SuzukiSavage.com - battery charger

Doug B Full Member Offline I am, therefore I think Posts: 175 Kennewick, WA Gender:	battery charger 11/20/12 at 16:10:51 I just purchased a CTEK US 800(and a CTEK comfort indicator eyelet). Does anyone have any knowledge/experience with this product(past or present) ? Any advice (pros/cons) would be appreciated.
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Boofer

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Re: battery charger
Reply #1 - 11/20/12 at 17:39:32

Doug, we're so cheap on this site we usually get the WalMart Schaumacher for $20 or the Harbor Freight one for $5. Then we buy a new tire with the money we have left over from not buying a CTEK. And a coke. Wink

Looks ok on the quick check I did. I have my pigtail installed, and it is really handy. It just lays behind and on top the right side cover with the end tucked in on the rear of the cover.

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verslagen1 YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline Where there's a will, I want to be in it. Posts: 28889 L.A. California Gender:	Re: battery charger Reply #2 - 11/21/12 at 11:49:13 hell, I don't even know what it is.
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Doug B Full Member Offline I am, therefore I think Posts: 175 Kennewick, WA Gender:	Re: battery charger Reply #3 - 11/21/12 at 12:20:29 Has anyone ever had any type of problem charging your battery while its still in place(hooked up) on the bike ?
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verslagen1 YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline Where there's a will, I want to be in it. Posts: 28889 L.A. California Gender:	Re: battery charger Reply #4 - 11/21/12 at 12:21:44 only when it's out of water.
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Re: battery charger
Reply #5 - 11/21/12 at 14:14:28

Doug B wrote on 11/21/12 at 12:20:29:

Has anyone ever had any type of problem charging your battery while its still in place(hooked up) on the bike ?

What kind of problem could there be,....except the bat terminals are not the easiest to connect to. Thats why most of us are hard wired w/ a connector for our favorite cheap charger.
But the negative will charge anywhere on the frame.
And actually the positive will charge thru any hot wire, doesn't have to be on the battery.

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Rich
'07 S40 Blvd stocker, except drilled OEM exhaust and white spacer mod...1/2 (.055)

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Doug B

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Re: battery charger
Reply #6 - 11/22/12 at 11:21:36

Routy wrote on 11/21/12 at 14:14:28:

Doug B wrote on 11/21/12 at 12:20:29:

Has anyone ever had any type of problem charging your battery while its still in place(hooked up) on the bike ?

What kind of problem could there be,....except the bat terminals are not the easiest to connect to. Thats why most of us are hard wired w/ a connector for our favorite cheap charger.
But the negative will charge anywhere on the frame.
And actually the positive will charge thru any hot wire, doesn't have to be on the battery.

One potential problem is mentioned in the Clymer manual(p. 34) Always remove the battery from the bike's frame before connecting the battery charger. Never recharge a battery in the bike's frame; the corrosive mist that is emitted during the charging process will corrode all surrounding surfaces. I don't know if anyone has seen this - just asking Undecided

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Re: battery charger
Reply #7 - 11/22/12 at 12:34:53

The corrosive mist should be directed away by the battery vent tube, presuming it to be properly connected and routed. Another potential but unlikely problem might be excessive voltage causing damage to the voltage regulator. I'd worry about that with either a high-current charger or an el cheapo which might produce high-voltage spikes during charging.

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Gyrobob

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Re: battery chargeR
Reply #8 - 11/22/12 at 14:10:41

Doug B said, "One potential problem is mentioned in the Clymer manual(p. 34) Always remove the battery from the bike's frame before connecting the battery charger. Never recharge a battery in the bike's frame; the corrosive mist that is emitted during the charging process will corrode all surrounding surfaces. I don't know if anyone has seen this - just asking "

This is true. Like Charon said, this mist will be coming out of the battery vent tube, assuming there is one installed. Some folks don't bother with installing the battery vent tube when putting in a new battery. Even if the tube is there, sometimes it might be misrouted.

So,.... if you charge the battery while it is installed in the bike, make sure the battery vent tube exhausts somewhere down below the bike where it won't do any damage. With some batteries and some chargers, you can have situations where there will be lots of very corrosive mist/droplets that will come gurgling out of that tube.

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Routy

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Re: battery charger
Reply #9 - 11/23/12 at 17:40:55

If a battery is dry and dead, don't ever fill it to the max !
You must fill it to just above the plates, then charge it to very near max. Then last of all fill it to max.....not over the top line.
Using this process will eliminate most any liquid coming out of the vent tubes.
For myself, I leave a maintainer charger plugged into my bike batt 24/365......or anytime I'm not riding. After 3 yrs, I've NEVER seen any sign of corrosion anywhere.

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Rich
'07 S40 Blvd stocker, except drilled OEM exhaust and white spacer mod...1/2 (.055)

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Doug B Full Member Offline I am, therefore I think Posts: 175 Kennewick, WA Gender:	Re: battery charger Reply #10 - 11/25/12 at 11:48:58 Thanks to all of you who replied - I appreciate your time and opinions - I'll be giving the charger a try tomorrow - I haven't had any battery problems yet - but my bike is less than 100 days old from the dealer(new) - so it shouldn't have any - I just want to get another full year out of it
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Charon

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Re: battery charger
Reply #11 - 11/25/12 at 15:13:45

I can't speak for others, but I bought my '07 S40 new in August 2006 and it is still running on the OEM battery. I remove the battery in winter and keep it in my garage. Every couple of months, when I happen to think about it, I check the water and put it on an automatic battery charger for a day or so. Come Spring, back into the bike and off she goes. We'll see if it keeps working about next April.

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houstonbofh Senior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 420 Houston, TX Gender:	Re: battery charger Reply #12 - 11/27/12 at 19:16:43 It is ok to charge a connected battery and even jump from a non-running car. Some data about the worries... Sealed batteries (AGM and Gel) generally do not mist. Voltage regulators and ignition systems never come into play if the key is off.
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verslagen1 YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline Where there's a will, I want to be in it. Posts: 28889 L.A. California Gender:	Re: battery charger Reply #13 - 12/01/12 at 15:52:57 Doug B wrote on 11/20/12 at 16:10:51: I just purchased a CTEK US 800(and a CTEK comfort indicator eyelet). Does anyone have any knowledge/experience with this product(past or present) ? Any advice (pros/cons) would be appreciated. So, How do you like it? are these connectors compatible with SAE connectors?
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Doug B Full Member Offline I am, therefore I think Posts: 175 Kennewick, WA Gender:	Re: battery charger Reply #14 - 12/05/12 at 06:49:27 verslagen1 - the connector you pictured is the pigtail type, mine is the eyelet type As far as liking it ???
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