Senior Member
1st Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: WMNF, NH, USA
Posts: 1,264
Car took a crap in the middle of a snow storm.
So I need to ride to work tomorrow. Battery is dead and I haven't had time to put in the kicker yet(been trying to prep my property for winter). I also have a Baker tank which makes getting the battery out a hassle.
I already charged it up some with the leads disconnected, but it could use some more juice. So can I charge the battery without disconnecting the leads?
I'm using a regular battery charger.
Thanks.
Senior Member
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Cottonwood, AZ USA
Posts: 1,707
I would suspect the car charger will over cook it.
You can charge it wired.
A trickle charger will boost it up overnight to start, if it is in a garage.
Senior Member
1st Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: WMNF, NH, USA
Posts: 1,264
Thanks! I'll put it on the slow setting for a few hours until I go to bed.
Senior Member
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: kootenay country BC Canada
Posts: 1,800
Even on trickle a car charger might be too much for an AGM battery.
From the '09 service manual:
standard charge 0.7 A x 5 ~ 10 hrs (if battery below 11.5V 20 hrs charge)
quick charge 3.0 A x
[IF POSSIBLE DO NOT QUICK CHARGE] And no mention of 'quick charge' if battery below 11.5V, so I'm guessing that if battery is below 11.5V, Do Not quick charge.
Last edited by ol'klx-er; 12-16-2013 at 01:11 AM.
Senior Member
1st Gear Member
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Pineville, LA
Posts: 942
I've started mine off a 5amp battery charger more than once.... lol... Don't try it at home, kids.
Senior Member
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: N. Illinois
Posts: 3,406
I've done it while connected, BUT you don't want to use a car sized charger, you will burn up the battery eventually, if not immediately. Get a trickle charger/maintainer especially for motorcycles. I got one made by black and decker from walmart. There are other more popular brands but this one has worked fine for me for years. Most of them are "smart" and
will only charge when it's needed. Another nice thing is they usually come with attachments so you can put a pigtail on the battery and then just plug it into the charger in one move.
5amp is too much for a small battery, I think the trickle chargers are 1 amp.
check it out.
//ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...-L._SX425_.jpg
Senior Member
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Phuket, Thailand
Posts: 516
My mates fancy gel battery went completely dead after a very long time standing, then after days & days of trying to charge it with a decent car charger he failed miserably! He was about to throw the battery out & another friend brought over a cheap 25 bucks electronic battery tender & he left it plugged in doing it's thing for about 3 or 4 days & it completely brought it back to full health! These tenders sense the exact milliamps required to do what the battery requires to charge.
Last edited by JoelThailand; 12-28-2013 at 04:31 PM. Reason: unintelligible beer babble!
Super Moderator
1st Gear Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Clarksville, OH
Posts: 3,350
I have an old Schumacher 200amp/1 amp charger. I'll admit, in a pinch I HAVE used the 200amp for about 1-2 minutes (in the bike)...but no longer. Engine turns over REAL fast on that setting; absolutely no nonsense. (Lead-acid battery.)
Senior Member
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Abilene, TX
Posts: 5,050
As far as the original question, it is generally safe to charge an automotive or motorcycle style battery while still connected in the vehicle...as long as it's done safely in terms of cautiously making the necessary connections from the charger to the vehicle. We've all heard of the rare case of exploding batteries and electrical component damage because of careless procedure...usually avoidable.
Now, as to the effects on battery life and using optimum equipment and procedures on how you do the charging, this usually has nothing to do with whether the battery is in the vehicle or not...again, as long as it's "safely" accomplished. The battery charger one uses can also be a huge element in battery life, and most of that issue involves maintaining the charging battery's internal temperatures. Many chargers are relatively "smart" in their ability to detect how the battery being serviced is reacting to the charge. In those cases it makes no difference how high an amperage the charger might be rated for, because it will react to the charging battery.
On the low end of battery chargers, there are models that just simply crank out a given number of amps and volts until you turn them off. These would be more critical in trying to match the charger's amp rating to the battery being charged. I recall a rough, rule-of-thumb being that the charge should not be too much more than 10% of the overall amperage rating of the battery for maximum safety and battery life, but again, that is very general.
All in all, different batteries and different chargers can vary a fair amount and probably can't be generalized in a conversation like this. You have to talk apples-to-apples. The best approach, at least back in your own garage, is to insure you have a "smart" charger that can detect how the charging battery is reacting. Here's a decent article that gives some insight about charging lead/acid batteries that does a fair job of explaining some of the issues without getting to a PHD level.
Charging Information For Lead Acid Batteries
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Last Post
Pricers
Kawasaki Jet Ski's
1
01-21-2015 02:35 AM
mattt4
Kawasaki Jet Ski's
1
10-08-2013 04:20 PM
sugi43
Ninja ZX-6R & ZX-6RR
3
10-04-2013 12:07 AM
Newblud1775
KLX 250S
20
07-20-2011 12:06 AM
rickmorf
General Tech
3
06-22-2009 07:30 PM