Battery optimiser in winter
Discussion
Hello all,
My old Harley has a battery a few months old and I start it up / use it every couple of weeks in winter. I leave it hooked up to an Oxford battery optimiser. However, the battery still seems to die. Is this a faulty optimiser ? How do I check?
Is it time to bin the charger and get a newer one ? It’s about 5?years old . .
Any advice appreciated,
Cheers
Dan
My old Harley has a battery a few months old and I start it up / use it every couple of weeks in winter. I leave it hooked up to an Oxford battery optimiser. However, the battery still seems to die. Is this a faulty optimiser ? How do I check?
Is it time to bin the charger and get a newer one ? It’s about 5?years old . .
Any advice appreciated,
Cheers
Dan
Is it an OEM Harley battery? - I've found them to have been pretty crap at holding a charge even when new, especially since they changed suppliers a few years back which also saw CCA drop about 10%.
When you say 'old harley' what year/model? And does it have the HD immobiliser or alarm fitted? Those will both drain the battery fairly quickly. Certain models are also more prone to parasitic drains too - my '08 Sporty was a pig for random power draws due to the old style fuseboard being prone to corrosion!
As for the optimiser: mine lasted just over 2 years but wasn't great in sub-0c temps (bike lives outside under a cover). Since going to a NOCO lithium battery and same make charger Ive not had any issues.
When you say 'old harley' what year/model? And does it have the HD immobiliser or alarm fitted? Those will both drain the battery fairly quickly. Certain models are also more prone to parasitic drains too - my '08 Sporty was a pig for random power draws due to the old style fuseboard being prone to corrosion!
As for the optimiser: mine lasted just over 2 years but wasn't great in sub-0c temps (bike lives outside under a cover). Since going to a NOCO lithium battery and same make charger Ive not had any issues.
The Oxford chargers are a bit crap because if you have a bad connection they can still show that they are on charge when they are not. Get a Ctek and then turn it off for a few days every 3 or 4 weeks. It let's the battery dip a bit and then it recharges. A bit of exercise seems to be better than just leaving them on the charger all the time.
Just a heads up on the NOCO lithium battery, its the NLP14 for a Sportster BUT the terminals are the 'wrong way' round so it can be fiddly to fit. On my '20 Sporty it had to fit on its side and was a bit of a stretch for the positive cabling.
The other NOCO sizes for the big twins like the Dyna are a direct fit though.
If your battery is only a few months old you could try another charger on it first, replacing a crappy oxford is going to be cheaper and easier as a first step.
The other NOCO sizes for the big twins like the Dyna are a direct fit though.
If your battery is only a few months old you could try another charger on it first, replacing a crappy oxford is going to be cheaper and easier as a first step.
A993LAD said:
Oh no!
I've just ordered an Oxford charger because a bike I've just bought has an Oxford cable hanging out the side! I didn't know Oxford chargers were no good.
Was planning to get an Optimate until I checked the wire on the bike. Should have stuck with this plan and changed the wire!
Or just make/buy an adapter. An Oxford to optimate adapter is £4 on AmazonI've just ordered an Oxford charger because a bike I've just bought has an Oxford cable hanging out the side! I didn't know Oxford chargers were no good.
Was planning to get an Optimate until I checked the wire on the bike. Should have stuck with this plan and changed the wire!
I think either the battery cold cranking amps are too low or the starting system on your bike isn't the best (wiring degraded, weak earth, weak solenoid etc.).
There is a common misconception that cold kills batteries. The rate of discharge is actually higher when its warm, its the cold cranking that is affected by cold which shows up a weakness in the basic setup.
There is a common misconception that cold kills batteries. The rate of discharge is actually higher when its warm, its the cold cranking that is affected by cold which shows up a weakness in the basic setup.
A993LAD said:
Oh no!
I've just ordered an Oxford charger because a bike I've just bought has an Oxford cable hanging out the side! I didn't know Oxford chargers were no good.
