Been preparing my RR5 for my first trackday of 2014 but when I came to start it the battery was nearly dead. Turned over a few times before it died completely then a clicking sound came from near the fusebox. Put the battery on an Optimate and waited a couple of hours until the lights turned green. When I reconnected the battery the clicking had ceased and she turned over a few times before it died again. My question is... How long do I need to leave the battery connected to the Optimate? I thought when the lights turned green it was fully charged. I have a trackday at Oulton on Friday so I don't have much time to sort it out. Should the battery be good to go when lights are green or does that just mean it's charging properly but needs more time on charge? Or is the battery knackered? I don't have a battery tester so I'm relying on you lot! Answers will be much appreciated.....Cheers
I would leave on overnight to be honest to charge up, if it does the same again you've got a dead cell in the battery so won't hold charge but your charger will think it has charged up
I'd be looking at a min of 48 Hrs charge from a dead flat Batt. I assume you've just bought the Optimate otherwise it begs the Q why it wasn't plugged in over winter? Could well be a fecked Cell or two so a new Batt is a real possibility. Best get emailing Andy at DT!
Had the Optimate a few years now and yes it was charging a spare battery which I swapped over to. Spare battery had been on charge for the last few weeks but still died when I fitted it to the blade. I must add that I have another spare battery for another blade and continually swapped from one spare battery to the other every couple of months. Not sure if this is good practice but I cant justify 4 Optimates!! It is possible that the spare battery is knackered and the original one has just run flat but if I leave it on charge for 48 hours it drastically reduces my time to get the blade sorted before Friday if the problem lies with the bike.
M&P do motobatt batteries for about £40 on ebay or get yourself a lithium one they charge up in about 4-5 hours max and will charge upto 75% in about an hour! but lithium do cost between £70-130
Whilst perhaps not fully charged the bike should start after 2-3 hours, failing that certainly say 6. If it doesn't I'd suggest the batteries knackered, or there's another problem like a bad earth. Have you checked the voltage with a meter?
My battery died on me last week after been sat for a good few weeks out in a cold garage. Got the battery charger out, put it on boost charge and within 20mins it was fully charged. Went out yesterday and it started first time
Leave it for 24 hours without evening switching ignition and give it a pop if not I'd grab a battery bud . I have the acumen platinum charger good bit of kit has volts display etc
I live at the top of a BIG hill so if the battery sounds a bit weak on a cold morning push off the drive and role to about running pace then dump the clutch savagely in first while dropping my arse on the saddle hard. works every time, then just ride for 30min or so and battery seems fine. It works on the flat but you need a shove untill at least jogging pace. Doing it your self is possible but well scary as the hesd dont work and the bike wobbles alarmingly as you jump on at speed
I use an Optimate 4 from time to time but I don't have a garage as such, I'm allowed to use the space between a shop and the shutter and they allow me to store my bike there for safety. My Optimate sometimes looks like the Green is also showing a bit of Yellow too. No good with stuff myself although I did buy a multimeter before. How would I best check my battery is still good?
A key parameter of a battery is it's ability to supply current. This is normally measured by placing the battery under load and measuring voltage, current and resistance amoungst other things. A decent battery tester will measure this, calculate discharge rates to determine the battery's state. With a multi meter alone all that can really be acuratly tested is the output voltage. Whilst output voltage doesn't determine the state of a battery it's better than nothing and will at least show if the battery's held a charge/has a charge. Without starting the bike a fully charged battery should read around 12.6 volts, below 12 is 25% below around 11.8 is dead. If the voltage is around 12.5 turn the bikes ignition on and see what happens to the battery voltage, if it rapidly declines the battery's knackered. Failing this, try starting the bike although appreciate you may hibernate your bike so prefer not to start it. If you do start the bike, measure the voltage which should read around 14.6v, this provides a good indication the charging system is working. The multi meters great for examples like Steve's where you can quickly check the battery has a charge to confirm there's something else causing the bike not to turn over. It's not really an accurate tester to confirm the condition of a battery.
wouldn't worry,once it's had a good run,as long as it's not fooked it'll be reet,evenif it doesn't hold charge teh bike will still bump and run on track no problem.
Is your Optimate actually working properly. I have 2 now, the older one tells me all is good with the world and nothing to worry about, green lights all the way, but its not telling the truth. Bought one of the latest Optimates and its chalk and cheese, proves the first one has turned into a lying little fecker.
Well, I got in tonight and after the battery being on charge for 48 hours as was suggested, she fired up first time!! I was led to believe that when 2 green lights were showing on the Optimate all was well but obviously not! It must mean the battery's in good condition and charging.........unless as Kentblade suggested, it's a lying little fecker! I hope this is an end to it as I've had the last couple of trackdays cut short through mechanical failure of one kind or another! Many thanks for your advice
Yeah I always thought that 2nd was best but for some reason the blade just bogs down and slows to a holt when bumping in second. Must be a knack to it with the clutch.
Don't worry Steve, I've just bought one of these! I'll bring it with me on Friday! Clarke JS5IN1 5 in 1 Jump Start - Machine Mart
