Battery maintenance wisdom?

Despite being attached to a good quality maintenance/float charger which was on all Winter, my FJR's original battery wouldn't hold any voltage under load, so off came the panels to pull it out and I scanned all of my farkles and my underseat BlueSea fuse box for any possible shorts etc. Nothing apparent. (note to self: in next life plan to have considerably tinier hands for manipulation of tiny fasteners, semi-rigid plastic panels etc)

At the battery store today (while I was being relieved of an obscene number of (Canadian) dollars) the tech asks me what year of Yamaha I have. When I tell him it's a 2004, he asks me if I had it on a charger all Winter. I told him I did, then asked why he asked. He claims that these batteries are showing a tendency to "dry out" when cared for in this way, dramatically shortening their service life...

This is the first bike that I've had with this type of sealed battery, but I've never had battery life problems in the past (I think I got 8 or 9 years out of the OEM battery on my 92 ST1100) - using similar Winter storage care procedures.

The battery guy's alternate recommendation: no more than an overnight trickle charge once a month during storage season, i.e, don't leave it continuously connected to a charger. I suspect that I will do that, and also pull the negative battery cable off the battery post next Winter to stop any minor drain from the clock etc.

This is the first I've ever heard of this "drying out" syndrome and I don't recall seeing any similar posts on the forum.

Fact or pure retail sales BS? Your opinions and/or knowledge anticipated with great interest!

BS. Assuming you have a quality charger than is working correctly.

The good ones are designed to shut off when the battery is fully charged so they won't 'cook' the battery. Many around here including me keep the charger on the battery for prolonged periods with no problem.

I still have my original battery on my 04 and I consider that above average life for the harsh desert heat conditions. I would say 8 or 9 years for any battery is pretty exceptional.

I pickup my FJR today :clapping: :yahoo: :yahoo: :clapping: my 2001, 1400 Intruder is leaving with it's orginal battery.

I never used a battery tender just started the bike once a month.

Chuck

I just recently replaced my original battery as well (2004 model). My battery had the same symptoms as yours; on starting would have a major voltage drop (and sometimes loose the clock settings). Even though we have similar symptoms, I have the good fortune of riding year round, so I just think that the battery just gave up the ghost at a little over three years. I replaced mine with a Westco, a couple of months ago, so I'll see how it goes.

From the ancient memory cells in my brain, these batteries seem to last about 3 years or so. A number of owners have had the batteries "turn South" at that time period.

This my first winter with a float charger. It goes off when the battery is fully topped off. The battery is supposed to keep a long time in this state because sulfation does not occur.

Take the battery out in the fall, top off the electrolyte and set it and forget it. . .until I notice the next week that the levels have dropped a lot. The plates in one cell were just starting to show.

SO, that made me think I would stay away from trickle chargers all together and I would only use a float charger periodically and right before spring.

My 04's battery gave up the ghost as well this spring. Must be something about those batteries.

Tom

I just replaced the battery on my 2003 with a Westco. The OEM was fine still, but I monitor the volts (Datel meter) during all types of conditions and noticed it was getting slower to recover and other hints that it would be wise to swap early. My last 3 bikes did good to make it past 2 years without a swap. Pushing them to 2.5 years usually meant getting stranded while on a trip somewhere. To say I'm pleased with the longevity would be an understatement.

The trick? When brand new, give them plenty of time to get an initial charge on a low-voltage (24 hours @ 1.x amp? on a smart charger) - instead of the bike's alternator - so they start out life in tip-top shape. Throughout the life of the bike, either ride it for at least a half hour to 45 minutes after starting it uP (idling doesn't count) - or toss them on a smart charger - to be sure they recover from the loss they have from starting the bike. Any time the bike will sit, unridden, for more than 2 days toss it on the smart charger - again to avoid discharging.

Others may have different experiences, but this has worked well for me.

My 04 battery just farted out as well. I put a charge on it and it looked as though it was holding a charge but two weeks later it was dead again.

Same thing happened to my 04 battery last year. Seemed to hold a charge but died within hours. Had to replace it. This winter I just took the battery out and kept it in my basement. Charged it a couple of times over the winter and then right before getting my bike back on the road. So far so good! Knock wood!

gypsy

What type of battery is in the 04 - open wet-cell? Sealed gel type?

I had a lot of problems with a sealed gel type battery in my 04 FZ6, had to replace it after 2 years despite keeping it on a trickle charger controled by a timer that only allowed it on for one hour twice a week. Compare that to the open wet-cell I had on my Radian for almost eight years - same trickle charger routine but I was able to top off the cells once a month.

I know quite a few people who use an Oxford 360T connected to their battery 24/7, car and bike.

They swear by them.

