| Author | Message | ||
     Electraglider_1997 |
Motorcycle Superstore has a 24 hr price on the Battery Tender Junior for $24.99. http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/DoTd.aspx You can also sign up for their Super Deal Of The Day email list if you'd like. | ||
| Towpro |
Personally I prefer the Schumacher 1.5a charger/maintainer. Not only does it charge/maintain the battery, it has a cycle where it knocks sulfation off the plates, which adds life to your batteries. The first time you hook it up you might think it broke because the light might stay yellow for 24 hours or so as it goes through the desulfation stage. Next time you use it it will turn green faster. It also comes with the connector to hard wire to the bike as well as the alligator clips. Walmart sells it for around $20.00 | ||
| Froggy |
I just ripped the connector off my battery tender tonight, going to need a replacement now Tow - Is this the one you mention? http://www.batterychargers.com/ProductDetail.aspx? ProductName=94026970 | ||
| Towpro |
Wow, Schumacher makes many different chargers. at the bottom is what mine looks like. Mine does not have a switch for 6/12 V, but it's 2 years old now so they have changed a little. Looking through the different manuals on the schumacher site, some of them have desulfation mode and some don't. I only see it by opening up the owners manual. I also have an older one with the 6/12v switch that does not have desulfation mode. From the owners manual: Desulfation Mode If the battery is left discharged for an extended period of time, it could become sulfated and not accept a normal charge. If the charger detects a sulfated battery, the charger will switch to a special mode of operation designed for such batteries. If successful, normal charging will resume after the battery is desulfated. Desulfation could take up to 8 hours. If desulfation fails, charging will abort and the CHECK BATTERY (red) LED will blink. I see the PS-1562A, SC-200A and SCF-200A models have desulfation mode but the one you linked to does not (at least the manual does not list it).  | ||
| Blake |
That sulfation fighting feature sounds nice Towpro, but I'm not finding any mention of it in the literature for that charger. Where am I missing it? http://www.batterychargers.com/ProductDetail.aspx? ProductName=94026970 http://www.batterychargers.com/Documents/009900103 4WB-03.pdf Looks like Amazon has both the Schumaker and the Battery Tender Jr. for $21 plus shipping. I need one. Tired of having to manually tend the 1 amp charger. | ||
| Blake |
Never mind, I see you already answered my question. Gonna look into one of this desulfation chargers! | ||
| Blake |
Nice... http://www.batterychargers.com/ProductDetail.aspx? ProductName=940261044 I like the accessory outlet adapter for the Uly. Hmmm, I think the outlets on the Uly are wired through the ignition switch though, which was disappointing when I tried to charge the phone with the bike off. Some rewiring may be justified. Zat right Frank? I've not used the under seat outlet yet. | ||
| Froggy |
Bingo. | ||
| Blake |
Amazon has that Schumacher PS-152A on sale for $20. http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SEM-1562A-Speed-C harge-Maintainer/dp/B0009IBJAS/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?ie =UTF8&qid=1320385347&sr=8-3-fkmr0 Like Towpro noted, it has the desulfation feature. I opted for the SP-1 for more charging capacity and the accessory outlet adapter. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I have the harbor freight float tender (I think it was $8 with a coupon or something, I got it for hacking on other electronics). It now says "Not for use on AGM batteries (which the Buell batteries are). Anybody know why? Is that true of the chargers with "desulfation" features as well? | ||
| Blake |
I can't say. I need to check the specs and manual for the charger I just ordered to see it it specify which types of batteries the charger will handle. | ||
| Blake |
I needed to correct the above. Apparently it's not AGM batteries that are sensitive, but gel batteries. They are different animals. Per http://www.chargingchargers.com/tutorials/charging .html
More from http://www.batterystuff.com/tutorial_battery.html# 3
My Uly manual warns against applying more than 14.8 V during charging. That would seem to indicate that a normal battery charger would be okay. | ||
| Froggy |
Anything you have read mention on how these things do with Lithium batteries? Specifically LiFePO4? | ||
| Blake |
From the Schumacher Electric site, www.batterychargers.com:
I think that means the SP-1 model I just ordered, especially since it is designated as ideal for motorcycle and other small batteries, ought to be fine. Not sure about desulfation mode though. If I recall accurately, that mode entails application of repeated intermittent bursts of higher voltage. I could be mistaken. | ||
| Blake |
I don't recall seeing anything on the lithium batteries, but their voltage profile is likely significantly different. But on the other hand, the commercially produced substitute types are designed to work with the bike's existing charging system, so I'd think no worries concerning the charger either. I could be wrong. How's your experience been with them? I sure do like the idea of lightweight lithium battery in the bike. The prices are dropping quickly too. Happy birthday to me? ![: ]](http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/clipart/proud.gif) | ||
| Blake |
Frank, Shorai says conventional chargers are okay for their LiFe batteries as long as they don't apply a desulfation mode. They also say that Battery Tender brand doesn't have that mode, so are okay.
