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Author Topic: Battery issues  (Read 378 times)

David Gilli

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Battery issues
« on: September 06, 2015, 11:28:14 am »
Hi Folks,
Our Ford C-Max needed a new battery £150 fitted at dealership £57 at battery specialist..fitting easy, of course.
I visited a bike dealer recently who wanted £86 for a bog standard lead-acid battery..seemed a lot !
I fancy a sealed battery and my local specialist has an Exide for £77 but it may be a bit tall...
They do a Yuasa for £84 which is semi-sealed...ie would leak...eventually..no time specified.
For the extra seems worth a sealed one...
I wonder..apart from the price are there any downsides to a sealed battery ?
I have a sealed one on the riding lawnmower...elec. start..only 8 hp..which has done very well.
Does anyone have a sealed one they would recommend ?
Any further comments would be valued
Thanks
  Best to all...
.David Gilliland

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huub

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Re: Battery issues
« Reply #1 on: September 08, 2015, 08:35:25 am »
i have been running sealed batteries for years , i usually buy used backup batteries from UPS ( uninterruptible power supplies)
sealed batteries  dont like very high voltage , so i set the regulator to 13,5 volts.
i just changed the one in my lario, it was 10 years old  and has been used 5 years in a UPS, and then 5 years in my fleet of guzzi's.


David Gilli

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Re: Battery issues
« Reply #2 on: September 08, 2015, 11:37:04 am »
Hello,
Interesting ideas...I assume you leave near UPS and would have to visit them to buy a used battery.
Perhaps there are similar suppliers in my area who also offer used batteries .
Next thing then is to investigate how to "set" a voltage regulator.
On a separate point..one source suggested that one needs a "smart" recharger for a gel (perhaps also any sealed ) battery.
Apparently Optimate says their charger, which is what i use, is ok for sealed and gel batteries....
Just wondering... and learning.
Thanks
David Gilliland

cryospeed1

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Re: Battery issues
« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2015, 01:46:14 pm »
Hi David I think sealed and unsealed batteries refers to whether you can add distilled water rather than its propensity to leak. The unsealed normally give access to the cells via either a screw cap or a push fit plug.  I have tried sealed gel batteries where the acid is absorbed into a fibre glass mat within each cell. Two of them failed early as I had left them discharged over winter. I now use wet acid batteries bought off the internet and keep them topped up with my optimate or Aldis best chargers. I have never had any sort of battery leak. Recently my optimate brought back to life a wet acid battery that had sat discharged for about 3 years.

banquo

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Re: Battery issues
« Reply #4 on: September 15, 2015, 09:26:07 pm »
I've never had much luck with wet batteries, and they seem to die with great regularity.
My Harley came with an AGM (absorbed glass mat) battery in 2003, and it lasted for nearly 10 years, despite frying away inside the oil tank, and being half the size of most Harley batteries. When it started getting sulky, I stuck it on the NF, and of course it's been just fine for that, as it has nothing much to do. Apart from the Dynastart models, the stock battery is several times larger than it needs to be. The Harley battery is much smaller than the stock one, so needs packed out.
I've never had any issue with a quality AGM battery, and bought a Motobatt recently for my Cali III, when the wet one did its usual, and died on me. Loads on eBay for under £50, but can't remember the size for the NF:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=&_osacat=10063&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR5.TRC1.A0.H2.Xmotobatt.TRS0&_nkw=motobatt&_sacat=10063

For the record, so-called sealed batteries are Valve Regulated Lead Acid, and can be either Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) where the electrolyte is held in fibreglass matting between the plates, or Gel, where it's held by silica gel. Most automotive and motorcycle VRLA batteries are AGM, and they will last for many years, without any maintenance, providing they're not fried by duff regulators, or discharged by more than 60% or so, when they may fail to recharge. Not an issue unless you have an alarm (ho, ho) or are in the habit of forgetting to switch off your lights, and/or ignition.