Was planning to get an Optimate until I checked the wire on the bike. Should have stuck with this plan and changed the wire!
The charger leads usually come free with a charger, so if you bought an optimate it would come with a lead in the box...or you can just get an adapterI've just ordered an Oxford charger because a bike I've just bought has an Oxford cable hanging out the side! I didn't know Oxford chargers were no good.
Was planning to get an Optimate until I checked the wire on the bike. Should have stuck with this plan and changed the wire!
trickywoo said:
I think either the battery cold cranking amps are too low or the starting system on your bike isn't the best (wiring degraded, weak earth, weak solenoid etc.).
There is a common misconception that cold kills batteries. The rate of discharge is actually higher when its warm, its the cold cranking that is affected by cold which shows up a weakness in the basic setup.
Agreed, and if its an OEM HD battery the CCA rating pretty much hits the bare minimum to operate above about 5C, anything colder than that and even brand new HD batteries seem to stumble as they are only marginally above minimums and CCA are subjective to how they are tested (interesting read here: https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-902a-how-... )There is a common misconception that cold kills batteries. The rate of discharge is actually higher when its warm, its the cold cranking that is affected by cold which shows up a weakness in the basic setup.
Dynas and softails generally need at least 300 CCA at a minimum, the stock AGM battery (p/n 65989-97) only produces 310 CCA. The big touring models generally require 360 CCA at a minimum with the stock AGM battery (p/n 66010-97) producing 385CCA.
A 2004+ Sportster requires at least 220 CCA - stock HD battery for the Sportster between 2004-2010 (p/n 65958-04) only produces 200CCA whilst its replacement (circa 2011 if I recall) (p/n 65958-04B) produces 225CCA - both of these batteries are AGM type.
With it being an '08 I'd also guess it has the factory fitted HD alarm too which draws a fair bit, and if a big twin probably has the immobiliser as well as these started being fitted as standard on european models around '06.
For me - you couldn't pay me to have an HD supplied battery on any of mine and being an all year biker reliable starting in winter is a must. If you want to stick with AGM then MotoBatt batteries have been pretty good for me in the past and althoguh my experiecne with them is limited, Yuasa batteries seemed to do a better job than stock HD 'Deka' ones. If you wanted to go for Lithium I've found NOCO to work well and have them fitted to my current bikes and my previous one, anti-grav lithium batteries are good for custom buidls where space is a premium but they are a tad on the expensive side.
Had a non-battery related thought - are you still on your original voltage rectifier and stator? I've found that I've had to replace one or both parts of the charging system every 3-5 years (about 30-50K miles) due to partial or compelte failure - a knackered stator will give off a burning smell in the primary oil whilst a knackered rectifier will see you drain the battery and stutter to a halt whislt riding.
Edited by DirtyHarley on Thursday 19th January 14:18
bogie said:
The charger leads usually come free with a charger, so if you bought an optimate it would come with a lead in the box...or you can just get an adapter
Yeah I know but I was being lazy so just thought it would be easier to order one that fitted the current lead. Plus I had no idea that Oxford ones were rubbish until I read this thread, by which time it was too late!Ho hum. I'll try it and see how I get on.
A993LAD said:
Yeah I know but I was being lazy so just thought it would be easier to order one that fitted the current lead. Plus I had no idea that Oxford ones were rubbish until I read this thread, by which time it was too late!
Ho hum. I'll try it and see how I get on.
I have two bikes stored over winter on Oxford battery chargers and they do the job absolutely fine, so I wouldn't worry too much Ho hum. I'll try it and see how I get on.
Wombat3 said:
The Oxford chargers are a bit crap because if you have a bad connection they can still show that they are on charge when they are not. Get a Ctek and then turn it off for a few days every 3 or 4 weeks. It let's the battery dip a bit and then it recharges. A bit of exercise seems to be better than just leaving them on the charger all the time.
The CTEK charging pattern does this anyway for long term storage. Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff