May need a new battery, going to get one of the Gel type I've read about on here once I've got Christmas over, however I need to be sure the thing is getting charged, what reading would you expect if you connected a multimeter across the battery terminals with the engine running?
Thanks,
Mick.
Charging Rate
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snatchpiece
- Posts: 37
- Joined: 20 Oct 2009 19:00
- Location: South West Lincs
Charging Rate
1980 Moto Morini Strada 500
Electric starters
Buy the biggest amp, battery that will fit the space-Iv'e got 24 amps. When running I get 14 plus volts-anything less than about 13 volts is suspect!! Batteries are "B" dear these days-avoid a Chinese one like the plague, the quality is dreadfull! 
:!:Alan J.
:!:Alan J.You need a battery to run the lights when the engine isn't running.
The charging system isn't going to provide sufficient power for full lights if the engine is only idling, so you need a battery then too.
Both those situations are about consumption for a given time. You chose a battery size based on how long you want the lights to last (and then chose a larger battery so it's still going to be enough as it ages).
You also need a battery for starting. That is mainly about spinning the engine fast enough and is dependent on the 'Cranking Amps' rating of the battery. With taditional 'wet' lead acid batteries the cranking ability was quite closely linked with the AmpHour capacity.
Silica can be added to sulphuric acid to turn it into a gel and imobilising it, which makes the battery much safer in a portable situation since it can't spill. It also means that much less water is lost from the battery by evaporation. The addition of Calcium to the plates reduces the ammount of gassing and if you get your chemistry just right, you can get the Hydrogen and Oxygen gasses to recombine inside the battery and more or less eliminate the need to top a battery up. The battery can now be 'sealed' although they actually have pressure release vents and are more propperly know as VRLA (valve regulated Lead Acid).
'Gel' has now become a generic term for a sealed battery, but it's mostly wrong. Imobilising the acid in gel reduces its ability to react at a fast rate and the cranking ability of a gel battery will be reduced. They are also quite limited in how fast they can be charged.
What you want for a starting battery is an AGM, it stands for Absorbed Glass Matt. Very thin seperators made of very porous glass fibre (often the fibres are hollow) are used and very thin lead plates with lots of surface area. The whole lot are held in compression and in some types are spiral wound like a Swiss roll. The glass seperators act like a catalyst and the gasses can recombine within the pores.
I've played with experimental cells (Boulder TMF) which were the size of a 'D' cell, but would output over 1000 Amp for 10 seconds. A pack that fitted into the palm of your hand would quite happily crank over a big block V8 faster than the standard 'heavy duty' battery.
The Odyssey batteries are probably the best know examples of the type for motorcycle use. They are quite expensive and in short supply at the moment, but even the smallest size is going to be more than capable of starting a Morini. One thing to watch though. They really don't like being overdischarged and can be very difficult to recjarge if they have been. This is more of a problem on a modern bike with clock, alarm, etc. and only being used occasionally.
http://www.odysseybattery.com/documents ... 2_0209.pdf
The charging system isn't going to provide sufficient power for full lights if the engine is only idling, so you need a battery then too.
Both those situations are about consumption for a given time. You chose a battery size based on how long you want the lights to last (and then chose a larger battery so it's still going to be enough as it ages).
You also need a battery for starting. That is mainly about spinning the engine fast enough and is dependent on the 'Cranking Amps' rating of the battery. With taditional 'wet' lead acid batteries the cranking ability was quite closely linked with the AmpHour capacity.
Silica can be added to sulphuric acid to turn it into a gel and imobilising it, which makes the battery much safer in a portable situation since it can't spill. It also means that much less water is lost from the battery by evaporation. The addition of Calcium to the plates reduces the ammount of gassing and if you get your chemistry just right, you can get the Hydrogen and Oxygen gasses to recombine inside the battery and more or less eliminate the need to top a battery up. The battery can now be 'sealed' although they actually have pressure release vents and are more propperly know as VRLA (valve regulated Lead Acid).
'Gel' has now become a generic term for a sealed battery, but it's mostly wrong. Imobilising the acid in gel reduces its ability to react at a fast rate and the cranking ability of a gel battery will be reduced. They are also quite limited in how fast they can be charged.
What you want for a starting battery is an AGM, it stands for Absorbed Glass Matt. Very thin seperators made of very porous glass fibre (often the fibres are hollow) are used and very thin lead plates with lots of surface area. The whole lot are held in compression and in some types are spiral wound like a Swiss roll. The glass seperators act like a catalyst and the gasses can recombine within the pores.
I've played with experimental cells (Boulder TMF) which were the size of a 'D' cell, but would output over 1000 Amp for 10 seconds. A pack that fitted into the palm of your hand would quite happily crank over a big block V8 faster than the standard 'heavy duty' battery.
The Odyssey batteries are probably the best know examples of the type for motorcycle use. They are quite expensive and in short supply at the moment, but even the smallest size is going to be more than capable of starting a Morini. One thing to watch though. They really don't like being overdischarged and can be very difficult to recjarge if they have been. This is more of a problem on a modern bike with clock, alarm, etc. and only being used occasionally.
http://www.odysseybattery.com/documents ... 2_0209.pdf
Paul Compton
http://www.morini-mania.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/user/EVguru
http://www.morini-mania.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/user/EVguru
Batteries etc.
Cheers, Paul, very usefull "bit" about batteries-for some odd reason you appeared in my "spam" box!! Iv'e had a "Dart Disaster"-I Knocked it over in my garage and have broken the central panel of my fairing!!-the "windscreen cum headlight cover bit. No chance of one? I know they are like "hens teeth"!! Alan.