Oxford

My '05's battery crapped out after the second winter of storage, despite using a battery maintainer. This was a life of just 1.5 summers and 2 winters. I hope this was just a fluke; I don't want to have to get a new battery every 2 years.

Come on folks think about it tires wear out ,head lights burn out, everything made by man has a life expentantency. Three years for a battery thats pretty darn good for a bike , $60.00 for battery 36 months== $1.67 maintenance per month.

Oh and Iistill can not believe people by that battery tender, nothing more than a trickle charger and a big waste of money. do not own one and do not want one.

You can un hook your battery cables let your battery sit through the winter when time to ride just put on your battery tender let "er" charge up and good to go.

How do I know that is what I do with my rv trailer batteries weekend rider

I ride ny bike during the winter in ca.

Dwavey said:

What type of battery is in the 04 - open wet-cell? Sealed gel type?

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The Westco replacement for the FJR is an absorbed glass mat battery, which is sealed & maintenance-free, but not a true gel-cell. I think the (OEM) Yuasa is an AGM as well.

On a lead from two of the top-respected members on this forum, I recently bought a Yuasa Hot Shot battery maintainer from this guy, and have since bought a 1.5 amp model for the Land Cruiser, which sits a lot at 11 mpg. I really notice more snap in both batteries since connecting them to the maintainer.

I'm tempted to buy another unit to keep at the station, since my vehicle sits there for 48 hours while I'm at work, and I don't want to pack it along each time. At 31 bucks delivered, it's tempting. They're a real good value, and include a fused (2A) ring-terminal pigtail with an SAE connector to permanently connect to the FJR battery that you can also use as a power plug for tankbag, etc...

The batteries supplied in the FJR are AGM gel units. They have low self-discharge rates and if you ride regularly you shouldn't need to float-charge them.

If you do, you ought to be using a charger specifically designed for AGM batteries, as they charge to higher voltages than wet batteries do - so your local 'wet cell maintainer' is actually not properly charging the battery to it's capacity.

The FJR sat though the winter without a charger. The KZ550 has one and I use it most of the time on that machine because I simply don't ride it enough.

bramfrank said:

The batteries supplied in the FJR are AGM gel units.

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"All you ever wanted to know about AGM and Gel Cell batteries"
By Bryan Noonan

Zbattery.com

July 10, 2003

Gel cell, AGM and Sealed lead acid are terms commonly and often interchangeably used to refer to the heavy batteries often used in security systems, UPS backup power units, emergency lighting and more.

So if these terms are interchangeably used, are they really the same?

Well, yes and no.

Definitions

GEL CELL

A Gel Cell battery contains acid in a gel form. (No, really!) The acid is ‘free-floating’ in its container.

Advantages – The gel is not in liquid form so a cracked gel cell does not leak. The gel maintains its ‘semi-solid’ consistency.

Disadvantages – When over-charged a gel cell battery can develop a ‘void’ that adheres to the plates in the battery thus reducing the battery’s performance.

AGM

AGM stands for Absorbed Glass Mat. This means that the battery contains glass mats that absorb the acid in the battery.

Advantages – More consistency in the operation of the battery. No voids are formed because the voids float to the top and do not adhere to the glass mats.

Disadvantages – When an AGM battery cracks it can sometimes leak a little from the acid that seeps from the glass mats.

SEALED LEAD ACID

A term commonly used to refer to either Gel Cell or AGM batteries. To be a sealed lead acid battery the battery needs to have only two things:

1. It must be a battery that uses acid for electrolytes.

2. It must be sealed

Both AGM and Gel Cell batteries are interchangeable and either can be used to replace the other. AGM batteries are MUCH more common for sealed lead acid (sla) batteries. Nearly all sla batteries under 100Ah are AGM.

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The plusses of the sealed batteries are that they don't need vent hoses, and they are unlikely to puke acid all over the inside of your fairing, top of your motor etc. in the event of a get-off. Don't know what would happen in the event of a direct hit on the battery, but then probably the whole bike would be a parting-out exercise anyway...

The negative of the sealed battery appears to be a lot more sensitivity to type and length of charging, and a shorter life overall regardless of usage, maintenance, or neglect - at least for the GS OEM batteries - from what I'm reading here. Maybe the Westco's will be more robust, but we won't know for a few years!

I have a sophisticated Yuasa float charger similar to Toe's unit above, but with even more bells and whistles - but I suspect this is irrelevant to battery life for our FJR's.

Weekend's got the right idea - just change them out as a routine maintenance item (3 year intervals or less) and keep smiling! Just another cost of doin' bizness... (and it won't strand you Back of Beyond)

Thanks for all of the feedback on this thread - I suspected I was not alone

i find that i get extened battery life when i use 100% synthetic oils... in fact, the oil and battery both tend to last 48 months before needing to be changed...

:rofl: