Fairly new battery gets drained quickly?

[Crankin04]

Hey All,

I just bought a Parts Unlimited Motorcycle Battery for my 04' GG 450 back in April and it was like a $60 for it new so it was nothing special. I keep it on a
2 amp trickle charger after every ride to keep it fresh.

The problem is that when I go to ride I can get it to start great as the battery is like completely charged and ready to go, but as I'm riding if I stop and take a break for 10 minutes or so, it will start to drain and drain as I'm cranking. Last ride I had to jump start it going down hill twice!

Why would this battery be draining like that? Now whenver I go to charge it, it will charge then as I'm starting will die and can't get it to start again. Is it really just THAT CHEAP of a battery? Or do I have some electrical issue going on somewhere causing it to do this?

I have the technoresearch software and it shows no trouble codes for electronics that I can see.

Thanks for all your help!

Crankin04

[iancp5]

If you're not cranking much either the battery is bad or your charging circuit is bad. You would expect about 14.5V across the terminals at a few revs (3K - 5K rpm). If it's less than 13.5 it wont charge properly and if it's more than ~15.5 it will probably damage the battery.

Those are typical voltages for most 12V systems.

[Crankin04]

Originally Posted by iancp5

If you're not cranking much either the battery is bad or your charging circuit is bad. You would expect about 14.5V across the terminals at a few revs (3K - 5K rpm). If it's less than 13.5 it wont charge properly and if it's more than ~15.5 it will probably damage the battery.

Those are typical voltages for most 12V systems.

hmmm. Would leaving it on a 2amp trickle charge on all day and night until my next ride, make the volts go passed 15.5 and damage my battery? That could be the only thing I can think of as my problem unless my charging circuit is bad.

How would I tell if my circuit is bad? If you don't think that's the case, should I get a new battery and leave it off the trickle charger UNTIL the night before I ride the next day?

Usually at full charge its at around 13.4 volts.

Thanks again,

Crankin04

[Fred1956]

Originally Posted by Crankin04

hmmm. Would leaving it on a 2amp trickle charge on all day and night until my next ride, make the volts go passed 15.5 and damage my battery? That could be the only thing I can think of as my problem unless my charging circuit is bad.

How would I tell if my circuit is bad? If you don't think that's the case, should I get a new battery and leave it off the trickle charger UNTIL the night before I ride the next day?

Usually at full charge its at around 13.4 volts.

Thanks again,

Crankin04

Simple test--With bike running, hook voltmeter leads to battery and read voltage, most charging systems will read @13.6-14.8 when working right. If higher -battery damage will occur & is usually caused by bad rectifier/grounded stator. If lower then no charging of battery & subsequent low battery volts, normally caused by open in circuit, or bad stator.
2A charger shouldn't damage battery but you're better off with a 'smart' charger that maintains rather than charges at any amp fulltime. Hope this helps

[wence]

Buy a turntech 5ah battery and don't trickle charge it as you won't need to.At least you will know it is not a battery problem then.
Cheers Mark

[iancp5]

A 2A charge is quite a decent rate for a small battery, more of a steady stream than a trickle. Whether it does any harm or not depends on how good the charger is. I keep mine on a batter conditioner which tests the battery and applies a charge according to result. It drops the current right down as the battery charges up to max then cycles through testing and charging as required.

[Crankin04]

First off, Thanks for all the info guys...

Fred1956 - I will give that a try.

Wence - I've heard those turntech batteries are amazing. I'm thinking I'll go that route next!

iancp5 - I will probably get a battery conditioner as well, cause I would rather keep my battery stable and up to date, instead of on a constant "charge" ALL the time.

Crankin04

[Fred1956]

Originally Posted by Crankin04

First off, Thanks for all the info guys...

Fred1956 - I will give that a try.

Wence - I've heard those turntech batteries are amazing. I'm thinking I'll go that route next!

iancp5 - I will probably get a battery conditioner as well, cause I would rather keep my battery stable and up to date, instead of on a constant "charge" ALL the time.

Crankin04

Make sure you also check it all through the RPM range, a bad rectifier/regulator may give 13.6 at idle but give 17V at 3/4 throttle

[Crankin04]

Originally Posted by Fred1956

Make sure you also check it all through the RPM range, a bad rectifier/regulator may give 13.6 at idle but give 17V at 3/4 throttle

Gotcha. I'll hook up to my software and cable and test that out to see if any voltage increases as the RPM's increase.

Thanks!

Crankin04

[mcludd]

Could also be a diode in the rectifier gone bad allowing current to "leak" to earth
That would give the right signals whilst running but drain away whilst resting
Never had a bike do it but I did have a landrover that kept me guessing for quite a while with this