6V battery overheating

Hi George

It sounds like it's overcharging to me. Have you still got the original regulator on it? If so I'd look there before fitting another battery. All my bikes have AO Services electronic regulators on them, they are small enough to fit in the original case so they don't look at all wrong and they just work... A real fit and forget solution.

Good luck

Andy

Hi George,

Sounds like it was dying before you went out for a spin. These batteries do NOT take kindly to being left low or flat. If the latter they'll be shot if left for a couple of weeks in that state. The swelling up is a sign that this was the case coupled with severe overcharging because the regulatorkeeps pumping power in but the voltage doesn't rise as it should. Result is one or two cells overheat and fail.

Another thing to remember; there are several types of gel cellsand some aren't designed for motorcycle use or high discharge/charge.

If it looks like the one in thebelow link these are utterly the wrong thing to use. These are designed for standby use and as such high charge rates like you get on a motorcycle ruin them very quickly.

Jim

I personally have used a well adjusted Lucas voltage regulator and Yuasa 6V lead acid battery inside a hollowed-out Lucas rubber case. It was very reliable. I understand that the modern gel batteries need a charge at 7V (or 13V it if's a nominal 12V system). British charging systems deliver to the nominal voltage, so they don't deliver enough volts to the battery to keep it happy. That means it never gets fully charged, and once they go below something close to 6V (or 12V on a later set-up), they stop delivering. Someone with more electrical expertise than me could set one of those antiquated Lucas regulators to deliver 7V, and then we can find out if the gel batteries are happier. These days, the DynamoRegulators electronic voltage reglatour has a better reputation (I confess I haven't tried it myself, but will buy one if I stay with dynamo once my Dominator is back together) The DVR2 is suitable for classic bike dynamo systems, and has the bonus that you can set it for 6V or 12V without having to replace your regulator:

You do have to decide whether you want positive or negative earth..... Paul

Previously paul_standeven wrote:

I personally have used a well adjusted Lucas voltage regulator and Yuasa 6V lead acid battery inside a hollowed-out Lucas rubber case. It was very reliable. I understand that the modern gel batteries need a charge at 7V (or 13V it if's a nominal 12V system). British charging systems deliver to the nominal voltage, so they don't deliver enough volts to the battery to keep it happy. That means it never gets fully charged, and once they go below something close to 6V (or 12V on a later set-up), they stop delivering. Someone with more electrical expertise than me could set one of those antiquated Lucas regulators to deliver 7V, and then we can find out if the gel batteries are happier. These days, the DynamoRegulators electronic voltage regulator has a better reputation (I confess I haven't tried it myself, but will buy one if I stay with dynamo once my Dominator is back together) Paul

I submit posts with paragraph breaks, but somehow text appears without them. When I edit, the post still appears without paragraph breaks. It's annoying