ATV battery charger?

[bugmenot2]

I just bought a new (AGM) Yuasa battery for my 300ex. I poured the acid in last night and let that stuff soak it. I need to charge it now, however after reading this article it makes it sound like you're supposed to use a special atv specific charger? http://www.atvconnection.com/Features/Feature_Articles/A-primer-on-ATV-batteries.cfm
I have a Sears 1.5 amp trickle charger for car batteries. Is this ok to use or do I need something else?

there is no special charger for atv batteries...sears has a maintenance charger for around $30...i have two of these...i keep them on my batteries all the time...

[mr._bowtie]

just use any 12 volt battery charger it will be fine. The best way is if you have what they call a trickle charger, it charges slow and you get a better charge out of it. Leave it on over night and youll be good to go!

[fwm416ex]

This is the battery tender trickle charger ,I swear by this thing.Easy to use and totally automatic,It also comes with a pigtail connector that permantly attaches to the bike that makes connecting the charger a breeze.In the winter i charge the battery once a month,but during the riding season every couple months

[d33pt]

what is the difference between a trickle charger and a float charger?

[Pappy]

Originally posted by d33pt
what is the difference between a trickle charger and a float charger?

trickle chargers apply a constant amperage to the battery, non stop. they have caused more batteries to over charge and made me a lot of money over the years (thanks i needed the cash)

a float charger will apply constant voltage(usually 1.25 Ma) until the battery voltage hits 12.65v where it goes to a "float" mode and will not charge again until battery voltage drops to 12.5v

i have sold thousands of the deltran battery tenders, but have switched to the Yuasa charger due to better electronics.

[wilkin250r]

Originally posted by mr._bowtie
just use any 12 volt battery charger it will be fine.

Yes and no.

The difference is charging current. Many of the car battery chargers can push 6 or 10 amps, but these little ATV batteries don't like to see more than 2 amp charge current.

[300exOH]

I have a typical car battery charger that has a 2 amp charge setting... would it be safe to use on the quads? I have used it before and it seems to work fine but but I'm wondering if I would be better off using something like the Yuasa or the battery tender.

[Pappy]

2 amp is safe as long as you monitor the state of charge before charging and the amount time you have the battery on charge

very siimple...

2amps x time on charge = current input


2 amps x 3 hours = 6 amps into the battery


if your YTX9BS is at 75% state of charge you would place it on charge for roughly 1 1/2 hours at 2 amps. (thats actually a small amount past 100% but the AGM units can take it)

[300exOH]

Are the atv batteries supposed to be around 13.8v at full charge like a car battery?

And how do I determine the state of charge?

[Pappy]

full state of charge on the most popular atv batteries is still 12.62~12.8. a reading of 13.6~13.8 would indicate a state of charge coming off charge or from the vehicle being run. charging voltage while the vehicle is running would be 13-8 ~14.3v on most vehicles.


the easiest way with the sealed bike batteries is using a multimeter.


12.66 100%
12.45 75%
12.24 50%
12.06 25%
11.89 0% (effective voltage0

[katch26]

no....13.8 (actually its supposed to be more like 14.4) is the running charge of a car. The charge should be like 12-12.5 not running.

[300exOH]

Good info;)

Thanks

This seems like something I should have asked about a long time ago...:o

I don't know what I was thinking with the 13.8v I knew that was with the vehicle charging... it's a bit early in the day I guess.

[Pappy]

Originally posted by katch26
no....13.8 (actually its supposed to be more like 14.4) is the running charge of a car. The charge should be like 12-12.5 not running.

the reading dsepends highly on the vehichle manufacture. gm uses a higher charging voltage then does chyrsler. 13.8 is normal on a idle test on a dodge but low for a chevrolet. load on test at idle would be fail on a gm at 13.2 where as a dodge would pass(depending on battery age and condition, vehichle age and milage etc) charging systems become more and more inefficient as time goes on.