5 volts this morning...
I ride 'every' day, but hadn't for the last four. Usually about 13 volts when I park the bike (measured by my Scorpio alarm remote). The last two weeks on a long Alps ride I didn't check the voltage, so it has had those two weeks to develop.
The alarm draw will usually only make a minor dent in the voltage after a week of no riding (let's say 0.5 - 1.0 volt loss)
The battery is about 2.5 years old - ~20,000 miles
Done so far:
charged the battery up to 12.1 volts (~7 hours) (very slow progress the last couple of hours)
15 (?) seconds on the starter without spark --> 9.5 - 9.1 volts
Idles at 13+ volts
Reaches 13.7 volts at 3-4,000 revs
Is the judgement as obvious as I think it is?
[coffee]
Probably. Next spep is charge the battery and have it load tested. I don't know about your part of the world, but most shops here will do it free if they sell batteries.
a quick and dirty way to test the battery is to put a voltmeter across the battery and crank the battery. if it drops below ~10.5v (i cant recall what the actual minimum for the bike is, but its around there), its not good enough for your bike.
Quote from: howie on July 28, 2015, 01:51:24 PM
Probably. Next spep is charge the battery and have it load tested. I don't know about your part of the world, but most shops here will do it free if they sell batteries.
I don't think they'll be interested in doing that - they'll probably want to sell a new battery instead - I've never heard about any shops offering that service here...
Anyway... with the low'ish starting voltage, am I close to a bad battery diagnose?
Quote from: He Man on July 28, 2015, 02:03:41 PM
a quick and dirty way to test the battery is to put a voltmeter across the battery and crank the battery. if it drops below ~10.5v (i cant recall what the actual minimum for the bike is, but its around there), its not good enough for your bike.
I think The Howie mentioned 9.6 volts as the limit and I have 9.5 --> 9.1
9.1 using the bike as a load test (assuming the battery is charged and the connections are clean and tight) is a fail. I like load testing the battery separately to eliminate variables like resistance in the starting circuit. Buying a battery based on your results is a good bet. I don't enjoy gambling. Up to you.
Thanks Howie - I think I'll take that bet, but I think I understand what you're saying...
I'll bring the battery to the shop and ask if they actually can load test it.
Next winter I'll get busy cleaning contacts and see if there's any unwanted draw - unless this situation repeats itself before that.
ah 10.7 i think was with lithium batteries i think then.
You could hook up your bike with cables to your car battery (with the car off) and try cranking that way. Chances are it will turn over without a doubt.
I would take that bet. 20k in 2 years either means lots of long distance traveling, or lots of starting.
when i was commuting daily, i would start my bike maybe 15-20 times a week. Battery would only last about 2 years. i hardly ever charged it either.
Quote from: stopintime on July 28, 2015, 02:09:20 PM
I don't think they'll be interested in doing that - they'll probably want to sell a new battery instead - I've never heard about any shops offering that service here...
Anyway... with the low'ish starting voltage, am I close to a bad battery diagnose?
Sounds like a good time to switch to a lightweight LiFePo battery.
Had mine for almost 2 1/2 years and ~30k miles. No issues....