FJR battery from Staab Battery

[RossKean]

... For a 17 ampere-hour battery, it should take 10 hours to attain a full charge at 1.7 amp charge rate under ideal conditions using a constant-current charger.

Everything yoy said is good, except it takes more than the nominal ampere-hours to fully charge a discharged battery, possibly an extra 10 to 20%.
In practice it makes little difference, since you stick it on the tender and leave it to sort the details

.

True enough since the charging process is not 100% efficient. On the other hand, unless you screwed up somewhere along the line, the battery should never be 100% flat. The point I was trying to make is don't put it on a 12 amp charger for an hour in order to get it done quickly - slow charge (when possible) is the ticket. There are times you might have to boost and go, letting the bike do the charging at a rate that is higher than preferred, but it isn't the best for the battery.

 

[SoCalFJR1300]

That means ABSOLUTELY nothing! I got 8 years out of the previous DieHard in my truck. My wife's Expo's died within 3, and I'll be very surprised if the DH currently in my truck lasts 8 years.
Sometimes we get lucky, sometimes we don't. Sometimes the battery gets a bad rap after an accidental discharge. Sometimes, they just prematurely take a dump. First time out or recycled makes absolutely no difference. It's not like a rebuilt transmission.

I've never had a car battery last only a couple years or so......most last 4 or 5 at least, my experience anyway.

My 2007 Bandit1250's battery (OEM) was fine when I traded it in for the FJR....6 years old and cranked up FAST on the first push of the starter.

According to the person I talked to that works in the battery industry recycled batteries don't last as long, take it for what it's worth.

 

[SoCalFJR1300]

Here's my example.
I bought a replacement battery for my FJR last February.

I keep it on a Battery Tender when I'm not riding it which is usually week to week or a couple weeks between rides, but it's on the charger.

I already notice when I go to start it, it's not cranking as fast as it was when it was new......when I hook it to the tender after a ride the light isn't Green indicating a FULL charge.....it's Orange.

It takes about 5 minutes for the light to turn Green....it's already on it's way out......less than a year since new.

That sounds more like your bike is not recharging the battery correctly for some reason, not that the battery is bad. What is your charging voltage at idle? Do you run with a butt load of accessory load on the alternator?

And what brand of charger are you constantly keeping on the battery? Some maintenance chargers can actually shorten the life of a battery by constant overcharging. A good maintenance charger will stop charging and go into "monitor" mode when it senses the battery is fully charged. You can tell by monitoring the voltage on the battery as it charges and what it does when the light goes green.

Oh, and you might as well tell us what brand of replacement battery you got and in what country it was made, since that is what we were discussing.

Not sure what the charge is at idle.

No accessories running.

I use a Battery Tender Jr. As I understand it the Tender Jr. "monitors" and charged when it needs it.

Forget the name of the battery but I remember it was made in the USA, bought it on-line from a place in Oregon.

 

[RaYzerman19]

I think some of the reason we get varied reports of battery life is where you live/ride the most. Heat kills batteries..... 100 degree temperatures will kill a battery in a couple or three years......

If you're up north, you can fully charge your battery (disconnected from parasitic draws) and store it as cold as you like. It won't freeze, and cold storage is actually a preferable thing. But, you should probably check it once in a while over the winter anyway..

Battery Tender JR is OK for fully charged or slightly less...... those babies don't have the gumption to charge a dead battery..... like Ross says, pick the charger with the correct amperage.... The regular 1.2 amp Battery Tender is good.

 

[Fred W]

If the BT Junior is functioning correctly it should be OK. I guess being that they are as cheap as they are I would want to use a voltmeter to make sure that it is actually switching to "float" mode.

I use an Optimate 3+ on my bike batteries and cycle it around to each of the three in 1 week intervals, but only during non-rinding times (like right now

) I think the tecMate line of chargers is a little more advanced than the Deltrans, but either one should do the job of maintaining the batttery charge.

I'd be interested in learning what brand that "Made in the USA" battery is.

 

[SkooterG]

I think some of the reason we get varied reports of battery life is where you live/ride the most. Heat kills batteries..... 100 degree temperatures will kill a battery in a couple or three years......

Nope. My OEM batteries last 5-6 years down here in the great pizza oven of Arizona. Guessing summertime garage temperatures of 120+

 

[SoCalFJR1300]

I think some of the reason we get varied reports of battery life is where you live/ride the most. Heat kills batteries..... 100 degree temperatures will kill a battery in a couple or three years......

Nope. My OEM batteries last 5-6 years down here in the great pizza oven of Arizona. Guessing summertime garage temperatures of 120+

Extreme cold is much worse.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Extreme anything is not good.

 

[SkooterG]

I think some of the reason we get varied reports of battery life is where you live/ride the most. Heat kills batteries..... 100 degree temperatures will kill a battery in a couple or three years......

Nope. My OEM batteries last 5-6 years down here in the great pizza oven of Arizona. Guessing summertime garage temperatures of 120+

Extreme cold is much worse.

For what?

Not for storage. For use, yes.

 

[RaYzerman19]

12.4. High ambient temperatures above 77° F (25° C) causing accelerated positive grid growth or corrosion, increased self-discharge, or thermal runway in AGM (Ca/Ca) and Gel Cell (Ca/Ca) VRLA batteries. For every increase of 18° F (10° C) above 77° F (25° C), the battery's life is cut in half due to positive grid corrosion or the self-discharge rate is doubled.

If you dig around the site below, you'll find a table that says a 100% charged battery will not freeze until -77F, but a fully discharged one will freeze at +20F. When storing, cold is recommended, not heat. Kinda makes sense because most chemical reactions slow down as it gets colder. But I do agree extremes should be avoided, that makes sense too.

