10 amp battery charger

[vincent]

I got home from work yesterday and must have left the bike in the on position. Went back to it a few hours later and the battery was dead. I have a black and decker 10 amp charger that automatically reads what type of battery it is hooked up up and charges it appropriately. I was able to get enough of a charge to get it started in in the garage. Is it safe to charge the battery while it's on the bike and hooked up? How much of a charge should I be looking for? (I'm trying to go ride today)
1600 fi

[macmac]

At 10 amps 1 hour should be IT, with the key switch locked OFF.

You really don't want that charger on the bike at all, but on a rare occasion I guess for 1 hour it might be ok.

You can ruin a batter of 18 Ah size which these batterys are. 0 amps is over half the batter rating 18 Ah (amp hours) is what these batterys are.

It would be a wiser idea to buy a walley world Shumkaer 1.5 amp charger for 20 bucks and use that any time you are not riding and or parked at work.

'IF' that battery is any good in the first place it will recover by itself given some time. It would recover best on the charger I mentioned and faster.

That B&D is for cars and trucks with 650 cold cranking AMP batterys not any puny 18Ah battery, not ever, really.

If you exceeed 1 hour you will start to damaged the AGM battery.

If you do as I reccomend you might be on that AGM battery more than 7 years, maybe 8. maybe more.

[usranger74]

Originally Posted by macmac

At 10 amps 1 hour should be IT, with the key switch locked OFF.

You really don't want that charger on the bike at all, but on a rare occasion I guess for 1 hour it might be ok.

You can ruin a batter of 18 Ah size which these batterys are. 0 amps is over half the batter rating 18 Ah (amp hours) is what these batterys are.

It would be a wiser idea to buy a walley world Shumkaer 1.5 amp charger for 20 bucks and use that any time you are not riding and or parked at work.

'IF' that battery is any good in the first place it will recover by itself given some time. It would recover best on the charger I mentioned and faster.

That B&D is for cars and trucks with 650 cold cranking AMP batterys not any puny 18Ah battery, not ever, really.

If you exceeed 1 hour you will start to damaged the AGM battery.

If you do as I reccomend you might be on that AGM battery more than 7 years, maybe 8. maybe more.

What is a AGM battery? Advantages?

[Dave]

Originally Posted by usranger74

What is a AGM battery? Advantages?

http://tinyurl.com/3x4pqye

[blowndodge]

Absorbed Glass Mats,

This is a very fine fiber Boron-Silicate glass mat. These type of batteries have all the advantages of gelled, but can take much more abuse. We sell the Concorde (and Lifeline, made by Concorde) AGM batteries. These are also called "starved electrolyte", as the mat is about 95% saturated rather than fully soaked. That also means that they will not leak acid even if broken.

Nearly all AGM batteries are "recombinant" - what that means is that the Oxygen and Hydrogen recombine INSIDE the battery. These use gas phase transfer of oxygen to the negative plates to recombine them back into water while charging and prevent the loss of water through electrolysis. The recombining is typically 99+% efficient, so almost no water is lost.

The charging voltages are the same as for any standard battery - no need for any special adjustments or problems with incompatible chargers or charge controls. And, since the internal resistance is extremely low, there is almost no heating of the battery even under heavy charge and discharge currents. The Concorde (and most AGM) batteries have no charge or discharge current limits.

AGM's have a very low self-discharge - from 1% to 3% per month is usual. This means that they can sit in storage for much longer periods without charging than standard batteries. The Concorde batteries can be almost fully recharged (95% or better) even after 30 days of being totally discharged.

AGM's do not have any liquid to spill, and even under severe overcharge conditions hydrogen emission is far below the 4% max specified for aircraft and enclosed spaces. The plates in AGM's are tightly packed and rigidly mounted, and will withstand shock and vibration better than any standard battery.

Even with all the advantages listed above, there is still a place for the standard flooded deep cycle battery. AGM's will cost 2 to 3 times as much as flooded batteries of the same capacity. In many installations, where the batteries are set in an area where you don't have to worry about fumes or leakage, a standard or industrial deep cycle is a better economic choice. AGM batteries main advantages are no maintenance, completely sealed against fumes, Hydrogen, or leakage, non-spilling even if they are broken, and can survive most freezes.

[ringadingh]

Those AGM batteries do seem to last a lot longer. My bike battery lasted over eight years before replacement this summer, and a booster pack that I carry in the truck, just quit on me in its twelfth season of use. Im going to replace it with another in a few weeks when they go on sale here.

[AlabamaNomadRider]

Is the stock battery in the Nomad an AGM? If not seems that is the way to go.

[usranger74]

Originally Posted by Dave

http://tinyurl.com/3x4pqye

Dave - that was about as cool as anything I have seen on the web. :)

And, thank you BD for the in depth explanation.

[vincent]

Thanks Mac, I picked up a Shumacher charger today and it's on the battery now.

[mikeyger]

mac I was going to ask what I should buy because I noticed a lot of you say you put a battery tender on all the time while not riding. When I get this Shumacher do I just hook it up everynight or every now and then? Thanks

[macmac]

Originally Posted by mikeyger

mac I was going to ask what I should buy because I noticed a lot of you say you put a battery tender on all the time while not riding. When I get this Shumacher do I just hook it up everynight or every now and then? Thanks

The shumaker charger will come with 2 sets of leads. I reccomend you hard bolt the one set which will be obvious to the battery and lead it forwards and down to the wire hoses retainer. Even with a hot engine you can reach there.

So yeah plug that bike in any time you are not riding or parked at work.

I am planing on getting no less than 8 years from my stock AGM battery. I test mine each time I ride. That's easy because i have a full time voltmeter.

That battery is as good today as the day I bought the bike (used) of the dealer show room floor. The bike has 1,413 miles on it used. I went over it with a fine toothed comb.

I think this bike was made on a Thrusday too, close enough to the weekend for happy campers. Never buy any machine made on Mondays since the crew will be hung over, and never buy one from a Friday because that Govt Work is good enuff day.

Yeah what BD said Thar's no bloomin way i can improve on that.

[ringadingh]

I have charged my battery while its still in the bike connected, and have never had a problem, however it is best to disconnect and remove them for charging.

[mikeyger]

I was just wondering why you charge your battery if you are riding it everyday. I see a lot of people do. So I just ask because I never did this before. You guys have saved me a lot of money so far and I will always take your advice . Thanks again for answering all the silly questions I have and probably will have' I really do appreciate all of you!

[jandreu]

Dang BD...that's more words than I've ever seen you reply with and not one wise crack either. Good info...

Back to the thread...just my 2 cents. If you ride regularly than no need for a charger. I normally get 6 years from regular batteries. My HD has a six year old battery, gets ridden maybe 1 time a month for 30 to 50 miles and the battery always starts the bike with no problems.[Of course now that I've said that it will probaly die tomorrow].

[cnc]

In my opinion There is one drawback to always having your battery on a tender when you are not riding. If your habit is to unplug and ride off, the battery may be on it's way south and you might never know it until you are away from home.
Batteries of this size will probably not start the bike fresh off a maintainer if they are really toast and as others have mentioned, I have had maintenance free batteries fail with out warning, but still best to unplug the night before or at least a few hours before. If it won't crank fast enough to start the bike after that short amount of time, you didn't want to go anywhere anyway. Batteries fresh off a charger, or maintainer will give a higher false voltage reading due to surface charge, so to get a true indication of the voltage it is best wait a few hours before testing anyway.