Battery Question

[zdaveuk]

Went to start the bike today but battery was no good hardly turned the bike over, luckily I had another, which is a newer Exide gel battery, so took the old OEM battery off and swapped them over, and bike fired up first time

put volt meter over both batteries while off the bike and

OEM 12.4 volts

Exide 10.5 volts

how come the lower voltage battery started bike no problem and other would nt turn it over?
Is it more to do with amps than volts?

 

[Deleted account 250319001]

MotoMartin is ya man for this question

 

[motobiker]

aye thats what I was told when my last battery died.. had the volts. but no amps. with abs faults. clocks resetting and progressively 'lazy' starting.

interestingly (or typically) the optimate was showing the battery to be 'ok' throughout.. bloody rubbish.

Fitted an exide gel and voila. good as new!

and I'll rely on the bikes charger in future.

 

[Greg Masters]

Exide 10.5 volts

how come the lower voltage battery started bike no problem and other would nt turn it over?

Probably because you didn't get an accurate voltage reading on the Exide.

Greg

 

[DollyRocket]

A healthy (6cell) PbAc battery should have an open circuit potential of about 12.6V when not on load (although temperature would have a bit of an effect). but it is the voltage when the battery is loaded which is the key -

It sounds like the capacity of the OEM battery has dropped sufficiently to not support the current and so the voltage falls excessively when you start up. The other battery is very low (11.6V is normally the lowest to prevent damage you should take a battery), however, the plates are still in a reasonable condition and so the voltage doesn't fall too much when loaded. Was this Exide new? did it have a conditioning charge? To prolong the battery life it is wise to charge it (either bulk to 14.4V until the current drops below C/4) and then to float charge it at 13.8V (this is what the trickle chargers / oximisers etc do).

If your battery voltage once it has been charged by the alternator is still around 10.5V then there is something not right, either the meter you are using or there is still a load present.

 

[Steptoe]

You have in your possession a magic battery. Cherish it with tender loving volts. And may the amps be with you.

 

[zdaveuk]

The magical battery , continued

just been down to the garage put tester on it and

10 volts un loaded
6 volts when starting bike and it started it too
10.6 volts when running

the battery is about 12 months old never been tricklered or optimised, been sat in garage for a month or so.

So taking into account an inaccurate volt tester reading are the voltages what you would expect or is battery FUBAR`d ?

 

[Greg Masters]

The magical battery , continued

just been down to the garage put tester on it and

10 volts un loaded
6 volts when starting bike and it started it too
10.6 volts when running

the battery is about 12 months old never been tricklered or optimised, been sat in garage for a month or so.

So taking into account an inaccurate volt tester reading are the voltages what you would expect or is battery FUBAR`d ?

I woud say that your voltmeter is fubared.

Greg