Welcome Sunshine. - SV650.org

01-03-10, 03:48 PM

Sunshine
+
Bike cleaned
+
Serviced
+
Unpacked from winter storage
+
Optimate put on battery last week
+
Leathers cleaned up
=

...super-dead battery

Ar$et!t.

01-03-10, 03:54 PM

snap

fastdruid · 01-03-10, 04:14 PM

Yep, my VFR fired up eventually (after I sorted the brakes) but I suspect the battery is not long for this world.

Advantage of old-skool batteries is they are cheap, disadvantage is they don't seem to last anything near as long as modern gel batteries[1].

Druid

[1] 8 years out of the original SV battery, I'm lucky to get 2 years per VFR battery.

01-03-10, 04:21 PM

Well this one is 11 years old! I kind of knew it was dead though. I even went back in to the house to get some jump leads 'just in case'

2 years is pretty shocking!

fastdruid · 01-03-10, 04:33 PM

They seem to really suffer badly if fully discharged, a couple of times I've left the parking lights on all day (easy to do on it), come back and the battery is flat and never seems to recover.

Gel batteries seem rather more resilient and as long as not left fully discharged for days seem to recover.

Druid

G · 01-03-10, 04:38 PM

I though the idea of an optimate is to put it on all the time from the minute you put it away for storage so that it doesn't go flat. Try are trickle chargers so run test on the battery to avoid over charging. It's no good just putting it on at the end of winter.

01-03-10, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by G

I though the idea of an optimate is to put it on all the time from the minute you put it away for storage so that it doesn't go flat. Try are trickle chargers so run test on the battery to avoid over charging. It's no good just putting it on at the end of winter.

It was plugged in to an optimate until someone must have needed the extension lead it was using

Doh!

fastdruid · 01-03-10, 05:04 PM

I've had issues with them being plugged in 24/7 before, I'd power them on/off about once a week or so.

Druid

01-03-10, 05:32 PM

They chuck out so much heat even in maintain mode. I wouldn't be keen on leaving it on for months.

Next year I'll just stop being a pansy and ride it

01-03-10, 05:36 PM

When I arrived at work in the glorious sunshine and saw the guy getting onto his Fazer and giving me a nod I regretted taking the car.

I hope it ****ES DOWN tonight so I don't feel quite so bad.

01-03-10, 03:48 PM	#1
gettin2dizzy Guest Posts: n/a	Welcome Sunshine. Sunshine + Bike cleaned + Serviced + Unpacked from winter storage + Optimate put on battery last week + Leathers cleaned up = ...super-dead battery Ar$et!t.

01-03-10, 03:54 PM	#2
TheNinj1 Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Welome Sunshine snap

01-03-10, 04:14 PM	#3
fastdruid Member Mega Poster Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: W Mids Posts: 2,037	Re: Welome Sunshine Yep, my VFR fired up eventually (after I sorted the brakes) but I suspect the battery is not long for this world. Advantage of old-skool batteries is they are cheap, disadvantage is they don't seem to last anything near as long as modern gel batteries[1]. Druid [1] 8 years out of the original SV battery, I'm lucky to get 2 years per VFR battery. __________________ '00 SV700S - '94 RVF400R - '97 RVF400R - '88 VFR750F

01-03-10, 04:21 PM	#4
gettin2dizzy Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Welome Sunshine Well this one is 11 years old! I kind of knew it was dead though. I even went back in to the house to get some jump leads 'just in case' 2 years is pretty shocking!

01-03-10, 04:33 PM	#5
fastdruid Member Mega Poster Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: W Mids Posts: 2,037	Re: Welome Sunshine They seem to really suffer badly if fully discharged, a couple of times I've left the parking lights on all day (easy to do on it), come back and the battery is flat and never seems to recover. Gel batteries seem rather more resilient and as long as not left fully discharged for days seem to recover. Druid __________________ '00 SV700S - '94 RVF400R - '97 RVF400R - '88 VFR750F

01-03-10, 04:38 PM	#6
G Member Mega Poster Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 3,770	Re: Welome Sunshine I though the idea of an optimate is to put it on all the time from the minute you put it away for storage so that it doesn't go flat. Try are trickle chargers so run test on the battery to avoid over charging. It's no good just putting it on at the end of winter.

01-03-10, 05:04 PM	#8
fastdruid Member Mega Poster Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: W Mids Posts: 2,037	Re: Welome Sunshine I've had issues with them being plugged in 24/7 before, I'd power them on/off about once a week or so. Druid __________________ '00 SV700S - '94 RVF400R - '97 RVF400R - '88 VFR750F

01-03-10, 05:32 PM	#9
gettin2dizzy Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Welome Sunshine They chuck out so much heat even in maintain mode. I wouldn't be keen on leaving it on for months. Next year I'll just stop being a pansy and ride it

01-03-10, 05:36 PM	#10
metalangel Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Welome Sunshine When I arrived at work in the glorious sunshine and saw the guy getting onto his Fazer and giving me a nod I regretted taking the car. I hope it ****ES DOWN tonight so I don't feel quite so bad.

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