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Message started by Jimworx on 09/14/08 at 07:09:21

Title: battery eliminator
Post by Jimworx on 09/14/08 at 07:09:21

I ran across a "battery eliminator" and I wasn't sure what it was. It looks like a capacitor of some sorts. Has anyone heard of this item. Does it replace a battery? Does it work on our bikes?

Title: Re: battery eliminator
Post by Sandy Koocanusa on 09/14/08 at 07:11:21

Sounds like another word for "kick starter." :)

Never heard of it. Where did you see it?

Title: Re: battery eliminator
Post by thumperclone on 09/14/08 at 07:30:26

yes its a cap,me thinks not big enuff for electric starter...jp cycles has them in their harley catalog

Title: Re: battery eliminator
Post by EssForty on 09/14/08 at 10:09:10

A battery eliminator is a capacitor bank that smooths out (stores & discharges) the power generated by the alternator. Normally when you're running along above idle speed you're putting juice back in the battery. When you slow to idle, you might draw a little from the reserve. Capacitors are good at storing small amounts of electrical energy, but not enough to crank up a starter.

Wouldn't be a good idea on our bikes. They are a good tool for battery weight reduction on racing bikes but if you shut the bike off without a kick starter, then you have what is known as a "transportation eliminator", or an "excess body fat eliminator" as you push your bike somewhere to get it jump started". :)

Title: Re: battery eliminator
Post by thumperclone on 09/14/08 at 11:32:59

6D6F7A6161607D677D0E0 wrote:

what would the benifits of adding a cap to the battery? how would you size it...i want to run my music w/key off and not worry about draining battery..the amplifer draws 3 amps...

Title: Re: battery eliminator
Post by boe409 on 09/14/08 at 11:52:39

Battery eliminators are intended for bikes with no battery.
You could hook one up with a battery but it would increase the drain on your electrical system because the generator(key on engine running) or battery(key off accessory on) would have to charge the capacitor.
Battery eliminators are used to smoothe the electrical pulse from a magnito when powering the lights on a chopper( it keeps the headlights from flickering)
the amount of power held in reserve with a capacitor is very small compaired to the power available in a properly charged battery.

Title: Re: battery eliminator
Post by EssForty on 09/14/08 at 12:16:14

No real benefit for what you describe. A capacitor would discharge rather quickly. It's really just a little reservoir that smooths out your DC voltage supply.

If you're old enough to have had a big old console TV or a Vacuum tube radio, you'll have a feel for how capacitors work. Remember how you'd snap off the TV and the picture would not just go off, but the sound and picture would sorta fade into a little dot in the center. That was because there were some large capacitors that were discharging when the power was cut off. Same for an old radio...cut it off and the sounds would sorta die slowly.

Might be easier to think of capacitors with an air analogy. Imagine that your bike was not an engine but a compressor. When you're running smooth it fills up a 1 gal tank (capacitor) with air. When your savage backfires it loses air. So let's say it starts with 50 PSI and maintains about 50 PSI since we all know that a good savage backfires about as frequently as a Taco Bell customer.

Anyway, so you start with a 1 gal air compressor tank on your pillion, drive & backfire frequently and at no time do you drop below 50 psi while you are riding your bike. Then you park your bike and cut the engine off. Now imagine plugging a hungry pneumatic tool like a HVLP spray paint gun into your puny little 50 psi 1 gallon tank. In short order, the compressor (capacitor) is drained. To finish the analogy, imagine how big of a compressor tank you'd have to pull behind your bike to spray paint a bus.

So the capacitor is good for buffering voltage during operations but is pretty useless to power anything for any duration. If it were better than a battery we'd use capacitors everywhere.

Title: Re: battery eliminator
Post by rigidchop on 09/14/08 at 12:33:09

i have used capacitors on car audio installations, they help keep the lights from flickering when the bass hits. i have also used them on my old triumph, kick start only. they work well in bike applications, but arent designed for newer technology.

Title: Re: battery eliminator
Post by thumperclone on 09/14/08 at 13:12:19

got it thanks for the info!!