Busted Battery Tender?

[FloydV]

I went out to start the Bus and it was dead. Stone, cold, dead. Not a beep, not a peep.

I pulled off the seat and put a meter on the battery and it said .001 vdc. I put a meter on the Battery Tender and it said .000.

Puzzled, I put the meter on a small charger I use on the lawn tractor and 13 vdc. Hmmm. I put a 10 amp battery charger on the Bus, and in 5 minutes, it will turn over a couple of times. Hmmm.

I'm leaving the charger on for 30 minutes or so. I'll let you know what happens. But if the battery is OK (this is a 05 bike with 5,000 miles), then the Battery Tender must have crapped out and drained the battery at the same time.

After 15 minutes with the 10 amp charger, the bike started with the charger off of it.

Now the unclear part. I looked at the tender and it says if there is a blinking red light on, there is a bad connection. If memory serves, I did notice the red light blinking after I put the tender on after a ride. Now the red light is solid, and the green light is blinking. The tender is hot.

Really strange. At least it happened in the garage and not at some remote location.

 

[FloydV]

OK, I'll answer this one myself. This is what I think happened. I turned the bike past lock to tail light on. Why this position exists must be to piss off everyone who owns the bike.

The battery tender does not have enough output to run the tail light and charge the battery, so the battery slowly runs down. I always throw a tarp over the bike to keep dust off it while it is in the garage. That kept me from noticing the tail light.

The tender now shows a solid green light, indicating the battery is charged to its absolute full capacity. And, the bike now starts like a charm.

 

[BlueHaya]

thare ya go......for yourself

 

[BlueHaya]

now i am going to go put my bike on the charger

 

[dadofthree]

I hope you come back to this thread. You will cook your battery with a 10 amp charger unless it has a trickle charge setting.

I did the same thing a week or two ago, and yes that switch position is a pisser.

 

[heavybusa]

Been there and done that.

 

[BlueHaya]

5a for 1 hour or 1.2 for 5-10 hours is what is recommended.

Never more than 5 amp. pg 7-42 of service manual.

 

[Learjett]

(dadofthree @ Jun. 20 2007,22:01) I hope you come back to this thread. You will cook your battery with a 10 amp charger unless it has a trickle charge setting.

I did the same thing a week or two ago, and yes that switch position is a pisser.  

You know that's rite Thelma!

 

[FloydV]

(dadofthree @ Jun. 20 2007,19:01) I hope you come back to this thread. You will cook your battery with a 10 amp charger unless it has a trickle charge setting.

I did the same thing a week or two ago, and yes that switch position is a pisser.

10 amp charger had the battery ready to roll in about 15 minutes.

I would say that is more than a fast charge. Thinking the battery was a gonner, I just hooked it up to see. I think 30 minutes would have turned it into toast.

 

[MORBIDBUSA]

i did that once at a car show turn the key to fare luck i was at the top of a hill

 

[bitabur]

The tail light on position is a parking light... it's there to stop idiots from rear-ending your bike while it's parked. Used a lot more commonly in europe.. nobody in the US seems to know what one is... last time I used mine, I had 3 people tell me I left my lights on (even though no bike I've ridden will let you do that without leaving the keys as well).

 

[GIXERHP]

Now pat your self on the back!

 

[FloydV]

(bitabur @ Jun. 20 2007,19:55) The tail light on position is a parking light... it's there to stop idiots from rear-ending your bike while it's parked. Used a lot more commonly in europe.. nobody in the US seems to know what one is... last time I used mine, I had 3 people tell me I left my lights on (even though no bike I've ridden will let you do that without leaving the keys as well).

It might be useful if you broke down and had to leave it on a dark road. The Bus has 4 way flashers, but they would probably run the battery down pretty quick.

I don't see the other use. If I pull in a parking space, I'm supposed to leave the tail light on so nobody will run it down? You must be parking in some really dark or cramped spaces.

If I went into a movie, and left that light on, I would spend the whole movie wondering if the bike would start when I got back to it.

And you sure can take the key out and leave it that way. They could have spend the money on something more useful, like self-canceling turn signals!