Too much battery water - what should I do?

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ultimax · #1 Unread post by **ultimax** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 5:07 pm

Hi,

I bought a traditional wet cell battery yesterday. The shop didn't install it into my bike but it set it up for me (added water etc). However, when I got home I realised they added too much battery water. It was filled to the brim!

When I trickle charged it last night (13.8V 1A) the battery water slowly bubbles out of the vent! 12 hrs later, the charger still doesn't indicate the battery's done (the LED light on it should turn green from red. It's still red)

I've since used a syringe to remove the excess battery water and bring the level of each cell down to the upper limit.

What else should I do? Is my battery shot?

thanks!

#2 Unread post by **ZooTech** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 5:34 pm

If it's not taking a charge, and it's bubbling over, take the thing back.

ultimax · #3 Unread post by **ultimax** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 5:54 pm

ZooTech wrote:If it's not taking a charge, and it's bubbling over, take the thing back.

it's not bubbling over, I think. It's bubbling all right (u can see lots of bubbles rising to the surface, and if u put your ear next to the battery, you can hear it bubbling), but not bubbling vigorously (like it's water boiling). Water is coming out of the vents because it's just too full.

As for holding a charge, what should I do to test this?

thanks!

P.S. It's normal for a battery to bubble while it's being charged, right?

TechTMW · #4 Unread post by **TechTMW** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 7:13 pm

ultimax wrote: As for holding a charge, what should I do to test this?

P.S. It's normal for a battery to bubble while it's being charged, right?

Batteries take a LONG time to charge the first time around. Think of it as filling a pool with a garden hose. The first time takes forever. You have to allow the individual cells in the battery to fully charge. This will take a helluva long time while on a trickle charger!!

And yeah, batteries give off hydrogen gas (bubbles) when they charge. It's a REALLY BAD idea to smoke around one or charge it near something that sparks, like a light switch.

ultimax · #5 Unread post by **ultimax** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 7:27 pm

Hi!

thanks for your reply. I feel better now, although I'm still rather ticked off by how the shop set the battery up! They really should have known better!

With luck the green light should come on tomorrow (it will be abt 24 hrs of charging by then)

TechBMW wrote:
ultimax wrote: As for holding a charge, what should I do to test this?

P.S. It's normal for a battery to bubble while it's being charged, right?
Batteries take a LONG time to charge the first time around. Think of it as filling a pool with a garden hose. The first time takes forever. You have to allow the individual cells in the battery to fully charge. This will take a helluva long time while on a trickle charger!!

And yeah, batteries give off hydrogen gas (bubbles) when they charge. It's a REALLY BAD idea to smoke around one or charge it near something that sparks, like a light switch.

kar_the_terrible · Sun Jul 17, 2005 6:09 pm

check youor trickle charger.... most chargers are not recommended for batteries with less than 10 or 11 volts of initial charge. So yes, you cannot use a trickle charger to bring your battery up to full charge after completely discharging it.

Also if you take it down to a car parts shop, they normally use a very high ampereage charger to quickly charge up car batteries. this could generate way too much heat while charging up a bike battery. I think charging it at 4-5 amps for an houor and a half or so, should bring it up to a level where you cant take it home and hook it up to a 1-2 amp trickle charger.

ultimax · #7 Unread post by **ultimax** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 6:41 pm

Hi!

thanks for your reply!

the documentation that came with my trickle charger is rather skimpy so I'm not sure if it can be used to bring a new battery up to charge.

I have, however, come across several websites which say the initial charge should be 1/10th of the battery's AH rating. That's 1.1A, which is pretty close to the 1A my charger supplies. So I'm confused as to why it seemingly isn't working with my battery

Someone suggested that i leave the charger hooked up for up to a day and a half. I charged it for abt 24 hrs before I became uncomfortable with the bubbling.

I've since installed it into my bike and the bike starts without a hitch. Horn sound strong and lights all work very well. I believe that's what most people here do anyway - they don't bother abt trickle charging the battery first. They install it into their bikes right out of the box. Maybe I should have done that instead

Anyway needless to say, this will be the last time i'm buying a traditional wet cell. It's maintenace-free batteries for me from now on!

Shu

kar_the_terrible wrote:check youor trickle charger.... most chargers are not recommended for batteries with less than 10 or 11 volts of initial charge. So yes, you cannot use a trickle charger to bring your battery up to full charge after completely discharging it.

Also if you take it down to a car parts shop, they normally use a very high ampereage charger to quickly charge up car batteries. this could generate way too much heat while charging up a bike battery. I think charging it at 4-5 amps for an houor and a half or so, should bring it up to a level where you cant take it home and hook it up to a 1-2 amp trickle charger.

TechTMW · #8 Unread post by **TechTMW** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 12:16 am

Maintenance free are good, but there's nothing wrong w/ a conventional wet-cell. In my experience, a traditional wet-cell outlives a maintenance free almost every time w/ proper care.

The batteries that people drop into their bikes are already charged - If you'd have tried that with your new battery it wouldn't have worked. So, your carger worked out just fine ... perhaps the LED is broken?

Anyway, take it for a nice long high speed run. If you didn't get full charge your bike should be able to bring it up to speed

ultimax · #9 Unread post by **ultimax** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 12:26 am

Hi,

I did that today. So far so good!

BTW, how often should I check the battery water levels?

TechBMW wrote:Maintenance free are good, but there's nothing wrong w/ a conventional wet-cell. In my experience, a traditional wet-cell outlives a maintenance free almost every time w/ proper care.

The batteries that people drop into their bikes are already charged - If you'd have tried that with your new battery it wouldn't have worked. So, your carger worked out just fine ... perhaps the LED is broken?

Anyway, take it for a nice long high speed run. If you didn't get full charge your bike should be able to bring it up to speed

Mon Jul 18, 2005 10:21 am

what kind of bike is it.there are some that you cant get a maintenance free battery for--as for checking the water level there are some bikes that use up water pretty quick on long trips--i have got one of them.
1982 vf750s honda sabre.