How do I check if my battery is still good
#2
12-06-2008, 09:21 PM
RE: How do I check if my battery is still good
Get a multimeter. Helps with electric checks on the bike. Check the voltage while it's off, after a day of being off, after half hour of riding, and lastly with the bike on. Should tell you a lot about the battery condition. A good battery will show around 12V with the bike off, and the 12V will not drop much after a day or two of the bike being off (unless its super cold).
If your charging system is ok, the battery will read around 14 volts when you turn the engine on. If your regulator is ok, the 14V won't change much when you rev from say 4krpm to 12krpm.
Half hour of riding should charge the battery even if it was a little low. If your battery keeps dropping to below 12V often then it's bad! If you turn the lights on with the engine off (after half hour of charging) and the battery voltage drops quite a bit it's bad! (unless you have some insane HIDs)
If your charging system is ok, the battery will read around 14 volts when you turn the engine on. If your regulator is ok, the 14V won't change much when you rev from say 4krpm to 12krpm.
Half hour of riding should charge the battery even if it was a little low. If your battery keeps dropping to below 12V often then it's bad! If you turn the lights on with the engine off (after half hour of charging) and the battery voltage drops quite a bit it's bad! (unless you have some insane HIDs)
#7
12-08-2008, 10:51 AM
RE: How do I check if my battery is still good
ORIGINAL: ampfp
Get a multimeter. Helps with electric checks on the bike. Check the voltage while it's off, after a day of being off, after half hour of riding, and lastly with the bike on. Should tell you a lot about the battery condition. A good battery will show around 12V with the bike off, and the 12V will not drop much after a day or two of the bike being off (unless its super cold).
If your charging system is ok, the battery will read around 14 volts when you turn the engine on. If your regulator is ok, the 14V won't change much when you rev from say 4krpm to 12krpm.
Half hour of riding should charge the battery even if it was a little low. If your battery keeps dropping to below 12V often then it's bad! If you turn the lights on with the engine off (after half hour of charging) and the battery voltage drops quite a bit it's bad! (unless you have some insane HIDs)
Get a multimeter. Helps with electric checks on the bike. Check the voltage while it's off, after a day of being off, after half hour of riding, and lastly with the bike on. Should tell you a lot about the battery condition. A good battery will show around 12V with the bike off, and the 12V will not drop much after a day or two of the bike being off (unless its super cold).
If your charging system is ok, the battery will read around 14 volts when you turn the engine on. If your regulator is ok, the 14V won't change much when you rev from say 4krpm to 12krpm.
Half hour of riding should charge the battery even if it was a little low. If your battery keeps dropping to below 12V often then it's bad! If you turn the lights on with the engine off (after half hour of charging) and the battery voltage drops quite a bit it's bad! (unless you have some insane HIDs)
You can tell the charge level of a battery by checking the voltage across it's terminals, as mentioned above. But the voltages are a little off.
A good battery, fully charged, will show in the neighborhood of 12.75 to 12.80 volts. A depleted battery will show 12.00V or less. anything in between shows you the relative level of charge of the cell. see link:
http://www.solarnavigator.net/battery_charging.htm
tbw
#8
12-09-2008, 03:28 PM
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#9
12-09-2008, 05:12 PM
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