Can the cold weather kill batteries?

[fimpBIKES]

hi all


i have a question about batteries

my katana's battery is only 7months old now, and i cant charge it above 70% on the charger
i can start the kat by jump starting off my ute, but if i leave it overnight in the cold it wont start in the morning

then there is annes gsx250, similar issue
we charge it up, starts fine. then in the morning it wont start, barely cranks

i dont have a shed just now but really want to ride bikes to work in the mornings again

i know batteries dont particularly like being cold, but has it stuffed them? only 7 months out of a battery is pretty weak :(

[Redmohawk]

Short answer is yep fucks lead acid batts, Cold promots sulfation (if you leave a batt on a concreat floor in the shed it will doe much faster than if you put it on some foam or wood battens). In a bike if you fit a trickel charger to it and leave it in a shed it will last longer but if the bat gets down below 10 deg often it will shorten the life alot. Think of battery chemistry like salt in water , the colder the water the less salt will disolve, when the salt comes out of soultion it causes issues (is a basic description) Poring hot water on the bat or warming it up inside will help but its basicly a permanant problem. There are anti sulfation devices to fit to batts but there to big and bulky for a bike really. They zap the battery with high voltage low current pulses to blast the sulfation away. If your really desperate I can post up a way to make one diy with a pair of battery chargers and a 24 volt relay, but the cost of it is prob about the same as a bat if you have to buy all the stuff and it only works maybe 50% of the time.

If your lucky and bought it from a battery joint take it back on the bike they might swap it out with a relpacement under warrenty, Gel bats aren't as suseptable to the cold but are still effected. I replaced the batt on my bike with a gel (cost was cheaper than the replacement standard batt as I got mine from super cheap and it will run the headlight for over an hour and still start the bike) and park it outside every night but I ride over an hour each day so the batt gets a good charge.

[suxukifreak]

I had the same problem 2 months ago.

Fitted these to the TL and 14 at $110 each delivered and all good so far....

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Dry-Cell-Motorcycle-battery-YTX12BS-KAWASAKI-HONDA-/250642928467?pt=AU_Motorcycle_Parts_Accessories

http://www.asfphotos.com/upload/1282039702.jpg

[nick76]

I was at my local shop afew weeks ago,to buy one of them^^^^,Motobatt batteries,and the rep said the distributer of them went bust,or something like that,coz i couldn't order one.

maybe they've sorted themselves out??

[Redmohawk]

Yeah there gel batts , you can get em alot cheaper if your happy to buy non automotive specific ones. Battery supplyer will tell you that you have to buy auto specific ones (crap) you can pick up good gels for a average bike for around $50 cant remember the brand of the one I got it was grey and 10 amp hour cost $35- (i'd put up a photo but its painted flat black) Fine for a 600 only thing is they have spade conections not bolt on. I've seen 20 amp hour batts for around $50 (correction 18 ah is $89 was in the shop and checked lol ebay will be cheaper) (10AH will prob start an 1100 no prob but some extra capacity if you have the room is nice)

[ALBI]

yeh fimp wot he said

[Large]

Have you checked if they are charging ok (and not overcharging) while running? ~14 volts at all revs

What sort of charger are you using to charge them up?

[Swordsy]

The real question is has he checked if there is anything draining the battery whilst the bike is off.

I think having the GSX250 sitting in my shed without running for months might have also been bad for the battery ;)

[livewire]

A battery at 4 degrees celcius only has 20% capacity of what it does at 20 degrees C.
Most batteries 'die' at the start of winter.
They lose a bit of capacity, and then the cold decreases it some more, next thing: no go
I just fitted one of them 'motobatt' ones to my Kat 2 days ago
Starts fine at 1428 cc and 13.5:1 c.r., and is only a MB9U. at $54 seems very very cheap for glass mat.

[fimpBIKES]

which one did you get livey?
got a code, or a link?


cheers

[robmac]

What about one of these??

http://www.motydesign.com/8cell_prod.php

[nick76]

a bloke named Ripperton sells a similar battery to that^^^,but better made.
I'll have to find a linky if anyones interested.

With his,you can replace the cells singularly if they fail,and they are only $7 each

[80s freak]

Hey Fimp, Motobatt is the way to go. We have been using them at work for a while now, no problems at all. If not definantly use an auto specific battery, good ones will use fibreglass matting between the plates which does 2 things. Firstly the matting absorbs vibration stop plates breaking, and secondly the fibres help stop sulfate build up on the plates.
If your kat is running the standard battery (YB14L-A2 or YB14-A2)the replacement motobatt for your bike is a MBTX14AU. Go to http://www.motobatt.com.au/
The site will give you the replacement battery number for the GSX250 battery as well as long as you know the battery model.

[kevkatana]

quote:Originally posted by livewire

A battery at 4 degrees celcius only has 20% capacity of what it does at 20 degrees C.
....

All my batteries are fucked then;) Don't think it's been warmer than 10 deg here for over a month.:D:( I put the trickle charger I have on a different bike every couple of days. seems to work. And like Red said. They don't like cold concrete. Neither do piles[:0]

[livewire]

Go with the replacement chart, fimp. Mine not OEM battery box.
What I meant was it does the job, at heavier load, and is smaller than stock.
Allegedly Motobatt replace all known bike batteries with 9 models.
I'm with you Kev, fuck it's cold. May've contributed to my battery replacement as well.

[fimpBIKES]

then today its 24 degrees, WTF is going on ???!?!?!



i found the model number replacement on ebay, will give it a shot

[Loki]

Know it's a different thing, but my battery in the car alarm keyfob fails in winter. Not every winter, but the second or third one. If you warm it up with a heater or in your pocket it eventually comes good enough to disarm the alarm and unlock the doors....bit hard to do with a bike battery, though :)

[Redmohawk]

Almost all batterys chemical reaction is sensitve to heat , alkaline and lithum ones used in toys to car alarm key fobs operate optumly at around 35 deg c if your desperate the old zinc cabon batterys (heavy duty crap ones) can be heated a little in an oven to squeaze a little more power otta them (same with alkalines) but be warned over 60 deg they can go bang lol rechargables drop in optput after about 50 deg so no use cooking them it just stuffs em.

Old trick years back when out camping and the torch went dim was to wrap the batterys in lots of tin foil and pop em in the camp oven on the fire for a few min to bring em back a little, not recomended !!!! re dawin awards contenders lol

[fimpBIKES]

http://www.asfphotos.com/upload/1282584295.png


based on this i ordered a gell battery from
www.allpurposebatteries.com.au
(thanks to red's thread here
http://www.streetfighters.com.au/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=20691)

GB14L-A2 GEL MOTORCYCLE BATTERY 245CCA [GB14L-A2] $88.00

i'll let you know how it goes
also ordered a sealed one gor annes gsx

will let you know how it goes