Battery life


A

Alex6

New Member
Left my bike's key in the ignition and forgot to turn it off. Came back after a few hours and the battery is dead.
I connected it to the battery tender it is sitting with it for a day and a half, still in red. Did not try to start yet.

Did I kill the battery, shortened its life, or nothing to worry about?
 
J

JT

Monster Member
Elite Member
Alex6 said:
Left my bike's key in the ignition and forgot to turn it off. Came back after a few hours and the battery is dead.
I connected it to the battery tender it is sitting with it for a day and a half, still in red. Did not try to start yet.

Did I kill the battery, shortened its life, or nothing to worry about?
Click to expand...

it could be any of those 3. only way to find out it to take it to an auto parts store have it charged and tested.
 
D

dart1963

Super Moderator
Elite Member
More than likely, it's dead and needs replaced.... once you kill the cells, there's not much hope for them... tender is pretty good with reviving an almost dead battery, but if it's been completely discharged, best to just change it
 
K

Kayo7

New Member
JT said:
it could be any of those 3. only way to find out it to take it to an auto parts store have it charged and tested.
Click to expand...
Quality automotive repair shops (Like mine of course) will do that as well for no cost. :D
 
M

MNGreg

waiting out winter
Elite Member
Is this the first time you have done this to your battery?
If it is the 2nd/3rd+ time, then your battery is probably dead.

If it is only your first time you are probably good, but I have bad news for you.

Do you have the Battery tender Jr, or the Full size one? full size will cut the time by about 25-30%.

Contrary to what you read about charge rates, that isnt really accurate. I fried my old battery doing that but it was over a whole weekend. It was an 09 battery so I gave up and got a new one. Then like a idiot I did it again but it was only for about 3 hours before I caught it again. The battery was dead but hooked it up to the tender and made sure ALL Aux type things were turned off. It took about 1-2 days to get a weak light on the dash but I think diagnostics did not work. I think it actually took about 4-5 days before I was able to start the bike, then I rode it in 6k+ revs for my next whole ride to help the charging.

$80+ for new battery, or hold off for another day or two and see if you can get anything.

GOOD LUCK!!
 
A

Alex6

New Member
This was my 1st time I drained the battery and it sitting now on the Jr. tender. I heard that the Jr. will not cut it and it needs a regular charger to revive the battery.
 
M

MNGreg

waiting out winter
Elite Member
Alex6 said:
This was my 1st time I drained the battery and it sitting now on the Jr. tender. I heard that the Jr. will not cut it and it needs a regular charger to revive the battery.
Click to expand...
No, I have a Tender Jr, and that is what I used to revive my battery. It worked well just took a while longer because of the slower charge rate. Just depends on how fast you need it back. Jr will probably get you ready to start it in 4-5 days. Regular tender would proably cut that to 3-4 days. Sounds like you have already invested 1.5-2 days. Now if you dont have a battery charger that you could use on a car also for faster charging, yeah maybe go for the bigger tender then.

When you turn the key, after this 36+ hrs, do you atleast get a faint light on your dash? If so, keep going, if after this much time you still have no light, then probably go buy a new battery. But new battery will need to be charged first also, unless dealer does it for you.

If it does the self diagnostic, you could try the starter quickly, but dont keep trying. If doesnt turn then turn back off. If starts, suit up and go hi rev riding for about 40-50 miles, then put back on the tender. Also only try to start if the post diagnostic dash illumination is as bright as normally is, if not dont try to start, you will probably just waste a little bit of charge trying to start it.
 
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M

MNGreg

waiting out winter
Elite Member
SWEET!!! I would just leave it hooked up until you ride it next time though.
 

B

BoneJj

Well-Known Member
MNGreg said:
Is this the first time you have done this to your battery?
If it is the 2nd/3rd+ time, then your battery is probably dead.

If it is only your first time you are probably good, but I have bad news for you.

Do you have the Battery tender Jr, or the Full size one? full size will cut the time by about 25-30%.

Contrary to what you read about charge rates, that isnt really accurate. I fried my old battery doing that but it was over a whole weekend. It was an 09 battery so I gave up and got a new one. Then like a idiot I did it again but it was only for about 3 hours before I caught it again. The battery was dead but hooked it up to the tender and made sure ALL Aux type things were turned off. It took about 1-2 days to get a weak light on the dash but I think diagnostics did not work. I think it actually took about 4-5 days before I was able to start the bike, then I rode it in 6k+ revs for my next whole ride to help the charging.

$80+ for new battery, or hold off for another day or two and see if you can get anything.

GOOD LUCK!!
Click to expand...
Not for nothing but I have a friend that has killed his battery a number of times, probably 10 times or better. He's not the brightest bulb in the box... lol.

but yeah, all you really need to do to fix a battery that wont charge is to get it to heat up nicely and it will take the scale (sulfate buildup) off the battery internals allowing it to take a charge again. You can also get away with just changing the electrolytes. Just some new acid and you are good. I keep a container of battery acid around for those times that I need it.

As for the heating method. All you need to do is hook it to your car and charge it up. Run the car at about couple grand to give a nice healthy charge rate and that should be enough for most car systems to be able to generate a decent amount of heat in the battery to break up the scale in the battery.

There are some battery chargers out there that have a specific feature just for this and they will extend the life of a battery considerably. I have that I hook to my car battery every couple months and I've been using one of these types of chargers on my bikes for the last 10+ years. It's helped me to extend the life of my car batteries from the typical 3 years in Florida to 6-7 years in Florida. I didn't have to replace the battery in my S10 until I had it for 6.5 years. I've also been hooking this charger to my fathers truck periodically and my mothers as well. My father was able to wait 7 years for his truck battery and my mother's is now working on 6 years with the same battery.

Treat your batteries right and you will have them last a rather long time.
 
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