Battery

[jethrofelix_imp]

Alright guys. I've got a battery thread to start. I tried searching but nothing came up - which surprised me - so if there is a battery thread please direct me to it.
My battery decided to crap out on me in rush hour traffic right before passing a wreck closing two lanes of traffic leaving me to weave threw a couple cars to make it to the shoulder. I thought I had messed up something when changing my oil yesterday! At any rate, I trailered it home and pulled it out to find what I suspect is the original battery.
I'm taking battery recommendations. What's everyone running in their CB?

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[Rocky_imp]

There are plenty of batteries to choose from.
I've always had great service and long life from Yuasa batteries and use them in all my bikes.
I live in a cool climate compared to many and batteries have a much easier life. If you live in a climate with constant high heat battery life will be shorter.
I easily get 6-8 years from my batteries.

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

(+1) Rocky.

I just recently replaced my original battery with some no-name and it is performing fine. If I get three to four years out of it, then I will consider that value. Yuasa is highly recommended by many and you can't go wrong. Yuasa was the OEM for my CB.

 

[zirconxi_imp]

Well, i might have misunderstood, just to clarify, are your engine running and it stop suddenly? Will a running engine stop when battery weaken? I haven't have a weak battery stop my bike before. Normally its the charging system failures that will stop engine once the battery juice run out.

 

[Cormanus]

Good question, zirconxi. If the bike died while running due to a battery failure, it would, I think, be a first for this forum.

 

[peterbaron]

I wonder how it did crank during start up that day.... bet you it gave some symptoms???

 

[Houtman_imp]

I strongly recommend OEM Yuasa batterie ( the ones made in JAPAN )
not cheap but very well made. There are fake Yuasa's as well so be careful .

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

My experience with an end of life Yuasa is the cranking is normal at warm temperatures (e.g. above 15C). There was no early warning, even after charging the battery and again later dying after a long ride.

Maybe in JF's case (with a weak battery), and he can confirm, the engine RPM was too low, or low long enough to experience engine stall.

 

[Lord Popgun]

My dealer sells the OEM made in Japan Yuasa (not cheap) and the made in America Yuasa (cheaper but still not cheap). I use the OEM in both my bikes.

Some on the board have used Lithium Ion batteries. Due your research on them befroe getting one.

I would avoid Wal-Mart batteries. NAPA batteries are good. YMMV.

Also consider adding an SAE pigtail to your battery and using a battery tender.

 

[jethrofelix_imp]

I wonder how it did crank during start up that day.... bet you it gave some symptoms???

I didn't hear or see anything out of the ordinary. But I was in a hurry.

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My experience with an end of life Yuasa is the cranking is normal at warm temperatures (e.g. above 15C). There was no early warning, even after charging the battery and again later dying after a long ride.

Maybe in JF's case (with a weak battery), and he can confirm, the engine RPM was too low, or low long enough to experience engine stall.

Good deducing. I was in practically standstill traffic after a truck pulling a trailer had jackknifed closing two out of three lanes of the interstate. In 35 minutes we had made it almost 5 miles. Where it went out is a big downhill, so I was just coasting. I'm fairly certain the battery was already on its last legs - basically idling for a half hour did it in.

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Good question, zirconxi. If the bike died while running due to a battery failure, it would, I think, be a first for this forum.

It did die while running, but check my reply to GoldOxide. There were special circumstances.

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Well, i might have misunderstood, just to clarify, are your engine running and it stop suddenly? Will a running engine stop when battery weaken? I haven't have a weak battery stop my bike before. Normally its the charging system failures that will stop engine once the battery juice run out.

Yes. Take a look at my reply to GoldOxide. I was going downhill in stop and go traffic. I guess I couldn't keep the RPMs high enough to maintain the power it needed to keep going.

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[GoldOxide_imp]

When my Yuasa battery finally kicked the can this summer, I needed a push to get the engine started. I had the keep the engine RPM elevated above typical to get a decent charge to the battery. A weak battery will draw down the charging system. So a low engine RPM may have not been enough to sustain the vehicle systems, and a weak battery (drawing more current). The battery may have also been challenged by possible building heat sitting in traffic?

- - -

You may find that successfully charging the battery with an intelligent battery charger will buy you some time while you wait for the replacement. Just keep the revs up in the meantime.

Sometimes I wish I bothered to add an override headlight switch so I can turn off the headlight under circumstances like this. Of course, one would have to be strategic to do this "responsibly" - maybe during high noon in Yuma?

 

[peterbaron]

I bought an AGM, not what I really wanted, but there was nothing else available, and I needed to ride. Normally, I would buy an OEM, made in Japan, as most preferred. Second choice would be lithium ion, and absorbent 3rd.

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

I bought an AGM, not what I really wanted, but there was nothing else available, and I needed to ride. Normally, I would buy an OEM, made in Japan, as most preferred. Second choice would be lithium ion, and absorbent 3rd.

I bought no-name AGM. Works just fine for me. Ask me again in two to three years.

 

[Bheezy27403_imp]

I marked my calendar GO.

 

[Rocky_imp]

Up here in Eskimo land our batteries are usually removed for the winter.
Mine are stored in a cool dry place and hooked up to an Optimate charger once a month for a day or so.
This may have something to do with why they last so long.
My riding season usually ends by 1 November and starts again by 1 May depending on the weather.

 

[LongRanger_imp]

Contrarian voice here. I've had great luck using inexpensive no-name AGM batteries from Amazon. Typical life is 6-7 years using a Battery Tender.

