Electrical Help Needed Hey gang-

Battery lesson.

If you fully recharge the battery immediately and every time you use it, the it will last a long time.

If you repeatedly charge the battery only partially, the lead sulfate builds up on the plates. The lead sulfate increases the series resistance of the battery!!!

An inexpensive battery has a small number of plates in each cell. Small number of plates = small surface area.

The sulfate builds in the same way in the $24 no name as it does in the $120 top of the line battery.

The difference is that with more plates(more surface area) the series resistance of the cell does not increase as quickly.

Series resistance affects cranking Amps. Good old Ohm's law.

V = I * R

For a given I(amps) ...

If R(Ohms) gets larger, V volts gets smaller.

This is why your headlamp dims when turning the starter with a sulfated battery.

AFAIK there are only four ways to be sure you are getting a good battery.

1)Brother in law owns the factory.

2)Remove a cap and count the plates. 3 plates is low end. Don't know about MC batteries but the top of the line auto/truck batteries have 11 or more plates per cell.

3)Cold cranking amps. For two batteries of the same physical size, the one with the large CCA number will have more plates.

4)Warranty. Manufacturers KNOW all this stuff. There is a reason the cheap MC batteries have a 6 month or one year warranty while the expensive ones have a 5 year warranty.
(see #1

-Duck

edited to insert characters dropped by flakey keyboard

Post edited by: Duck, at: 2006/11/16 13:03

Duck wrote:

Battery lesson.

If you fully recharge the battery immediately and every time you use it, the it will last a lont time.

If you repeatedly charge the battery only partially, the lead sulfate builds up on the plates. The lead sulfate increases the series resistance of the battery!!!

An inexpensive battery has a small number of plates in each cell. Small number of plates = small surface area.

The sulfate builds in the same way in the $24 o name as it does in the $120 top of the line battery.

The difference is that with more plates(more surface area) the series resistance of the cell does not increase as quickly.

Series resistance affects ranking Amps. Good old Ohm's law.

V = I * R

FOr a given I(amps) ...

If R(Ohms) gets larger, V volts gets smaller.

This is why your headlamp dims when turning the starter with a sulfated battery.

AFAIK there are only four ways to be sure you are getting a good battery.

1)Brother in law owns the factory.

2)Remove a cap and count the plates. 3 plates is low end. Don't know about MC batteries but the top of the line auto/truk batteries have 11 or more plates per cell.

3)Cold cranking amps. For two batteries of the same physical size, the one with the large CCA number will have more plates.

4)Warranty. Manufacturers KNOW all this stuff. There is a reason the cheap MC batteris have a 6 month or one year warranty while the expensive ones have a 5 year warranty.
(see #1

-Duck

Nice battery lesson. I always wondered what the B-I-L factor for the battery meant.


Post edited by: loudhvx, at: 2006/11/16 12:35

reborn650 wrote:

I'm gonna bite the bullet tomorrow and pick up a new, top of the line battery.

About a year ago, acquired a new battery from the local AutoZone store which was the permanently sealed type for use on '73Z1. Was slightly more expensive but desired to avoid the hassle of removing and replacing the battery to check levels and refill (never got the hang of doing this with the battery in place -- couldn't clearly see the levels and often just made a mess). Have used it so far without any problem. It doesn't have a drain tube fitting and there are no caps to unscrew. Will probably get another for the kz900ltd when needed if also available in that size.


If available in your area, just thought you might want to take a look at it before deciding.

Patton wrote:

reborn650 wrote:

I'm gonna bite the bullet tomorrow and pick up a new, top of the line battery.

About a year ago, acquired a new battery from the local AutoZone store which was the permanently sealed type for use on '73Z1. Was slightly more expensive but desired to avoid the hassle of removing and replacing the battery to check levels and refill (never got the hang of doing this with the battery in place -- couldn't clearly see the levels and often just made a mess). Have used it so far without any problem. It doesn't have a drain tube fitting and there are no caps to unscrew. Will probably get another for the kz900ltd when needed if also available in that size.


If available in your area, just thought you might want to take a look at it before deciding.

Very interesting. I wonder if they have the smaller ones for the 550.