Sorry, amateur battery question. I've had the bike for about 1,000 miles and four-five months and it had a new battery when I got it. Took it out for a charge last night since I hadn't charged it at all and had been noticing the electric start and lights had been a little off. I noticed the levels were below the lines. They're supposed to be between the lines right? I've read elsewhere in the past that you just re-fill those with distilled water, is that correct? Thanks, I know this is a total newbie question.
The charge made quite a difference though in the electric start. The bike's charging system works well, ignition has been really strong this whole time. I don't think I fully charged last night; I borrowed my neighbors 12-volt charger and had to return it. Made a bit of difference in the lights, but I bet if I fill the levels and fully charge it things will be back to normal.
Re-filling Battery Fluids?
The problem lies in not refilling them as soon as you should, that will shorten the life. If you let the level stay below the top of the plates for any length of time you will get sulfation which will decrease you batteries capacity, permanently. Refilling with distilled water is just replacing the water in the electrolyte solution that has broken down into hydrogen and oxygen ( which is what makes a battery explosive) . So the answer to your question is yes- the battery will last longer and stay stronger if you keep the levels up.
There are other things that affect battery life, such as charging at too high a rate (can warp the plates) and letting it set with a low charge level or dead (that will also result in damaging sulfation.) 63 CA78
I use AGM batteries now. This is what I use for my CB77s and CA77s that take the later battery- http://www.impactbattery.com/catalogsea ... lt/?q=mb9u
HT Thanks for the extra info. I have a generic charger, it's not for motorcycles per say and it doesn't have a green light that lights up at "full," but it does have a breaker and apparently will stop at full charge (I think). It also had a meter that I'm assuming says how much power is going to it, it reads just below '3' right now, not very high, but that might just be cuz of battery resistance or who knows-- I don't know much about electricity.
What should a multimeter read at full charge when touched to each lead? Mine is reading 14 right now, so I'm going to pull it cuz I assume it should be more around 12 and I don't wanna over-change and kill the battery like you say. Or am I okay? Showing 14 volts, is that with the battery charger attached and on? That's usually charging voltage. It could also show that immediately after turning the charger off for a time. It's best to let it sit for a few minutes at least for the voltage to stabilize. I have a battery that's not good, if i check it shortly after charging it will read 12+ volts, but after sitting for a while it's down to 10.7 volts. A good battery should read in the neighborhood of 12 to 12.6 volts.
There are several types of battery chargers, trickle chargers,some automatically shut off when the batteries charged, others charge at a constant voltage and can "overcharge" the battery, boiling the water out and/or overheating it. There are others designed specifically for deep cycle batteries. Motorcycle battery chargers are usually designed to charge at a maximum of 1 or 2 amps. 63 CA78
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