new battery

[MIKE550/4]

hi all

more advice needed about this battery, i have tried in vain to rejuvenate this battery and its stone dead, so bought a new one from ds

heres my question it comes as pack ie container with battery acid and the battery,

so my questions how do you get the acid from clear container into battery

second it says in instructions fill with battery acid, do they mean up to max level ?


lastly instructions say charge for 12 hours @ half amp/hour only... cant get my head round what that means?

charger i have is an optimate

any one help before i have to ring ds

thanks  mike

[kaceyk2]

HYa Bro, If you haven't got a very small funnel, nip to the chemists and get the biggest syringe, a vets is better as they have larger ones! (OW)  dead cheap....
Fill anywhere inbetween min and max is fine, leave overnight and top up to max .
You dont want to overfill.

[K2-K6]

The acid usually comes in a bottle with small plastic tube that fits to top and you can squeeze it into cells easily, probably deleted due to cost but made it easy as you can suck some back out if too full. You can get plastic bottles like this from chemy-lab suppliers.

With the old battery the only way I've found that worked was to empty the battery and wash it out with water, let it dry and refil with new acid, finally try a charge. This was only done to one that would be discarded anyway.

If the plates have swollen and touched each other then it's usually completely u.s.

[z1100r]

Well normally, the acid is in adjoining bottles the necks of which line up with the battery filler holes. On most you just tip the acid pack upside down and insert into battery fillers all in one go and push down. Theres a spike inside that pierces the foil lids and the acid slowly empties into each cell.

Thats how they are supposed to be...however I did have a cheapo once that came with a single round bottle and some sort of syphon squeezy bottle. That was bloody messy.

[MIKE550/4]

interesting , does this tube connect to top of squeegee bottle and the little red cap you can see to left of battery

the cap pulls off

http://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/graphics/parts/PBAT%20CB12AA_large.jpg

[z1100r]

This is the type I'm talking about and the only sort I'm ever going to use now. Maintenance free when filled.
I have one on my old z11 and one on my Thunderace and so far they have both gone through 3 winters and are still fine.
I had no end of grief with those cheapo things conking out every 5 mins.
In fact I must sort out one that will fit the Honda.

This isn't the one I use its just an example with a good piccy of the acid bottles.


The red thing on yours pulls off and is for the clear plastic vent pipe - normally supplied coiled up with the screws. To fill You have to pull all the yellow caps off and fill each cell to level via those 6 holes - somehow. As someone said a little funnel would be useful.

[z1100r]

Thought I'd add ..this is the one I bought...The Gel battery in the middle.

http://www.bits4motorbikes.co.uk/Batteries/MotorcycleBattery.html?listID=335

[MIKE550/4]

thanks guys, i see know the vent pipe makes sense

i will use a syringe fill up to max level charge for 12 hours, take it i just leave the cap off and it will naturally vent

i think for my other bike i will get a sealed battery  

[SteveD CB500K0]

You can make an "emergency" funnel with a page from a glossy magazine. Roll it up tight and pour away!

I've even used this method for diesel 

[K2-K6]

Is it the dry one you've used z1100r? as they look really good and it's good to get a recommendatin from someone.

I've used dry type on a car before and it was brilliant, had an electronic failure on a distributor once and must have cranked the motor for a total of something like an hour in trying to fault find and the battery still didn't give up, they seem seriously good.

[z1100r]

Its the sealed for life Gel battery I just bought but I have not used one before.
   I refuse to buy a conventional cheapo lead acid anymore because I end up with a huge pile of them every year. A couple of years ago I bought 2 of those YTX sealed for life after you've filled with acid jobbies and they have been great but they dont do one that is physically the same size as a YB12A-A so I've bought The YT12B-4 gel for the first time.
 
 Have to See how it lasts.. They are out of stock till after easter but thats not going to bother me..!

[z1100r]

 Guess what, they are out of stock and probably for some time. I cant get any other type because no one makes anything else......So I cancelled my order.

  I've bought a

[K2-K6]

The failure problems if left is because they slowly loose voltage and then the plates corrode I've been told.

It seems that if you can stop the discharge buy taking it off the bike or disconnecting it then a full charge should keep it ok for 2/3 months and then charge again and this does seem to work (or use one of those battery conditioner chargers) they do seem to last longer like this, maybe someone more informed than me can add to this for our benefit.