Tip for a totally flat battery and charging

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Dan J
I luv the smell of Diesel...
Posts: 302
Joined: Mon May 26, 2008 9:37 am
Location: Essex

Tip for a totally flat battery and charging

Post by Dan J »

I haven't ridden my Enfield for a good 6 weeks or so. Last time I was in the garage was about a month ago and I was adjusting my rear brake light switch so it actually lights up when I press the brake pedal (even if the rear drum does virtually nothing to slow me down) :evil: .

Last night I went into the garage and out of the corner of my eye spotted something was wrong. I'd left the "ignition" on. Not good :roll: .

I have a power connector wired into my battery for both charging and to run a sat nav etc so I plugged my charger in. Nothing. Dead as a doornail. My charger is a quite recent one and automatically switches between charging and trickle charging but it wasn't even registering the battery was there. I was not happy. Put a voltmeter across the battery and nothing there at all. I'm sure many have experienced this before where the battery never works again afterwards.

Several swear words later I had an idea. I have an old car battery in the garage that is vaguely charged up. I connected this across the bike battery with crocodile clips, left it a few minutes, held my breath and plugged the charger in. Voila! It switched onto charging mode. I tentatively took off the car battery and the bike charger remained running.

Left overnight, green light this morning and my bike battery is working as good as it did before.

I'm going to be a damn sight more careful next time but just wanted to share the above. It might save you buying a new battery or thinking your old one is dead in similar circumstances.
1990 Honda NTV600 Revere
Sphere
I luv the smell of Diesel...
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Re: Tip for a totally flat battery and charging

Post by Sphere »

I would be interested to learn how long it will last you after this ordeal.
'92 Enfield + Hatz 1B40: street legal, weld up stainless exhaust, check engine rpm and change final drive sprocket.
Dan J
I luv the smell of Diesel...
Posts: 302
Joined: Mon May 26, 2008 9:37 am
Location: Essex

Re: Tip for a totally flat battery and charging

Post by Dan J »

Me too Sphere :!:

I'll report back if I have any problems with the battery in the near future.
1990 Honda NTV600 Revere
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