if u have 12v ur batterey is fine

 

Now I'm confused???

 

Well luck-ly for me I'll use the pull start for a while until I figure this one out.

 

The only definitive test for a battery is a load test. It will either say its good or bad, with no guessing, and its free. If the battery is good, after the load test, then youll know you have a bad connection, or bad starter. Have the battery load tested...and we can go from there.

Measuring the no load volts will just show the state of charge, but not whether it can handle a load or not.

 

A 12v battery will have 6 cells, each producing approx. 2.2v. You have charged your battery and found that each cell is producing close to what it should. However, the voltage is simply a measurement of the pressure needed to push the current through the wires where multitudes of free or unattached electrons are waiting in the vast spaces between the atoms in the wire. Batteries do not create electricity; the electricity is always present in the wire in the form of the very small unit of electricity carried by each wandering electron - this is why we have different sized wires. All 6 cells must work together to provide the needed pressure to speed these electrons along their way, otherwise they simply wander about haphazardly. Supplying enough pressure to make the needle move on a volt meter is nothing, while supplying the pressure needed to turn the starter motor is quite significant. Therefore, it is quite possible (and common) for your charged battery to show voltage, yet be unable to provide enough voltage to turn your starter over - dig?

In my opinion, you have a situation where the battery's internal resistance is off. Generally, this will show up immediately via a load test, as mentioned here, or by disconnecting the battery and letting it sit on a block of wood for a couple of days. If the internal resistance is off, allowing the battery to sit for a couple of days disconnected will often show at least one of the six cells "offline." If a cell is offline, your new voltage reading after a day or two will be down around 10.5v or 11v.

Ummmm, or not [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Vince

 

you could hook a couple D cell batteries together and get around 12v but you think it will start your quad.... that would be no ... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

my point is none of the tests I described will work with a battery that is no good no matter what voltage you get with a mulitmeter... I think you may need a new battery....

 

Well.... taking all the input from the "electrons... to the line of D batteries" I tested the battery under load and the reading went from 12.73v to 6.59-7.23v. Sounds like the battery may be it. (Like I said NEWBIE here!) The knowledge I gain I can pass on....

Went to the store bought me a battery, lived through the acid filling stage, (this is the first time I have done that) Don't know and can't tell if I have the right amount of acid in the cells b/c the manufacturer failed to put the indicator on the battery as stated and the guy at the store was no help.

Let it sit as instructed and attached it to a slow trickle charge to complete the process overnight so I'll know later today if the effort was justified when I put the new battery in the bike and give it a test.

Thanks all for the input [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

You did good.
Now when you install the battery, shine up the contacts of the metal connections of the cables to the battery. Use emory cloth, or a file of a wire brush, and get all the oxidization off the metal, where it contacts the battery terminal. Then put a dab of vasoline, or dielectric grease on those connections, and itll be good for years.

 

Thanks all! That must have been it. New battery in 6.30.06 rode pretty much the entire holiday weekend to 7.4.06 through everything, rain, mud, heat, rock etc. Started and stopped that thing about a zillion times.

It seems fine, the only thing I noticed was the battery seems to have a "sizzling" sound?

Thanks again all. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]