View Full Version : How to check battery 'health'? Pointy
LewSpeight
09-12-12, 11:52 PM
As in title... Not sure if my battery is caput, had it a month or so, been sat in a garage with a mini alarm on that apparently only take 1 milliamp from the batt to work. Went back after 2 weeks of inactivity and completely dead...
I'm not sure if the battery was fully charged when I bought it though. Are there any tests? Thanks!
chris8886
10-12-12, 12:36 AM
get yourself a trcikle charger and that will tell you if it's knackered or not, but i'm sure there are cheaper ways too, but then having said that a trickle charger can recover depleted batteries and make them useable again.
There's only one sure way. If you bike turns over reliably each and every time you try and start it then your battery is fine.
You can measure current drain when parked up to see if it's being drained by more than your alarm declares, you can measure charging voltage when it's running to make sure it's charging, you can plug a conditioner into it which will light up various healthy/not-healthy LEDs. All these things are good indicators but at the end of the day batteries are magical devices and they work when they want to. I've had batteries on several cars and bikes that test perfectly but still don't turn the car/bike over when needed. Swapped out the battery and all good.
Your local battery shop will probably have a load tester. This will probably be for a car not a bike and if they sell batteries, will probably tell you that you need a new battery.
If you charge it up, then disconnect the plug leads and turn the bike over you'll get a good idea if it's a strong battery or not (don't turn it over too long or you'll knacker the starter). Also if it's always flat when you get back to it try disconnecting the battery and see if it still goes flat on it's own. Often a slightly iffy battery gets very iffy when cold and will just loose charge of it's own accord.
In general, invest in a trickle charger and leave it plugged in which should deal with the alarm draining it and general other mystical little discharge issues. If it usually starts when you need it to (both at home and at work) then leave it at that. If not then you need to start investigating what's draining the battery by a process of elimination or see if you can swap batteries with someone else to eliminate the battery itself.
LewSpeight
10-12-12, 10:49 AM
Very helpful. I was looking into getting one of them indicator things, but I'm going to see if it starts to live when I start going out on it. Haven't ridden it properly yet and the previous owner (who was very honest) has stated the battery was/is fine...
If the battery is low, how long should you leave it on Tickover to charge it fully?
rictus01
10-12-12, 11:01 AM
You have no need to leave a modern bike on idle, in fact it's one of the things to avoid, get on it and ride it, with normal riding your alternator will put out at least 14v, more than enough for charging purposes (basically ride it for 15 minute to insure a decent charge).
LewSpeight
10-12-12, 11:02 AM
Ah right awesome.
I was wondering about idle because I can't actually ride it yet due to insurance reasons :/
rictus01
10-12-12, 11:03 AM
Oh and the starter button shouldn't be depressed for more than 10 second at a time or you risk damage.
LewSpeight
10-12-12, 11:04 AM
Oh yeh fudge that. I never do :D
Rokerman
10-12-12, 11:28 AM
You have no need to leave a modern bike on idle, in fact it's one of the things to avoid, get on it and ride it, with normal riding your alternator will put out at least 14v, more than enough for charging purposes (basically ride it for 15 minute to insure a decent charge).
Well every day's a school day. I didn't know that. Obviously a ride out is better.
A colleague has lent me an Optimate 4 which looks a very clever piece of kit - or rather I should say it looks like it does more than trickle charge. :p
rictus01
10-12-12, 11:34 AM
indeed an optimate is one of the "smart" chargers, it will asses the battery condition and charge accordingly, once fully charged it will trickle charge for a time then run a complete cycle (discharge & recharge), this is the best way to maintain your battery as it simulates what would happen when riding.
LewSpeight
10-12-12, 11:38 AM
May look into one of these things you speak of :P
SUPERSTARDJ01
10-12-12, 01:40 PM
I was wondering the same thing, I've gone from a street triple that turned over first time everytime to a k1200r and I have to have the start button push for about 2 or 3 seconds before it kicks into life, I even tried charging it and it's the same, I was wondering if it's because of the size of the engine?
LewSpeight
10-12-12, 01:46 PM
Yeh, wouldn't of thought its anything to do with the battery.
My little 125cc starts first time, I barely have to dab the starter switch and it starts right up haha.