They have more interesting info at http://www.shoraipower.com/t-faq.aspx. See "Can I use Lead-Acid battery chargers or charger/tenders?" about halfway down the page. Interesting to see the voltage versus capacity rating for their LiFePO4 batteries. Nice to have a bit more voltage, about 0.8V more than lead acid. Longer life, no self-discharge to speak of, lightweight, about 7% more voltage, what's not to like! My next bike battery will be a LiFePO4 model for sure. | ||
| Blake |
While investigating all this I noticed that the battery for the '97 Cyclone is a 20 Ah rated model, where the XB12 batteries are just 12 Ah. I'm wondering if the old ones are just overkill. The starting draw should be darn near identical I'd think, same displacement, same compression ratio. Looks like the Sportster batteries followed suit. Interesting. | ||
| Froggy |
Interesting, because Shorai in the past when asked about tenders said something along the lines of "if you need a tender, your have issues with your bike". Yea, because its impossible to leave the key on, and its impossible to have an accessory that is hot 24/7 slowly sapping power. I had a Speedcell LiFePO4 in my XB a few years back, it worked great till I got in my wreck. Being that I wasn't able to turn the key off (and nobody else did) it eventually went flat, after that it was never the same, it always did the "chug" when starting that the stock batteries do after they get some age in them. Eventually it got to the point that it was doing the machinegun click when starting. Funny thing about the Lithium batteries, they work better once they heat up, so if you keep laying on the starter, it will build up more voltage and start like normal despite being dead enough to reset the clock. I had it just about 2 years before I ripped it back out, and threw the old stock one back in, I don't use my XB much anymore so I dont feel like buying a new replacement battery again. I'll be putting the EBR battery in my 1125's whenever they start to get weak, which will probably be around this time next year. | ||
| Blake |
Full discharge on an LiFePO4 battery is apparently the kiss of death. Bad luck. I forgot about this site, amazing repository of knowledge... http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/ | ||
| Blake |
Darn it, I had run across a really high quality American LiFePO4 battery web site, but now cannot find it. Browser history already ditched it. They had what looked like some really good information and touted their batteries for their higher energy density cylindrical power cells, also made in America. The batteries looked very high quality. Cases where flat sided, not conformal to the cylindrical cells. Argggh. | ||
| Uly_man |
The Uly uses a AGM gel type battery because it lies on its side, unlike some other XBs which can use a std sealed lead acid type. It does make them cost a lot more though and is near twice the amount. There is nothing wrong with the HD AGM battery, apart from the fact that it could do with a higher CCR rating for a V-Twin but it is a good quality product. You can get a higher rated Yusa one if you want to pay the extra money. I still have my original HD AGM battery, off my old 06 Uly and keep it in my car to pump up a slow puncture. I guess I charge it about twice a year. BUT TRY THIS ONE? I had not charged it for three months and used it to jump a 3000cc 7 series BMW car and that has a 800 CCR rated battery. I think thats outstanding for a five year old battery. The Uly, as with many modern bikes/cars has a parasitic drain on the battery and thats half the problem. Two weeks is all I get standing before I have starting problems. All I do is take the Earth lead off the battery. It takes 30 seconds to do and costs nothing. If you use the bike you should have no problems. I do not at all. The bike will not start if the charge is below 11.1v because of the ECM. You MUST use a charger rated for a bike battery and this should be less than 1 Amp max. High rated chargers can heat up the plates and warp them. This can short them out and the battery is then toast gel or otherwise. A couple of other things. It is best not to jump the battery if you can help it and if you do and/or get it started with a low charged battery take it off and/or charge it latter. | ||
