[ChasnRacin]

We just arrived in AK and got my bike off of the moving truck. It has been in transit for over 2 months. I had to drain the fuel and disconnect the battery, so it has been without power connect for all that time. First thing I did was put in fresh fuel and connect up the charger to the battery. After about 12 hours, it showed fully charged, so I disconnected it and prepared for the throttle sensor reset procedure. When I turned the key, it clicked as normal and went through the typical gauge spin, but then started clicking erratically along with the HID headlight flickering on and off repeatedly. I hit the starter button just for S&G's and nothing. I put the bike back on the charger for another 24 hours after checking the battery connections and ended up with the same results.
Sounds like a dead battery to me. I just replaced it (BMW Gel Cell) 2 years ago. It has been on a charger on and off since then. Any other thoughts?

 

[JimH]

Check it with a voltmeter, both after its just finished being charged, and then when you turn the ignition on. You should lose only a few 1/10's of a volt, but it sounds like yours is dropping some serious volts. If so, I vote dead battery.

Of course, you could just pull the battery and get it tested...

 

[ChasnRacin]

That is what I am going to do tomorrow. I just wanted to be prepared in case someone recognized the symptoms as something worse than a dead battery. Going to pick up an Odyssey 680 tomorrow.

 

[Sunderland]

You can get a PC680 at Amazon for $105.

 

[Boatzo]

All the above advice is good. However, you had it disconnected, I would go back over the battery connections and double check that you have all wires connected and tight. Also check for any corrosion on the terminals or the connectors. GEL batteries tend to fail in deep discharge situations. You may need to give it a good hefty charge with a charger capable of delivering more that 3 amps to get it up above 12.6 volts.

Let us know what you find.

 

[BecketMa]

I left my PIAA fog lights on over night. Bat was stone dead. I put a charger that handles farm tractors on for an hours then went to my battery tender for the rest of the day and over night. Next day she fired right up.

If you are planning on replacing that bat, try a charger that can put more than 5 amps for an hour or so, then drop it down to 5 amps for another hour or so, and then your trickle charger.

I have absolutely no scientific bases for my suggestion--just seemed to work for me.

best from Gorham ME
Bob

 

[ChasnRacin]

Thanks for all the advice. I already have it out, so I'll take it somewhere that has a better charger than I have to "push" a charge to it. I'd really like to not pay for a new battery. This one replaced one that was less than a year old (both BMW, and replaced at no charge to me). Beginning to wonder about the BMW gel batteries

 

[Boatzo]

FWIW, my son has gone through 3 BMW branded batteries on his GSA in 2 years. Looks to me like there were some bad ones on the shelf. He now has an Interstate AGM (made in USA) and it is working fine.

 

[WildBil]

The BMW gel battery lasted over 3 years on the LT but after I left the key in the parking light position for a day or two, my wife got nervous about long trips on it so I invested in the PC680 dry cell, which I have been quite happy with. If you take the leads off, thereby removing all parasitic drain from the computer, alarm system, clock, motronic and other "always on" circuits, then the PC680 battery is good for about 2 years. It does not lose quite as much with sub-zero temps.

Speaking of temperature, we all know that high temps are the ultimate foe of batteries. Part of the reason they have you disconnect and drain is that storage may take place in very climate exposed circumstances, which in summer could mean well into the low 100's for days unless it was inside an air conditioned space.

Still, with a relatively new battery, it may very well charge up with proper conditioning and the forum has given you very sound advice like usual.

 

[ChasnRacin]

Update. After a good solid charge, the 19A battery tested less than 2A...bad battery. I ended up getting a PC 680 from a local store here in Anchorage. It cost a little more than Amazon, but with the termination dust hitting the mountain tops yesterday, I didn't want to wait a week to get one shipped up. He specifically told me to disconnect it when I park it for the winter...should last for a few years. She is shined up and ready to get a few more days riding in this year.
Thanks for all the help. Let the winter farkling begin. I see motolights, wings of gold and a few other things in her future.

 

[Boatzo]

That is good news Ken. IMHO, you can't go wrong with a PC680. Enjoy the ride whilst you can