Did I kill my battery?

[KevinR]

I was just reading another thread concerning battery tenders/float chargers, etc. and upon experiencing what happened to me yesterday, have a concern about what happened to my battery. We took the Venture on a long trip 2 weeks ago and all was fine, never a hint of a problem at all then, or since going back on the road in April. Yesterday I wanted to take it out for a ride and not only would it not start, the tester only showed 4.67V. This AGM battery is only 15 months old and a good one too, rated at 310 CCA. Could the problem be the type of float charger I used during the winter? I know that seems like a dumb question since we're in August now and all has been fine so far this season, but I'd kept one of those cheapie float chargers from Harbor Freight through the cold season and today I noticed the small print, "Do not use on AGM type batteries." I don't know why that is, but I'm guessing it has something to do with my current problem? I got suspicious when I saw another model of charger with a switch for 3 settings, according to what type of battery being charged.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

AGM batteries, especially motorcycle AGM batteries, are pretty particular about the float voltage applied during long term charging and storage.

 

If the charger says do not use on AGM type, then I suppose thats what it means.

 

If any 12V lead acid battery reads below 6 volts or so, and remains there for awhile, you might as well type out the obituary.

 

Solution? Buy a new one and get a proper maintainer rated for it.

 

 

 

 

 

[Marcarl]

First I would check that you do not have a drain on that battery, that would be my first consideration.

Then I would check that the bike is charging enough.

Only after that would I worry over the charger or whether the battery is toast.

Just because it shows only 4 volts, doesn't mean that it is done in.

I'm not at all sure about float chargers, and why one can be used and another not. I've read different opinions on the whats and wherefores, and so far am still confused as ever.

I've never used one, just leave my battery in the bike, park it for the winter and fire it up again in the spring, 5 years on a Dekka, and no issues so far. I do have a heated garage.

[KevinR]

A hint of the battery's condition is probably indicated by the fact that this type of charger has an LED that glows when any current is going through it, charging or not but in this instance, the light goes out as soon as plugged in, looks like a dead short

[Squidley]

I would charge the battery up, out of the bike, to a full charge again. Then I would take it in and have it load tested, they have to be fully charged to be sure the load test is correct. That will give you a general health indicator of your battery. If it's good, I would start looking for an issue that could be draining your system. If it's not good, buy another battery...

[Flyinfool]

with the battery that low you may have to start the charge process with non automatic charger.

Many of the automatic chargers will see that low of a voltage and assume something is wrong and refuse to charge.

[IronMike]

Yea how many battery's have been toasted by one of the HF chargers? Guilty here! I went out and bought a new one, Mine was 4 years old when I did this.

Just for Sheets and giggles i put it on regular charger, came back a day later and it was full, I used it for a testing battery until my lawnmower battery died two years ago, I used a 2x4 as a shim and installed it in the Cub Cadet, Just mowed the lawn. The battery is STILL good.

 

So dont toss it.

Charge it, I now use a cheap Wal Mart float charger, $20 works like a charm.

 

I have some automatic high tech charger and just like he said, sometimes it will fault out and not charge things.

 

The factory battery is best one I ever found.

[N3FOL]

With the size of RSV battery, I make sure to charge the battery no more than 2 Amps at 12 Volts. I have a new Yuasa installed and it is performing ok so far.