battery

[a101960]

When you pull the fuse for the winter time shutdown, (how long a time are we talking about)  do you have to flash the field when  the fuse is re-Installed, so the regulator and the Dyno are  on the same page, or polarity as it were ??

Bill, The time span is around 5 months (October - April) as a rule. The lay up time is however weather dependent. If for example the weather in October is still mild and dry, then I continue to ride. This year for example I did not lay up the bike until this weekend.  March can be pleasant and benign or it can be cold, windy, and wet. The prevailing weather conditions will determine exactly  when I start riding again.  Normally however, by the end of March to the begining of April the weather should be OK. One caveat: I will not use the bike if there is any salt on the roads. As for the dynamo polarity, most times there is no problem. It only takes a minute to give it a quick flash anyway. To be specific, and for the sake of clarity the electrical system on my bike is 12v -ve earth. I use a DVR2 regulator driven by a belt drive, and the batteries are two 6v cyclons in series fitted inside a dummy battery case. One further comment about laying up for the winter months. Going slightly off topic, I do two other things. I coat all the bright parts with with ACF50 to protect against damp, and I always fill the petrol tank tank right up to the brim, and make sure that the carb has no residual petrol in it.
John

[warmshed]

The dynamo should not need repolarizing. I believe you are correct you need a battery when using the dvr 2.

[Rgs-Bill]

Hi again, was just wondering if any of you have used the Wall Mart  6 volt kiddee car battery. It is supposed to fit the battery bracket with a slight (bending) modification, and be bullet proof for discharging, as it runs a kids electric car around the yard all day without a re-charging system.  You have to plug IT into a wall outlet at night. 

Any of you tried one ???

                 THANKS MUCH BILL

[warmshed]

Do you know what type of battery it is? If its lead acid its worth a try but if its Nicad or NiMh then our charging system will probably kill it.

[Rgs-Bill]

You know, I do not know what kind the battery is, I just assumed it was a lead acid type.. I suppose I had better check into that by calling them.  I think there was a posting on the forum about it, but it could have been the US forum ( BRIT BIKE FORUM ).  I will look into that also.  Thanks
        BILL

[Butch (cb)]

I just have the cheapest 6v lead acid cell I could find roughly strapped down under the seat. Never bother with charging it.  Sometimes it becomes feeble enough that the LED bulbs won't light, but they're OK once I have the motor running. Did have to do a dynamo reflash early on some few years back.

With no requirement for MOT or road tax I don't really lay it up these days. If a dry winter day came up then maybe it would come out. There's no way it goes on salt though, wet or dry.

[derek taylor]

right then just got round to taking the old battery off. it was only half full so have topped it up with distilled water, has now been on charge all day now, but the cell next to the + is not bubbling the rest are doing great..... is it knackerd ?

[Beezageezauk]

Derek,

I' m not an electrical guru but here's my suggestion.

Do you have a multimeter? If so, take the battery off charge and check the voltage reading. It should be about 13 volts. If it is, take another reading in the morning and if the reading is appreciably less, the battery is shot.

Beezageezauk.

[muskrat]

As above or load it with the headlight for a minute or two, wait a minute and check. Less than 12.5 it's on its way out.
Cheers

[Topdad]

In the words of Monty python ( its probably ) " a deceased battery "  Bob

[bikerbob]

AS regards the cyclon batteries I had one on my A7 when I bought it 6v but it would not hold a charge so I changed to a lead acid battery the reason was I was told that cyclon batteries do not like the old Lucas type voltage regulators and it is advisable to fit an electronic regulator.

[morris]

In the words of Monty python ( its probably ) " a deceased battery "  Bob

And now for something completely different...

[duTch]

 

I used to buy Yuasa battery for the Moto as supposedly robust, but didn't seem to get much life, just a year or so riding every day at least an hour round trip.  Tried an Odyssey, but considering the expense not impressed, so started using El-Cheapo's, with a reasonable degree of satisfaction, so used same supplier for the Beeza battery (6V/13ah)....was fine until a month or so ago...when it went dead FLAT..you'll never get one flatter (see picture.....), but will continue over at....link below/Page 2

 http://www.a7a10.net/forum/index.php?topic=7959.15

 21/2/15 realized I previously pasted the wrong link (/post reply!!) - now fixed (I think)


 

[Johnny J]

No matter which kind of Lead-Acid battery, the normal "wet" type, AGM or Gel, you should never let a 12V battery go under 10.5V or a 6V battery under 5.2V.
At lower Voltages than that the acid starts to eat the lead away and the battery very quickly is gone.

For our bikes, "wet" are no good, they are constructed for short bursts of high Amperage, like a starter motor and doesn't handle "deep discharges" well at all. They have much thinner lead plates than AGM and Gel which are much better suited for our bikes.

[duTch]

  I have a volt meter 'permanently' connected to monitor.

No matter which kind of Lead-Acid battery, the normal "wet" type, AGM or Gel, you should never let a 12V battery go under 10.5V or a 6V battery under 5.2V.
At lower Voltages than that the acid starts to eat the lead away and the battery very quickly is gone.

 Well yeah Johnny, I'm fairly well aware of that these days, but sometimes shit happens when we don't expect it....

For our bikes, "wet" are no good, they are constructed for short bursts of high Amperage, like a starter motor and doesn't handle "deep discharges" well at all. They have much thinner lead plates than AGM och Gel which are much better suited for our bikes.

 Good and well, but did Gel/AGM exist when 'Our' bikes were modern......? Not disputing what you say, just sayin'....