Battery dead at 3

[Johnrg]

My 3 year old Earth X reading 9 volts this morning prior to a Colorado, Idaho and Utah trip. I could trickle charge and gamble or buy another. Considering just getting new as a precaution, especially cold morning starts, as last years Wyoming trip made a freezing temp start questionable.

Was waiting for the time when the batteries go. I am currently monitoring a charge and will pull it before the clickity clack. Will see if voltage drops over the day. Don't want to risk a failed battery at elevation anywhere.

OK.... Kept a multimeter on it till first clicking. Battery Tender jr begins to flash at 14.45 and when it starts to top off at 14.52 it starts to click, so that's is when the wiring of the 310 starts assuming a running bike.
*Safely charge on bike only if monitoring closely*

New battery on the way. With the initial voltage level at 9+, was told cold starting will be compromised, so decided to get a new one. About as good as I would expect for service life. Strong battery for 3 years. Buyers of record save shipping, more...

 

[Trenchcoat85]

My 3 year old Earth X reading 9 volts this morning prior to a Colorado, Idaho and Utah trip. I could trickle charge and gamble or buy another. Considering just getting new as a precaution, especially cold morning starts, as last years Wyoming trip made a freezing temp start questionable...

Hey John, a quick heads-up: we had a small, cold storm system go through here (northern NorCal) yesterday which left some snow above 6-7000'. I gotta imagine your destination is gonna be colder (they're about 1-2 days behind us in most storm tracks).

... Kept a multimeter on it till first clicking. Battery Tender jr begins to flash at 14.45 and when it starts to top off at 14.52 it starts to click, so that's is when the wiring of the 310 starts assuming a running bike.
*Safely charge on bike only if monitoring closely*

New battery on the way. With the initial voltage level at 9+, was told cold starting will be compromised, so decided to get a new one. About as good as I would expect for service life. Strong battery for 3 years. Buyers of record save shipping, more...

hey, this is good info- so you think the voltage level has got to be above 14.5v for the relay to start clicking? that's higher than I would've expected.

if it bugs you (and if I'm right about the regulator being the location that our keyless redheads use to determine if the bike is running) than I'd guess you could just unplug the regulator while on the b-tender to stop the "clicking" ; which would allow you some peace of mind. Or pull the battery ground lead I guess.

do you have any idea which relay it is? I'd guess the Power relay, 'cause if it was the DC relay, your headlights would probably flash (BTW, I have my DC relay on a small switch- which allows me to turn the lights on or off regardless if the motor is running or not; or in the 3rd position it acts like the stock bike. 2 thumbs up)

I've never had my stock lead/acid battery on the charger yet (2 years old now; 4300miles) but from my experience- when L/A batts start to go bad, they go fast.

My kid has a 3 year old Shorai Lithium on his '12 511 (2500miles), and it just went to 9 volts. It took a charge fine though. he rides about every 3-4 weeks. Still using it. If I'm reading you correctly, Earth-X is giving you a discount and a break on shipping for the new battery? cool.

I may hold off on a lithium battery for a while. My main reason for considering one would be weight reduction (since our bikes start so easy without a battery at all). But maybe they don't have the life expectancy (on a dirt bike) that I would've guessed. This is based on 2 cases so I'll keep an open mind.

Put your old batt in the lawn mower (or whatever) and abuse it for a few years- that ought'ta tell the the life-expectancy story.

have fun in the Rockies.

 

[Johnrg]

I'm a little late for fall it seems. I had hoped to do a mtb and moto trip. I'll have to simply choose some lower elevations maybe.

as far as the battery, I am not sure which relay but my bike was flooded a few years ago when I was not paying close attention and had been clicking back and forth a few minutes. I tried to start it but was indeed flooded, so maybe pressurizing the fuel system. It's more rapid a pulse than the Yuasa. Honestly I never even checked if lights were flashing or the dash. Probably not though.

I emailed Earth X and asked what I should do. I'm not too put off buying a new one in 3 years. It did a super slow turn over in Wyoming last year so I know these things are not great cold. Considering being off in the boonies, I feel better with a fresh one. I really have no evidence on lifespan so just a little insurance. Reading other peoples experiences with various brands, it just seemed the thing to do. Yes... Offered a discount as well as free shipping since I own a couple of them.

 

[Trenchcoat85]

...as far as the battery, I am not sure which relay but my bike was flooded a few years ago when I was not paying close attention and had been clicking back and forth a few minutes. I tried to start it but was indeed flooded, so maybe pressurizing the fuel system. It's more rapid a pulse than the Yuasa. Honestly I never even checked if lights were flashing or the dash. Probably not though...

Oh yeah- I remember, because that is what started me on my investigation. Weird thing is, is that the ECU controls the fuel pump and the injector (but the injector gets power from the P relay. hmmm. wonder if rising & falling voltage would trigger the injector. and if there was residual fuel pressure in the line: flooding.)

MTB vs. moto trip... well, don't give up hope- we still might get a nice Indian summer. ...and I thought Li batts did better than L/A batts in cold weather. no? hunh.

