The pigtail for the Harley battery tender is great but I wanted to be able to use my own battery charger, not the Harley tender. There is nothing wrong with the tender, but I use smart chargers that display volts, give fault codes, have adjustable ratings along with being able to tend the battery.

My chargers have regular clamps for attaching to the battery posts.

I found out quickly that it was nearly impossible to just plug another pigtail into the Harley pig tail and charge with said clamps. All it takes is the slightest touch of the two clamps while connected and the fuse in the Harley pig tail blows (as it should) and the seat has to come back off......

I tried a few different approaches (and blew a few different fuses) and finally came up with an adapter that I can plug into the Harley pig tail and use any battery charger I want. It's light and you can just set it on the seat and clip your favorite charger to it. The adapter prevents the two clamps from touching while they are connected to the bike. It also prevents the bare metal on the clamps from touching anything while they are connected to the adaptor. No modifications or additional insulation is needed to be made on the clamps.

Is this something that other riders would like? I don't know if there is a market or not for this and I am not your basic biker when it comes to electrical stuff. I am a journeyman electrician and have an Extra class amateur radio operator's license. If everyone was like me, there would be a market for sure, except they would just build their own, like I did.

I also got to thinking about other things you could plug into the pig tails.

Bike to bike cable. Not for jump starting, the rating of the fuse is too small. This would be for charging a good battery that has been drained, like from leaving lights on. The cable would have built in current limiting so no worry about over loading the Harley pig tails.....

Volt meter. This would enable motoring of the battery at rest and with the bike running to check the alternator.

Emergency lighting. LEDs can be run for days on a bike battery.

Cell phone charger.

Etc.....

I am good at design and troubleshooting but am terrible at sales.

Thanks and if anyone is interested it's freaking snowing here right now. Snow is just retarded rain. It's too stupid to melt once it hits the ground.

Cheers,

Mark

 

The advantage of the 2 pin plug is that it is pretty "universal" to access the battery's power for accessories or to charge it. Polarity is standard ( at the bike, exposed plug is ground)

I think that anyone using clamps on a charger would do well to replace those clamps with a 2 pin plug so they can easily and safely connect to the Harley battery, and make up or buy a 2 pin to clamp cable for those other vehicle batteries that don't yet use the 2 pin harness.
( I use the same 6/12 volt trickle charger for all my bikes and cars- some 6 volt, some 12)

( when I say "safely" I refer to the fact that a charging lead/acid battery releases hydrogen, which can be ignited by a spark in the proximity to the battery)

you have some great ideas there, but I think that anyone savvy enough to read and understand a voltmeter, might carry one with them. I know I do on any trip out of town on the bikes that don't have them. I hadn't though about wiring in an LED light, and just now realize that in my garage I have an LED wand from costco that I can use for emergencies, camping etc- just have to make up a cable. I already carry an LED flashlight on the bike

I'm starting to think my Brothers in Northern Climes are already getting cabin fever-which is part of why I left Toronto for AZ!

MK

 

I had a similar situation with a charger I had.

I solved it by going to Ace Hardware auto department and buying a two wire connector like the ones used by battery maintainers such as Battery Tender brand. The connector was with trailer accessories.

I cut the clamps off the charger and spliced in the two wire connector so I could use the charger on the bike. The other half of the new connector was spliced onto the clamp wires so I could plug them back into the the charger if I desired.

I think the two wire connector cost about $3.

 

There's a number of connectors that can be used to connect the various chargers to your pigtails on the bike.

Here's only one source for them.

http://www.batterymart.com/p-battery...y-charger.html

What I did was to use a two wire connector and make up a few different adapters with clips and plugs on the end for different options.

Here's one source...

http://www.amazon.com/Allstar-ALL762.../dp/B003C01FD6

I found the two wire plugs in a boating supply store that I use to connect different ends to the different charger and accessories.

http://www.overtons.com/modperl/prod...s&merchID=4005

 

Thanks for the replies so far.

What I did not want to do was to have to modify a charger to work. I know I could cut the clips off and put on the two wire connector, but what I was looking to achieve was to be able to use any charger without modification of said charger on the Harley pig tail.

I did just that and it works great. You can toss it around, drop it, let it hang off the bike or whatever, all while energized and it won't short out or become disconnected.

I am going to make up a few of them and give them to my friends to beta test. I showed the one I made last night to a guy that knows some invention developer (a real guy, not a scam company) and he thinks there is some potential.

I need to make one up with new parts so it looks spiffy (the first one was from stuff lying around the garage) and get it looked at.

 

Yeah but...

Anyone who is savvy enough---will make his own.

the Guys who can't won't change their own oil, won't be in the market for something that won't plug itself in.

Unless there is something in your description that I missed.

Don't want to bag on your efforts and expertise...but marketability is something else.

******* I have more than one Pal who just doesn't do even the simplest chores.

Mike

 

Thanks Mike,

Unquestionably my weak point is marketing, that's why I ended up showing it to someone with manufacturing business ties.

But, so far, here is what I think would make them sell.

1) They would be cheap. I figured out a way to make them very quickly and without glue or solder. The wire is cold welded to the inner posts.

2) They would be very durable. The material they are made of is electrical construction grade PVC.

3) They do the job intended very well. I have been using battery chargers with the OEM clips on them for years and know how easy they can become disconnected. I lost a very good SLA due to fire once (nearly burnt the house down) because one of those clips slipped off while I was charging the SLA with an external charger.

This adapter is such that the clips stay connected even when thrown about.


One thing I do know is that it is easier to sell a fool proof device than one that needs so much as a glance at the instructions. With that in mind I am going to go play electronics tech and see what it will take to be able to limit the current to a level that won't blow the on board fuse, no matter what size charger is being used, and some type of indication, LED perhaps, of a reverse connection. Both can be done real cheap.

I was looking at one of my portable battery packs and it has much larger clamps and it is not a current limited device, like a charger. I think I may investigate a clamp adapter for portable battery packs with current limitation. If you connect an external battery to the Harley pigtail and try to jump start the Harley, most likely the 7.5 amp fuse in the pig tail will pop.

Current limitation pretty much prevents jumping a dead battery, but will facilitate charging one with pretty much any voltage limited supply.