I thought maybe this was the maker of the harley battery but nope died after 2 years. I ride most of the year, maybe a week off here or there. Always on a tender when not riding. Purchased the max crank lets see how this one does. Would purchase the stock but hell money is short and cant afford $180 from dealer.

 

Kinda surprising, you're doing all the right things.

Does it sit in the heat/sun when you're at work/home?

 

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" Always on a tender when not riding "

HERE WE GO AGAIN,YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF EXACTLY WHAT I HAVE BEEN POSTING ABOUT HERE IN HDFROUMS for past few months about some maint/float chargers holding the battery at too high of a voltage (13.1-13.2v's for days on end) eventually overcharging/cooking the battery to failure & here's why i say that.

Problem with that is over time (1-1.5-2yrs) of the float charge rate holding the battery @ 13.1-13.2v's (with no load on it like bike running/lights on etc) can mildly overcharge the battery that has an approx 12.8v full charge voltage leading to premature battery failure just like the op experienced.

I'd like to see float chargers hold the battery at max of 12.9v's in flaot mode or better yet get ride of float mode all together.

Best would be for charger to 1st charge battery to full charge and then completely turn off any & all charge voltage when battery hits 12.9 maybe 13.0v's tops.

Then the charger (with full charge rate automatically tuned off) should monitor batt voltage and if/when it drops to approx 12.7v's to then re-start full charge rate again to bring battery back to full charge and then turn completely off again.

That would avoid the issue with float mode poss overcharging the battery.

And also keep in mind majority of guys are running AGM batteries that by design have less electrolyte/acid/fluid in them (vs older gen std lead acid batt tech) making AGM's much more sensitive to overchagring/drying out plates & warping them leading to premature failure.

But its not an issue with a bikes charging system putting out 50amps because the load on the battery & charging system is quite a lot powering the headlight,passing lamps,ECM,ign system,elec fuel pump,stereo,CD,cooling fans for engine & or oil cooler,elec gauges,heated gear for off season riding,etc.

I have seen this pattern of premature battery failure associated with use of maint float charges time & time again over the past few yrs i have been watching/monitoring it on a classic car site i belong to where guys use maint/float chargers along with this motorcycle site too where guys using float chargers 24/7 or often seem to be experiencing more then normal issues with premature battery failure.

And thats also coming from my 1st hand exp on the subject wrenching bikes & classic muscle cars for other people i maintain them for some of which have also had premature battery failures when using maint/float chargers often or 24/7 because like many here they too werent aware there was this issue going on with some of the maint/float chargers on the market.

The Big Crank 400cc ETX30L (mfg'd by Deka) is a hi quality maint free fact activated AGM battery that already has a proven track record of lasting anywhere from 4-6yrs on avg & i have personally seen a few go 6.5-7+yrs too and the Op's crapped out in 2yrs..

Now can there be a defective battery due to a mfg defect ,you bet!

But the fact remains those batteries(BigCrank/AGM mfg'd by Deka) has shown for yrs to be rock solid reliable having small # of fails for # mfg'd/sold and if the batt did happen to have a significant defect of some kind when mfg'd it likely would have failed before 2 yrs esp having to crank over a cranky HD v-twin thats notoriously hard on the battery.

So with that said the smoking gun here can very well be the the fact the OP used a maint float charger almost 24/7 on this battery that failed in 2 yrs / way early when that battery & mfg has a well earned rep for producing reliable long lasting batteries that on avg last 2.5x-3x longer then this failed battery did.

Every time i post on this i get mostly negative responses but you guys need to wake up and start checking the voltage on your maint float chargers.
to avoid premature battery failure .

It easy as heck to do and takes 1 min to do it & heres how you should do it.

Put your maint/float charger on the battery and keep an eye on it so you know when the battery hits full charge and the charger switched to it's supposed lower rate float charge.

Then note the approx time battery hit full charge and leave the charger on the battery in it's lower rate float mode for 1.5-2days.

Then unplug the charger from the wall elec socket and from battery connector too .

Then test battery voltage to see what voltage the lower float rate charge was holding the battery @ for the 1.5-2days.

Make note of that voltage and time of day and then remove a battery cable and let battery sit with no load at all on it for 24hrs.

I say to remove the battery cable because depending on yr & model many hd's have quite a draw on the battery (Security,ECM,etc) with the bike off .

