Voltage and dying battery

[alchemyx]

Hello, long time no see


I am having trouble with battery lately. After I charge it with charger and drive motorcycle for a while it has some trouble starting (I can see it almost does not start up, and if I try to start it few times in a row it can't do it after second or third time.


So my guesses were - faulty battery, faulty electric installation (shorted) or something with charging. So it did test:


- battery after charging with external charger and leaving for a while - 12.6V
- while starting motorcycle from fully charged battery - voltage drops for a while to about 9V (and when I do it second and third time it drops to about 7V)
- when idling and everything turned off - 14.4V
- with lights on and idling - 13 V
- with high beam and idling - 12 V and dropping


So what are your guesses - are voltages are OK on idle? I thought it always would be 14.4 even with lights (because voltage regulator should turn it up?)


Thanks!

[slappy]

Sounds to me like a knackered cell in the battery, thats why the voltage drops so much when you try to start it for the second or third  time.
New battery time!

[alchemyx]

It was deeply discharged few times (faulty alarm installation, now removed). So it seems probable. Thanks man!

[slappy]

If you have a friendly car garage or battery shop near you ask them to check the battery by putting their load meter on it, this will comfirm the fault, most of them will do it for free.

[Val]

Hello, long time no see


I am having trouble with battery lately. After I charge it with charger and drive motorcycle for a while it has some trouble starting (I can see it almost does not start up, and if I try to start it few times in a row it can't do it after second or third time.


So my guesses were - faulty battery, faulty electric installation (shorted) or something with charging. So it did test:


- battery after charging with external charger and leaving for a while - 12.6V
- while starting motorcycle from fully charged battery - voltage drops for a while to about 9V (and when I do it second and third time it drops to about 7V)
- when idling and everything turned off - 14.4V
- with lights on and idling - 13 V
- with high beam and idling - 12 V and dropping


So what are your guesses - are voltages are OK on idle? I thought it always would be 14.4 even with lights (because voltage regulator should turn it up?)


Thanks!

It drops too much on start you need new battery, here is what manufacturer recomends if below 9.5V on start to change it:

http://www.yuasabatteries.com/faqs.php?action=1&id=30

You can do load test yourself like this:

Load Test

• Adjust voltmeter to DC volts (20 volt range).
• Place voltmeter leads to the battery terminals. (positive to positive and negative to negative)
• Watch the voltmeter as you start your motorcycle. Keep the starter pressed at least 5-10 seconds
• If the voltage drops below 9.5 volts during that 10 seconds, the battery has very low capacity and should be replaced.

A healthy 12 volt motorcycle battery should maintain a range from 9.5 - 10.5 volts under the load for a good 30 seconds straight.

[darrsi]

You said the magic word......alarm.
Whenever alarms are mentioned there's always an issue with batteries.


Sounds like a definite new battery to me, try and get one with the highest amps for your budget, the higher the better.
It can be worth paying a few quid extra for a decent battery, especially if you ride all year round in cold weather.


Make sure you measure the battery as well, i remember someone on here ages ago who's battery size was very different in size to most other peoples bikes for some odd reason.

[alchemyx]

For my 2000 FZS 600 there is a YT12B-BS battery. Whenever I look it always 10Ah. Do you think I can get higher amps?

[Fazerider]

I thought it always would be 14.4 even with lights (because voltage regulator should turn it up?)

No, the regulator can't turn up the output of the generator, the best it can do is let through as much as possible. At idle rpm the generator won't produce full output.

For my 2000 FZS 600 there is a YT12B-BS battery. Whenever I look it always 10Ah. Do you think I can get higher amps?

10Ah is the capacity of the battery, I think Darrsi was referring to Cold Cranking Amps. CCA is a measure of the battery's ability to deliver high currents for short periods at low temperature.
If you want an analogy: Ah is how big a petrol tank is, CCA is the bore of the petrol tap at the bottom.
Not that high CCA is automatically better. If you want to start the bike when the temperature is -20ºC then it's probably a good choice, but the tricks employed to get high CCA also make the plates more prone to buckling so the battery may not last as long.

[Fazer Forever]

Exactly the problem I had earlier this year. After 12 years, the original battery was starting to struggle so I bought a new one.
It was OK for a couple of months then would turn over the engine maybe a couple of times, but not enough to start it. Charging
the battery made no difference. I took it back to the shop and they checked it for the starting ampage, which I guess is the CCA
mentioned above. Should have been about 200 but was only showing 17, so was exchanged for a new one and has been fine since.

[alchemyx]

Hello,


I followed your advice and bought new battery (Varta AGM). It is not maybe best possible choice, but still not the cheapest one.
Now my Fazer starts with touch of a finger, everytime. When starting voltage drops to about 11.2 - 11.5V. So much difference.

And funny thing - it had some issues when cold it would work on all cylinders, now problem is gone. Is it a coincidence or maybe
it was also caused by faulty battery?

Thank you for your help!

[darrsi]

"...when starting voltage drops to about 11.2 - 11.5V..." ?


When the bike is running the voltage should be between 13-14 volts at the battery, and probably around 12.6v+/- when switched off if the battery is decent.


Varta is a good brand of battery.

[Jules-C]

I think the 11.2 - 11.5v is while the starter button is pressed so a good sign

[darrsi]

I think the 11.2 - 11.5v is while the starter button is pressed so a good sign

Need 3 hands to check that. 

[Val]

Need 3 hands to check that. 

Or you can have 1 hand free if you use these