OT--Battery maintainer

Stored my Harley last fall starting mid November. I put a Schaller 1.5 amp battery maintainer on it at that time. Today I fired it up and it turned over like it would while in use. I've owned the bike since 2002 when I bought it new. The battery is a gel-cell. This is the first time I've used the maintainer and was pleasantly surprised that it did its job. Previously I crossed my fingers as after being parked for 5 or 6 months it always turned over barely enough to start.

End of story.

Reply to
A. Baum
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Hi, You are talking about trickle charger. Hmm, bike... when I married I promised wife I won't ride bike again. When I have an urge, I get a spin on my SIL's vintage(just like brand new) Indian Commando.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

A battery maintainer works better than a trickle charger. Leaving a battery on a trickle charge causes sulfation and deterioration, which also happens if it sits months without charging. A battery maintainer switches on and off as needed.

Gel cells have slower self-discharge than conventional motorcycle batteries, so the OP might have gotten a good start without the maintainer. The maintainer is still a good idea.

Fifteen years ago, I used a zener and a couple of other diodes and some resistors to make a $2 meter movement swing full range between 11 and 15 V. I keep it below my dashboard. Depending on what the meter says, I top off my battery several times a year using a voltage-regulated (automatic) charger. It's a two-year battery going strong since 2002.

Reply to
J Burns

Ever heard about smart trickle charger? When I store battery I used to connect a small 12V bulb with trickle charger. Olden days we didn't have ASIC to build a smart charger then.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

That and also a maintainer will NOT charge a dead battery. Tried that on my 2004 Kawasaki Vulcan. I thought incorrectly that 1.5 amps would trickle charge the battery. It wasn't completely dead either. Just enough where it would not turn the motor over completely. The Schauer (not Shaller as previously stated) has an indicator LED. Yellow when charging and green when charged. The indicator changed to green on the Vulcan battery but it wasn't enough to turn it over more that a couple revolutions. That was surprising. I jump started the Vulcan and road it for 50 miles recharging the battery and never had a problem with it again.

Reply to
A. Baum

My "Bell" brand "The Juicer" battery charger maintainer is rated at only

750mA and it charges not only a wave runner battery, but it will do a half dead car battery too, just takes a while. Red led when charging, turns green when in "storage" mode.
Reply to
Tony Miklos

Then it's a charger/maintainer :) One would assume the Schauer maintainer would actually charge a "half dead" motorcycle battery but it sure didn't in my case even though the indicator showed it went from yellow to green. I used it in the winter of 2009-2010 to plug into my SUV battery which was an Autozone battery. The advertised CCA was vastly underrated as when the temp dropped into the single digits the motor cranked very slowly barely starting. And it was only two years old. Using the Schauer overnight did improve the cold cranking speed. In 2010 I moved up to an Autozone 1000 CCA battery and that solved the problem. I was a little leery leaving the maintainer on the Harley for 4 full months but it was a pleasant surprise to fire it up two days ago fully charged.

Reply to
A. Baum

In a waverunner I have a small motorcycle size battery and this thing won't die. Normally they only last 2 or 3 years, this thing is 5 years old so I wasn't worried about maintaining it over the winter. Checked it two days ago and it was dead, about as dead as they get. For the hell of it I put on a 7 amp charger, the amp gauge didn't even move. Then forgot about it and it was on for about 10 hours and amp gauge was at 7. It was very warm and bubbling away. It cranked the motor like new. Two days later it still cranks like new. If I would have taken care of it, it probably would have lasted 10 years! I can't trust it out in the lake so I'll get a new one this year, I'll try to hunt down the same brand again, I don't know it off hand.

Reply to
Tony Miklos

Buy a Harley battery. They are completely sealed and a jell cell. And they are known to last well beyond 10 years. Plus being a jell cell they have a deeper discharge cycle and won't loose as much capacity if completely discharged. I also own a 1981 Honda CB750F I purchased new in

1982. I've replaced the battery in that thing maybe 8 times and there is nothing wrong with the charging system. I'm sure if I had a maintainer on it I would have gotten double the life of each battery as they seem to sulfidate easily over the 5 months not in use. And the bikes are both stored in a temperature controlled garage temps never getting lower than 50F. I can't afford a dead battery either seeing neither the Honda or Harley have kick starts and are almost impossible to push to pop the clutch unless you're on a hill or enlist the help of a couple willing bystanders :)
Reply to
A. Baum

Don't see much naked motor riding in these parts. Where's that you live?

-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green

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