Batteries, for what it's worth

["Bird, Garry" <BIRD@xxxxxxx>]

Leatherbiker wrote:
> 
> However, he pointed out that it was not only inadvisable to use a normal
> charger but highly dangerous, as the sealed bat.s can explode when the
> recharged cells start giving off hydrogen ions and there's no where for
the
> bubbles to escape.

First of all, all lead-acid batteries give off hydrogen gas when they are
being charged...and that includes when they are installed on your bike and
the alternator is charging it.  So, if the battery is making hydrogen gas
when it is getting charged on the bike, where does the gas go in that case?
What I'm trying to say is:  what's the difference if the battery is charging
while installed on the bike or charging on the bench?  You're going to have
hydrogen gas either way.  Maybe he meant a high-amp charger when he said
"normal charger".  Speaking of the alternator, I suppose the 'ST'
alternators put out 300 watts or so (not exactly sure).  So, if you divide
watts by volts (let's say 13.5V) you get amps.  In this case it would be 22
amps (ballpark).  The alternator is capable of putting out 22 amps at 13.5
volts based on what the voltage regulator tells it to do.  Of course, a
small battery like ours would take no time to reach a charge at that rate
and as it is charging the amperage is decreasing.  So, even if the regulator
was telling the alternator to supply the full 22 amps to the battery, it
wouldn't be for very long (battery wouldn't have time to overheat).

Anyways, in the service manual they recommend a charge rate of 1.4 amps for
regular charging and up to 6 amps for no more than one hour.  Also, I
remember from the past that you should not charge a battery any more than
10% of its amp-hour capacity.  Therefore, a 14ah battery should be charged
at no more than 1.4 amps.

I am using a battery tender on my Jeep battery as well as a battery tender
type maintainer on three bike batteries (hooked in parallel) of similar
amp-hour rating.  The voltage is being constantly maintained at about
13-13.5.

Garry
bird@xxxxxxx


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