Battery charging - a few questions

[iceman]

I have an Optimate 6 charger (quite expensive) which suggests it's good for motorcycle as well as car batteries, all 12V and up to 5A max (in stages including many maintenance cycles and modes if needed). It also will trickle charge once the battery is ok.
Now my battery is fine, but I thought I would try plugging it to the charger just to see what it thinks of it. My question is one of slightly higher possilbe amps, 5A instead of nominal 0.8 max all the time, and if the charger goes to 13-14V for periods of time can that harm the ECU?
I known people connect trickle chargers, but this beasty is one of the better chargers but I am not sure how good it will be with the tiny PCX battery.

[GeorgeSK]

I've been using an Optimate 3 for years. It works great. I think Optimate knows what it is doing, and if they say your good, I expect you are good.

CAn power even get to the ECU if the key out of the ignition?

[Jge64]

Check it after an hour of charging, I'll bet you it won't be charging 5a, with all the different optimate stages, I'm sure it comes down as % of charge increases, And stabilizes at a much lower current charge.

[NADman]

Your alternator puts out more than 14V (hopefully) so no problem.
I have a 48V mobility scooter and it's 'smart' charger starts at 55V +- and
tapers down to maintain.

[gn2]

"my battery is fine"

So leave it the <bleep> alone!

[iceman]

Yes GN2, it seems fine now but it's 5 years old out in all weathers so I thought I would check / recondition it at some point and started pondering what charger to use. I can sell the un-used Optimate 6 (costs over £100) and be left with £70 after Ebay charges and buy one of the cheap Aldi/Lidl £13 ones for occasional charging if needed.
New batteries can be bought for £40 now, which are almost like the original in performance should that be neccesary. I measured my battery this morning soon after arriving home from work, ignition off and it measured 13.6V which is very good.

[gn2]

The battery will be fine till you break it.
Only charger it needs is in the scooter already.
There's a reason they're described as "maintenance free"

[Mel46]

The only time that I put my charger on my bikes is to maintain them during storage in the winter. Batteries by their natural lose some charge just sitting on a shelf. If you are not going to use your bike for awhile, or if it is cold outside, connect a trickle charger to the battery.

The only time that I have seen the need for a "real" battery charger has been when my lawn Tractor battery died. Then I needed to fully charge it because I had not driven it enough for it to fully recharge the battery.

On a bike, if you use the bike for a lot of short trips in which you have to restart it many times, it may not run long enough to recoup the charges used to start the engine. Then it would be a good idea at the end of the day to put it on a trickle charger.

[halluinoid]

so you could get a JUMP START from another battery IF your battery was dead



fascinated to see in this video that after connecting the red lead to the positive terminal of your dead battery you do NOT connect the black lead to negative terminal which I always thought would be the obvious way to go in fact I have done that on jump starts before and they worked

this guy says NO , instead connect the black lead to a metal surface (much better?)

[you you]

so you could get a JUMP START from another battery IF your battery was dead



fascinated to see in this video that after connecting the red lead to the positive terminal of your dead battery you do NOT connect the black lead to negative terminal which I always thought would be the obvious way to go in fact I have done that on jump starts before and they worked

this guy says NO , instead connect the black lead to a metal surface (much better?)

Who wouldn’t believe some guy on the internet?

[easyrider]

When I turn my key to ignition on,lights on my battery reads 11.6 v.It starts up fine,but wondering if this is a weak battery.Should it be reading 12 + volts with lights on not running.?

[Jge64]

When is the engine is not on ,yet the accessories are energized and the bike is lit up, it should be reading somewhere between 12.4 and 12.6 to be 100% full.

[easyrider]

Thanks,I am getting 11.8 v( accessories on ) before starting.Going to replace it..

[you you]

Thanks,I am getting 11.8 v( accessories on ) before starting.Going to replace it..

Why? You said it starts fine.

[DaveMudance]

Thanks,I am getting 11.8 v( accessories on ) before starting.Going to replace it..

You thought of going Lithium????

https://tinyurl.com/vgj3enc

[easyrider]

Yes, it cranks fine but when a battery shows signs of weakness I don't want it to go out at an inconvenient time. Batteries for this bike are so cheap why risk or wait for failure. lithium are nice but too expensive. I can get 3-4 normal batteries for one lithium.. Not cost effective for me.

[iceman]

Lithium batteries are not %100 reliable - they also die especially if they are over charged or for some reason drop below minumum voltage by too far a margin. Applies to all Lithium even in small devices. For the price, as mentioned it does not seem worth it as a good normal PCX battery will last ages.

[OldGuywhoTinkers]

When you say 5 amp charger, that says to me that you need to know exactly how much power your charger CAN put out, apart from different voltage requirements of now five different battery designs that are being sold to our market today.

If you own a car, tractor, cycle, or scooter, etc, you ought to buy an AC-DC current meter or amprobe. On low DC amperage scale, clamp the arms one at a time: around the positive and negative cables when the engine is running on center stand and occasionally measure what the 305 watt PCX AC generator is capable of putting out. (Diodes rectify 3 phase AC to 13 volts DC) Right after boosting off a dead battery is a good time that should show how much current the AC generator can put into the battery. Remember those values.

Most scooter batteries charge at 0.4 - 0.5 amperes, tolerating briefly 2 amperes (when battery is flat) I am expressing here my fear that a good battery can be hurt or even destroyed if charging rates do not remain in that zone recommended by the manufacturer. I can't comment on 20 different brands of chargers that are out there. Cheap ones will fry batteries. Some of the ones run by computer chips protect batteries quite well.

[OldGuywhoTinkers]

so you could get a JUMP START from another battery IF your battery was dead



fascinated to see in this video that after connecting the red lead to the positive terminal of your dead battery you do NOT connect the black lead to negative terminal which I always thought would be the obvious way to go in fact I have done that on jump starts before and they worked

this guy says NO , instead connect the black lead to a metal surface (much better?)

Who wouldn’t believe some guy on the internet?

==============================================================
People have been boosting 6 and 12 and 24 volt batteries at the terminals for a century. The idea is that old flooded batteries produce excess hydrogen when charged at high rates (watch golf cart batteries charge some time) and a spark around concentrated hydrogen and oxygen occasionally results in a battery blowing up, like maybe 12 batteries a year in the US because people do stupid things. I have been boosting batteries off at the terminals for 55 years. My cars and motorcycles just start even at 19 degrees F You can do either. If you have a solid, clean connection at the engine block, it will work fine. Sealed batteries have taken away that hydrogen buildup fear so it is largely a non issue today. BUT flooded plate batteries still need proper venting. IF your battery has a vinyl hose, vent and route it like you should !

[smrbike]

Battery to Battery
Red to Red
Black to Black


BTW I saw an alien yesterday so it must be true, it is now on the internet.
In the marine industry it is called Dock Talk - translated (Bravo Sierra)

Simple battery to battery
If the battery ground is no good, the black to metal WILL NOT WORK. It wouold still be an open circuit!

Simple battery to battery
Any Questions?


The only opinions are which (red or black) first.
Simple - Red