Weird trickle charger/charging issue

[vicenzajay]

Hmmm....need some wisdom from the crowd.

Just got this 2009 XB12R (I have another thread on it). GREAT bike, and I love riding it hard.

Battery was "new" per the PO...it looks new, and there were no issues starting and running it for the first week or two without a trickle charger.

Put it on a trickle charger once the charging lead was installed and used a Battery Tender Jr. (small one - 750mA charger). Everything worked great. Charger would indicate charging and then "close" and "fully charged" within a reasonable time...float charging seemed great. No battery issues.

Fast forward to Monday this week. Rode the bike to work (the long way ) - the bike sat for 7 or so hours. Started right up and I rode the bike home with no issues. Plugged the float charger in and...

wait for it....

Solid red charging light. Would not move from "charging" to any flashing green or green light. I gave it about 5 hours and then traded chargers out with the one on my Harley. The Battery Tender Jr. went on the Harley and worked great - red to flashing green to green - no issues.

Moved the 1.5A Schumaker charger to the XB....took a while (2-3 hours) but finally indicated fully charged.

Waited a day and switched the chargers out again - same problem - solid red ("charging") with the Battery Tender on the Buell - switched it to the Sportster and no issues.

I'm perplexed. I've checked, cleaned, and tightened both battery terminal connections and the ground connection to frame. Buell starts up just fine.

What I haven't done is multi-metered the battery after start - I guess I need to do that.

Any help/advice/experience? Don't want to be stranded on the road as a result of not recognizing something more serious beginning to happen.

 

[rchuff]

The only time I put my bikes on a tender is in the winter time when snow is on the ground. Should not need to plug in every time you get done riding, if you need to then you need new battery or your charging system is not charging properly. ( they are two different tenders so one might take longer to change to green light then the other.)when you get done riding let your battery cool down for at least one day before plugging in tender.

 

[user_deleted]

agree 100% with what ricky said above. the inherent problem with your observations is that they are all based on feedback from a deltran tender and its mode lights. their accuracy regarding charging rate and battery condition are notoriously inept. i would do this:
1-remove battery.....give it a 6 amp charge for approx. 10 minutes...then immediately take to auto parts joint or battery shop and have it load tested. test is typically free. this confirms actual battery condition.
2-install a very simple volt gauge. every buell should have one. i have them for under $10 and the peace of mind alone worth double that. gives real time charging system output.
3-remove seat exposing battery. set multi meter to DC volts and install leads to matching battery terminals. start bike. read meter. at approx. 2500rpm you should see 13.2-14.5 volts DC. this is your charging system output being received by battery in other words. if so all is well.

 

[vicenzajay]

Cool - will do.

I've never had issues with tenders....used them for years. This is the first of "this" type of behavior with a motorcycle for me - thus the question. The Sportster and Blast are on tenders 100% of the time when not riding...batteries are in awesome shape and the tenders work/indicate correctly.

I ran a music studio for some time, so I'm quite familiar with a multimeter (troubleshooting cables and audio gear innards).

Please send info on your volt gauge - quite interested!

 

[vicenzajay]

Used the multimeter - battery and bike system are fine....something must not be "clicking" between that AGM battery and the Deltran tender. After a day of *not* charging, the battery was sitting pretty at 13.2 volts....after start and even approaching 2000 rpm, the bike was producing 14.5 volts or so "back" to the battery. Perfect.

 

[vicenzajay]

Still interested in the voltmeter - go ahead and send me a link if you can....

 

[user_deleted]

here's my mail. contact me and i'll send you one along with wiring instructions. quick...simple...cheap...peace of mind.
[email protected]

 

[vicenzajay]

Will do - thanks a ton....