Member Contributer JakeIII Posted January 4, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted January 4, 2013 I have started to put my fifth gen back together again after starting an engine swap awhile ago. The battery has been sitting in the garage for two years now. My question is: Can I use my car charger to charge the battery or does this require a special charger such as a trickle charger? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NakedViffer Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 Battery is shot, buy a new one. And no, you aren't supposed to use a car charger to charge bike batteries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JakeIII Posted January 4, 2013 Author Member Contributer Share Posted January 4, 2013 Battery is shot, buy a new one. And no, you aren't supposed to use a car charger to charge bike batteries. I can understand not using the car charger... seemed like a bad idea from the start. But why would the battery be shot? Just a newbe question, it would seem like these things could sit on a store shelf for awhile? Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer oyama Posted January 4, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted January 4, 2013 What is wrong with the car charger? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 Car charger = too many amps. You should charge a conventional battery at about 10% of its rated capacity, which for a VFR battery is 1.2-1.4 amps. Car charger will cause the battery to heat up, which will kill the battery, and maybe you too, if you have a hydrogen explosion from taking the charger off and creating a spark. I know someone that was badly injured doing just that. He used a BIG car charger and left it connected for a whole day and boiled the battery electrolyte. As for why the battery might be shot, they self-discharge over time, and after sitting dead, they often cannot be revived, of if you try, they are usually weak. You can certainly attempt it, hey, it's almost free to try. Use a STRAIGHT RATE CHARGER, not a "float type", probably about 2 amps rating (not 6 or 10), and leave it on for about 12 hours and see if its back to life. Small Float type chargers like the battery tender jr don't generate enough amperage into a completely flat battery to break the sulfation on the plates and begin to charge the battery. They are great for maintaining a battery that is currently healthy though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFRSuperfreak Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 I put the ghost back on my previous battery. Basically I charged it in intervals of 14 to 18 volts, 10 to 15 minutes each. If you don´t have a charger that can output 18volt, an electric service shop may be able to help with that. Lasted me another 2 years. I´ve bought another just this month, and the previous is now on duty in the computers´ UPS box. Link below. PS; why not a car battery? if it isn´t automatic just keep an eye on it. Links; DYI batt desulfator:http://www.reuk.co.uk/Battery-Desulfation.htm (if your batt is lead acid)Extended power for your electronics replacing the built in mini battery in a UPShttp://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-computer-UPS-last-for-hours-instead-of-m/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer texasvfr Posted January 4, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted January 4, 2013 Always have had good service from a digital Schmacker float type charger. It has inputs for small motorcycle batteries, 1.2 amps , lead plate ,gel or glass mat batteries. About 50 bucks. It brought a battery back that had been sitting for six months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JakeIII Posted January 4, 2013 Author Member Contributer Share Posted January 4, 2013 Car charger = too many amps. You should charge a conventional battery at about 10% of its rated capacity, which for a VFR battery is 1.2-1.4 amps.Car charger will cause the battery to heat up, which will kill the battery, and maybe you too, if you have a hydrogen explosion from taking the charger off and creating a spark. I know someone that was badly injured doing just that. He used a BIG car charger and left it connected for a whole day and boiled the battery electrolyte. As for why the battery might be shot, they self-discharge over time, and after sitting dead, they often cannot be revived, of if you try, they are usually weak. You can certainly attempt it, hey, it's almost free to try. Use a STRAIGHT RATE CHARGER, not a "float type", probably about 2 amps rating (not 6 or 10), and leave it on for about 12 hours and see if its back to life. Small Float type chargers like the battery tender jr don't generate enough amperage into a completely flat battery to break the sulfation on the plates and begin to charge the battery. They are great for maintaining a battery that is currently healthy though. Great reply... it got me thinking, and got me up from the dinner table and headed out to the garage to do what I should have done from the beginning. I have attached a couple of pictures, one from the top of the battery which actually explains how to charge it, and one from the front of my charger.\ If I'm reading this correctly the battery says that I can do a "Quick Charge" at 12 volts - 5.0 amps for 1 hour. The other, slower option, is 12 volts - 1.2 amps for 5 - 10 hours. The front of the car charger stats that its rated at 12 volts - 5.0 amps, so I should be good to try this for 1 hour and see if I can bring the battery back from the dead. I'll post how this goes a little later. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFR4Lee Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 Turn off the charger and let it sit for a while to outgas after the 1 hour is done before messing with it further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 Unplug the charger from the wall, don't disconnect the clips from the battery. Don't want to create sparks. Actually this is the safest way to remove a charger from any battery, any time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JakeIII Posted January 4, 2013 Author Member Contributer Share Posted January 4, 2013 Ok... it was a valiant effort but in the end nothing. I hooked up the multi-meter to test and couldn't get a blip. Not a big deal, I'll have to swing by the dealer once I get closer to firing the bike up and pick up another battery. The last one was $80 and I got two years out of it before I parked it. Thanks for all the advice and help, based on the long road ahead, putting everything back together I'll be back in the forums many more times. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer 2thdr Posted January 4, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted January 4, 2013 FWIW I've had very good service from Bike Master batteries and they are sometimes cheaper than the OEM Yuasa. Others may have better suggestions. The last one I bought for the VFR is the Gel type Bike Master and I'm on the third year with it. I would like to hear opinions and experience about the Gel type... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer vfr Posted January 4, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted January 4, 2013 FWIW, my experience on batteries is that every battery I have ever bought that I kept on a Battery Tender lasted a very very long time. Cheap or expensive, it didn't matter. In the dark ages before I learned about batteries and battery tenders versus dumb trickle chargers, I had a lot of failures, again it didn't matter whether the batteries were cheap or expensive. Drained battery sitting for any length of time= damaged battery. Battery overcharged on dumb trickle charger = damaged battery Battery kept on Battery Tender when not in use = 5 years + battery. End of story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer YoshiHNS Posted January 4, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted January 4, 2013 The cost of a tender is at least half of a new battery. I bought two and switch them between the 4 batteries every week. Once a battery gets too low in voltage, it is almost surely not coming back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Best way to charge a dead battery? I prefer Visa... Sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JZH Posted January 5, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted January 5, 2013 OEM VFR batteries are AGM type (often erroneously called "Gel"...), which are easily damaged when they become fully discharged. The only options are to ride the bike at least once a week or use a float-type charger/maintainer, e.g., Battery Tender or Optimate. Unfortunately, not even that treatment will make an AGM battery last forever... Ciao, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFR4Lee Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 OEM VFR batteries are AGM type (often erroneously called "Gel"...), which are easily damaged when they become fully discharged. The only options are to ride the bike at least once a week or use a float-type charger/maintainer, e.g., Battery Tender or Optimate. Unfortunately, not even that treatment will make an AGM battery last forever...P1000853x.JPG Ciao, Wow, talk about an electricity vampire. Can't just let them run down though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grilldemon Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Car charger = too many amps. You should charge a conventional battery at about 10% of its rated capacity, which for a VFR battery is 1.2-1.4 amps.Car charger will cause the battery to heat up, which will kill the battery, and maybe you too, if you have a hydrogen explosion from taking the charger off and creating a spark. I know someone that was badly injured doing just that. He used a BIG car charger and left it connected for a whole day and boiled the battery electrolyte. As for why the battery might be shot, they self-discharge over time, and after sitting dead, they often cannot be revived, of if you try, they are usually weak. You can certainly attempt it, hey, it's almost free to try. Use a STRAIGHT RATE CHARGER, not a "float type", probably about 2 amps rating (not 6 or 10), and leave it on for about 12 hours and see if its back to life. Small Float type chargers like the battery tender jr don't generate enough amperage into a completely flat battery to break the sulfation on the plates and begin to charge the battery. They are great for maintaining a battery that is currently healthy though. What he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spud786 Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Car charger(tender) is okay, as long as it enables amperage settings , such as 2 amps. If you try to charge with a 6amp setting on a Bike, then you might have an issue. I have one such charger and I use it on everything, car batteries and bike. While most available MC batterry tenders are only capable of 1.5 amp. Many MC trickle chargers can put out 3 amp. So I have no issue with up to 3amp for mc battery charging. Actually, if your going to carry a trickle charger, for the day your battery dies from stator failure. A 3 amp trickle will get you going in half the time, if you can get to an electrical outlet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted January 5, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted January 5, 2013 FWIW, my experience on batteries is that every battery I have ever bought that I kept on a Battery Tender lasted a very very long time. Cheap or expensive, it didn't matter. In the dark ages before I learned about batteries and battery tenders versus dumb trickle chargers, I had a lot of failures, again it didn't matter whether the batteries were cheap or expensive. Drained battery sitting for any length of time= damaged battery. Battery overcharged on dumb trickle charger = damaged battery Battery kept on Battery Tender when not in use = 5 years + battery. End of story That's it in a nutshell. What I like most about the tenders is that when I'm ready to ride, I know the bike's going to turn over and gives me a lot more confidence that I won't get stranded somewhere with a marginal battery. For me, the added lifespan is a nice bonus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Bassie Posted January 6, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted January 6, 2013 I'm sorry but you can use a car charger. Amps don't flow unless the charge voltage is too high. Basic electronics dear Whatson! Just measure the charging voltage it should not go over 14.4v. However if the batterij is broken, a car chargers may let the battery explode. As the battery should do above 12v but not below. As such the amps will go wild and dangerous thing can happen. Ergo I would use a car charger or jumpstart cables to start a bike, but not to charge and not on a broken batery. In short, if you don't know what you are doing the don't do it :lol: Better buy a new battery they are not that expensive. 50 bucks can buy one normally. Sent from my GT-S5570 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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