Just replaced a bad battery on the Hawk and now it is running. What would make a battery that is 6 months old go bad? How long will a standard battery last if your chargning system is not working right?
Just replaced a bad battery on the Hawk and now it is running. What would make a battery that is 6 months old go bad? How long will a standard battery last if your chargning system is not working right?
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Dana,
There are a couple ways for a battery to go bad in a short period of time. One is if your Voltage Regulator is bad. It will overcharge the battery and boil off the fluid. Another is a defective battery to begin with and the third is if the battery has taken a hard hit some of the plates inside can break and cause it to go bad.
If the battery is not charging at all you would be lucky to get an hour of run time out of it. On the hawk you might get 3-4 starts out of it, but then it would be kaput. If you are overcharging it will depend on how long fluid stays in the battery. As long as you keep fluid in there it will last a while, but deep discharge followed by rapid overcharging is the quickest way to kill a battery, 6 months would be a miracle. The Hawk regulator is a known weak piece, I believe a CBR F2 regulator bolts right in and is a much more solid unit.
Scott
When my bike died, it acted like it was out of fuel. It was actually out of juice. Stalled on the side of the road. I had a couple of blown fuses. Replaced the fuses and rebuilt the starter motor, still would not start. Placed the battery on my trickle charger for 3 days and it never charged. Took it to batteries plus and they told me it was hosed.
Never dropped or bumped the battery, checked my entire harness for shorts and found none. Just put a new battery in yesterday and the Hawk seems to run fine now, but I am still worried there my be lingering issues. I do not know how to check if my rectifier is shot or not and I still don't have a service manual for the Hawk. Well, I have most of it in PDF format, but I am missing the entire electrical system section.
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I have an electrical system troubleshooting PDF somewhere Dana, I will try to find that later for you. Goes through how to check it step by step with a meter.
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I didn't read all the posts on this thread so my response may not be in sync with the direction of the thread. Responding to your original post:Originally Posted by Devaclis
A certain type of manufacturing defect can result in a latent internal short in a battery; it's happened to me. The battery would work properly for months, then begin to short internally and once fully discharged never again be capable of being successfully recharged, exactly the symptom you described.
Most batteries have a warranty. If the battery is 6 months old, you are probably due a prorated credit.
Lee
2005 Suzuki GSX-R1000 (K5)
2006 Suzuki GSX-R1000 (K6) (Wife's bike -> The "Mini-Gixxer")
2005 Yamaha FJR-1300
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