Several searches you can do to edumacate yourself about batteries. I usually like more than one reputable source of info......... start here.....

https://www.batteryfaq.org/

https://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/carfaq12.htm

 

[RossKean]

12.4. High ambient temperatures above 77° F (25° C) causing accelerated positive grid growth or corrosion, increased self-discharge, or thermal runway in AGM (Ca/Ca) and Gel Cell (Ca/Ca) VRLA batteries. For every increase of 18° F (10° C) above 77° F (25° C), the battery's life is cut in half due to positive grid corrosion or the self-discharge rate is doubled.
If you dig around the site below, you'll find a table that says a 100% charged battery will not freeze until -77F, but a fully discharged one will freeze at +20F. When storing, cold is recommended, not heat. Kinda makes sense because most chemical reactions slow down as it gets colder. But I do agree extremes should be avoided, that makes sense too.

Several searches you can do to edumacate yourself about batteries. I usually like more than one reputable source of info......... start here.....

https://www.batteryfaq.org/

https://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/carfaq12.htm

The first link is particularly good once you dig into some of the links. I have used information from that one a number of times.

 

[Bike Effects]

FYI for my FJR friends regarding the Optimate III

https://www.bikeeffects.com/proddetail.asp?prod=LS12%2F0.6&cat=8595

Please note the link in my signature regarding forum discounts.

 

[rogdeb]

Ordered the Staab a few days ago and should be here by the end of the week. I'll post up impressions in due time.

Constant Mesh gently nudged me for a follow-up .... have to say I don't have one yet as the battery still sits on a shelf at home with no electrolyte added.

 

[MrZappo]

12.4. High ambient temperatures above 77° F (25° C) causing accelerated positive grid growth or corrosion, increased self-discharge, or thermal runway in AGM (Ca/Ca) and Gel Cell (Ca/Ca) VRLA batteries. For every increase of 18° F (10° C) above 77° F (25° C), the battery's life is cut in half due to positive grid corrosion or the self-discharge rate is doubled.
If you dig around the site below, you'll find a table that says a 100% charged battery will not freeze until -77F, but a fully discharged one will freeze at +20F. When storing, cold is recommended, not heat. Kinda makes sense because most chemical reactions slow down as it gets colder. But I do agree extremes should be avoided, that makes sense too.

Several searches you can do to edumacate yourself about batteries. I usually like more than one reputable source of info......... start here.....

https://www.batteryfaq.org/

https://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/carfaq12.htm

I run several data centers in the Midwest with very large Uniterruptable Power Systems which all use VRLA (Valve Regulated Lead Acid) batteries. We have to replace these batteries every so often depending on their health.

We have 18 UPS units with about 50 of these batteries each and this event costs in excess of $80,000 each time. Trust me, we do whatever possible to make the batteries last as long as possible. A single overheat event can reduce their lifespan by 1/2 ...

This post is 100% correct. 77 degrees Fahrenheit IS the magic number and we have every battery compartment regulated to be EXACTLY 77 degrees. 24/7/365.

Colder is better than hotter but the posts here are really talking about extremes. If our battery compartments got down to 70 degrees, I would fix the issue but I would not panic ... If the compartments got up to 85, I would be running around like a madman with ice cubes and a fan .. But I am talking about $100,000 here, not $100 for a single battery.

And in our case, too cold might mean 5 - 20 degrees too low ... Which is better than 5 - 20 degrees to warm ..

For this conversation, people have mentioned freezing temps (out in a shed in Minnesota or something) which is definitely not optimal but is still far more preferred than 120 degrees in a garage in Arizona.

And, it actually is an exact science so long as outside factors aren't screwing up the results. My batteries live in a pampered temp/humidity regulated environment. They aren't bouncing over roadways all their life.

If some get long battery life while storing in 120 degrees, count your blessings ... You are a lucky guy ...

 

[HotRodZilla]

So, with regulated temps and just about everything you can do to ensure their health, about how long do those batteries last??

 

[MrZappo]

So, with regulated temps and just about everything you can do to ensure their health, about how long do those batteries last??

If I can keep everything perfect, I have been able to get 7 years. Actually from our readings we (sometimes in the past) have calculated that we could go longer.

If the power goes out (utility power to the facility) very often and the batteries take a "hit" to hold the facility online while our generators spool up (usually 10 seconds), that can seriously diminish their lifespan. Fortunately, we are located in an area with great power that seldom goes out.

We have a battery health monitoring system that checks every cell of every battery every 15 minutes so I have a good windows into the actual battery health ... We test every cell by hand bi-annually and proactively replace when called for as well.

Since we house mission critical data, we cant really wait until they are "dead" to replace them like you could on a car or bike and in actuality, we replace at the first hint of any degradation.

We "budget" to replace every 7 years and we do that weather it is needed or not ... If individual cells degrade in that time span, they get replaced as needed.

 

[MrZappo]

So, with regulated temps and just about everything you can do to ensure their health, about how long do those batteries last??

Here is a Lead Calcium based liquid filled battery that really represents the absolute limits of battery technology (at reasonable cost) which actually has a 20 year lifespan. But if you notice even on the brochure, they call out specifically 77 degrees. These batteries are extremely expensive but are the best available so they are suited to particular applications.

Rest assured, for the 20 year warranty to be honored, you need detailed temperature logs to prove that 77 degrees was maintained. If not, these will quickly become 10 year batteries.

https://www.interstatepowercare.com/pdf/dx-rs-002_0306.pdf

Heat is the enemy.

So, only ride when it is 77 degrees out and your battery will last a lot longer ..

 

[HotRodZilla]

Thanks MrZappo.