Battery Question

[trbig]

So with a liquid (Acid) filled battery, at what temperature does the liquid freeze.. or at least stop the electricity exchange between the plates? I know that the acid is more resistant to freezing than just water, but it's still going to freeze at some point.

I am still riding the bike every day to work, and even with a new battery, it's cranking pretty slow in the afternoons when I go to leave work. Today is supposed to be the coldest day so far at 9 degrees F, and I want to be able to make it back home tonight.. lol.


Tod

[redbone]

a good healthy battery can survive temps well below zero. 9 degrees should not be an issue. it will turn slow because your motor oil is now like tar when its that cold. use lighter weight oil if you ride in cold weather.

[randy]

What I learned (a long time ago) was that a lead-acid battery will not freeze solid unless it's discharged. The colder it gets, the slower the chemical reactions. That's the primary affect the cold has on the battery. If I were going to depend on it for extended cold weather use, I'd plug it in to the trickle charger when parking for the night.

[XJ Rob]

I'm not really sure at what temp it will freeze but I think the slow crank is due to the thick oil in the crankcase. I did find this link.Maybe you can determine what it means. I never was good at graphs

http://www.cdtechno.com/custserv/pdf/7953.pdf

[Ivan]

The acid is like antifreeze, so a fully charged battery is good to something like -30. As the charge goes down, the freeze point goes up, and the expansion causes shorted plates and such.

Not only does the oil thicken, but the chemical reaction between the acid and plates is significantly less during colder temps, so the total amperage available is less when cold.

If you are still riding, you might get an electric battery blanket that keeps the battery a bit warm. There are also adhesive pads that fit on the oil pan for cars that helps keep the oil warm, but our pans have fins, so maybe it would have to stick on there some where else, I just can't think where right now...

Also in Alaska they have big blankets they put over the engine on airplanes to keep them war and from cooling so fast the block cracks. Of course, they don't use them in flight, but will make the engine startable after a few hours of sitting without too much fuss. So, maybe find an old sleeping bag (I think that's what they use to make those engine blankets up there) and throw over the scoot while its sitting in the cold.

[tinman905]

It all depends on what condition the battery is in . The charge level is important but the condition of the plates in the battery will have an effect on how well the battery stores it's power. So say a new battery fully charge can take any cold temps you could imagine down to -90f or -68c useless at those temps.

Battery in poor condition will freeze at temps as low as 28f or -2c.

So I would say your battery is okay for now but I would be careful next winter as the battery ages it's ability to operate hold a charge in lower temps will decrease .

[Schming]

In those cold temps or any extreme temp, would there be any harm done if two batteries were connected in parallel ?

[Ivan]

Nope, in parallel, it will serve to up the available cranking amps. Diesel trucks do it, some with up to 8 or more connected in parallel. Even the Diesel pickups have two in parallel.

[Montreux_Blue]

Just rig up a block heater....

[fredintoon]

I am still riding the bike every day to work, and even with a new battery, it's cranking pretty slow in the afternoons when I go to leave work. Today is supposed to be the coldest day so far at 9 degrees F, and I want to be able to make it back home tonight.. lol.
Tod

Hi Tod,
a new battery with a good charge won't freeze until way below minus 40. I have started cars at that temperature.
But they hardly turn over at all and are extremely reluctant to start unless their block heaters have been plugged in. An electric battery blanket helps too as a battery only gives 20% or less of it's summer temperature power when it's that cold.
So your bike is facing a double whammy, no block heater and no battery blanket.
Good luck getting started tonight and watch for icy patches on the way home.

[Schming]

Nope, in parallel, it will serve to up the available cranking amps. Diesel trucks do it, some with up to 8 or more connected in parallel. Even the Diesel pickups have two in parallel.

I wasn't sure if that amount of amps would damage any of the electronic equipment on our bikes so my thought is keep an extra battery in your saddlebag that is kept warm in the house at night and taken in to work, where its hopefully warm, when you arrive, with the appropiate plug to give a bump to your cold one. JAT

[cywelchjr]

I wasn't sure if that amount of amps would damage any of the electronic equipment on our bikes so my thought is keep an extra battery in your saddlebag that is kept warm in the house at night and taken in to work, where its hopefully warm, when you arrive, with the appropiate plug to give a bump to your cold one. JAT

Common misconception. Having infinite amps available will not cause damage as long as the voltage remains in spec. Voltage high will cause excess current, as current is determined by resistance and voltage (think water pressure vs hose nozzle size. The smaller the nozzle the less water for a given pressure, the higher the pressure the higher the water flow). Electronic components can be damaged by almost 0 amps if the voltage is high enough, and having 10000 amps available won't do any damage as long as the voltage is correct.

As a matter of fact, fredintoon uses a car battery on his sidecar rig. It sits on the frame between the bike and the sidecar. He has had no problems with that setup.

[Schming]

Common misconception. Having infinite amps available will not cause damage as long as the voltage remains in spec. Voltage high will cause excess current, as current is determined by resistance and voltage (think water pressure vs hose nozzle size. The smaller the nozzle the less water for a given pressure, the higher the pressure the higher the water flow). Electronic components can be damaged by almost 0 amps if the voltage is high enough, and having 10000 amps available won't do any damage as long as the voltage is correct.

As a matter of fact, fredintoon uses a car battery on his sidecar rig. It sits on the frame between the bike and the sidecar. He has had no problems with that setup.

Wuold there be any advantage to the two battery setup for electrical accessories or would they be challenged by the weak charging system.

[webbcraft2150]

Don't know how hard it is to get to the battery on your XJ but have you considered those little pocket warmers? Or maybe even those stick on heat pads us old guys use when we have some muscle pain? Battery warmers take a AC power source but work really well, won't do much to help thick, cold oil though.

[cywelchjr]

Wuold there be any advantage to the two battery setup for electrical accessories or would they be challenged by the weak charging system.

Well, if fred doesn't have trouble with the car battery on his rig I don't think it would have trouble with two batteries. The issue with the charging system would be if you add too many accesories and have the bike drawing more than the charging system puts out. The battery is primarily a storage device to handle short periods of higher draw than the charging system and for starting the bike. Other than that the battery doesn't really put a "load" on the system.