Considering a battery tender and I'm curious about desulfation, seems like a sound enough concept.
Not a make or break feature.
Not sure if I'd leave the battery in the bike thru the winter months on a charger, probably not, but as the season approaches and closes the charger will likely be attached.
Come to think of it as the bike will be stored with a full tank of fuel the battery will likely stay in the bike.
My concern is a desulfation cycle damaging the electronics, though i see it's addressed in a note on the Optimate-4:
**The OptiMate's high voltage desulfation mode cannot engage unless the battery is first disconnected from the vehicle's electrical system. However, even if the battery is not disconnected, the OptiMate cannot damage sensitive vehicle electronics as the higher voltage mode can only engage if minimal or zero current is flowing into the battery.
I'll likely gamble on one of these these concerns are satisfied.
I'm sure those desulfination (are you sure that's the right term :)) battery chargers don't do any harm. But I've never been able to recover a battery with one and I don't think they do much good either. But my trials with them took place several years ago and the technology may have improved since then.
I'm not sure you can bring one back from the death either. Many batteries die because material separates from the plates, and over time, builds up at the bottom of the cells. When it reaches a certain quantity, it shorts the plates and the cell is toast. Some manufactures delay this by wrapping the plates, but I do not believe this failure mode can be reversed by a charger.
Just disconnect the ground cable from the battery, and hook up the charger.
Wrap some tape around the cable terminal, as sometimes they'll spring back into contact.
If you put your bike on a tender for the winter (leave it in the bike and use the pigtail that comes with the tender) then it'll be fine. You do not have to resort to any sort of voodoo science, and once dead you're not going to bring a battery back to life with any sort of desulfination or other magic potion. Just remember that there's a vast difference between a tender and a charger. Use a tender for storage of your bike for any time period and the battery will be ready to go whenever you are. The tenders made by Deltran are outstanding, inexpensive, and will ensure your battery is in top shape when winter's over.
Quote from: mxwinky on December 12, 2009, 09:02:19 AM
If you put your bike on a tender for the winter (leave it in the bike and use the pigtail that comes with the tender) then it'll be fine. You do not have to resort to any sort of voodoo science, and once dead you're not going to bring a battery back to life with any sort of desulfination or other magic potion. Just remember that there's a vast difference between a tender and a charger. Use a tender for storage of your bike for any time period and the battery will be ready to go whenever you are. The tenders made by Deltran are outstanding, inexpensive, and will ensure your battery is in top shape when winter's over.
+1
If your battery passes a load test it is not sulfated, therefore a charger capable of desulfation is not called for.
If your battery is sulfated, there is plate damage. Desulfation may help restore some life temporarily, but death is eminent.
Theoretically, if you use the charger/tender all the time, you'll never reach the point where you need the desulfation feature until the point where the battery is already totally shot anyway.
But if you do only use the tender periodically, you may get a chance to try out the desulfation feature sooner and it can potentially increase the life of the battery.
That's my understanding of it.
OK thanks All.
My battery is fine (at least until the day before Thanksgiving).
I'm sure I'm overthinking it,
1) tender will be connected primarily in the (long) off season
2) tank will be filled with Stabil-ized non ethanol fuel
3) I won't want to lift the tank when full, won't have access to the battery
soooo, I think a tender Jr will fit the bill.
Desulfination sounds like more science than a helpful application here, hell if my battery dies I buy a new one.
Thanks for the wise words all.