Battery fail questions

[KevinR]

I'm wondering if other Venture owners notice their bikes' batteries failing more often than with other bikes they may own? I have a 2006 Venture and it seems like I need to replace the battery every 2 years, much more often than in my '86 Goldwing. Both bikes have the same brand AGM batteries but the one in the Wing is about 4 years old while my Venture battery is only 2 and won't hold a charge any more, just like the previous one in this bike which also died at 2 years. I've done a load test and that checks out fine. Voltage while running is just over 14V so I know the stator and regulator are good. I've even gone so far as to shut the radio off before shutting the bike off, which seems silly, as I know it has to be using a tiny bit of voltage just to keep the memory in the radio. I'd thought maybe I wasn't riding enough but this past week I took it out for a good ride and when I wanted to use it again the next day, it barely cranked. After riding it, voltage checks at 12.8 V when shut off but by the next day has dropped to 12.4-12.5, so that would tell me maybe the battery is on its way out, but why? This is the 3rd battery I've had in this bike in 5 years, first one unknown as to age, as I bought the bike used. First new battery I bought for it, I kept a float charger on it over the winter and it was dead within a month of riding season. I read in a forum either here or the Gold Wing forum that you'll kill an AGM battery hooked to a maintainer, so now I don't, but same results. What's the real answer to that question also? Thanks!!!

[Marcarl]

Could be that you ar overcharging the battery. How much over 14v does it show?

[bongobobny]

The Goldwing site is correct, AGM batteries do NOT like float chargers!! (Don't ask how I know this...) I now remove my AGM from the bike when storing for the winter and just put it on the shelf and forget about it! This spring I hooked my battery charger with a AGM specific setting, and with a 2 amp setting the battery was fully charged in about 1/2 hour! AGM's hold their charge quite well by themselves.

 

The issue may be with the Regulator/Rectifiers. It seems to me that several have failed for some reason or another. There are a few better R/R's out there but unfortunately none are plug and play mainly because of the connector they use. There is no available connectors to make up adapter cables...

[Du-Rron]

here is a good read from power-sonic

 

http://www.power-sonic.com/images/powersonic/technical/1277751263_20100627-TechManual-Lo.pdf

 

it will open a pdf

[KevinR]

Barely over, 14.05-14.1. Manual says it should be 14 so I'm thinking that little bit is in the ballpark.

[KevinR]

Sounds like you and I had the same experience with the float chargers. Since I'm getting 14V when running, I'd think the R/R must be good. Looks like I'll be ordering a new battery soon. Thanks!

[bongobobny]

Fully charge battery. Take battery out and go to your local Auto Zone, or any other parts store that will load test your battery for free, and have battery load tested. If it tests weak then replace said battery. Auto Zone sells their brand of AGM, and when you peel the label off, you discover that it is a DEKA with their label on it...

[vzuden]

Have you checked to see if there is a draw on the battery when everything is assumed to be off?

[MikeWa]

From your description not holding a charge with the bike off may or may not be the battery. Unhook the battery cables when parking the bike for a couple of days. If the battery looses it's charge it is the battery. If it holds it's charge then look for a fault (parasitic drain) in the bike. Lets not overcomplicate this.

 

Mike