Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

Greetings:

This is an issue in Mousewheels' area, but here's my take:

Most of the Battery Tender type "smart" chargers won't revive a battery up from 9 Volts. My Harbor Freight knockoff instructions even say not to try to charge a battery with it at all if it reads under 12. See if you can connect a regular charger for a half-hour or so - checking frequently - to get them back to around 12. Then I think you can connect your float charger and be done for the winter - presuming the batteries aren't already too far-gone.

mousewheels wrote:The charger will do a better job if the batteries are closer to room temp. Temperature compensation of the charger helps, but at either end of the temperature range there's other problems. High temperatures accelerate death of the battery with or without a maintainer. At low temps it won't accept the maintenance charge well.

Mouse, what temperature range would you say for a minimum and maximum? We have some cold nights but often have some warm days in the winter. I do plan to crank each scooter at least once a month, maybe twice a month if I don't give out.

Wheelman wrote:Most of the Battery Tender type "smart" chargers won't revive a battery up from 9 Volts. My Harbor Freight knockoff instructions even say not to try to charge a battery with it at all if it reads under 12. See if you can connect a regular charger for a half-hour or so - checking frequently - to get them back to around 12. Then I think you can connect your float charger and be done for the winter - presuming the batteries aren't already too far-gone.

Right - A single voltage float charger like the HF never puts out a voltage high enough to achieve a full charge, that is why the mfg's say its for maintenance. Putting it on a standard charger for a short time is a good idea. Ideally it would be a motorcycle type charger. Yuasa gives a rule of the thumb of 1/10 the rated amp/hrs current - which would say around 0.35A max charge current.

Lunytune wrote:Mouse, what temperature range would you say for a minimum and maximum? We have some cold nights but often have some warm days in the winter. I do plan to crank each scooter at least once a month, maybe twice a month if I don't give out.

Recommended charging temperature varys by battery chemistry and vendor. A conservative 'optimum temperature range' from one battery vendor is 5C to 35C (41 - 95F).

Crank the scooters 1 x month? I thought you had Battery Tenders for them.

Crank the scooters 1 x month? I thought you had Battery Tenders for them.

I've got enough Battery Tenders to rotate around my various engines, but thought maybe a monthly crank might keep the carb clean. I don't trust most stabilizers and even Seafoam could use a little help. We ride on warm days (40F) in the winter. We have even tripped to Walmart at 30F. Wife was really excited last year, her first winter to scoot. This year may be different.