battery fault?

On the way to the Dragon rally last week my battery lost charge. I had travelled 60 miles friday night in -1 conditions. The bike fired up ok saturday morning. We then travelled 80 miles before stopping for a break, once again all was well. Then on the last stretch onother 80 miles I thought i heard a couple of disturbing noises that appeared to fron the right hand side of the engine along with a very short misfire, similer to a cold engine. When arriving on Anglesey my battery was completely flat. A fter being relayed home, chrged the battery for only 30 mins, the alternater started charging at 8v & quickly picked up to 14.5v. the battery has held charge all week, everything sounds fine. Do the gel batteries fgreeze? Any advice wel come.
Sorry for the drawn out tale.
Chris

[Tones]

Don't know about battery freezing but might be worth checking the connector just beneath the regulator for oxidation or corrosion.
Its just below the regulator in a place where only a madman would put an electrical connector - in line with all the moisture thrown up by the from wheel.

One quick way of preventative maintenance is to open and re-seat electrical connectors, if any oxidation has occured, this will clear it. Then a quick spray of a moisture displacement substance, i.e. WD40, ACF50 etc should see it OK.
;)

[kiwidave]

the battery has held charge all week,

Ah yes, but can it hold a load????????

Put the multimeter pins on the terminals then turn the ignition ON (just key on, not engine). If the battery is good, it should not drop more than half a volt.

Bit suspicious that you can fully charge a battery in 30 mins.

I suspect your regulator - because 160 miles is getting kinda near the optimum distance for running on existing battery charge alone i.e. without a dodgy regulator replenishing it.

See charging system fault finding file in TECH TIPS. Test for leak to ground from regulator....

[S.T.Chapman]

Originally Posted by kiwidave

Ah yes, but can it hold a load????????

Put the multimeter pins on the terminals then turn the ignition ON (just key on, not engine). If the battery is good, it should not drop more than half a volt.

Bit suspicious that you can fully charge a battery in 30 mins.

I suspect your regulator - because 160 miles is getting kinda near the optimum distance for running on existing battery charge alone i.e. without a dodgy regulator replenishing it.

See charging system fault finding file in TECH TIPS. Test for leak to ground from regulator....

DITTO Dave,
sounds like no chage reaching the battery,
dont be so fast to point yer finger at the battery, its doing its best considering what you appear to have is a constant discharge.

ps never forget the old methods of testing, if you have an unsealed battery check the level in each of the six cells and remember hydrometers will accuratey tell you the state of each cell.
levels are often overlooked, particuarly on a battery that has been totally discharge as the generate heat which tends to cause the electrolite to evaporate, the same with fast charging.
a dry cell or one with partial plate exposure will not charge and become a very high resistance preventing the ability of the battery to accept a charge under any circumstance and damage the other cells to match.
pps lead acid batteries do not like being totally disharged, they last longer when kept a high state of charge, the correct way to care for a battery is to use a float charge when not in use ie an optimate or similar, and trickle chage a flat battery rather fast charge as fast charging will wreck the plates due to heat generated also causing evaporation of electrolite from the cells resulting in premature battery failure.
remember patience is cheaper than a new battery.
thats why so many people end up fitting a new battery after a winter lay up.