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Battery - how long did yours last?


pointer2null

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coopers12345

Haven't long replaced mine, lasted 4 and a half years, done 40k-ish miles in that time, mix of 80/90 mile motorway runs and 25 mile commutes on country roads. It got hooked up to a trickle charger whilst parked up over the winter but nothing other than that.

 

Unfortunately, it started struggling to start the bike and a few days before I was going to replace it I was about to leave work and it wouldn't start, so I ended up taking a ride home in a recovery truck :(

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9 hours ago, embee said:

The difference in weight is the most remarkable thing, 1kg vs 4kg.

 

Indeed, when I received a package through the post and opened it up I was surprised to see it was the battery I ordered, I thought this can't be right they have just sent me an empty casing, they are that light.  I had it in my Triumph Tiger for a few months, swapping the original battery back in before I sold the bike.  It's been sitting on the shelf for 6 years waiting for he NC battery to die. I check it periodically, it's only needed charging once.

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DaveM59
20 hours ago, Roy Atkinson said:

My battery will not turn bike over if left for 7 days without charge, the lights are on when your trying to start it.

If I leave the USB socket in the 12v point, it wont start after 3 days. As the voltage has dropped to 11.9 volts.

Those plug in fag lighter to USB adaptors use a small amount of current even when there is no USB plugged in. I flattened a bloody great big car battery in a week like that.

My theory about battery tenders lowering the lifespan of a battery has nothing to do with Rockers comment that using one means the bike always starts and flat batteries are not a problem. That isn't the issue, it's that the battery doesn't last as many years doing this. I think it's because the charge going in is only a slight trickle to compensate for the standing losses and the immobiliser, but in real world normal usage the load out of the battery is far greater, starting, ECU, lights etc and the charge back in from the regulator is variable and quite high at times, so the battery gets 'exercised'  to a higher level and this keeps the plates free of oxidation better which is what kills a battery.

Letting a battery go low but still start OK then using the rapid charge from the bike for a few minutes does it less harm in the long term than a permanent trickle regardless of the electronic manipulation of that trickle. In the same way that a new battery benefits from a 4hr 2A charge before fitting rather than out of the box and straight onto the bike.

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Rocker66
1 hour ago, DaveM59 said:

Those plug in fag lighter to USB adaptors use a small amount of current even when there is no USB plugged in. I flattened a bloody great big car battery in a week like that.

My theory about battery tenders lowering the lifespan of a battery has nothing to do with Rockers comment that using one means the bike always starts and flat batteries are not a problem. That isn't the issue, it's that the battery doesn't last as many years doing this. I think it's because the charge going in is only a slight trickle to compensate for the standing losses and the immobiliser, but in real world normal usage the load out of the battery is far greater, starting, ECU, lights etc and the charge back in from the regulator is variable and quite high at times, so the battery gets 'exercised'  to a higher level and this keeps the plates free of oxidation better which is what kills a battery.

Letting a battery go low but still start OK then using the rapid charge from the bike for a few minutes does it less harm in the long term than a permanent trickle regardless of the electronic manipulation of that trickle. In the same way that a new battery benefits from a 4hr 2A charge before fitting rather than out of the box and straight onto the bike.

The battery on Sue’s Hornet lasted 7 years using the method I described which seem reasonable to me. But hey you have far more theoretical knowledge than me of how things work I can only comment on what we have found works.

Sue has just corrected me as her battery actually lasted nine years.

Edited by Rocker66
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Jeffprince

Only ever changed a battery once in over 40 years of motorcycling (and not cos I changed bikes too often!). An occasional dose of the battery charger during winter lay ups, prior to the CTEK/optimate being invented. I just give the bikes a few hours trickle charge nowadays, maybe once a month, if unused. Luck or judgement, who knows?

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I'm sure Stelios can give chapter and verse regarding batteries, types, technology and characteristics etc, as he has done frequently on this forum. 

