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Why Doesn’t My Motorcycle/ATV Battery Last? This is a very common complaint, yet there are many reasons why this happens that can be managed by the customer so that more life is realized from the battery. First off, a battery will discharge at the rate of 5% per month just sitting in the bike/ATV not being used. Then there are misconceptions regarding the charging systems of motorcycles/ATV’s. It would seem logical to assume that a low battery can be charged simply by riding the bike. Fact is, a low battery cannot be fully charged by riding the bike, no matter how far you go or how high you rev the engine.
Lets start with the battery. If the
bike is not in use for 30 days, the battery should be placed on charge
with a 2 amp or smaller charger for 24-48 hours every 30 days with no
usage. This would be a very good idea on bikes that are ridden only once
or twice a month as well. Most automotive chargers charge at 6, 10, or
greater amperage. Using a charger like that will overheat the battery,
warping the plates inside until they ground out against each other,
GREATLY shortening battery life. A battery should NEVER be charged at more
than 10% of it’s rated capacity. The largest battery in our industry is
20 amps, so 2 amps is the maximum charge rate for that battery. Anything
more will damage it.
Besides damaging the battery when
charging at excessive amperage, the battery remains low on charge after
the “quick charge“, and the same damage will occur, even if you are
successful in getting the bike to start. Then the charging system will be
strained running the bike with the low battery, possibly causing damage to
the alternator/generator components.
Battery water level should be checked
prior to charging the battery. Electrolyte should never be added to a
battery after the initial filling when new. Only the water evaporates,
leaving the acid soaked inside the lead plates. So the electrolyte remains
and only needs distilled water to be added to reactivate it.
When a battery is in a low state of
charge (for a period of time), the acid in it separates (as mentioned in
last paragraph). This causes a condition known as “sulfation”.
Sulfation causes deterioration of the lead plates inside the battery,
leading to an early failure. The lower that the batteries state of charge
becomes, the faster sulfation’s effects take over, weakening the battery
quicker.
Once a battery has been left
completely dead, they will almost always not come back from that totally
dead condition. The handful that will, are almost never very reliable or
very strong again.
The bottom line to this battery deal
is to work to never let the battery go dead or stored in a low state of
charge.
After you digest the battery
information, you will need to understand how the charging system actually
works in order to manage your battery life. It is best to think of the
motorcycle charging system as a maintenance
system. As stated earlier in the
article, it will never charge a low battery completely. The charging
systems are basically designed to replace the energy required to start the
motorcycle. In effect, a battery that started the bike at 80% charge, will
liley only get to 80-85% after running. Not only will riding the bike with
a low battery not fully charge the battery, this causes the charging
system to charge as hard as it can while trying to charge the low battery.
Motorcycle/ATV charging systems are not designed to stay at full charge
level for extended periods. When required to do so, this over heats
rectifiers, stator windings, and regulator components causing them to
fail. This only adds to the cost of replacing the battery that was failing
anyway.
Small battery chargers can be
purchased for below $20. If you prefer not to have to remember to
plug/unplug the charger during storage, a Battery Tender is a great
solution (around $39) as they can be left plugged in. They are an
“intelligent” battery charger as they can sense when the battery
requires charging and when it does not.
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