AGM battery alternative for early slim battery Dreams

[paperslammer]

My JB-2 died and it's time to upgrade. I found this same battery http://www.amazon.com/Ytx7l-bs-Battery- ... H54O2 here and it seems like it is the same one.

Does anyone know the capacity of this battery? It looks like the JB-2 is a 10AmpH battery, but I can't find anywhere the current rating of this battery...

Here is a 7Ah battery that looks like it will fit. Does 3 Amp hours make a difference?[/url]

[paperslammer]

My JB-2 died and it's time to upgrade. I found this same battery here and it seems like it is the same one.

Does anyone know the capacity of this battery? It looks like the JB-2 is a 10AmpH battery, but I can't find anywhere the current rating of this battery...

Here is a 7Ah battery that looks like it will fit. Does 3 Amp hours make a difference?[/url]

[conbs]

PS,

The battery you found is the same YTX7L. By the accounts above, it seems to work well. That is what I will be buying for my next battery.

[OldStan]

The one in mine is still working well three years later. It is a lower amp hour, but never had a problem, plenty of cranking power.

[paperslammer]

Good info.

I have been having some trouble getting my battery charged. Since I bought it as a dry battery, I had to put the acid in myself when it arrived. No problem there. I hooked it up to my motorcycle and put the Battery tender on it. Here are some pictures of the set up. I had to make a little bracket for the negative side because it wouldn't reach.


General Size Fit


Top View


Still some room at the front


Negative Terminal bracket. Made from a sheet of brass I had laying around.

Close-up battery text


So after connecting up the battery tender, it continued to flash red, which means 'not charging'. I checked all the connections, and read somewhere that the battery tender does not "charge" a battery, but merely maintains it, meaning if the battery is under 3 volts, it will not charge it up. I read about a "trick" you can do, which is hook up a single 9V battery in parallel with the motorcycle battery, and this will make the battery tender see a higher voltage, and it will begin charging the battery.

I tried this, and it initially worked, but then the tender would go back to flashing red. I check the voltage of the moto battery, and it had gone up to ~1V. from 0V. I also checked the 9V battery and it had gone from 9 down to 7. So I tried a few more 9V batteries , and the same thing happened. You are supposed to be able to only keep the 9V battery on for a few minutes, but this did not work for me.

So then I just went to AutoZone and had them charge it for me. This worked great! 45 minutes later I had a fully charged battery.

I come home, hook it up to my bike, and the lights work. Hook it up to the tender, and it goes to solid red, and then solid green. Great!

Then I check the next day, and it is back to flashing red, and the battery is at 0V!!!!! I think I may have a short somewhere, so this is what I am going to check out next...

[paperslammer]

Ah so I just double checked the key position and it was set to the 'Ignition position', so it was just draining the battery while I was trying to charge it.

I turned it to the 'off' position and then let it trickle charge. This time the 9V battery trick worked. I let it charge overnight and about 1.5 days later it is hovering around 7V. I think maybe I've messed the battery up by charging it up fully and discharging it fully and then trying to trickle charge it up again.

Also, after filling the battery with acid, I sealed the battery with the plastic stopper piece as described in the directions. The directions did NOT tell me to fully charge the battery first. At AutoZone, when they charge the battery, the acid will of course bubble, and it pushed the seal out from it's 'seal' position. Now it doesn't fit as tightly as it should, so I wonder if over time the acid will bubble off, even though it's a sealed battery because the seal it now loose.... any experience here?

Thanks

[paperslammer]

Ok I am back.

I ended up buying a second battery, and after I filled it with the acid ( and let the acid settle for about 2 hours while keeping the plastic caps off ) and sealed it up, I checked the charge of that battery and it was above 12v, which is what should have happened the first time.

I hooked the battery up to my bike and left the trickle charger on it. Took it out for a ride a few days later and everything worked great. Now I need to glue some rubber to the inside of my side casing so that the terminals don't accidentally short.