 

[Chuckk_imp]

I have had charging problems with both of my Honda CBR 1100 blackbirds.. seems it was a pretty common component problem.. I found myself in a situation where, in the middle of a ride and stopping for a few minutes, the battery was too weak to crank the engine over.. thinking it out, I pulled the fuse for the headlight, then was lucky enough to bump start the bike.. I then kept the revs up and made the 80 mile trip back home.. most people won't install a headlight switch.. just pull the fuse.. I probably lost most of my lighting, including my brake lights, so be cautious ..

 

[max]

" I was going downhill in stop and go traffic. I guess I couldn't keep the RPMs high enough to maintain the power it needed to keep going."

Wanted to check before posting but with regard to the generator on the cb1100;
After today's trip the battery was fully charged, i stopped the engine, attached a clamp-on ammeter to the battery and started the engine, revs were 1050 steady, the battery initially charged the battery at 10.6 ampere's and within a minute settled to 1,3 amp's, the battery voltage at that time was 13.6 volts and would rise to 14 volts at which time it would slowly complete it's "surface charge" which is a slow charge that would reduce to 0.1 amps over time to replace the energy used by the starter motor.

Short conclusion; the generator is capable of maintaining the battery and on-board electrics indefinitely at idle.
It was just the battery's end point, I'm sure i am not the only one to go for a ride, stop and the battery had just expired and without any warning; no start, lucky for me there was a battery store not far away, job's a good one.

Rocky makes an excellent point; if the battery is "kept busy"over the storage period it prolongs it's life, i have experienced this several times and there is some evidence that supports this idea;

The heading is; why batteries fail;
The performance, reliability, and length of service of the lead acid battery can be significantly improved by protecting it from the two primary causes of failure: lead sulfate crystalization (“Sulfation”) and lead shedding. Both of these processes are accelerated by the following conditions:

Deep cycling – discharging a battery by 80% or more.
Storing in a discharged state – when a battery is not promptly restored to a near fully charged state after use, or is not routinely top-off charged to offset natural self-discharge.
Extreme high / low temperatures – lead acid batteries are designed to operate at 25°C and will degrade rapidly above 50°C and may be permanently damaged below -40°C.
Overcharging – high voltage/current charging or “fast charging” can cause gasification and depletion of the electrolyte as well as warping and cracking of the lead electrodes leading to accelerated lead shedding.
Stratification of electrolyte – when a battery is idle for long periods, the heavier sulfuric acid separates from the lighter water in the electrolyte and forms a highly concentrated lower layer at the bottom of the battery leading to overcharging and corrosion of the electrodes.

and here is the link to the website if you're interested, yes they want to sell you a charger but i think they also make some good points;
http://rebattlimited.com/Battery.html

And a picture of what sulfation looks like on the bottom of their page;
http://rebattlimited.com/images/4.jpg


Ehhh think i'll stop now but some might be interested in this.

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

If the electrical system could maintain CB functionality sans the battery after start-up and remain at idle speed, that is great. I believe this is a reasonable expectation.

If the battery is unhealthy, as is expected in this case for whatever reason, then that would present an additional load on the electrical system at idle speed and may not be enough to maintain an effective charge rate, possibly even a draw down to stall. The engine would need to have elevated RPM to provide the additional source required to overcome the shortfall of the battery (assuming possible in most cases). If the battery internally forms - if even for a second - a cell short due to a redox delamination "flake", I would suspect at idle speed the bike to experience a tendency to stall.

" I was going downhill in stop and go traffic. I guess I couldn't keep the RPMs high enough to maintain the power it needed to keep going."

Wanted to check before posting but with regard to the generator on the cb1100;
After today's trip the battery was fully charged, i stopped the engine, attached a clamp-on ammeter to the battery and started the engine, revs were 1050 steady, the battery initially charged the battery at 10.6 ampere's and within a minute settled to 1,3 amp's, the battery voltage at that time was 13.6 volts and would rise to 14 volts at which time it would slowly complete it's "surface charge" which is a slow charge that would reduce to 0.1 amps over time to replace the energy used by the starter motor.

Short conclusion; the generator is capable of maintaining the battery and on-board electrics indefinitely at idle.
It was just the battery's end point, I'm sure i am not the only one to go for a ride, stop and the battery had just expired and without any warning; no start, lucky for me there was a battery store not far away, job's a good one.

Rocky makes an excellent point; if the battery is "kept busy"over the storage period it prolongs it's life, i have experienced this several times and there is some evidence that supports this idea;

The heading is; why batteries fail;
The performance, reliability, and length of service of the lead acid battery can be significantly improved by protecting it from the two primary causes of failure: lead sulfate crystalization (“Sulfation”) and lead shedding. Both of these processes are accelerated by the following conditions:

Deep cycling – discharging a battery by 80% or more.
Storing in a discharged state – when a battery is not promptly restored to a near fully charged state after use, or is not routinely top-off charged to offset natural self-discharge.
Extreme high / low temperatures – lead acid batteries are designed to operate at 25°C and will degrade rapidly above 50°C and may be permanently damaged below -40°C.
Overcharging – high voltage/current charging or “fast charging” can cause gasification and depletion of the electrolyte as well as warping and cracking of the lead electrodes leading to accelerated lead shedding.
Stratification of electrolyte – when a battery is idle for long periods, the heavier sulfuric acid separates from the lighter water in the electrolyte and forms a highly concentrated lower layer at the bottom of the battery leading to overcharging and corrosion of the electrodes.

and here is the link to the website if you're interested, yes they want to sell you a charger but i think they also make some good points;
http://rebattlimited.com/Battery.html

And a picture of what sulfation looks like on the bottom of their page;
http://rebattlimited.com/images/4.jpg


Ehhh think i'll stop now but some might be interested in this.