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-   -   Battery installed with the wrong polarity (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorbikes/224710-battery-installed-wrong-polarity-2.html)

Thank you for writing this!
Even I would've done the same mistake with my Himalayan (MY18) stranded since 20th March at colleague's place.
I have two queries:
1. What was the warranty period for the battery that came with the bike? (could not find it in the manual)
2. I have been going through threads/ YouTube for Himalayan battery and found an option as "Antigravity Lithium battery". How are these?
Related video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSxrRmNcHUs

Regards

After watching the video above, I have several thoughts.

The first is, I really hate things that are called, "anti-gravity". It gives the impression that somehow, the thing is going to fight against gravity. Maybe it's going to cause something to levitate? Of course, the "anti-gravity battery" won't do that.
The sales department only calls it an "anti-gravity battery" because it weighs less than a lead acid battery and the name has a nice "buzz" to it that will convince people they are getting something special.

Out of curiosity, I checked out the battery in the makers web site. They must really like it. They like it so much that I would have to pay an average of over $270 USD for it.

I did notice at that site, the battery needs to have a special battery charger which will cost an additional arm and a leg.
Anyway, thanks for posting the video.

Sheesh!!
Lithium batteries don't have to be mounted right side up to prevent acid leaks. And perform fine on dirt bikes that do flips in the air.

Cheers

Ride Safe.

Deja vu feeling!! I went through something similar a month ago in an attempt to remove the airbox from my Himalayan. I filpped the battery in the process and the fuse went off. Unsuspecting that the fuse was blown, I charged the battery but it wouldn't hold charge beyond a few days. I ended up concluding that i needed a new battery (as the current one had clocked 4 years).

It was after the new one didn't hold charge, i figured that the problem is beyond the battery, even then i thought that the infamous coil could be the suspect. I eventually figured it was the fuse.

But wait! i don't think the new battery(Amaron) had reversed polarity or maybe i accidentally flipped the cables and that's why i didnt realize :eek:

Flipping the cable is very difficult as their length is limited.

But happy to know I am not the only one. :D

Saved by the fuse - the first thing to check when something doesn't work.
I'm more glad that you did not leave your bike with the electrical repair guy. Could've fleeced you in the thousands.

During this lock down my car battery drained, so I brought my MIL's car alongside & couldn't get jumper cables, so instead I went to an electric shop & purchased 3 core thick PVC wires which I thought could jump start my car but it failed. A taxi driver standing nearby who was helping me said that my wire is a bit longer, he told me to exchange the batteries & keep the other car on idling, & that worked.

Can anyone let me know whats the basic difference between a home made 3 core wire & a jumper cable available in the market? Is the internal resistance of the home made wire or the length which matters?

1) Jumper cables are generally thicker (4 - 8 gauge?) whereas even the thickest home wiring you'll find on average is 10-12 gauge. This means the jumper cable has way greater current handling, due to its much higher cross-sectional area.

To draw a parallel: Imagine trying to fill an empty bucket from a full one using a pipe as thin as a straw, vs one as thick as a hose.

The trick when using a thinner wire might be to give it some (a lot of?) time for the battery to charge up a bit.

Cranking a car is THE highest pull of power that the car battery has to endure, so every little bit counts.


2) When you run & revv the "source" car during the process, battery voltage goes up - which I'm sure also helps a bit.


3) Resistance is proportional to length. The shorter the wire, the less resistance. I don't know the math in terms of how much of a difference 6ft of wire would make vs 3ft (in terms of overall drop in power), but I'm guessing this is not a major factor in this case.


I didn't understand what you meant by this.

I guess it fundamentally translates the current rating of the wire that it can support during the charging process. The current will get effected based on the resistance offered and that which is a function of geometry of the wire (both length and thickness).

Many of the new sealed led/acid batteries can be mounted in any position without acid leaks and they can also be used on bikes that do flips in the air.

The AGM, or Absorbed Glass Mat and the Gel Cell batteries are sealed lead/acid batteries and they don't cost a lot more than the old fashioned flooded lead/acid batteries. That means, I can buy a sealed battery for less than 1/2 the cost of lithium battery.

Because they are sealed, they also have the advantage of never loosing their water so they don't need refilling every so often.

This can be great for the owner. They never have to check the fluid level. In fact, they can't check it.
( Low fluid levels in regular flooded batteries are one of the chief causes of battery failure and the fact that most owners rarely check the fluid level explains the reason for the short battery life they experience.)

A quality AGM or GEL battery can easily last 2 to 3 years without going bad.
I recently replaced the sealed AGM battery in my Royal Enfield. It was installed 3 years ago and although it was still working, it had lost some of its ability to maintain its charge if I let it sit for a week or so. ( Any battery will eventually wear out. Even a lithium battery.)
Speaking of replacing my RE's battery, the battery I bought comes in two designs. The difference is on one of them, the positive terminal is on the right. The other one has the positive terminal on the left. When you replace a battery, always check the new battery terminal polarity to make sure the + terminal is on the same side as the old battery's + terminal.

Of course, all batteries can run down and may need recharging if very short rides with lots of starts and stops are made. Long periods of engine idling while the headlight is on also can cause any battery to become discharged.
(Leaving a battery in a discharged state can also damage them.)

The bottom line is, a sealed AGM or GEL battery costs less than half the price of a lithium battery. They don't need special battery chargers. They don't leak and they don't require any type of maintenance on the part of the owner (except making sure the wire connections are tight).

They do require hooking them up to the motorcycle correctly though.

Based on my past experience using both lead acid as well as sealed AGM/Gel cell batteries of various brands - Exide (& SF), Amco (& Yuasa), Amaron etc., haven't faced the issue of reversal of terminals. One reason could be that the battery was slotted with the wider side facing us (so that both the terminals as clearly visible) as opposed to fitting the battery on its narrower side into its slot.

Even then, this is the pointer when connecting terminals -

Right. And, again based on my experience, the +ve lead (wire) always goes to a fuse holder first before going to the electricals. So, even if the polarity is reversed, check the wire connected to the fuse and attach it to +ve terminal.

A simpler solution would be to have the manufactures to provide a thicker lead for +ve terminal (logical, as it is this pole which draws the current) as compared to the -ve, for easy identification.