Honda VFR1200X Crosstourer - Honda's biggest Adventure Tourer > Electrical

Batteries & Starting

(1/1)

SB:
My new Bike has only been on the road for 8 months but it was pre-registered and I suspect was built some time before it was registered.

I don't know at what stage the battery is fitted to a new bike but I got the impression that the battery in the new bike was not as good as it should be for an 8 moth old bike (still under Honda Warranty).

One of the key indicators of a battery on the way out is the clocks resetting when the bike is started. This is obviously caused by the battery terminal voltage falling too low when the starter kicks in.

I decided to take some measurements on my bike after it had been standing unused for a few days. I used a USB Digital storeage scope to measure/plot the battery voltage when the starter kicks in.

The first trace shows the reading when the bike is first started. The voltage drops from 11.98V to 5.87V = a drop of 6.15 volts.

The second trace shows the readings after the battery had been on charge for 30 minutes. The voltage drops from 12.51V to 6.82V = a drop of 5.69 volts.

Without anything to compare this against it doesn't tell me much.

I now need to find out what voltage the clocks reset at and what voltage a good or bad battery drops to on startup

SilverD:
I don't know the exact specs, but I'm pretty sure that's way too much of a voltage drop. Either your starter motor is starting to short out, or your battery is toast I suspect.

SB:

--- Quote from: SilverD on September 12, 2014, 05:47:53 ---I don't know the exact specs, but I'm pretty sure that's way too much of a voltage drop. Either your starter motor is starting to short out, or your battery is toast I suspect.

--- End quote ---

My feeling was that it wasn't too bad. So I've checked a few other "Motors" :

Yamaha XT660 (single) with an OK Battery drops 6.2V on intial start.

Mercedes C Class with a 90Ah battery and 10% less volume per cylinder than the Vara drops 3.9V on intial start.

zebulon:
It is said: with a charged battery , over 12,6v battery is ok
between 12 & 12,6v you have to charge again
under 12v you have to change the battery

if battery voltage is from 11,5 to 12,6 charge 1,8A during 5 to 10 hours
if the battery voltage is under 11,5v charge 1,8A during 20 hours

charging voltage must be greater then battery voltage: 13 to 13,2v but less then 15,5v (5000tr/min)

If it can help for instance ...  ???

jackyork:
Basic battery rules. It's not possible to accurately check a battery that is  not charged to its capacity (even if that's virtually nil). So overnight charge before testing.
A heavy discharge test is a dead short across the terminals and observation of the electrolite, combined with a reading over the poles
Re; your reply in VUK.
Is this not covered under your warranty; I thought this was your new bike?

JK Any good Stuart?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-BAKELITE-ELLIOTT-VOLT-AMPERES-TEST-METER-IN-LEATHER-CASE-MA-225-/390930154732?&_trksid=p2056016.m2518.l4276

Navigation

[0] Message Index