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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Inspecting the battery fluid level.
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Message started by rpgpgmr on 07/29/08 at 10:39:46

Title: Inspecting the battery fluid level.
Post by rpgpgmr on 07/29/08 at 10:39:46

Alright I've read the Tech Section until my eyes are crossing and I can't find what I'm lookin' for so here goes: This morning the bike wouldn't crank. It is only 3 years old with about 9,800 miles on it. I keep it plugged up to a tender every single night so my immediate thought was the distilled water level in the cells is low. Well I can't see a thing inside the battery! I can turn it in every direction, I've cleaned it off, and still can't see NOTHING!

It has some decent weight to it so I'm wondering if the battery itself is that heavy on it's own, or if it's full of fluid and I just can't see in there? Would a bike this new that's plugged into a trickle every single night already have a bad battery!?

I read the post(s) on the Big Crank, but I'm not lookin' to dump that much money in it. Any ideas?

Title: Re: Inspecting the battery fluid level.
Post by YonuhAdisi on 07/29/08 at 10:42:56

Pull the plugs and look into the cells with a flashlight. That is how I do it. And the way I re-fill is I use an old animal syringe without the needle.

Title: Re: Inspecting the battery fluid level.
Post by rpgpgmr on 07/29/08 at 10:54:19

Thanks, I've been wondering how people check that level. Suzuki provides that window to look through, but even when I bought it brand new I couldn't see in there! I'll pull the plugs and use the flashlight when I get home. Don't have an animal syringe, but I do have a turkey baster ... I think I have a small funnel too?

Title: Re: Inspecting the battery fluid level.
Post by Gary On A Savage on 07/29/08 at 12:23:23

Pull the battery out (only takes a few minutes), and shine the flashlight from behind (or hold up in sunlight) to read the levels. My battery was really low and kept dying. I filled the cells with distilled water, put it on a trickle charger overnight, and have had no problems any longer. Make sure you leave the covers off when you charge (gases) and do it in a ventilated area.

Title: Re: Inspecting the battery fluid level.
Post by rpgpgmr on 07/29/08 at 12:53:32

I did take it out and I put it up to sunlight, flashlight, shop light, etc. I can't see ANYTHING in there. Maybe it's empty, I'll find out in an hour. I just got home from a loooong trip on Sunday. I'm so glad it didn't happen out of town.

Title: Re: Inspecting the battery fluid level.
Post by SimonTuffGuy on 07/29/08 at 13:21:21

Mine died after I left the lights on one afternoon... I bought a Big Crank and got away from filling with water, acid and whatever... :)

Title: Re: Inspecting the battery fluid level.
Post by Jay on 07/29/08 at 19:22:18

3E3C2B3C2B213E4C0 wrote:

Why do you plug it into a tender every night? If your parking it for a week or so, OK; but every night seems a bit excessive. If the fluid levels are really so low that you can't see anything (Ican see my levels with it in the bike.), you may not get a good result even after you refill the battery. It may just be cooked.

Title: Re: Inspecting the battery fluid level.
Post by rpgpgmr on 07/29/08 at 19:32:26

Update: I took it out, filled all the cells with distilled water, and I'm back in business. :) I didn't even have to charge it first, it just fired right up! I'm gonna keep an eye on that level from now on. I think I caught a break this time. The Big Crank is nice, but I think it's excessive for these bikes.

I've heard from several friends of mine who've been riding for years that it's good to keep it plugged in at night just to keep it regulated. It know it's not necessary, but it only takes about 10 seconds to plug it in. I have the trickle charger that is sold at every motorcycle shop I've ever been to ... does anyone know of that causing a problem plugging it in every night?

Title: Re: Inspecting the battery fluid level.
Post by bill67 on 07/29/08 at 20:08:41

If trickle charging every night was the best thing to do your manual would tell you to do that.during the winter I charge by battery on 2amps for 24 hours about every two months,My batteries normally last 4-5 years.Just keep the water up to right level.

Title: Re: Inspecting the battery fluid level.
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 07/29/08 at 22:30:01

I've got a riding lawnmower, a couple of cars, a motorcycle, cant even begin to guess how many things Ive owned with an electrical starter & a lead acid battery. None have ever required a battery tender. If I lived further North, I could see it during winter months when riding happened more seldom.

Title: Re: Inspecting the battery fluid level.
Post by rpgpgmr on 07/30/08 at 05:12:08

Good to know. I will go with the consensus and cut it down to every couple weeks or so.

Title: Re: Inspecting the battery fluid level.
Post by Moofed on 07/30/08 at 06:49:54

I'm pretty sure that (over)charging it every night is what caused it to go dry in the first place. Wikipedia says,

Quote:

Prolonged overcharging or charging at excessively high voltage causes some of the water in the electrolyte to be broken up into hydrogen and oxygen gases, which escape from the cells.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_battery#Fluid_level

Title: Re: Inspecting the battery fluid level.
Post by rpgpgmr on 07/30/08 at 10:18:37

That actually makes perfect sense. I've only been battery-tending for about 6 months. For the first year prior to that, no problems whatsoever. I've noticed a gradual weakening in the past weeks/months and I have no good reason for why I've ignored it. I'm my own worst enemy. :-/ Thanks for the facts!

Title: Re: Inspecting the battery fluid level.
Post by Cory on 08/12/08 at 22:29:24

i left the lights on my bike while i was at work and i had someone jump it so i can get it home i don't have the manual for it and so how the heck do you get the battery out it looks like it would take forever to do call me stupid but does anyone have any step by step pics or anything on this procedure ?

Title: Re: Inspecting the battery fluid level.
Post by verslagen1 on 08/12/08 at 22:53:34

here's the owners manual

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1138554254

thanks to ken long for posting it. ;D