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Message started by rl153 on 09/27/09 at 13:14:05

Title: Battery cables
Post by rl153 on 09/27/09 at 13:14:05

Are the battery cables you use for a battery tender ,sufficient in size to be also used to connect jumper cables to,and where can I get the right ones?

Title: Re: Battery cables
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/27/09 at 13:35:09

Depending on just how depleted the battery is, the current that needs to be added to get the starter to spin up like its supposed to will vary. If it's totally dead, then the current that comes from the vehicle/battery used to jump it off will be more than the starter uses, since the battery is sucking some of the current to recharge itself, & the starter is using what it needa, creating quite a drain on the "donor". IF the battery is flat or just so drained it just clicks, Id suggest allowing the battery to charge a while, so the bikes charge circuit isnt overwhelmed & possibly damaged by all that current being driven thru it for so long by being asked to charge the battery up from such a low charge state.

Yea, you need bigger wires than the pukey little things on a battery tender,

Title: Re: Battery cables
Post by rl153 on 09/27/09 at 13:40:14

What is the minimum gauge wire needed for a jump start ,if I were going to make a couple of leads? Also ,jumping a dead battery can possibly damage the bike ? would it be better to pop the clutch ?

Title: Re: Battery cables
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/27/09 at 15:22:52

Look at the battery cables on the bike.
Like I said, if the battery is really discharged, its possible the charge circuit could be damaged by the long time of putting out the high current The battery draws as it is being recharged. Maybe someone will come along & say its safe to do that, IDK. But, if the battery is so low it wont light the lights, it may not get thru the cdi & coil & have enough spark to make it run anyway.
If you can get someone to let you jump it with their car, let it sit there & charge a while, instead of just hooking it up & firing it up.

Title: Re: Battery cables
Post by False Illusion on 09/27/09 at 19:59:20

5C5546595E5501020909300 wrote:

Are the battery cables you use for a battery tender ,sufficient in size to be also used to connect jumper cables to,and where can I get the right ones?

RL...did your Battery Tender come with alligator clips? If so, you can just plug the clips into your pigtail coming from the bikes battery and attach jumper cables to the clips. (I own a Schumacher Maintainer and this tip saved me on an evening out last Winter. ;))

Just make sure you invert the color scheme of the clips. In other words, the clip's NORMAL +RED+ is now -BLACK- due to the harness being inverted...

Essentially, once your clips are attached to the pigtail, you'll want to attach the +RED+ jumper cable from the help vehicle...to your NORMALLY -BLACK- clip. The same goes for the -BLACK- from the help vehicle...it goes to your NORMALLY +RED+.

I hope I've clarified this process well...

HTH!

Title: Re: Battery cables
Post by boofer on 09/27/09 at 22:13:05

Motorcycle jumper cables are normally 10 Guage.

Title: Re: Battery cables
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/27/09 at 22:49:09

I would never have a black connector on the positive or red on negative. If someone is "helping" & doesnt know, someone might be taking an acid bath.. Always a bad idea, worse if thers no waterhose handy.

Title: Re: Battery cables
Post by False Illusion on 09/28/09 at 03:46:58

26393F3825221323132B39357E4C0 wrote:

Great point, Justin.

What I did was, I re-identified the colors of the clips with red and black electrical tape accordingly....rendering that very mistake unlikely from happening on the road. If I ever did need to charge the battery indoors (..separate from the bike) I just remove the tape from the clips, plug them into the maintainer, and charge the battery as normal.

Title: Re: Battery cables
Post by Digger on 12/12/09 at 21:05:21

Here's another way to skin the jumper cable cat:

I modded mine for an easy, no-tools-needed jump start.

I found a used battery ground cable from my old '81 GL1100. I attached one end to the positive battery cable and insulated the bejeezus out of it. Here is a pic:

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee201/Digger109/JumpStartWireE.jpg

Not pretty, but it works (just like my Savage).

Title: Re: Battery cables
Post by Serowbot on 12/13/09 at 00:18:50

1C313F3F3D2A580 wrote:

Here's another way to skin the jumper cable cat:

That's very ingenuitous, Digger!... ;)

I have jumped mine from a 1amp charger through the pigtail,...
I think you're O.K. doing it that way if your bike will start in 5 or 10 seconds... after that, the wires will probably start heating up, and the oh'shits will start flyin'... ;D

Title: Re: Battery cables
Post by Routy on 12/13/09 at 04:32:04

31382B3433386C6F64645D0 wrote:

What is the minimum gauge wire needed for a jump start ,if I were going to make a couple of leads? Also ,jumping a dead battery can possibly damage the bike ? would it be better to pop the clutch ?

I believe what he said was that the charging system could be maxxed out, possibly over heated while charging a stone dead battery.
In warm-hot weather this could be a concern, but in colder weather, probably not.

Title: Re: Battery cables
Post by Routy on 12/13/09 at 04:52:32

To maybe simplify jump starting, keep in mind that you only have to deal w/ the positive connection to the battery. Any ole jumper cable can be connected frame to frame for the negative,......in fact, negative frame connection is safer than the batt.....if it is the last connection made.

Title: Re: Battery cables
Post by Digger on 01/02/10 at 20:55:02

6E617B607C7A696B636D7A080 wrote:

Yep.

And with a stock battery box, it's the positive battery terminal that is harder to get to, unfortunately.