hi quick question for those more knowledgable than me. My battery is only showing 12.2 when checked on multimeter even after charge. Is it time for a new battery?
No not at all, only if it struggles to turn the engine over. Multimeters are not the most accurate things in the world.
Thanks. It's giving the same reading on the battery charger screen as well. Seems to turn over ok but can be difficult to start at times and takes a little twist of throttle to catch
Dont get caught out.... Either get the battery " deep tested " by someone local, OR, buy a Motobatt brand of battery. Great ampage and are a very good piece of kit. Its the kind of battery that laughs it off when you start a 1098 and it says " is that ll you have bike ? "
The battery will be for my zx6r not my multistrada so the leads don't really need doing. Had motobatt in the past and one failed very quickly but the other was really good. Just being a little geeky and like the idea of the lithium
Short answer - probably yes. You should get at least 12.7 volts on a decent battery if it's just been charged. However - the voltage alone is only an indication. What voltage do you get when it's actually on charge? Anything over 13.8 volts would indicate a high internal resistance (probably from one cell failing). That resistance will drop the voltage when you put it on load - ie when you crank the starter-motor over. If you're getting less than 9.5 volts when you spin the starter that would be another indication that it's on the way out... The more accurate, old-fashioned, way of checking a battery was to test the specific gravity of the acid in each cell with a hydrometer. Each cell should be over 1270 on a fully charged battery. If one cell is below 1200 then that's your dead cell. A lot of batteries don't have access/vent caps these days, and finding a hydrometer that will go into a bike battery is also becoming difficult...
