Battery hydrometer testing...

Ok, I got the funny look when I took it back today, but they let me exchange it for a different one from a different manufacturer.

I did some testing when I got home and sure enough this one seems to be working. It looks like my old battery is bad. I will need to charge overnight one more time and retest before calling it bad, but I'm almost 100% sure.

Still don't get all 4 balls to float on my new battery which would indicate a 100% charge. I get 3 out of 4. Maybe I would only see 100% after coming off the charger?

New battery does seem to have made a great difference in performance though. Bike has been hauling a$$ lately!

I don't think you are charging the new battery well enough. I use a slow charger and I think it needs about 12 hours or so to fully charge a new battery from scratch after adding battery juice. I think my charger has a low setting... 1 amp or something like that that must be used else the battery will get real hot. I ALWAYS have the battery cells have all balls a floating when charged near as I can recall. What does your charger look like? (settings???)

I have an Everstart charger that has settings for 2, 6, and 10amp charging.

I know 1amp would be ideal, but the instructions for the battery still show it can be charged at 2amps for 6 hours safely.

I think I will look into a cheap 1amp charger.

Should the bikes charging system charge well enough that I should see 100% charge on the battery?

savedrider wrote:

I have an Everstart charger that has settings for 2, 6, and 10amp charging.

I know 1amp would be ideal, but the instructions for the battery still show it can be charged at 2amps for 6 hours safely.

I think I will look into a cheap 1amp charger.

Should the bikes charging system charge well enough that I should see 100% charge on the battery?

For an inexpensive motorcycle battery charger, I found a Shumacher Smart battery charger at WalMart, cost about $17. It puts out 1.5amps I think, and floats, meaning if you keep it hooked up all the time it will shut off and turn on as needed. I used it to charge my new battery. This is great and not as costly as the Battery Tender/Jr. It stays hooked up when the bike is parked this winter. One of the better uses of money I have thrown at this bike!

You wrote:
"I have an Everstart charger that has settings for 2, 6, and 10amp charging.
I know 1amp would be ideal, but the instructions for the battery still show it can be charged at 2amps for 6 hours safely."

Obviously the 2amps for 6 hours safely isn't charging the battery as well as it should. Batteries "learn" on their initial charge and if not charged properly, tend to not perform as well as they should and fail early if charged improperly. Find a 1 amp slooooooow charger. One that requires minimum 8-12 hours to charge the battery.

Just great, so now you are making me feel like I screwed my new battery.

From what I've read, the big mistake people make is adding acid and not initially charging at all. If you make this mistake you will only get about 80% capacity out of the battery no matter what you do.

For what it's worth, I believe Clymer's procedure for testing any battery, new or used, with a hydrometer is something like:

1. Trickle-charge it (using a 1-amp charger) for 8+ hours.
2. Take it off of the charger and let it rest for at least an hour.
3. Test it with a hydrometer.

I found a slow charger for under $20 at the local Advance Auto.