Charging Issues, help!

[benji]

Hi all, new to the site, only been a FZS 600 owner for a short time, 9 months in fact. Bike is a mint Y reg, 10k mileage and no problems up to now.

I have no idea how long the battery has been on the bike and sort of guessed it may be shot after the winter. I charged it up and the bike ran fine but then it went flat again after standing for a fortnight. It was then charged up and I went to the local battery expert shop who has all the testing gear, although I was a bit dubious he was more car expert than bike! He reckons the battery is okay but after riding for 1 mile and doing the ten minute test (starting the bike around 5 /6 times, it would then not turn the starter and I had to jump it?!

I am a bit confused really at how quickly the battery power was lost. My old FZR 1000 would still turn over and start if I didn`t use it for months and could easily start up for numerous times in a ten minute period. Here are my questions I hope I can get answers to.

1, The bike is fitted with a immobiliser, how long would it take for this to drain the battery if not used?
2, If the battery is okay, will it be the generator or how do I know if the regulator/rectifier is also okay?
3, I have heard the charging system on the earlier bikes is not too clever anyway , is this correct?

I would really appreciate any help experienced owners could give. I`ll happily spend money to sort it, just don`t want to get the wrong replacement parts :rolleyes .

[solorider]

you need to get the battery voltage checked with the engine off,it should be 12.8 volts,if you have 12.6 volts or less then your battery is on its way out or knackered,with the engine runnung you should get 14volts upto a max of 14.5 volts,any more than 15 volts and you will damage the battery,if you are getting 13 volts or less then you may have a charging issue but a duff battery can affect that reading.you need to check the charge rate at 5k revs with the lights on and off,most jap bikes dont charge the battery properly at idle.
an alrm system will also shorten the life of the battery if the bike is not used for a short duration,,for long periods of non use you should idealy get a optimate tricke charger but dont keep it on 24/7

[benji]

Cheers Solorider, a big thank you for a swift reply!

My concern was that the test equipment used was more suited towards bigger battery car use. The test was done at 2500rpm which seemed low for a bike but ideal for a car? I`m sure the battery was less than 12.6 and i think it could be that. The idea of a inaccurate reading due to a struggling battery had also crossed my mind, pity I could not borrow a known good one and repeat the test. I`m also sure that the volts struggled to get anywhere near 14.

I intend to invest in an Optimate, I thought these were ok to be left switched on with a built in cut off but clearly not from what you say.

Thanks again, I`ll keep you posted.

[darrsi]

If it's a trickle charger it will do just that, it won't hurt leaving it on at all as the charger will just back off when it's fully charged.


I have a whole battery room at work full of all kinds of batteries, it's 'extremely' unlikely to get a charger these days that will just blatantly cook one.

[darrsi]

Just looked on Optimate site, when near full charge they will recharge for 30mins then cut off for 30mins, just to keep electrolytes consistent.


Battery chargers should be at least 4 times less amps than the battery that it's charging, so for example a 16 amp battery should be charged with no more than a 4 amp charger for best results and an extended battery life span.

[bikemad62]

Have a look at your regulator plug in the box under the tank i had a similar problem with charging. Upon close inspection one of my generator wire connections had come loose and roasted itself. So i cut out the damaged connector and wire grafted in new and all is fine. Of course i will assume the battery is ok. Hope this helps.