 

My car batteries usually last about 6yrs, I'm now on my 4th in a 19yr old car, but I suspect that's a lot to do with over-capacity in the spec. I do change them at the very first signs of aging, I don't do flat batteries. It's a 1 lt engine started by a 45Ah battery and supported by an 80A alternator, whereas you can have a bike with a 1 Lt engine and a 10Ah battery and a 35A alternator. The difference here is that as the battery ages and deteriorates in performance, energy capacity and amps it can deliver, you'll reach the limit of functionality much sooner with the small battery. I changed a battery on a neighbours Peugeot last year, it was the original 2005 item in there, something like 75Ah (age of car and date stamped battery agreed).

My first SV650 Yuasa YTZ lasted nearly 10yrs (can't remember exactly), I had one on the Deauville which "only" did 5yrs.

As has been said many times, the life you'll get in practice depends on a whole host of factors, so we can only really talk about likely life, there will be outliers in both directions. 5yrs is pretty acceptable I'd suggest.

 

I think the technology used in automotive Lithium starting batteries (as opposed to traction) is not prone to catching fire. It's not the same as phone/laptop battery technology. The Shido battery I have is plug and play in a conventional bike charging system, though I dare say a system designed specifically for such technology may well adopt different parameters. Reading the Shido tech blurb carefully, it actually says it's OK to use a conventional lead/acid battery charger to charge the Li-ion version, BUT the charge voltage must not exceed a given limit, which some chargers with "recovery" modes can apply, which is why they don't generally say you can use one. I used a conventional charger to prepare my Li-ion battery but monitored the voltage all the time with a multimeter. I stopped the charge when it reached 14.7V.

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Scootabout

Ever since my TMax 500, which ate a battery every 1-2 years, I'm happy with almost any life longer than that. My NC has its original battery, 5 years 6 months and going strong (touch wood), so I'm very happy with that. 

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What shortens a lead acid battery’  life is corrosion, sulfation and charge cycles. There is also acid stratification but it doesn’t apply to AGM and gel batteries...

 

For the first we can’t do anything. If we live in a cool (less than 77°F) to cold climate it will be less and more for hot climates. It’s a problem but it’s not the one that kills batteries as the sulfation.

 

Sulfation is the main reason of battery failures... It’s an unavoidable part of the chemical reaction of discharging. The lead reacts with the sulfuric acid and give us lead (II) sulfate and water. That is sulfation. Normally fully charging the battery reverse this again to lead and sulfuric acid.

 

As time passes the sulfation turns to hard sulfation and can’t be reversed. We lose lead and the plates are covered by the sulfation crystals blocking the ions motion...

 

And finally, charging-discharging cycles disintegrates the electrodes because of mechanical stress.

 

The lifetime of a SLI (automotive) battery is about 130-150 cycles when having up to 30% depth of discharge.

 

 

So, keeping the battery always fully charged stops sulfation and can give us its maximum lifetime for our usage and environment.

 

 

Temperature is also a key factor as it accelerates or slows down the chemical reactions.

 

The ideal temperature is 77°F. Every increase of 15°F above 77°F decreases battery life to the half.

 

Heat also increases self discharging rate accelerating sulfation.

 

Parasitic drain is also bad because it discharges the battery and we’ve sulfation and increases the need for more charge cycles...

 

 

There is a lot more to say but I’ll stop here... 

 

 

When people have no problems, long lifetimes,  have their batteries fully charged (they ride enough to fully charge them) and have no parasitic drains (no alarms, no electronics, or power hungry ECUs).

 

People with short lifetime problems can’t fully charge their batteries (city riding/commuting is the main reason) or they can’t keep them fully charged because of parasitic drains (alarms, trackers, etc).

 

 

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Rob Hunter (spit) battery lasted 6 months.  Motobatt has been going strong for 1 1/2 winters now.  Just starts on the button.  Previous CBF500 had Motobatt for 3 winters with no issues.  

 

30 mile round commute 3 days a week now.  Train on Monday and WFH on Fridays most weeks.  

 

Edited by makman
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On 11/22/2018 at 08:42, pointer2null said:

-3C here this morning and the bike won't start. Can't bump this one either like the old FZS600.

 

It's only 4 years old - I'd have though the battery should have lasted a bit better than that?

Mine died the same as yours! Lasted 4 and half years with my 20 mile commute. I bought a replacement from these guys https://www.tayna.co.uk/motorcycle-batteries/types/ytz14s/ they offer several variants at different price points (as well as Lithium for £110) and do next day delivery.

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