Can a battery die on a charger?

Discussion in 'Mechanics Garage' started by marriedman, Feb 18, 2013.

  1. marriedman

    marriedman New Member

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    I am familiar with the faults of the VFR charging system, but my bike has been stored and now it is dead! Here is the story - I have an inline fused power outlet hooked up to the battery so that I can charge my GPS while on the bike. I also use it to charge the battery with a trickle charger in the winter. When I plugged it in this winter, I had a brain fart and hooked up the charger to the power outlet cord instead of the battery cord. Found this out on a nice day when I wanted to ride and the battery had no charge.

    So I corrected it a week ago and hooked the charger up to the battery. Well I had some time today and it was nice, so I thought I would go for a ride. Thing is still dead. When the charger is on it, the clock is on, but as soon as I turn the key it goes away. Could the cold have killed the battery?

    Here is a picture of how I have it set up (should be a familiar sight to most of you).
     

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    marriedman, Feb 18, 2013
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  2. karazy

    karazy New Member

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    Yes cold kills batteries. If the charge is low enough and it is cold enough, the battery will freeze. This usually destroys cells. Measure the voltage of the battery. For every 2V below 12V, a cell was killed.

    Even if it still reads 12V, it can still be toast. It just means the cells are still intact, but useless.
     
    karazy, Feb 18, 2013
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  3. marriedman

    marriedman New Member

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    Dammit! It was cold as shit here for a while. Dammit to hell. Well, this might be time to beef up the electrical system. I'll tell the wife I need the VFRness to ix the bike! hehe...
     
    marriedman, Feb 18, 2013
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  4. white_335i

    white_335i New Member

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    +1.. This^^
     
    white_335i, Feb 18, 2013
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  5. mello dude

    mello dude Administrator

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    Dude - before you spend bucks on a VFRness,buy a multimeter first and checkout this thread. -- I was wondering how soon you would be posting about your electrics. Your bike is at the perfect mileage where on the '98/'99 models the electrics have a high frequency of eating it. (It does sound like a new battery is on your shopping list.) There's several ways to upgrade the electrics.

    http://vfrworld.com/forums/5th-gene...how-fix-common-regulator-stator-failures.html

    Enjoy
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2013
    mello dude, Feb 18, 2013
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  6. marriedman

    marriedman New Member

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    Hey mello - I honestly thought that my electric problems would happen during the riding season and not while on a charger in the garage! I thought we had talked at one time and you said that I might want to upgrade the electric components before they became issues? The VFRness is only $40 and the other things in that thread are in the hundreds.
     
    marriedman, Feb 19, 2013
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  7. mello dude

    mello dude Administrator

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    ^^^ I cant remember what I said, but since you have the same bike as me, I probly mentioned the electrics will need help at some point.
    - I'm guessing you do need a battery, but the only way to know for sure is to charge over nite and find a place to load test it. Auto part stores can do that or I think Batterys plus could too.

    - When you get the itch (or warm weather) the first step is to find out the health of your system and the link above runs through the steps. (Its ez) -If it comes down that you would need an R/R, there are better options than buying a VFRness (I'm not running one) plus an OEM R/R. Save your pennies for the moment and buy a digital multimeter. They are sold near everwhere. They go mbe $15 - $50.

    - If you want to get together for a bit, I'll buy you a beer, you pick the spot. (gimme a buzz)
     
    mello dude, Feb 19, 2013
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  8. Mohawk

    Mohawk New Member

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    Are you sure the charger is working ? If you wired up the wrong connector, did the battery go dead flat ? If yes & it's an old battery then it could be dead, if its not an old battery, then the charger may NOT be strong enough to revive it & the one in the pic does NOT look like a full system battery charger.
     
    Mohawk, Feb 19, 2013
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  9. marriedman

    marriedman New Member

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    Mohawk - that is an excellent question! Here is the batter tender I bought in 2011:
    Battery Tender 021-0123 Battery Tender Junior 12V Battery Charger : Amazon.com : Automotive

    I bought sole for the purpose of leaving it on my then Nighthawk. I also have a regular Schumacher charger:
    Schumacher SE-125A Automatic / Manual Battery Charger with Engine Start : Amazon.com : Automotive

    When I had the damn trickle charger basically going nowhere, yes the battery had no charge. This little trickler may not have the juice to charge it? I took the battery out of my bike to bring in the house. It's completely sealed, so I can't check the levels.

    mell0 dude, You interested at all in going to a Dayton Motorcycle fish fry? It's this weekend.
     
    marriedman, Feb 19, 2013
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