battery charging

Dellortoman said:
It's easy enough to vent hydrogen. It's a very light gas (the lightest of all the gases) so you just need a vent in the top of the space to let it escape. Allowing it to build up enough to blow up a building is pretty stupid.
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Unfortunately the world is full of stupid people.....
 
You have to be cautious with any battery, particularly with Lead Acid batteries, even smaller motorcycle lead acid batteries can explode like grenade.
 
My brother had a battery explode under the seat of his bike while he was sitting on it. He had just jumped on the bike but when he turned ignition key on there was a loud bang from under the seat, and battery acid started dribbling out all over the bike and onto the ground.
I assume there was a broken connection between the cells in the battery. Switching the ignition on closed a circuit and caused the broken conductor in the battery to arc, igniting a hydrogen/oxygen mix inside the battery case.
 
We had a huge fully sealed type battery explode in the engine room of the ferry a while back, blew the fibreglass battery box to bits and mess everywhere but no other damage. It was a service (not starting) battery, barely a year old. They had gone away from lead acid for safety reasons. Plenty of "no maintenance" batteries swell up. It pays to keep an eye on any battery, even the AAA in a device, as they can leak too.
 
Ventodue said:
Paul, you are truly an inspiration to us all. Thank you. All I seem to hear these days is people moaning on endlessly about how terrible their lot is, and here's you jerking two fingers at all your problems and just getting on.

Once again, thank you.
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thanks for the kind words. Only constant in life is change, adapt or die, carpe diem, etc........;)

Paul
 
LOL! I have to say that most of you sound like an accident waiting to happen! But yes. It's all about spark avoidance in an area that could have explosive gas build up. Take care out there!
 
LOL! I have to say that most of you sound like an accident waiting to happen! But yes. It's all about spark avoidance in an area that could have explosive gas build up. Take care out there!
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I love this forum because you can VENT, as long as you don't piss off a moderator - Eh Hem ;o)

No doubt any Enthusiastic Motorcyclist is " an accident waiting to happen"

I've banned on one occasion on this forum for awhile and was allowed back promising I would NOT do what I did; but for the life of me I can't remember what I did ;o)

A stubborn puppy Re-Breganzie's will learn a hell of a lot about Laverda's in this forum from more Stubborn Experienced Motorcyclists whom cherish their Laverda's. Don't be afraid to argue because if you don't you will not learn anything. That's a pitch for our Auzzie members because they know everything about Breganzies - Gotta appreciate their humor - Apparently Aussies are what they are and I like it ;o)

This is basically an Aussie Forum or so they believe (I'm Canadian). Be prepared to do battle, never take shit and argue and earn respect by admitting someone, other then you, has a more reasonable cost effective solution for the issue at hand.
 
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Narr, maybe. My favourite bit about this forum is discovering the viewpoints of blokes, shame there are not many women, cultural viewpoints. It's a big wide mixing pot of viewpoints and that's a good thing. Be boring if it wasn't.
 
For me all a descent Battery has to do is Start my ride in any Weather, Stay Charged by the Generator or an Alternator and not BORK within 5 years. After that, providing she's a good specimen and lost warranty, you maybe able to hold on to her for a few years longer if you pay specific attention to her.

I HATE paying money out for Batteries - I just paid out $213 CDN today - $20 with the core for a 800 CCA battery a replacement for a battery that was probably the original in my 2001 JEEP TJ Sport - I really should not complain about it but I do ;o(

A little joke after putting out $213 for this Battery. The CTC Clerk says I'm entitled to FREE Boost once every year for 5 years under the Warranty plan - I said to him: "Is this Battery Charged ?". Free Boost in like in 200 miles in the middle of nowhere on top of a mountain ?

Not if I've been charged enough - Rub for Paul ;o)

In extremely COLD weather, if your ride is not in a protective garage, you should incorporate a Battery and Block heater with a battery charger as backup in Canada with Mythel Hydrate in the gas tank - Can't say what a Battery powered Vehicle would do in Northern Ontario.

