battery life

[TracerBullet]

I did a search and only came up with one thread with a couple of posts that did not really answer my question.

 

I was away for three weeks, came home and wanted to go for a cleansing ride. I hit the starter and all that cam out was the chatter of a dead battery.

It has been on the charger since 1930 last night and still has the solid red light, I checked the connection just to be sure.

The bike is a 04 1150rt purchased new in aug 03.

Accessories are xm skyfi.

I also have a centech fuse box run off the battery but nothing plugged into it yet.

 

I am getting new tires installed next week. Should I have them replace the battery while I am at the dealer?

 

I dont want to get stranded on the raod. This has never happened before (battery)

 

thankyou for your insight

 

sal

[Why_Fly]

 

Sort of the same thing happened to me. I also have a '04 R1150RT. Put it on the charger around 8:00PM. The next morning the red light was still on (using Battery Tender, Jr.). I had to leave on another night before I saw the green light. Drove it to work - started with no probelm. That night I put the charger on again and the green light came on within a few minutes. Left it on the charger another night.

 

That was 3 weeks ago and the bike has started up with no problems since.

 

Maybe give it a little more time on the charger.

I'm no expert - that's just my 2 cents.

Good luck.

Cheers,

John

[akasjl]

Sal, sounds like you have a bad battery. Not sure what the average battery life is, but yours is 2 yrs old and I believe now would be a good time to change under the circumstances. It shouldn't take that long to recharge.

 

They are easy enough to replace on your own if you are inclined, but since it's going in anyway you might as well have them change it. If they carry them, go with an Odyssey PC 680 w/o the metal jacket. These are by far the best performing battery and the consesus choice on the forum. Some on the forum have gotten 3+ yrs out of them. If the dealer doesn't stock 'em, go with the gel.

[Ted]

The best battery made for your RT is probably the Odysey PC 680. It will mount on its side and give you years of service. Yes, your battery is kaput!

[Ted]

Where are you located? I am also in SC Penna (Chambersburg).

[DavidEBSmith]

the consesus choice on the forum

 

No, no consensus on the Odyssey.

 

I installed one in April of this year. Recently I started getting low battery ABS faults, then one day the battery was dead after the bike was sitting for 3 hours with the V1 and the 2610 left on. I replaced the starter, which felt like it was dragging, but I still had issues with the Odyssey. It would start OK the first time, but on a quick restart, like when you get gas and then ride away from the pump over to a parking spot, I was getting ABS faults.

 

I tested the Odyssey with a battery load tester. It would test OK on the first test, but the load capacity dropped off with each subsequent test until after five tests, it was below "OK" on the tester. In comparison, the two year old wet battery that I had removed in April held its capacity through five tests, dropping off very little.

 

Maybe this is just one bad Odyssey battery, but for the IBR next month, I'm going with a good old-fashioned wet battery.

[Ralph]

Strange. My battery is 3 years old & still working. For how long,I don't know, but for now it is OK.

[akasjl]

I need to proof my replies b/4 sending as I noticed I did not spell consensus correctly. Thx. Anyhow, you must have a bad Odyssey. I have not experienced the ABS faults you noted. Since you bought it in April, it's still under warranty and they will replace it.

[Dances_With_Wiener_Dogs]

I also have a centech fuse box run off the battery but nothing plugged into it yet.

Interesting that you mention this because I have a Blue Sea fuse box on my `99 and use the BMW gel battery. I noticed that if I leave the fuse box powered, even if all of the accessories are turned OFF, overnight I'll have trouble starting the bike. If I don't ride for a few days it won't start at all, so there is a drain somewhere. I installed a simple toggle switch to kill power to the fuse box. I also changed the toggle that I use for my aux driving lights pulling the hot wire that makes the switch light up (the parking lamp). I wonder if that was causing the problem?

[Bprimm]

the consesus choice on the forum

 

No, no consensus on the Odyssey.

 

I installed one in April of this year. Recently I started getting low battery ABS faults, then one day the battery was dead after the bike was sitting for 3 hours with the V1 and the 2610 left on. I replaced the starter, which felt like it was dragging, but I still had issues with the Odyssey. It would start OK the first time, but on a quick restart, like when you get gas and then ride away from the pump over to a parking spot, I was getting ABS faults.

 

I tested the Odyssey with a battery load tester. It would test OK on the first test, but the load capacity dropped off with each subsequent test until after five tests, it was below "OK" on the tester. In comparison, the two year old wet battery that I had removed in April held its capacity through five tests, dropping off very little.

 

Maybe this is just one bad Odyssey battery, but for the IBR next month, I'm going with a good old-fashioned wet battery.

 

You can read this for a more technical explanation of charging Odyssey batteries, but a 100% discharged battery, such as the one you had, would require a 6Amp or 10 Amp charger for a couple of hours to bring it back correctly. Of course it still may not come back to it's formal self. Flooded cell batteries sometimes refuse to come back too.....after a 100% discharge. The sulfur just doesn't suspend back into the electrolyte at each cell completely.

 

The Odyssey is warranteed for 2 years. Still got the proof-of-purchase?

[TracerBullet]

I am not electrically knowledgeable at all.

How can a fuse box that has no accessories hooked up draw power?

 

I never had the battery go down before and the only thing that has changed recently was the fuse box addition.

This will s**k if that is the case

[TracerBullet]

ted,

I live in elizabethtown

[DavidEBSmith]

You can read this for a more technical explanation of charging Odyssey batteries, but a 100% discharged battery, such as the one you had, would require a 6Amp or 10 Amp charger for a couple of hours to bring it back correctly. Of course it still may not come back to it's formal self. Flooded cell batteries sometimes refuse to come back too.....after a 100% discharge. The sulfur just doesn't suspend back into the electrolyte at each cell completely.

 

Well, it wasn't 100% discharged, just discharged enough to crank the engine a couple of times, then chatter the starter relay. I jump started the bike, then rode 100 miles home in 4th gear to keep the revs and charging current up. Once I got in my garage, I was able to restart the bike several times before I finally turned on all the lights and forced an ABS fault on restart.

 

The bike is always kept on a Battery Tender Jr., which should maintain a fully charged Odyssey battery. I also got an Accumate Pro, which is a 7 amp charger with a setting for Odyssey batteries. If the BT didn't fully charge it, the Accumate should have. When I first plugged in the Accumate, it went from bulk charge to absorbtion charge in a couple of seconds, sat at absorbtion charge for a couple of minutes, and went into maintenance charge. The battery has no problem getting to a voltage that indicates that it's fully charged, but it doesn't seem to have a lot of energy to put out.

 

 

As for coming back to its former self, if anything, it should do that better than a wet battery, if you believe Odyssey's claim that it's a deep cycle battery. If draining it once permanently damages it, it's a pretty poor excuse for a vehicle battery.

[bmwmick]

Eebie,

If you're dead set on a wet cell, BMW just released a NEW 20AH wet cell. Claims to have 170A (they don't specify CCA, CA or HCA).Part Number 61 21 0 403 224 $84.50 I guess their GEL battery from Exide wasn't as great as they thought.

For me, I'll never have another wet cell in any of my bikes. I've been using Panasonic AGM/SLA batteries since about 1995 and just replace them every 4 years.

LC-X1220P from Digikey.com is only about $45 with free shipping.

 

Mick

Tucson