Battery Tender ?

[ddemair]

I keep the bike on a battery tender when I'm not riding regularly. The last time I went to start it, the battery was completely dead. I suspect the battery tender. When I connect it, it never blinks green to indicate a full charge. It just keeps blinking orange indicating that it's supposedly charging.

It's a Schumacher battery tender. While connected to the bike, it reads 12.3 volts which is what the battery also reads. When it's not connected, it reads 0 volts. Do I have a bad battery tender?

 

[Shawn K]

Are you sure that's a battery maintainer and not a trickle charger? Those are two different things.

 

[Upt' North]

If it is a tender, why not try it another battery to eliminate the tender/battery conundrum. Then replace said faulty bit, either battery or tender.
Upt'North.

 

[fnmag]

If it's blinking orange I believe it's indicating a problem, either with connection(s) or with the battery itself.

 

[SMSW]

Schumacher makes both chargers and battery maintainers. Absent some more info re the model number, we are in the dark as to what it is. A trickle charger can overcharge and kill a battery or simply 'boil' off the electrolyte (actually, decompose the water). More than one way to kill a frog....er battery.

 

[Bush]

Sounds dead to me. When connected, it should be putting out something more than 13 volts, at least. You aren't seeing any difference from battery voltage when connected.

 

[Larry Fine]

Definitely check the electrolyte levels first.

 

[Shawn K]

Definitely check the electrolyte levels first.

That's why I'm wondering if he used a trickle charger.

 

[ddemair]

It's a Schumacher BE01248. It claims to be an automatic battery charger/maintainer. The instructions say it can be connected for extended periods, but nowhere does it actually say that it's a battery tender. I'm assuming it is.

It's a sealed battery so I can't check the electrolyte level.

 

[Kevcules]

You can still pop out the caps on a sealed battery. Use a sharp pick to pry up the covers.

If the battery was completely dead, I would say the battery is bad. If the tender was bad, it just wouldn't charge the battery. Try your tender on a known good battery and see what happens.

 

[red one]

I have a Schumacher charger maintainer. If the green light won't stay on you have a bad battery. My maintainer did this to me last year would stay orange but I ignored it. My bike started but later died at a restaurant. You need to take your battery to a battery store and have them load test it.

 

[aSTerix]

It just keeps blinking orange indicating that it's supposedly charging.

Hi, according to the manual , blinking amber means the charger has gone into "abort mode" which indicates a problem with the battery.

You might try unplugging from mains and battery, then reconnect mains, this resets the charger

I would then check electrolyte level if you can get the caps off and top up with distilled water. Then reconnect battery. The charger has a desulaftion mode so may recover but your battery is on its last legs.

As an aside, there is a remote possibility that the charger is faulty and it completely drained the battery , in this case the battery is still on its last legs but you might also need a new charger !

 

[Larry Fine]

You might also be able to fool the charger into charging it by paralleling the battery with a 12v light bulb or another battery.

I had a car battery that was too dead to charge, so I connected it to a good battery for an hour; then the charger could see it.

 

[ddemair]

If the battery is on its last legs, I'll just buy another battery rather than risking it failing at an inopportune time. The battery is only 2 years old and its been well maintained so it wasn't my first thought.

24 hours after my last ride the battery is sitting at 12.3 volts. That's not good. I'll keep monitoring it, but it's starting to look like the battery and not the charger. I haven't had good luck with batteries

The original Yuasa lasted 3-1/2 years
The economy Battery Shark lasted 1-1/2 years
The current Mighty Max from Walmart is just over 2 years old

Maybe I'll go back to Yuasa, but dang, they're expensive.

 

[Larry Fine]

I've been impressed by the AGM battery I got from Walmart when I got my ST. It sat unattended and un-Tender'ed through two winters outdoors under a bike cover, and still started as if it had been ridden the day before.

 

[SMSW]

Batteries are like light bulbs - you cannot predict how long it will last. Sure, they warrant some batteries for 24,36,48, 60 months, but each of these warranties will say replacement within the first xx months, and prorated thereafter. Everyone will tell you the average life is xxx years, but that is an average. I usually get around 3 to 5 years out of an auto battery, and a little longer for my mc batteries but the latter are always on a battery tender when in my garage. Only once in about 45 years have I had a battery last more than 5 yrs, and none less than 3+.

 

[ST Gui]

but nowhere does it actually say that it's a battery tender. I'm assuming it is.

FIrst 'tender' is a generic term taken from Deltran's Tender (brand name) lineup similar to Xerox Kleenex and Coke. Given Deltran's branding it wouldn't be good marketing to call their kit "tenders". And possibly confused with "Tenders" Deltran would probably take umbrage. So they call it a maintainer and I bet that the same as a tender and not a trickle charger.

Secondly I assume your mention of 0V when not connected means there's a display panel on your Schumacher and it probably displays charging voltage. So no connection to a battery - 0V displayed.

Given the blinking orange light status light never changing it could mean one of two things - the battery cannot be charge (at least with that unit) or the unit isn't charging. I'd connect it to another battery (is your car or truck handy) and see if the blinking orange or however the status lights work when it's connected to a battery with no defects.

If it runs through the charging cycle normally I'd assume the battery is toast. Maybe put it on another charger to see if it gets about 12.5 immediately after a charge. Unless it checks out and the charger doesn't I'd bin it.

 

[ddemair]

Thanks for all of the helpful replies.

The battery charger/maintainer is working just fine on my car so the issue is the 2 year old battery.

However, I did notice that when the charger was charging the car, the voltage was up at 14.3 for about an hour until, apparently, the charger decided that the battery was full and then it stopped charging. The car battery was 12.7 volts before I connected the charger and it's the same after disconnecting the charger.

I'm wondering if charging the bikes small batter at 14.3 could be reducing the lifespan of the battery. During the winter, I was connecting the charger weekly for a day or 2 and then disconnecting it to charge my lawnmower battery. That could mean a higher than necessary charge every time I re-connected it. It's just a thought to try and explain my battery bad luck.

Anyway, I will be checking the voltage regularly on the next battery I buy and will only connect the charger when necessary.

 

[paulcb]

Thanks for all of the helpful replies.

The battery charger/maintainer is working just fine on my car so the issue is the 2 year old battery.

However, I did notice that when the charger was charging the car, the voltage was up at 14.3 for about an hour until, apparently, the charger decided that the battery was full and then it stopped charging. The car battery was 12.7 volts before I connected the charger and it's the same after disconnecting the charger.

I'm wondering if charging the bikes small batter at 14.3 could be reducing the lifespan of the battery. During the winter, I was connecting the charger weekly for a day or 2 and then disconnecting it to charge my lawnmower battery. That could mean a higher than necessary charge every time I re-connected it. It's just a thought to try and explain my battery bad luck.

Anyway, I will be checking the voltage regularly on the next battery I buy and will only connect the charger when necessary.

Your bike's (and car's) charging system continuously runs at 13.5-14.5V, so not an issue with your charger.

 

[ddemair]

Your bike's (and car's) charging system continuously runs at 13.5-14.5V, so not an issue with your charger.

Thanks, that makes sense. I should have thought to check the bike's charging voltage.