If you do not have access to Hydro you would be supersized what a few candles and a tarp can do with a baked battery to start your engine ;o)
 
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I've three bikes and am slowly coming round to the idea of one battery, as I can only be riding using one. Bit of forward planning I suppose, might even try and rig up some mini Anderson plugs for to help with switching from bike to bike. Luckily the one size would be suitable for all and hopefully a quieter life thinking about keeping on top of battery readiness. Probably would work for a lot of folk with a bigger number/range of bikes.
 
Paul LeClair said:
Makes no sense to me. Anyone?

Paul LeClair
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Not for low amp charging but when higher amps selected on charger (or when jump starting) arcing can damage a soft lead cable end & heat buildup also becomes a concern if connection is weak. Connecting to a steel chassis ground reduces/eliminates those concerns.
 
Alan said:
I've three bikes and am slowly coming round to the idea of one battery, as I can only be riding using one. Bit of forward planning I suppose, might even try and rig up some mini Anderson plugs for to help with switching from bike to bike. Luckily the one size would be suitable for all and hopefully a quieter life thinking about keeping on top of battery readiness. Probably would work for a lot of folk with a bigger number/range of bikes.
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I tried this for a while. With the better AGM batteries and good ignitions these days, you can usually pick the smallest size of your bikes and use that for all without any problems. In the end the hassle of swapping batteries here and there got too much and I ended up with batteries in all again, but then 2020 happened and I've mostly just been moving the ctek from one to the next.
 
breganzane said:
I tried this for a while. With the better AGM batteries and good ignitions these days, you can usually pick the smallest size of your bikes and use that for all without any problems. In the end the hassle of swapping batteries here and there got too much and I ended up with batteries in all again, but then 2020 happened and I've mostly just been moving the ctek from one to the next.
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So I'm not as mad as I thought I was 🤪
I'll give it a go and see/ probably go back to more than one .🤔😁
 
Paul L now a weldor!! You are a man of many and wide skills, for such a young man, wry smile here. One of the most alarming aspects of battery termination is the plethora of cables being terminated on each of the battery terminals proper, mis-conection possibilities being endless and harmful, to say the least. Use of "isolation" buss bar is very helpful, terminate all positive cables on a brass block, run one large current cable ( i used welding cable) for the link back to the battery positive terminal, ditto the negative.

Ctek, repaired a few of those chargers, $600 odd out here for the 25 amp version, very complex internals, lots to go wrong, seem to do the job overall agm et al, however. Never been a fan of unattended charging devices for safe management of a valuable workshop and motorcycles.
HTH j.
 
iis_iis said:
Use of "isolation" buss bar is very helpful, terminate all positive cables on a brass block, run one large current cable ( i used welding cable) for the link back to the battery positive terminal, ditto the negative.
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Reminds me of a bloke I knew in the 70's who had a beat-up old Honda. He had a mess of wires going to both battery terminals, so I suggested that he do exactly as you recommend above. He thought it was a good idea so he went and got some brass terminal blocks. Only problem was that he bolted them directly to the frame, neglecting to insulate the positive one. I dunno where his brain was at the time - probably drifting in a haze of bong smoke. Needless to say the result was "interesting" when he connected the battery.
 
Times in a life the obvious is not obvious, then the electrical fire makes that self evident.... too many electrons on the go, and in a hurry.. i know, my jokes are the worst by far, hello Cam....j.
 
Ha ha. Yes John, there was a sudden eruption of sparks and wild shouting, but he managed to flick the cable off before any damage was done apart from some arc burns to his fingers.

Now that I've been reminded about that bloke (a friend from high school), some other memories come to mind. His mechanical incompetence was always a source of amusement and I could tell you a heap of stories about him and his long suffering Honda (a CB350 that he'd chopperised with extended forks). One of his best cock-ups was the time he took the engine apart for some reason, reassembled it and put it back in the bike. He tried to start it but the engine did half a rotation then stopped with a clunk. He did a bit of head scratching, then looked around and saw cam chain still sitting on the workbench.
 
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