Charging a new battery?

**Nausea** · 10th November 2015, 12:33

Hi,

I bought a new Koyo YB12A-B battery which is rated at 12ah & their website suggests using a 1.2 amp charger.

To initialise the battery, it said on the instructions to charge it a 0.5 amps for 24 hours but I only have a 1 amp charger. I did some research & as far as I could tell, I could use my charger as it is less than 10% of the rated ah so I connected it overnight, for about 11 1/2 hours.

The battery started bubbling within an hour and when I took it off charge this morning, the top of the battery was wet with electrolyte, which I didn't expect.

The battery had sat for a day after the electrolyte was added & I removed the plugs & the vent pipe cap before charging.

The shop filled the battery so the levels were at the full mark or just under. I've left it to sit & will top it up with distilled water if needed before putting it on the bike.

Should I have taken the battery off charge earlier? There is so much conflicting info out there. The advice I followed was to charge for at least 12 hours at 1amp but some say to take off charge after 5 hours and some say as soon as it bubbles?

Very confusing...

**AllanB** · 10th November 2015, 12:41

They should never be bubbling as much as you have described, old lead acid ones may have got a blop blip bubble quietly after some time but bubbling away and fluid coming out the top after a hour implies overcharging it.

To reduce the charge you can rig up a suitably rated light bulb (old turn signal or similar) and hook that up with the charger.

Or shove the new battery in the bike and go for a nice long ride :-)

**Nausea** · 10th November 2015, 12:47

Thanks for your reply, I did check it before bed & it was gently bubbling, there was no liquid on the top at that stage or I would have disconnected it!

**neels** · 10th November 2015, 12:53

Sounds like it's been overcharged, but that shouldn't affect it to greatly.

Top it up with water, put the plugs back in and give it a rinse in case there's any acid on the outside, and it should be good to go.

**Nausea** · 10th November 2015, 13:38

So I'm assuming the advice to pull it off charge after 5 hours or as soon as it bubbles was correct & the 12-15 hours wasn't?

I'll know for next time... or I'll buy a sealed battery!

**BrendonF** · 10th November 2015, 13:52

Buy a good AGM bat and a Ctek. Never have any more issues

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**Daffyd** · 10th November 2015, 14:06

Originally Posted by BrendonF

Buy a good AGM bat and a Ctek. Never have any more issues

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What he said.

**Nausea** · 10th November 2015, 15:48

I have an AGM in my other bike, this battery is for a bike I'm most likely selling so I didn't want to spend twice as much.

What is the correct break-in for a traditional battery like this one? I used to just chuck them in the bike & never thought about breaking them in... this time I tried to do it 'right'.... yay.

**AllanB** · 10th November 2015, 19:13

Standard lead acid unit is to give it a slow trickle charge once the water etc has been added. But most just threw it in the bike and rode it.

I'd not fuck around with them anymore - get a nice sealed Motobat or similar. Or read the battery thread some 200 plug pages!

**Nausea** · 10th November 2015, 21:27

Checked the battery tonight & the electrolyte had settled & it had lost fuck all actually. The plates were in no danger of being exposed and a couple of mils of distilled water here & there is all it took to top it up. Gave it a good clean & plugged it into the bike & it seems fine, I'll post again if it dies early or anything.

But in future.. if I ever buy a wet battery again I will charge it until it bubbles & then take it off charge.. no longer than that.

Thanks for your input everybody

**awayatc** · 10th November 2015, 21:41

Do yourself a favour and buy a little "smart" trickle charger.....for next time

I could go into detail, but that would be boring ...

They switch on and off as required and keep your batteries in good nick when you don't regularly use them.

plus slow charge better for your little bike batteries....

**T.W.R** · 10th November 2015, 22:26

Never charged a brand new battery off the shelf, just remove the seal on the cells & breather cap add the electrolyte pack, let it settle for a couple of minutes & check level is correct then fit the cell cover. By that time the battery would warm to touch from the electrolyte doing it's thing and fit to the bike & it's ready to go.
That was the normal sequence at the shop and never had a new battery fail or expire inside it's warranty period ever, fitted plenty to numerous bikes from working bikes (farm bikes; the most common to kill batteries due to continuous slow running & sitting idling) to show piece road bikes.