Going to make the NW East Fort Rock meet on the way back?

 

[Johnrg]

I am hoping for an Indian summer. May make to EFR. Depends which direction I go. The thing with the LI batteries is they may seem cold and slow but a with incremental small loads they will warm up and regain power. So if really slow, it is said to only try a few seconds initially, wait a minute and try again or let the headlight burn a little and try starting again. When my last couple of batteries have failed, they dropped to 10v and would lose voltage over a day after a charge. While one could keep charging or use I worry about those times stuck in a precarious place, possibly stuck, stalling, etc... Bike has been super reliable starting with the EarthX. I expect longer life from a lead acid (5 years) and if the Husky had no decompression issues and less compression it may have been fine with the Yuasa long term, as long as weight was not a consideration.

I do have the Yuasa in my Multistrada... Between me and my dealer the question about lifespan of the LA overrules the performance gain with LI right now. They experienced shorter life before failure on some LI so I have Yuasa in the Multi and an EarthX in my Sport Classic.

Just a note on my EarthX after charging yesterday. This morning I tested it with multi and read 13.2v. OK I thought maybe I jumped too soon on a new one. Hit the starter and fired up, but it sounded a hair sluggish/fading. Shut down and tried again 2-3 times. Each time sounded sluggish and about to fail, eventually at 12.2v becoming erratic sounding and clicking that seemed within the battery itself or maybe a solonoid. I think the LI batteries cells are higher than la. So everything shifts up by .6. The 12.2 looks OK but really 11.6 and at that level charge is close to 0 apparently. The initial voltage showed no appreciable loss but under load was showing issues. After an hour tested voltage after the above and was 11.2 and would be 10.6 on la. Gave it a kick since battery was clicking. double checked charging at 13.87v. Shut her down and could restart with the button. So charging is good, no drain I can see... Just a battery on the way out. I figure wise to replace at the first sign of a big drop or drop in performance. PPPPPPP as they say.

 

[Johnrg]

I just installed my new EarthX. They now come in a beautiful blue. I forgot the power of these batteries when fresh. The bike spins up and starts so fast it's amazing. Interesting and goes to show an aging battery can read 13.2 as this new one, after a charge, and act completely differently upon starting the bike.

 

[Trenchcoat85]

No pictures of this beautiful battery?

 

[Johnrg]

Decided against it but this one is close...

http://www.batterymart.com/p-ltx12a-earthx-etx12a-battery.html?gclid=CP6ptoGdwM8CFQERaQodmhcDuA

 

[ct cr430]

You are correct , just because a battery is showing the desired voltage does not mean it's healthy . At my work we used lead acid batteries for backup power incase commercial power fails . We test these batteries when we inspect these site and since we have the mhos or sieman values the deserve capacity can be calculated. Once the batteries go below a set percentage , replacement is requested as to avoid additional problems . If they go below say 30% , they are then removed from service and replaced as soon as new are available . Lead acid batteries can also do this , after a discharge and they start to recharge they will build heat which will draw more amps creating more heat needing even more amps and so on and so on . Hence the term thermal runaway . Maybe that's why you were having the problem .

 

[glangston]

I've brought these batteries back from discharge but you need to trick the charger into believing there is voltage even if you get less or 0v.

From EarthX

If your battery reads near 0 volts, the over-discharge feature has been activated, thus your battery must be charged. If you left your lights on, key on, have a faulty stator, or have a parasitic drain this can easily happen. Our BMS is designed to disconnect the flow of current in the event of over-discharge (internal disconnect switch is opened). Many smart chargers will not attempt to charge a low voltage battery (below 9V), including a Battery Tender Jr. If this happens, the easiest way to charge (and reset the internal switch) your EarthX battery is to use the lithium charger from Optimate (model TM-471 or TM-291) as it has the built-in feature that allows charging of batteries that are below 9V. With the Optimate, all you have to do is attach the charging cables to the battery (step 1) and then plug the unit into the wall (step 2). A second method using another brand smart charger is to connect the charger to the EarthX battery as normal, then put greater than 9 volts across the terminals which can be done by connecting a portable jump pack or connecting jumper cables from another battery (a battery of equal or lesser size). Once the charger sees voltage it begins to charge as normal. After 5-20 seconds you can remove the jump starter or jumper cables (being careful not to disconnect the charger). Recharging this battery from the depleted state can take from a couple hours to overnight. To watch a video of how to do this, go to:

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o-YYpy9hYU

 

[Johnrg]

Yes... If it is in OK shape and simply discharged due to parasitic drain it can be brought back. Mine only went to 9.2 so I could charge but was unstable even after a charge.

 

[Huskynoobee]

For all of the times I've been in a situation where I was in a tight spot in a race, on a hot day, and had people on my ass, if my EarthX crapped out after 3 years, I wouldn't hesitate to replace it with another. In most of those situations and gnarly technical trails a stall would have been a real problem with the weak stock battery.