Subject: RE: Battery Story With Happy Ending
Author: Robert Hawkes
Date: Jan 9, 2005, 5:34 PM
Post ID: 1718180247
Jack, I was sold my Ambo from a dealer what had installed a battery with a
dead cell in it. Made many mysterious problems happen. Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: Jack Lundberg [mailto:jack-@aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2005 10:05 AM
To: Loopfram-@topica.com
Subject: Battery Story With Happy Ending
Interesting battery event on the '73 Eldo. I replaced the old (as in 6 or 7
years old) battery in October with a new one from Batteries Plus. That
worked fine for about 5 weeks. In November I rolled the Eldo out to go to
monthly Goose luncheon, turned on the key, and .... nothing. Dead as a door
nail. I rolled the Eldo back in the garage and hooked up the Battery Tender
thinking that I had inadvertently left the ignition switch on or some other
operator brain fart. The Battery Tender showed indication of improper
hookup - not possible as I use Molex connectors and have used it on this
bike/battery before. I didn't have time to diagnose this as we were off for
Christmas holiday and it was too darned cold in the garage to work at night.
I fretted about this for weeks, imagining all sorts of weird things that
could have gone wrong. Yesterday I got serious about fixing it so I can
ride it to today's Goose gathering and found (via multi-meter) about 6 volts
across the battery terminals. I pulled the battery and tried my old trickle
charger on it. This showed no current flow to the battery, so I hauled it up
to Batteries Plus for testing. They put it on their tester, found it not
receptive to taking a charge, and gave me a new battery. All is well now
and I am off for a ride in a few minutes. What do you think went wrong? I
thought of a mechanical failure within the battery (i.e. open circuit) but
how to explain the 6+ volts measured between terminals?
No big deal but I am puzzled.
Further comment: Of all my bikes, the Eldo is my clear favorite. I have
owned 4 Moto Guzzis, including an '03 Stone, but the simplicity, style, and
ride of the Eldo beats 'em all.
--
Jack Lundberg
Colorado Springs, Colorado