Triple-H

PART 2

Well I hooked the brand new Battery Tender Plus 12V last night to the VFR battery, the one in question
And in just 3-hours the battery was just as warm/hot as it was when I was using my old charger
The LED's on the BT showed solid red, meaning the charger was fully charging because that's what the battery needed, and the battery was again getting oddly warm

I then hooked up the BT to my other small battery and left it on overnight, a good 8-hours
And that battery is just as cool as I always remember batteries getting while charging, no real heat gain at all
This morning the BT LED's on the other small battery are solid red showing it's charging, and blinking green showing the battery is at least 80% charged

The VFR battery never got up to 80% and was warm/hot
The other small battery got up to 80% and it's cool

I never suspected something was wrong with the old charger
It made no sense to me the charger would act fine on two other batteries, and then act weird on the third one
I've come full circle, I think something is weird with the new VFR battery
I guess I need to pack it up, find my receipt, and take it back to Batteries Plus, I wonder what they will say
At this point I'm highly suspect of this new battery
And as long as I'm not confident with this new battery, then I'm not so sure about the new R&R being bad
I'm just wondering if the real issue with the VFR's charging system has to do with a bad battery

Triple-H

Ever have one of those conversations where you get the impression the other person is not being forthcoming with everything they know...

I found myself in the plaza where BatteriesPlus is today so I stopped in
I told the guy I bought a MCY battery there last May and I am concerned it does not want to charge and it seems to be getting hot when I try
I also told him I was using a new BT Plus so I'm confident the charger is fine
He looked at me and said "you got it in May of last year?" And then asked "Is it a sealed unit?"
As soon as I said yes to both he went right to his computer and looked it up
After a minute or so he looks up and says, "No, for sure, it should not be getting hot!"
"Bring it in, we'll check it, if it's not right we'll just give you a new one." is what he said next
I get the distinct impression he knows the battery is bad as he checked on the battery number and date twice

So much for the older charger being bad...

Conedodger

It sounds to me like there is a short in the battery. They may have had a questionable batch and he has seen returns. Take it back and have them test it.

Triple-H

Yup, I agree, so at this point I really think it's the battery that's a problem, not my old charger

And then, I move onto the bigger issue
I wonder if my R&R was good all along and it's because the battery was bad that the motorcycle shop's tester was indicating a problem and they just assumed it was the R&R was bad when in reality it was the battery all along
So confused......

Triple-H

BTW- I just received my 2nd BT, the Junior just arrived

AFTR- I have never bought an electrical appliance with such a long cord, this sucker is 10-foot long, wow...

Bugsy

Sorry about the problems chasing you on the VFR.
It could have been the battery all along, and it is surely now caput. The charging systems on all motorcycles are feeble. They'll maintain a fully charged battery, but don't have a lot of excess charging capacity.

Before I went any further, I'd check the output of the stator. and the connectors. Many times when the charging system gets strained, the connector heats up and can melt.

Next I'd check the stator output. With the RR disconnected, I'd test the output of the yellow leads from the stator on AC to see what the output is. Should be something like 20 Vac at low RPM, to around 60+ish at 5k rpm on each leg.
Also, and maybe before I even tested the output, I'd check the stator yellow wires to ground. Put the meter at most sensitive, and look for any leak to ground. Should remain infinate. Then check between leads and should be something like 1.5K ohms. If not... stator is dead and will continue to damage new bits. Testing always starts with this part, then onto the RR to make sure it's clipping the AC waveforms and controlling voltage.

Get that fresh battery and then check the stator output. Let us know. -jb

edited for typos and spelling Staying up too late for f1 kickoff...

Triple-H

PART 3

Took the battery into BatteriesPlus today
They hooked it up on their fancy tester, pushed a few buttons, and then the guy looked at the read out with a question in his face
Then he hooked it up to a second tester, a more conventional resistance tester, and then looked at me and said, wow, there is indeed something wrong
Next thing I know I'm walking out the store with a brand new battery

Now I'm home and it's downstairs on the BT Plus
At 5:00 I'll go down stairs and get a temp reading
I bet anything this sucker will not be hot...

Triple-H

36 some odd hours later, new battery has not only become fully charged and been on the float charge for quite some time, but the new battery is cool as a cucumber!!!
I can't wait to get the battery in and be able to go over and have the new R&R and the full electrical system checked!

daz25

Thanks for the replies, I've been having a similar issue.

Conedodger

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