| Blake |
Found it... http://antigravitybatteries.com/ | ||
| Blake |
Marc (Uly_man), Interesting story about your old battery, pretty incredible! A 12V lead acid battery is 100% depleted when the resting voltage drops below 11.5V, so it's not just the ECM keeping the bike from starting. Full charge is 12.7V or more. If you are going to leave a dumb charger (no tender/mantainer type intelligent function) then I agree that more than 1 A is potentially harmful. But with the modern intelligent battery chargers/maintainers or with closely monitored charging, even 10 A is fine for quick charging. | ||
| Tastroman |
So should I go out to the garage and unplug my Harbor Freight Float charger? I used it all of last winter and the bike started fine in the spring. | ||
| Tastroman |
Uly-man By "earth lead" do you mean the negative battery connection? | ||
| Ratbuell |
I keep a number of Battery Tender Jr's in the garage (with five bikes, I keep more than one going). S2 battery got replaced when I bought it in '07; still going strong. OEM battery in the 06 Uly that I bought new; 27k miles, still happy and starting fine. CR, despite having one stator replaced (and riding home over an hour the day the charging system went south), still has the OEM battery - it resurrected nicely. S1W got a new battery when I bought it back in 06; still a happy camper. Un-heated garage and I just rotate the tenders through the bikes. If I remember. Generally all the tenders are on something in the winter; if I ride one, I move the tender to another bike. Summertime, if I remember that I haven't ridden one in a long time...I'll plug it in for a day or so then go for a nice long ride on it. Froggy - its easy to replace the connector, just need a VOM so you know your polarity. The plugs are fairly universal - I know you know where a Radio Shack is  Don't ditch the Tender just because of the plug! | ||
| Tastroman |
Can anyone tell me if disconnecting the battery will require a TPS reset when you reconnect the battery? | ||
| Froggy |
Disconnecting the battery has no effect on the TPS setting. | ||
| Swampy |
I don't know why you guys are sweating the battery thing. I have never had a problem with an AGM battery. I have had one last 9 years with nothing but charging it before storage and disconnecting it and leaving it for the winter. These AGM batteries are great, they don't freeze, don't boil and require very little maintenance. Just try it, save some electricity, charge it, disconnect it and forget it till spring. | ||
| Tastroman |
That's what I plan on doing this winter. | ||
| Uly_man |
"Just try it, save some electricity, charge it, disconnect it and forget it till spring." Thats about it. They wait at the dealers for that and not charged before shipping. Best to top them off once you have them though. "Interesting story about your old battery, pretty incredible!" True story and I was amazed myself. The car did not turn over for very long but if it had not had a bad relay it would have started. The charger I use is a intelligent type but less than one amp and use it on the 800 CCR car battery as well. Two days to charge it but not in a hurry as I have a spare. Any bike I have had needs long trip to get a full charge and V-Twins need it. If you think a Uly is bad for battery charge try an Aprilia RSV-R, a Duke that charges it until it explodes or most Yams until they boil it dry. The Uly is not all that bad at the end of the day. I sometimes think people today think that perfection is the norm. Well its no more now than it has ever been. You are going to take a hit at some point and thats a fact. As far as a bike goes a Uly is very close. Some out there need to try bikes of the past, even now to understand how good a Buell can be. Man some of the things that I used to ride still scare me thinking on it. | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
"I just ripped the connector off my battery tender tonight, going to need a replacement now" Add one of these when you fix it. I've had one in the left side air deflector on my Uly since right after I bought the bike. Works great. No more fumbling around with a loose cable somewhere under the seat every time I plug/unplug the tender.  http://www.powerlet.com/products/imgs/ptb.jpg (about halfway down the page) |
