How to tell if your battery is dead: Difference between revisions

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== Symptoms ==

Here are the classic symptoms of battery failure:

Sometimes a battery just dies. Not necessarily from neglect, age, or use. It just dies. Car batteries can give some advance warning when they start to go, but tiny bike batteries are more likely to be fine one moment and dead the next. This normally comes from sulfates building up along the bottom and shorting out a couple of the lead plates. It's difficult for many people to trouble-shoot because they'll just toss a voltmeter on the battery, see that it shows 12v DC, and right away say it's fine. The truth is, if the resting voltage (after sitting, not on a charger) is below 12.2, that battery needs to be replaced. Below 12v and it's dead, for all practical purposes.

Here are the classic symptoms of battery failure. If any of these are present, test the battery as outlined below.

* Gauges on (neutral, oil and temp) but the starter won't catch

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* Engine keeps coughing, but tach is much higher than it should be, or it is bouncing wildly from low to high.

* Engine surges with turn signal on.

* When trying to start, you hear a click and all the lights go dead.

~~Sometimes a battery just dies. Not necessarily from neglect, age, or use. It just dies. Car batteries can give some advance warning when they~~ start ~~to go~~, ~~but tiny bike batteries are more likely to be fine one moment~~ and dead ~~the next~~. ~~This normally comes from sulfates building up along the bottom~~ and ~~shorting out a couple of the lead plates. It's difficult for many people to trouble~~-~~shoot because~~ they~~'ll just toss~~ a voltmeter on the battery, see that it shows 12v DC, and right away say it's fine. The truth is, if the resting voltage (after sitting, not on a charger) is below 12.2, that battery needs to be replaced. Below 12v and it's dead, for all practical purposes.

* You try to start and you hear clickclickclickclickclick - The clicks can come so fast they sound like a robot cat purring.

== Diagnosis ==

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 == Symptoms ==
-Here are the classic symptoms of battery failure:
+Sometimes a battery just dies. Not necessarily from neglect, age, or use. It just dies. Car batteries can give some advance warning when they start to go, but tiny bike batteries are more likely to be fine one moment and dead the next. This normally comes from sulfates building up along the bottom and shorting out a couple of the lead plates. It's difficult for many people to trouble-shoot because they'll just toss a voltmeter on the battery, see that it shows 12v DC, and right away say it's fine. The truth is, if the resting voltage (after sitting, not on a charger) is below 12.2, that battery needs to be replaced. Below 12v and it's dead, for all practical purposes.
+Here are the classic symptoms of battery failure. If any of these are present, test the battery as outlined below.
 * Gauges on (neutral, oil and temp) but the starter won't catch
@@ Line 12: / Line 14: @@
 * Engine keeps coughing, but tach is much higher than it should be, or it is bouncing wildly from low to high.
 * Engine surges with turn signal on.
+* When trying to start, you hear a click and all the lights go dead.
-Sometimes a battery just dies. Not necessarily from neglect, age, or use. It just dies. Car batteries can give some advance warning when they start to go, but tiny bike batteries are more likely to be fine one moment and dead the next. This normally comes from sulfates building up along the bottom and shorting out a couple of the lead plates. It's difficult for many people to trouble-shoot because they'll just toss a voltmeter on the battery, see that it shows 12v DC, and right away say it's fine. The truth is, if the resting voltage (after sitting, not on a charger) is below 12.2, that battery needs to be replaced. Below 12v and it's dead, for all practical purposes.
+* You try to start and you hear clickclickclickclickclick - The clicks can come so fast they sound like a robot cat purring.
 == Diagnosis ==