Trickle Charging an S10 from a 12v leisure battery

[MoFarkle]

Hi All,

I keep my bike in a rented garage that doesn't have power. I have a 12v leisure battery that powers my LED lighting and a car stereo and is occasionally used to pump up tyres and test new bike accessories.

What I'd like to be able to do is trickle charge the s10 form the leisure battery using a smart charger that only tops it up as required. I was looking for one that takes a 12v input rather than having to use an inverter and a 240v charger, but have not been able to find anything.

Any ideas welcome, thanks. (other than ride more often, 'cause if I could i would )

 

[Tremor38]

Check out the link. This one is 12VDC input, has float mode when the battery is fully charged and peak charging current is adjustable.

http://www.powerstream.com/DCC.htm

 

[Checkswrecks]

I've seen something like Tenerator's link and what you describe at an RV place to keep a generator starter battery charged, in case the main RV battery ran down. Assuming the bigger battery has a higher charge, a diode lets the little battery would only draw current from a larger 12 volt battery when your motorcycle battery runs down to a preset voltage.


The issue will be that the self discharge rate of lead-acid batteries is generally about the same, regardless of capacity. So I'm not sure how well it would work for two batteries of the same type when both are just sitting there. You could always use lithium or one of the other types that have a slower self-discharge but that's going to get expensive. You may as well just buy a lithium motorcycle battery.


Simpler and probably cheaper, is there a way to hang a small solar charger outside of the top of the storage unit door with a little scrap wire? I know they will even work with house lights and don't need to directly be in the sun, it'd be pretty inconspicuous at the top corner of a storage unit door, and at $16 it's cheap enough to be replaced if somebody stole it. http://www.harborfreight.com/15-watt-solar-battery-charger-68692.html


Do NOT leave the two batteries connected when charging, as the smaller cells will charge first, becoming resistance to the circuit, and then boil off.

 

[MoFarkle]

Tenerator, it looks like exactly what I'm after. It has an inbuilt inverter that is just enough to charge the battery and has all the electrickery inside to keep it maintained and prevent overcharging. for $185 (£112) it's expensive but if it lasted 3-4 years it would pay for itself, the killer was shipping which doubled the price! and I can't find it for sale anywhere in UK/Europe.

Checkswrecks, The RV route was a good suggestion, it has shown some results and I'm waiting for some responses to e-mails sent. I did try the solar trickle method but after finding one smashed and dangling by its wire and it's replacement missing with just bare wire ends I decided it had to be an 'in the garage' solution. I will look into the lithium motorcycle battery as I hadn't considered that, the main draw is the alarm/immobilizer supplied by Yamaha (Meta Def.com T) which is 1.8 mA according to the Meta website.

Thanks to you both.

 

[MoFarkle]

I found this, but no pricing (ICi 12-12 072) http://www.alfatronix.eu/1578-dc-dc-intelligent-battery-chargers.php

This is looking like my only option at the moment http://www.battery-management-voltage-converter.com/e848_1a_top_up_charger.html about £50, but will probably require a bit of DIY wiring and sourcing of connectors.

Still hoping someone comes up with a complete solution that I've overlooked....

 

[jonkertb]

how about the cheapest and easiest solution....take the battery out and take it home to care for it??
all the money you save from trying to solve it could be used for ....for....for.....hmmmm
tom

 

[Don in Lodi]

I'd go solar or take the battery home. It's not a hard battery to get at.

 

[scott123007]

I'd go solar or take the battery home. It's not a hard battery to get at.

Exactly...

OR, if the alarm is that important, buy a couple of the least expensive 12v's you can find and use one to run the alarm while you are charging the other at home and alternate

 

[Tremor38]

Uggg! Alarms with self-contained batteries. No worries, they eventually quit squawking >

Got stuck on mountain top with a friend who couldn't disarm the alarm/immobilizer on his BMW. Long story made short, we called a local bike shop, who sent a van. Had to ride down the mountain in the van with earplugs in, because, with each turn and brake application, the motion sensor would set off the 120db alarm! ::010:: ::013:: I can laugh about it now.

 

[MoFarkle]

i bought the bike new from dealer and in order to be able to afford the insurance I had to have the alarm fitted and keep in in the garage, unfortunately the garage is a mile away (about 1.6km) Its bad enough having to walk with all my gear but a battery seems to double in weight by the time you've carried it that far, and once may years ago while carrying a battery in a backpack a series of coincidences meant the zip connected both terminals....

So far i think the cheapest/simplest solution is to buy a second battery for the S10 so once a week/fortnight I can swap them over. I have a good solar charger in the spare room window I can use.

The area isn't great so the alarm is important to me, there is a fellow biker who lives within ear shot of the garage and would act if the alarm went off.

Tenerator, I tend to agree, I'm a fan of a good old fashioned chain, padlock and anchor (which I still use in addition to the alarm) but before this my bikes were always 10yrs old plus and less than £2000. I chopped all 4 of them in to have the S10 so would be very upset to lose it.