Short Battery Life?

[rainbowshooter]

I have read and heard that batteries do not last more than a year or two. Has anyone looked real hard at the wiring diagram and noticed that the RR has power to it no matter what? I believe the power is used to monitor charge rate. Why would you need to monitor that if the bike was off?

[skippy344]

I guess I have pretty good luck with mine 'cause I can get three years easily. I buy Interstate batteries on all my vehicles, and have never been dissappointed.

I generally buy the "sealed" maintenance -free variety, so i don't have to worry about adding water all the time. That's important here in Texas!

Maybe you are having an intermittant charging problem. I once killed a new battery after about a week of riding my old 850 'cause at some point I must have gone over something that nicked my alternator wire under the engine. Didn't notice it right away, but kept killing the battery. I finally went to check the alternator components, and noticed the nick, well is was more of an almost cut-thru break. I soldered and shrink tubed the cut, and it began to charge the battery beautifully.

Gotta claim ignorance here on what the "RR" is. What is that?

[rainbowshooter]

I haven't had any battery trouble as yet, because I just got my XS a couple of weeks ago. PO really neglected it and had two fuses bypassed, reserve lighting unit had failed so he jerry-rigged a jumper to the headlight switch. After seeing all that I decided to completely redo the electric. While I was building the new harness I wanted to eliminate all the splices to prevent future problems. I started looking at the print and understanding all of the components. Eliminated the dimmer relay, reserve lighting unit, added a 8 blade fuse box, and ran the lights seperate from the ignition. When I came across the RR(rectifier with regulator) I researched how it worked a little more and discovered that it monitors the battery voltage to regulate the charging, only thing is, it is hooked up before the key so no matter what it is always monitoring.(I believe)

[kf4anm]

battery life

motorcycle, marine, lawn and garden batteries are all considered seasonal batteries with a life expectency of 1 to 2 seasons. the primary reason for this is neglect. for most when the season is over the toys get put away and left alone until the next year. you can prolong your battery life with a little common sense and the proper charging procedures. the best way is to go with a no maintenance battery. this battery is wet filled but is sealed. these generally provide better performance over a convential wet batterey. the best way to go is a sealed agm battery (absorbed glass mat or gel cell) oddessey makes a unit compatible with the xj. here are a few tips to keeping a battery healthy and stretching it for 3 to 4 seasons.

1. an new battery
new out of the box a dry batterey will need to be filled. where as an agm is ready to install. use caution when filling a battery. the electrolyte solution is hazordous and can cause damage or injury. remove the drain cap and cell caps. fill the battery to the upper mark. after each cell settles re-fill to the upper line. when finished filling replace the caps. the battery is now 85-90 percent charged. let the battery settle for at least 30 minutes. using it any sooner and you run the risk of blowing the caps off. (the electrolyte absorbs from the top of the plates down, not giving it time to settle will result in overcharging at the tops of the plates causing a pressure build up resulting in a possible exposion.) after the battery has settled you can install it and most bikes will turn over and the bike will finish charging the battery, or if you prefer you can 2 amp trickle charge the battery for a few hours to top it off.

2. riding season
now that your battery is in service you should inspect it during routine maintenance. make sure the electrolyte levels are within the marks. if not add distilled water to top off the cells. never use battery acid to refill a dry cell. battery acid or electrolyte is essentially sulfuric acid or sulfer and water. when a cell boils dry the water evaporates and the sulfer clings to the plates. by adding water you rehydrate the solution. it is also wise to keep an eye on your drain tube. if your battery is overfilled or overcharging the liquid dispensed from the tube will corrode what ever it gets on. so watch the chrome.

3 charging for storage.
you best bet to keep your battery healthy is purchase a maintainer. this is a charger with a brain. the most common unit on the market is by deltrain, the battery tender jr. it is a 750 milliamp ( 3/4 amp) charger that monitors the batteries voltage and only charges when needed. schuemacher also makes a quality tender both should run under 40$. if you prefer a normal charger then pull your battery , keep it warm and charge it at least once a month to keep the voltage active. always use the 2 amp or lower setting on your charger. anything higher will overcharge and cook your battery. finally if your battery is discharged it will freeze during the winter months. if it does, do not try to charge it until it thaws. trying to charge a frozen battery is dangerous and will cause the battery to explode. if you have treated your battery right in the spring it should be ready to roll.

4. failure
if you know your battery should be healthy and it is giving you problems check the voltage. a battery reading in the 10 volt range generally has a bad cell. if you get a 1-2 volt reading the battery 9 times out of 10 has been discharged. just remember a 12 volt battery is made up of 6 - 2 volt cells and the chances of all of them failing them at once are very slim.

if any one is interested i can get you the oddessey number or any other battery cross reference information you need.

cheers
daryl

[fusionking]

I really doubt it is actually working when the key is off. If it was it would a defective part. It should need a completed circuit to excite it.(I think) I guess you could always do a voltage drop test to know. Garry