bAtt. So I looked at the tender and it was showing charged.
Then I noticed the switch had got flipped to 6 volt.
Could this have killed the battery or done permanent damage to it?
Battery is 3 years old...
Probably did no damage, but obviously that battery wasn't charging for the period the tender was set on 6V.
It should come back.
Well, after 45+ minutes, it still didn't have enough juice to crank the starter, so I left it and took the truck...
[bang]
Quote from: Mr. Exact on October 25, 2009, 07:39:02 AM
Well, after 45+ minutes, it still didn't have enough juice to crank the starter, so I left it and took the truck...
[bang]
I wouldn't expect a tender to do the job in under an hour. That's not what it's made for.
I knw, I was hoping though. I was assuming the tender didn't let the battery drop below 6 volts so it wasn't like it was charging a dead battery...
It has to restore the battery's amps which is the true measure of power. You are much better off hooking it up to a charger.
Probably by now you've done whatever you did and the battery is charged. But you're better off leaving it on the tender overnight or as long as it takes to fully charge it. If you use an battery charger that charges at more than an amp or so of current, you can do permanent damage to a motorcycle battery.
Also, in the interests of attempted scientific accuracy, amps ain't the true measure of power :). Joules per second (Watts) are the measurement units of electrical power. Amps are a measurement of current.
Bike starts now no problem.
It's on a battery tender jr putting out 1.5 amps and is still showing "charging"...
Quote from: Langanobob on October 25, 2009, 12:33:11 PM
Probably by now you've done whatever you did and the battery is charged. But you're better off leaving it on the tender overnight or as long as it takes to fully charge it. If you use an battery charger that charges at more than an amp or so of current, you can do permanent damage to a motorcycle battery.
Also, in the interests of attempted scientific accuracy, amps ain't the true measure of power :). Joules per second (Watts) are the measurement units of electrical power. Amps are a measurement of current.
That's true...
so why are batteries rated in amp hours or cca? [evil]
Quote from: Langanobob on October 25, 2009, 12:33:11 PM
<snip>
Also, in the interests of attempted scientific accuracy, amps ain't the true measure of power :). Joules per second (Watts) are the measurement units of electrical power. Amps are a measurement of current.
Trouble maker ;D
Quote from: ducpainter on October 25, 2009, 02:56:01 PM
That's true...
so why are batteries rated in amp hours or cca? [evil]
I use the analogy that watts are like horsepower, amps are like torque. You need torque (Amps) for push(Starting capability). [moto]
Quote from: Bun-bun on October 26, 2009, 05:01:49 AM
I use the analogy that watts are like horsepower, amps are like torque. You need torque (Amps) for push(Starting capability). [moto]
I like the analogy that volts are like water pressure, and increasing resistance is like a smaller hose size, and a battery is like an elevated reservoir of water.
In that model, amps are like water flow per second, and watts are like the power (or horsepower) of the water wheel. You can increase the power of the waterwheel by either increasing water pressure (volts), or by increasing water flow rate (amps).
So batteries are rated as amp-hours to describe how much water can flow (amps) for how long (hours) before the reservoir is empty.
A battery charger is like a refilling pump. Battery tenders are wimpy pumps with small hoses and low water flow rates. They'll take a while to refill even a small reservoir, but they're perfect for combatting small leaks over the winter. A proper battery charger is a big pump with bigger hoses, able to rapidly fill a reservoir.