Hi Everyone,

I am new to the whole ATV scene. I just recently decided to buy a used bike with a plow to clear my driveway this past winter. Really liking it and think I might upgrade already.

Anyhow I was doing some simple maintenance on my bike this past weekend and I took the battery off the bike to check it over and clean it up and charge it as it was not fully charged.

One thing i noticed was that there was no liquid in this at all, normally I would think there should be a mix of acid and water correct? This leads me to my question. Should I refill this with just distilled water or do I need to try and find something else to mix in this battery?
I am not sure if just water would be a good idea as it could freeze and crack the battery.

I know this is a noob type question but I have not worked much with these battery's in the past.

Thanks All,

Crash

 

You could have an AGM battery if it was replaced with the previous owner, which does not have fluid like a "traditional" battery. If it is a regular battery you would need to fill each of the columns with distilled water and put it on a charger.

 

If it is a traditional lead/acid battery and is lo can fill with distilled water & charge. If Did it actually start the machine that low? If they get that low the plates dry out & sulphate. Might want to start looking for a new battery. Did you actually look in the cells or just look through the tranclucent case cause if they are full can't really tell the fill line as it is same color.

 

upnort - I think its a traditional lead / acid battery. I bought some distilled water today to put in it but I wanted to be sure before I did. I took the caps off of one of the chambers and it looked like it was empty as i tipped it on its side and didn't see anything but that might have been just the one chamber. I am going to give it a shot with the water, if its a no go well then I guess I will need a new battery.

If i kept a charge on the battery when not in use I could start it with ease but after running it with the plow for awhile it would loose some steam and need to be charged again while not in use. This might have been part of the problem no doubt.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Crash1912

...I am not sure if just water would be a good idea as it could freeze and crack the battery....

</end quote></div>

A discharged battery can freeze at just a few degrees below freezing (+32 degrees F). A fully charged battery is good to like -75 degrees F.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: LynnEdwards

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Crash1912



...I am not sure if just water would be a good idea as it could freeze and crack the battery....



</end quote></div>



A discharged battery can freeze at just a few degrees below freezing (+32 degrees F). A fully charged battery is good to like -75 degrees F.</end quote></div>

Really? I never knew that. I just figured it would freeze just as easy.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Crash1912
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: LynnEdwards
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Crash1912
...I am not sure if just water would be a good idea as it could freeze and crack the battery....
</end quote></div>
A discharged battery can freeze at just a few degrees below freezing (+32 degrees F). A fully charged battery is good to like -75 degrees F.</end quote></div>
Really? I never knew that. I just figured it would freeze just as easy.</end quote></div>

It took me a while to remember where I read that, but I found it:

Yuasa Battery Technical Manual

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: LynnEdwards

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Crash1912

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: LynnEdwards

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Crash1912

...I am not sure if just water would be a good idea as it could freeze and crack the battery....

</end quote></div>

A discharged battery can freeze at just a few degrees below freezing (+32 degrees F). A fully charged battery is good to like -75 degrees F.</end quote></div>

Really? I never knew that. I just figured it would freeze just as easy.</end quote></div>



It took me a while to remember where I read that, but I found it:



Yuasa Battery Technical Manual</end quote></div>

That is an amazing manual. I am tucking that away to read more later. Thanks for the find on that one.

 

Also, your winch takes a ton of juice and if you end up using it a bunch your battery is getting drained and not charged. I have had this happen after several long pulls of my ATV through some stuff I should not have went through. I ahd to do 7 or 8 full length nearly 50ft long winch pulls to get my machine out and get through the mud hole. I then decided to take a break and shut if off. There was not enough juice left in the battery to even turn the machine over. I would have thought something was up if I had not replaced the battery a few weeks prior. I have figured out the routes I can plow on my property and keep the plow down and working and mix in the stop/go backward stuff so that I can end with a god 30minutes of run time with minimal winch use and get the battery to charge.

I try to do all my stop/go backward/forward short distance stuff first then end with the long runs up and down the driveway so I don't need to use the winch much. I also use a battery maintain system with a trickle float that shuts off when the battery is fully charge so it doesn't cook the water out of the battery.

It has also been my experience that if the battery has one or two cells that are blackish colored and you have to add water it is toast. The colder a battery is the less power it has as well.

SJ

 

Unfortunately an atv battery don't last as long as a car battery, they take far more abuse. When they start going is about time for a new one. A maintainer is not a bad idea either to bring up to a full charge.