It's just that removing a batt cable gives a better more accurate test result though you dont have to do it in which case you should expect to see approx 0.1 to maybe 0.2 less batt voltage when testing batt voltage after sitting 24hrs after removing the charger.(Voltage seen post removing charger and letting battery sit for 24hrs depends on cond of batt & draw on it with bike off too)

Then after the battery sits for 24hrs post removing the maint/float charger recheck battery voltage which should have settled back down to
somewhere around 12.7,12.8v's or 12.9v's depending on age & cond of battery which could been somewhat of an issue if the battery has already been exposed to many days/wks or even months on end collectively with a maint /float charger on the battery possibly over charging it.

My rec is if you see 13.0v's (or higher!) when you test battery after the charger has already been in float mode for 1.5-2days with the battery just removed from the charger to see what voltage float mode was keeping it at for the last couple days is the case i'd rec never leaving that particular charger on the battery 24/7 or often to avoid possibly overcharging leading to premature battery failure.

You can still use that same maint/float charger with NP just as long as you remove it within approx 24 hrs (or less) after the battery has reached full charge.

Again,i am not going over reacting to only couple premature battery failures i have seen associated with 24/7 (or often) use of maint/float charger associated with premature battery failure.

I have been posting this here in HDforums for some time now because because i have seen this trend time after time after time over quite a few yrs when people have used maint/float chargers on their bike or classic car batteries 2 had premature battery failure in 1-1.5-2yrs on batteries that typically last 4,5,6+yrs on avg.

Thats what prompted me to test batt voltage when i found my personal maint/float charger was in fact overdoing it holding my bike battery @ 13.1-13.2v's (with no load on the battery to offset the higher voltage a bit) for days on end when in it's lower voltage float mode charge rate on a battery that has an approx 12.8v's full charge voltage .

From my many yrs 1st hand wrenching bikes/cars/motor vehicles in general i feel a maint/float charger holding a battery @ approx 13.1-13.2v's in float mode for days on end (or worse yet for wks/months on end!) over time can in fact dry out & or overcharge an AGM battery (that has less electrolyte in it!) warping the plates leading to premature battery failure like is what i think happened to the OP in this case.

Again,don't forget many people arent aware AGM batteries are much more sensitive to overcharging / overheating / drying out & warping the plates because (by design!) AGM battery tech has significantly less electrolyte/acid/fluid in them then std lead acid batteries do which is another fact often overlooked when talking about using maint/float chargers.

Lastly,i rec the OP " not use his maint/flaot charger " the same amount of time on his new bike battery as he did on the failed battery or he may very well end up with another premature battery failure 1.5-2yrs or so from now with this new battery

Happy motoring.

Scott

 

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"Kinda surprising, you're doing all the right things. "

LOL!!

Well not really ,leaving the maint/float on his battery often & or 24/7 when not riding could very well have been what let to the OP's premature battery failure.

Read my main post in this same thread for an explanation of why i say that or you could maybe have the same thing happen to you.

Scott

 

Meh, that's why you pay for a good maintainer. Solid 4 years on the last battery.

 

Although I'm not as passionate about it as wscott, I'm not a big fan of battery tenders on all the time. Especially if you ride that much. A battery shouldn't go down enough over a couple of weeks to cause any issues. In my opinion, which means nothing, it's good to let them drain a little and then recharge while riding. The load from the alarm is nothing.

I have two bikes and ride one daily to commute and one for touring or weekend rides with the wife. If it's been sitting for more than a month and I know we're going to ride. I'll put the tender on it the day before and let the battery charge top off overnight. My commuter bike doesn't even have a lead and has never been on a tender. I get anywhere from four to five years out of a battery.

 

The Harley Davidson Battery on my son's Sportster lasted 7 years.
We charge them up once a month, November thru March!


I never leave it connected once it is charged.

 

^^^^^^ Agree, 100%
and ... for a replacement, you can get a Yuasa 500 CCA on Amazon, delievered to your door for $136. They also sell the less powerful 405CCA.

 

May just have been the battery, may not be related to anything you did.
Several years ago, I used to buy "Reconditioned" batteries for my vehicles from an old man. Some were factory blems, but most of them were bad batteries that He would dump the acid out, wash 'em out, refill with new acid, charge 'em, and sell 'em for $20. I had one last 7 years.
I remember Him telling me around 10% of new batteries sold go bad during warranty.

 

make shure when you by the mega,ultra,big what ever...its the one made in USA