[07BlueGL1800]

Anyone know of a home remedy to load testing your battery? I'm interested in seeing if mine is doing well.

 

[ghump]

I don't know of a home remedy, but Harbor Freight sell battery testers pretty cheep and when on sale very cheap.

 

[JohnACman]

A carbon pile load tester is method lots of shops use to test the load capacity of batteries. Most auto parts stores have them also. Take the battery out and take it to one of them to test its load capacity.

 

[DBohrer]

Anyone know of a home remedy to load testing your battery? I'm interested in seeing if mine is doing well.

Check the voltage across the battery terminals while you are cranking the starter. If below 11 volts, you more than likely have battery problems.

 

[75wingrider]

load test

If you want to check the battery this is what I do annually for my bikes:

I pulled (remove from bike) the 4 year old Yuasa and made sure it was topped off with the trickle charger.

Then I hooked an 1157 bulb to the battery terminals (Draws abour 2.3Amps) and started the timer. I recorded the voltage every 15 minutes. My intent would have been to go no lower than 10Volts since that is pretty much "technically dead" for these kind of batteries.

Whatever bulb you use, you can use your multimeter to measure the amps drawn. Just put the leads in series between the bulb and battery. Make sure the meter is set for amps, and that the leads are in the right holes. There is usually a dedicated connection for the red lead when checking up to 10 Amps.

At 1 hr 15 min, the battery voltage had dropped to 9.8 volts. Since the Yuasa is an 18 Amp Hour battery, I would have expected it to last 6-8 hours if in new condition. Yes, I was surprised it only lasted 1.25 hours.

When I did that test last winter to the same battery, it lasted 4.5 hours, so it died fast in that last year of life.

So...I installed my spare.

Tim

 

[Andy Cserny]

load testing battery

Auto Zone will do a load test for free.
Andy

 

[Digger]

It's hard to argue with the price on this guy:

500 Amp Load Tester

especially when it is on sale, as it frequently is.

I've had one for a few years now and like it.

When I have a long trip coming up on one of my big street burners, I load test the battery about a month out. If it fails, I still have enough time to order a new battery from Hal.

 

[240z]

If I suspect that my battery is getting close to the end of it life I turn the ignition switch on and the kill switch off, which allows the headlight to draw voltage from the battery.

After 10 minutes turn the kill switch on and hit the starter button, if the bike starts the battery passed it's test.

 

[WingWing]

thought mine was feeling wimpy ..
took it to an auto shop and had it load tested
... the 300 CCA when new had dropped to 180
Time for a new battery.
The new 310 CCA battery load tested to 400
... all is well again.

I can hear the starter spinning the engine faster too.

Dennis

 

[Lucky 777]

If you want to check the battery this is what I do annually for my bikes:

I pulled (remove from bike) the 4 year old Yuasa and made sure it was topped off with the trickle charger.

Then I hooked an 1157 bulb to the battery terminals (Draws abour 2.3Amps) and started the timer. I recorded the voltage every 15 minutes. My intent would have been to go no lower than 10Volts since that is pretty much "technically dead" for these kind of batteries.

Whatever bulb you use, you can use your multimeter to measure the amps drawn. Just put the leads in series between the bulb and battery. Make sure the meter is set for amps, and that the leads are in the right holes. There is usually a dedicated connection for the red lead when checking up to 10 Amps.

At 1 hr 15 min, the battery voltage had dropped to 9.8 volts. Since the Yuasa is an 18 Amp Hour battery, I would have expected it to last 6-8 hours if in new condition. Yes, I was surprised it only lasted 1.25 hours.

When I did that test last winter to the same battery, it lasted 4.5 hours, so it died fast in that last year of life.

So...I installed my spare.

Tim

:thumbup: This is how we test battery plants for the Commonwealth radio system...but on a larger scale. These are large battery plants that generally cost in excess of $25,000. Depending on the battery stirng size, we place a known load on them (usually 500 amps at 52 volts), and measure the cell voltage every hour. They should drop to no less than 1.80 volts per cell with a 500 amp load after 4 hours.

Of course the Goldwing battery is a lot smaller...so the 1157 bulb should be a good standard.

 

[Digger]

How to load test your battery:

http://gl1800riders.com/forums/showthread.php?t=208753