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Charging a new battery with a Battery Tender Jr


Nova Scotia Mike

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Hi,

 

Just bought a new battery for my DRZ-400S as the old one was done.

 

I was going by the shop and just grabbed one that was not charged up. They added the acid for me and away I went. It's a 12v 6.5Ah MF battery. Brand is "DS".

 

I stuck it on the battery tender jr I have (full disclosure the charger is Harley brand, was a gift) and let it go. I think the jr charger charges at .7. I set a timer reminder to myself to check on it at the two hour mark to make sure it was not too hot, no weird lights on charger, etc and to my surprise, at the two hour mark it was showing fully charged. Is this normal? I figured it'd take at least 5-6 hours.

 

Did I fuck it up? Should I be concerned?

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Doubtful you did any harm. I keep both our bikes on the battery tenders constantly whenever they're sitting in the garage and as John said, for months at a time over the winter. Once it's charged, the Tender should go into "maintenance" mode.

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I’d think trickle charge is trickle charge.  Using a more powerful/faster one would be a concern if it didn’t self regulate during the charge cycle.  At worst, the Jr. will just take longer to finish.

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It will be fine.  The first charge on a freshly filled battery shouldn't be a high amp charge.  I don't remember what they recommend but I am thinking that it was 2.5 amp max.  I have never paid any attention how long it took to charge fully the first time.  You can't leave it on too long for a true float charger.

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Thanks guys.

 

As it's indicated as a "MF" battery I'd say it's agm. I did read the instructions that came with the battery and they said to charge at no more than a tenth of the battery capacity (capacity is 6.5Ah) so the tender jr seemed suitable. I thought the instructions said it would take several hours when in fact for me as indicated by the lights, the tender jr had appeared to have fully charged the brand new battery and switched to maintenance/trickle charge all in less than 2 hours. Seemed odd. Seemed too fast.

 

You guys do have me feeling warmer and fuzzier about this. I still might dig through the trash to look at those instructions again. 

 

 

Thanks again

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17 hours ago, SwampNut said:

I've always just stuck the fresh battery in the bike and rode away.  Dry-charged batteries seems to stay charged until you add the acid.

 

+1 Rarely ever charged a new battery.

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I have had a BT Jr. now for quite a few years.  For any new motorcycle battery I have charged, it never took longer than an hour for the green light to come on.  You can actually install and ride, but the mfg. will usually recommend you give it a full charge first.

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At Sault Sainte Marie when my stator went, it took my battery along with it in 2013.

 

I put in a new absorbed glass mat with no charging as I recall.  My tool kit had the few tools I needed.

 

It made it an hour-and-a-half to the bar/resort we planned on staying. I charged it over night. 

 

The next day it made it two hours to the first gas stop. We push started it. I disconnected a headlight.

 

There was Honda dealer about 1/2 hour out. We charged it there. I disconnected the second headlight.

 

From there, my recollection is that I rode about three-and-a-half hours to an off-topic dealer and asked them to top the battery up. They said it was almost "full". Headlights must be most of the load. 

 

I've left that AGM in the bike through our mild midwest winters *sarcasm*. It has usually started the bike most years in the spring.

 

I've had great luck with AGM and don't mind the extra expense.

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18 minutes ago, XXitanium said:

Headlights must be most of the load. 

With a carbed bike there's very little left to feed, taillight and ignition.

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