burst battery

[Big Bad Al]

Went to start my 6month old K4 tis morning and it barely turned over.
So gave it a boost charge and went on my way. Tonight same thing. So lil bro who works with me gave me a push and we got it going. Petrol light on so get some juice just near my home and then it still won't turn over on the battery. I call the wife and ask her to get the jump leads and come and resuce me. Meantime I take off seat and get out the Suzuki tool kit and Ouch - the toolkit is soaking wet and a cut on my thumb stings like crazy! My battery appears to have burst / split and has leaked sulphuric acid everywhere. Explains the dripping when I tried to jump her tonight and reason it won't hold a charge.

Has this happened to anyone else? I went to halfords tonight to get a new bat but they don't sell on for the sv so it's off to Daytona in Ruislip tomorrow AM to see if they can sell me one - I will try and get this FOC as it shouldn't have gone that quick methinks. Incidently, whilst waiting for my wife to save me tonight I collared two friendly biker sorts just stopping off at my local for a quiet drink - between the three of us we couldn't bump start her! Definite knack to it and very tiring.

[Red ones]

You have a definite warranty case. A battery should never explode. They are designed to fail safe even if your charging circuit is wierd.

Claim, claim, claim...

[Biker Biggles]

Dont mention boost charging the battery when you take it back to the dealer.You are supposed to trickle charge most modern batteries.Its worth getting one of those Optimate chargers and putting the bike on charge about once a week for a few hours.No more battery problems.

[Spiderman]

:shock: OMG

Agreed with the above... but when you tell em your story maybe leave out the bts about charges. Just dont give em a reason to try and blame you in any way ;) "I just bumped it a ouple o times is all mate" ;) :D

Not that it could be you
Surley red ones is right that they shouldnt explode. Imagine the corrosive effects its had on the bike as a whole and insist on a new bike would be my thinking! :Evil: Seriously mate. 6 months old? FFS

[embee]

I hope you've hosed it off for an hour or 2. Battery acid will wreck anything it gets near! :shock: :shock:

Ideally you could do with washing it well with some alkaline solution to neutralise the acid (bicarbonate of soda = baking soda ??)

There have been cases of chains breaking due to drops of acid from battery breather pipes (before sealed types).

[Big Bad Al]

cheers gents. New bike it is then!

The bike was stitting all day with this leak and I haven't been able to clean off yet - might just be a liquid pool in the garage where the bike was in the morning!

Going to take a look now as you have collectively kicked my lazy butt into moving.

[21QUEST]

You have a definite warranty case. A battery should never explode. They are designed to fail safe even if your charging circuit is wierd.

Claim, claim, claim...

Mine did explode(part of battery top actually blew off) when my rectifier failed on my SY. Also took the alarm with it.

As has been mentinoed leave out the boost charging bit but do tell them to check the rectifier as that is the only reason you can think of that would make the battery explode(over charging) -read 'fault in charging system obviously'.

That way they know you are clued up :wink:

Cheers
Ben

[Spiderman]

Not sure if you should hose it down tbh.

Doesnt battery acid become more corrosive when in contact with water? I'm sure i remember this from years back at school and you should only clean it with a suitable alakline wash.

Just dont want you makin it any worse and them wriggling out of the obligation they have to yu as the customer.

Good luck mate :thumbsup:

[John Burt]

Yep, youre right spidey boy hosing it down will make the acid more agressive but gallons of cold water will still flush it away, best tip IMHO tub of baking soda in a bucket of water - slung over it and then plenty of fresh to remove residues.

[JMCHITTOCK]

Definitely a warranty claim, I agree. I've just bought a new Ysuada battery for my 2000 SV. I'd left it flat for a couple of weeks and it wasn't going to ressurect itself.

I have bought a cigar lighter and fitted it in an emply old 35 ml film canister pushing the connectors thro the bottom of the case ( actually cut it) and hot wired it to the battery. The canister has a good lid on it so when you cable tie it under the pillion seat itis watertight and makes for an easy acces to trickle charge without all that faffing about taking the seat off
I heard that a car batttery charger is no god to trickle charge bike so does any one recommend a charger??

Hope you sort out the battery

[embee]

.....recommend a charger??



Optimate III seems to be the black box of choice. Not cheap, but you only need to buy it once.

http://www.accumate.co.uk/it010003.html

[JMCHITTOCK]

Embee tks a lot. Had a look at the web page. Looks like it's a good assault on me battery!! :?

[northwind]

Optimate seems excellent, it comes with a nice simple plug-in for easy charging as well, and it's brought my knackered spare battery back to a nice usable condition... Not bad for £30 (show price)

[Big Bad Al]

Sorted. £60 new battery. Charging circuit is all ok care of Daytona.
AA (Suzuki assistance) took me there (well jump started me and I followed him there). The only way to claim would be to leave the bike with Daytona for testing and they have no courtesy bike and I need my wheels. cheers for the comments and advice. My mistake may well have been using a car booster a few months ago when I had left my parking lights on at home........

Al