Charging battery

moto · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 26 Feb 2010 Karma :

I have not been able to ride the bike for about 3 weeks due to what I think is a trapped nerve in my shoulder.

Just went to the garage and tried the electric start, it turns the engine slowly, might actually die before the engine fires.

I have a car batter charger, is there any reason why I should not sue it to charge the bike battery?

It's an XT600E 4PT by the way.

Tavares · Borekit Bruiser Joined: 01 Mar 2008 Karma :

as long as its not a high powered car charger it should be fine, i'm guessing its not one that has different settings for different battery types?
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0ddball · World Chat Champion Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Karma :

Yeah it'll be right. I use a cheapo (1 setting) car charger to keep my zxr battery good while i rebuild the bike.Been giving it a quick zap every couple of months for over a year now and it's fine.

A decent battery should hold good charge for months though so yours sounds tired.

moto · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 26 Feb 2010 Karma :

I bought it many years ago for the car in case of emergencies but so far have never needed to use it.

It does say suitable for 6 or 12 volt car, motorcycle and lawnmower batteries but wanted to see if anyone came up with a reason not to use it on my bike.
Ages ago I saw a post about using a specific motorcycle battery charger.

It is a heavy duty battery charger with trickle charge.
Hopefully it will be OK to use, just a matter of disconnecting the battery from the bike and connecting up.

Mr Hammers · World Chat Champion Joined: 10 Jul 2008 Karma :

Mine blew i'ts own fuse when I tried charging a (12v) bike battery. Worked ok on a car battery after I changed it though, but I won't be using for that again.
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FURBAR · Banned Joined: 04 Apr 2010 Karma :

Perhaps the trickal charge is best .... guessing ... Idea

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ollieholt · World Chat Champion Joined: 09 Apr 2010 Karma :

yeah i would go for a trickle charge for a couple of hours and see how you get on. i normally bang mine on a massive charger we have at work specifically for 12v batterys. it constantly adjusts charge to the size fo the battery.

i cannot see it doing it much harm if you put it on the normal charge setting and just hooked it up for half an hour but keep a close eye on it, if its getting hot, warm is fine but hot, take it off and stand clear.

batterys can give off hydrogen when charging (well they do) so make sure its ina well ventalated place and there isnt any sources of ignition about. also keep anything that could burn well away, if it explodes or melts down you dont want things catching fire. many a building has been turned to dust due to battery charging accidents and many veicles ruined.
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moto · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 26 Feb 2010 Karma :

I put it on trickle and the charge light came on but when I checked an hour later the light was out, I thought the connections must be bad but when I connected it to the bike again it fired up straight away.

It is the original battery (2003) and I bought the bike in January when the shop charged it up, since then I have not had to.

I only get a chance to use the bike about every 2nd weekend and lately it turns the engine over slower but now fast agin.

Thanks for all the help.

Paxovasa · World Chat Champion Joined: 25 Apr 2010 Karma :

So you have two flat batteries Shocked

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moto · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 26 Feb 2010 Karma :

Yes apparently. The other one is in a parallel Universe.

Sorry, I honestly have no idea why it posted twice, I only clicked submit once.

Anyway thanks to my research the battery problem is sorted Smile

doggone · World Chat Champion Joined: 20 May 2004 Karma :

Battery will often state a maximum (advisable) charge rate, typically just 1amp but agree you can charge faster but don't leave it on long.
When the bike is running the alternator will be pumping out 20amps or more.
You get better results from long slow charging.

headlamp · World Chat Champion Joined: 26 Nov 2003 Karma :

I use something called a Tricklemate - which I plug in once a week. As my riding consists of a (relatively) slow commute into the West End the battery never gets a full charge back - with the alarm and headlamp on all the time the battery will eventually discharge more then what is going in. They are not expensive and cwrtainly cheaper then a new battery once a year!
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