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Battery left in bike all winter, can it be saved?


jeange

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So I usually leave the battery in my VFR all winter but it is connected to charger/maintainer. This has work flawlessly for the last 5 years. This year my wife went into the storage shed to get something and had to unplug the charger but replug it incorrectly. Plugged the end of the charger into the charger connection dust cap on the bike. So as a results my bike sat all winter with battery unplugged. When I went to start it, it didn't start. So I plugged the charger back in and left it charge for 3 days. Came back, tried to started and it did. Ran bike for 15 mins then shut it off. Replugged charger and left. Now I went to try and start it and there is nothing, only the clock in the lower right of the instrument cluster lights up. I thought it was a blown fuse so I looked all over but found nothing. Brought a booster pack and hooked it to the battery and the bike started. I pulled the battery out of the bike and left it on the charger for a few hours and came back and seen the charger stopped charging. Thinking it was because it might of had too low of voltage I hook a 10-amp charger to it for 30 mins and monitored the battery temperature with my hand. After 30 minutes, I unplugged the 10A charger and connected the battery charger/maintainer. Now it seem to charge. Came back the next day and a flashing light came on the Schumacher 1.5A charger/maintainer that says replace battery. I checked the voltage with a multimeter and the battery is at 11.3v. Can I save this battery or no?

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  • Member Contributer

Nah ! Replace it.

 

I know "dead" batteries (sulfation) can actually be revived in many cases but it takes a special purpose made charger which I have no idea where to find and even so there is no guarantee as some internal damage is truly irreversible. 

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I'm thinking 10 amps is rather a lot for a MC battery.

Sounds like time for a new one in any case.

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Battery is dead, don't risk it as it may let you down when least expected. When you fit your new battery, do a little check with a voltmeter, measure your battery volts, then start your bike and re-measure, the volts should increase by a couple, confirming your charging system is O.K. At 5000rpm should be no greater than 15.5v.

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  • Member Contributer

Buy a cheap battery tender or trickle charger from Harbor Freight Tools.  Less than $20.00.  It will save you some heart ache.

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