One of my Yuasa 900ma chargers is not going to green anymore. It just stays on yellow. Do they wear out? I switched bikes to be sure that it is the charger, not a bike battery. In the years that I've used these, I never had this happen before
Failed Charger?
- Thread starter gbagen
- Start date
Blue STreak
Bob Meyer
Yes, electronic devices can fail. I've got an old Battery Tender that apparently fails to reduce the charge, and boiled a battery dry a couple of years ago.
I replace it with one of these, which is cheap and seems to work very well:
http://www.batterymart.com/p-batteryminder-plus-12v-1_3a-battery-charger.html
I replace it with one of these, which is cheap and seems to work very well:
http://www.batterymart.com/p-batteryminder-plus-12v-1_3a-battery-charger.html
Yes they go south. Nothing's forever.
Did you happen to measuere the battery voltage while it's hooked up and staying in whatever "yellow" mode is?
Sounds like it isn't going back to maintenance mode and maybe over charging.
Did you happen to measuere the battery voltage while it's hooked up and staying in whatever "yellow" mode is?
Sounds like it isn't going back to maintenance mode and maybe over charging.
schlep1967
Bill
Norm
Vendor
21 volts on an open circuit to a battery charger is not indicative of a problem. Best practice is to always connect a voltmeter in parallel with charger and battery when charging. The voltmeter will indicate whether the battery is being charged at too high a voltage or failing to reach full charge.
A charger which is driving voltage above 15 volts when connected to a battery is suspect. Typically a charger should not deliver more than 14.5 - 14.7 volts while lower than about 13.5 volts will be incapable of charging.
Do some voltage measurements when using various chargers and you will learn some useful facts regarding charger and battery interactions.
Some bits of information which may be useful to someone:
A typical automotive battery charger will over charge a motorcycle or other small capacity battery as most people know. The newer generation of smart or intellegent chargers avoid over charging by controlling maximum voltage. Connect a typical, old school automotive charger to a bike battery with voltmeter in parallel and it will be noticed that the charger's applied voltage is too high for the bike battery because the battery's load is insufficient to prevent the charger from reaching over voltage. Connect a light bulb in series with the charger and note the voltage across the battery will be reduced. Size the bulb and charger to achieve the desired, safe voltage.
SWMBO has arrived, time to go.
HIH
Norm
A charger which is driving voltage above 15 volts when connected to a battery is suspect. Typically a charger should not deliver more than 14.5 - 14.7 volts while lower than about 13.5 volts will be incapable of charging.
Do some voltage measurements when using various chargers and you will learn some useful facts regarding charger and battery interactions.
Some bits of information which may be useful to someone:
A typical automotive battery charger will over charge a motorcycle or other small capacity battery as most people know. The newer generation of smart or intellegent chargers avoid over charging by controlling maximum voltage. Connect a typical, old school automotive charger to a bike battery with voltmeter in parallel and it will be noticed that the charger's applied voltage is too high for the bike battery because the battery's load is insufficient to prevent the charger from reaching over voltage. Connect a light bulb in series with the charger and note the voltage across the battery will be reduced. Size the bulb and charger to achieve the desired, safe voltage.
SWMBO has arrived, time to go.
HIH
Norm
I do electrical work on boats and have seen lots of dead batteries due to overcharging. The chargers fail and the batteries fry. There is no reason to leave a battery on a continuous charge. If the bike is idle charge it once a week if you must and then pull the plug.
Tom
Tom