Just hooked up a battery charger/maintainer to my ATV battery and I have a question. The light on the charger came on and said it is charging but I can hear some noise coming from the battery itself. The best way I can describe the sound would be a light gurgling or bubbling sound. You have to be very close to the battery and be very quiet to hear it. Is this normal?

 

Yes this is normal............There should be a vent tube or line off the battery to let it vent it's gasses!!!...............Does the charger/maintainer have an "AUTO" shut-off??.........

Some of them will overcharge and evaporate all the liquid out of the battery.....Then your left with a bad dryed up battery!!!!........."Battery Tender" or similar type monitor the charge and turn off and back on when needed........This type there is no fear of over-charging........Hope that helps.......Any more questions just ask!!......Caper................Welcome to the forums!!!.....What Quad do you ride???

 

It is a Schumacher maintainer/charger from Wal Mart that is supposed to go into a "floating" mode once the battery is charged. Is that what you mean? I checked and there is indeed a vent tube on this battery. About 2 months ago I picked up a 1999 Polaris Xplorer 400 4x4 that had less than 525 miles on it. So far I am pleased with it.

 

Sounds like you good to go!!!!!!!.........Just keep a eye on the Battery level on the cells inside!!...(if your hooked up for long time Ex. all winter)......................Is the battery fully sealed or can you add water if you need too!!!!................................Caper...... ........

 

It's not a sealed battery. One more question. The charger came with alligator clips and a seperate attachment to hook to the battery to that allows you to hook up the charger without removing the battery. Will it harm any thing on the quad itself to leave the charger hooked up?

 

No it will not ......It's only giving the Battery a "TRICKLE" charge..........This is made to do that with the seperate attachment. .....But for any long periods of time like over the whole winter........I myself would still keep a eye on the level..........Beter yet .....you could leave the charger on for lets say a week , then off for two weeks...........It's up to you...........I have heard of some batteries being damaged by charging too much!!!!..................Hope that helps ..............Caper.............

 

One other thing.......DON'T reverse your (+) and (-) terminals!!!!!!!!!.....Red +........Black -...........Caper................

 

I try to ride mine atleast once every 3 weeks, and usually I dont have to worry about even having a charger, Schumacher makes one of the best chargers around, and with it having the float mode that is one of the best you can get anyway. I need one for my motorcycle due to it not being ridden as much as my quads are.

 

Thanks for all the help. This charger is listed at 1.5 amps which was the smallest I could find locally. I see that the "Battery Tender" brand has some maintainers that are listed at .75 amps so I may eventually get one of those.

 

I have the Battery Tender and use the alligator clips to attach it to my battery.. it stays hooked up all winter long... I have been using battery Tender brand charger for years on end.. my 1999 Sears Tractor is still on the original battery, thanks to Battery Tender.. best $35 I ever spent... well $70 as I now have 2 of them...