My Sv doesn't like starting, I feel like I'm trying to wake up sloth from a long sleep
rictus01
10-12-12, 01:52 PM
the rating of the battery, the starter, physical mass of the engine (viscosity of engine oil/ gets thicker when cold), limitations on the cables (and returns) as well as any wear or impendence dictate the amount of "oomph" you get when you press the starter button, some bikes are more marginal by design than others, some wear to be like that, there are a few things you can do to help.
Make sure you have a good battery, a good spark and you're not trying to burn 50% water.
Cheers Mark.
Make sure you have a good battery, a good spark and you're not trying to burn 50% water.
Cheers Mark.
And good conections.
because of the hi current drains a few ohms of resitance soon cause power losses.
Carb engines can sometimes give odd behaviour when starting depending on whether fuel has evaporated and they need refilling etc. If parked up hot the fuel will tend to evaporate as the heat soaks through the carbs, especially on something like the SV where the carbs are up above the bulk of the engine. It then might fire straight away on a cold start using fuel in the starter/idle passages but as soon as this is used up it might stall after a couple of seconds if the pump hasn't been able to refill the float bowls enough. My SV tends to do this, it's normal.
Fuel injection can have different starting strategies. Some give injection pulses as soon as it senses the engine turn in order to get immediate starting, however this can tend to result in high hydrocarbon emissions (for certification testing). Other engines wait for the engine to turn enough for it to recognise where it is in the cycle and then start injection at the correct crank angle, this can take (in theory) up to 2 revs before the first injection. It may even wait longer in order to establish some form of air flow measurement to get a better A/F control. It's not unusual to get different starting characteristics from different FI engines, depending on the calibration strategies used.
In emission terms, the first few seconds of cold running can account for a large percentage of the allowable HC emissions.
In emission terms, the first few seconds of cold running can account for a large percentage of the allowable HC emissions.
This is vary true and why VW Misabushi and other manufactures use FSI in cars.
Its going to creap into bikes on day
LewSpeight
11-12-12, 12:37 PM
FSI?
yorkie_chris
11-12-12, 12:46 PM
Direct injection petrol.
Personally I thought stratified charge was to allow for the bulk A/F ratio to be ultra lean without detonation issues.
Fuel stratified injection.
They squirt the petrol near the plug . So it burns smooth but has lots of O2 in the cylinder to burn fully.
Direct injection petrol.
Personally I thought stratified charge was to allow for the bulk A/F ratio to be ultra lean without detonation issues.
That brings down the nasty stuff . As yes your lean .
HR 1.6 Dig T only on fsi on start cycle /idle .
LewSpeight
11-12-12, 03:02 PM
HR 1.6 Dig T only on fsi on start cycle /idle .
lol, English?
yorkie_chris
11-12-12, 03:43 PM
I didn't even catch that...
On the evinrude E-tecs on theboatmans RIB (big snorting 3.2l V6 2 strokes...) they use stratified charge under low load and rpm condition then switch to homogeneous charge (normal running) when you give it a bit more berries.
The result is they are more efficient than you'd think at tickover, and exactly as thirsty as you'd expect when given the berries.
MR16DDT
The*MR16DDT*is a 1.6*L (1618*cc) DIG-T (Direct Injection*Gasoline Turbo-charged) engine, bore is 79.7*mm (3.14*in) and stroke is 81.1*mm (3.19*in). It was first introduced in the*Nissan Juke*small SUV in the autumn of 2010. Output is 188*hp (140*kW) and 177*lb·ft (240*N·m).MR16DDTSome of the pertinent features of the MR16DDT are:Sodium filled exhaust valvesNano finished camshaftsBeehive valve springsTwin*variable valve timing*control (CVTCS on intake and exhaust valves)Turbo-charged and intercooledCompression ratio of 9.5:1Improved fuel efficiency and CO2 emissionsLight weight design and reduced frictions
yorkie_chris
11-12-12, 04:02 PM
Mitsis have had direct injection petrols for years, wonder how many injection pump issues they have? I'd guess they'd be horrific going on how short lived diesel common rail pumps are... and diesel has a lot more lubricity than petrol.
We have the oil burner k9k in allot of ours .
Peps have filled them with petrol and 2 I know of have gone past 75k.
So there quite sorted.
The M9R 2.0 lt has a Bosch dci . Not one issue with them .
A link for some other to read .
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_direct_injection
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