Yeah it's a pain all right... Not!

 

I would probably forget to unplug it & take off. Done that with heated shield on sled, get off & yank. Really thinking of getting a better helmet this winter that don't need one to keep clear to see.

 

Hey Scott
Question for ya.....been plugging my battery tender plus, when not riding, into my Big Crank EXT30L since I bought it 27 months ago. I followed your advice and unplugged the tender and measured the voltage immediately then at 24 hr intervals for 2 days: here's what I got:
immediately after disconnecting BT (was connected for 1.5 days): 13.3 V
24 hrs later: 12.88 V
48 hrs later: 12.86 V
Do you think that float voltage is too high to leave it connected all the time? The battery has been performing well although last week on a cold start is seemed to struggle a little......Thanks for your advice
Rick

 

that's the correct way to do it---live and learn

 

Here in AZ I never get more then 2 years on a battery no matter what brand it is. The heat in the summer is what kills them.

 

Where does it say that?

 

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Holding the battery ong term @ a 13.3 float voltage is what concerns me on a bike battery that has an approx 12.7-12.8v full charge voltage.

Holding the battery at 13.3v's short term isn't an issue,but holding it at 13.3v's day after day & wk after wk(moth after month) is especially an issue with todays newer gen AGM bike batteries that most of us are running in our HD's .

Thats because by design AGM batteries have a lot less acid/electrolyte in them to begin with making them much more sensitive/likely to dry out.

Most if not all of the acid/electrolyte in an AGM bike battery is BY DESIGN absorbed into the plates and plates arent simply fully flooded in acid like older gen std lead acid bike batteries have.

That causes the plates to warp/short etc leading to premature battery failure which happens even though the maint/float charger mfg's (and many here in hdforums) say it cant happen.

But i found over the past 4.5 decades wrenching bikes & classic cars where people often use maint/float chargers on their vehicles in off season storage that more then just a few guys had issues over the yrs with premature battery failure which i saw 1st hand can & does happen at times,but not always.

Thats what led me to test float voltage the maint/float chargers i currently have were keeping my bike battery at to see/verify what i had suspected for a while was happening (float charger holding batteries & too high of a voltage when in flaot mode) which turned out to be the case.

Holding the battery at 13.2v in my float chargers case and 13.3v in your float chargers case day after day & or wk after wk is when over enough time can at the very least cause a somewhat reduced srv'c life (2.5-3yrs vs 4-4.5-5+yrs other guys get) & in some cases acutually cause premature battery failure 1-1.5-2yrs or so.

So to avoid possible premature battery failure when using a maint/float type battery charger i simply rec removing a maint/float charger after the battery reaches full charge & or remove the charger no more then 24hrs after battery reached full charge.

Happy motoring.

Scott

 

I never leave it connected once it is charged.

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You wont find that anywhere esp from the maint/float charger mfgs,thats for sure.

Thats because the maint/float charger mfg's would never admit in some cases (not all!) that one of their maint/float chargers could in fact cause either reduced srv'c life & or outright premature battery failure in 1-1.5-2yrs on a battery thats proven over the yrs to typically last on avg 4-4.5-5+ yrs to in a few cases last as long as 6.5-7yrs.

You can believe it or not, but i know from many yrs 1st hand exp dealing with & wrenching/maintaining vehicles that require off season storage that this is a real issue in some cases (not all!) when using maint/float chargers.

And thats especisally on smaller AGM bike batteries that by design have a lot less acid/electrolyte in them making them much more sensitive to overcharging when battery kept @ 13.2-13.3v's in float mode day after day/wk after wk or moth after month when the batteries full charge voltage is approx 12.7-12.8v's .

Again,short term holding battery @ 13.2-13.3v's while in float charge isnt going to hurt it and sometimes when using a manual charger battery voltage can be as high as 14+v's or so when you 1st remove the charger after battery has hit full charge which again short term is fine.

But its over longer period-s of time holding the battery at 13.2v-13.3v's day after day ,wk after wk & or month after month that can reduce the batteries srv'c life or cause outright premature battery failure.

Scott

 

Tried big crank, didn't last long, cheapo battery, Spend a little more and get a yuasa, Best battery I have found.