12v battery reading as 6v

[totalmotorcycle]

I am thinking I have to replace my motorcycle battery I just bought less than a year ago, and I even bought Yuasa... the battery was reading 12v a few months ago, then the winter hit (I don't have a garage here) and thus it died so I tried to recharge it but the charger says it's 6v and won't charge it. The other battery I have (in Andrea's bike) reads 12v on the same charger (same battery brand).

I took it out of the bike and brought it inside to warm up (incase a cell was frozen or something), I let it warm up and still it reads 6V on the charger.


So, should I:

A. Buy another battery (YTX12-BS)
B. Buy another battery charger (manual one vs the automatic one I have now)
C. Buy a multimeter to verify. (I didn't bring mine here)
D. Pay the cost and bring the battery into a garage and have them test and charge it.

Usually I have all my tools here to try different things but I don't.

Suggestions?

Thanks!

Mike

[HYPERR]

A normal 12V battery that is at near 0% state of charge would read somewhere in the mid to low 11s. A battery that reads that low might be damaged beyond repair....or not because it is a fairly new battery as well as a quality brand. Weather-wise are you able to ride the bike? If so what I would do is to jump it from a car battery but without the car engine running. It should start the bike. Ride it around and see if the battery charges.

[totalmotorcycle]

A normal 12V battery that is at near 0% state of charge would read somewhere in the mid to low 11s. A battery that reads that low might be damaged beyond repair....or not because it is a fairly new battery as well as a quality brand. Weather-wise are you able to ride the bike? If so what I would do is to jump it from a car battery but without the car engine running. It should start the bike. Ride it around and see if the battery charges.

Good suggestions... I could always try bump starting it as well. It sucks being away from my garage tools (which are in Canada at the moment in storage). I didn't think about the jumper cables, I think the car we have has them in the trunk, I'll have to check... The battery might be beyond repair, I guess if I got the bike going and the battery didn't hold a charge (damaged) it wouldn't split (hopefully).

To clarify about the 6V, that is what the automatic charger I have reads (It only has 2 lights to detect what volatage the batter is, 6 or 12... I wish I could just manually switch to over to 12)

Thanks for the suggestion thus far.

Mike

[HYPERR]

To clarify about the 6V, that is what the automatic charger I have reads (It only has 2 lights to detect what volatage the batter is, 6 or 12... I wish I could just manually switch to over to 12)

Oh I see what you are saying. It sounds like an overzealous protection circuit on the battery charger. I bet your actual voltage is probably in the 11s. The jump start from the car battery should do the trick.

[Wrider]

Yeah I'd try bump starting it, ride it for a few hours, and if it's still down then I'd go buy another one. Not even worth testing at that point.

[totalmotorcycle]

Thanks guys! Much, much appreciated!

Here is an update (thus far). Today I checked for jumper cables in the car (none, drat), so tonight I took the battery to a friends and he put it on a 10A manual charger (ya, 10A isn't ideal) and it brought the battery (in the time I was there) to 50-75% capacity, I got it home and it's on a 2A trickle charger charging (the same charger that detected it as a 6v battery now says it is a 12v) and it's currently sitting a 75-100% capacity. I'm hoping it will go full 100% and it will keep the charge (I'll know tomorrow and will post the results).

Looks like you called it right on the charger...

Mike

[totalmotorcycle]

Worked! The battery is now reading 100% and at 12V. I will have to install it in the bike when it's a little warmer outside.

Thanks for the suggestions and the help.

Mike

[Wrider]

Yay! Now get out there and ride!

[bloodymarvelous]

This is clearly an old thread, but the discussion here is where I need it to be to ask my question:

According to my charger, the battery was reading around 4.5 volts after I left the headlights on overnight. I've done this a few times, and it keeps happening that it reads lower than 4.5 volts. So the charger thinks it's a six volt battery, charges it to six volts and then won't charge it anymore. This is a healthy battery, though. Unless I leave the headlights on overnight, it never fails me.

So my question: Is there any way I can force my charger to recognize it as 12 volts? Is there some trick I could do to make my battery temporarily read as 8 volts or more so the selector doesn't automatically default to 6?