New Battery Levels

[UnSaniTiZ]

Hey guys. So my old battery died and I just bought a replacement yesterday. The mechanic at the store put in the electrolye for me, but he did a poor job filling it evenly. Of course, I didn't notice this until I had left the store, and started charging the battery on the battery tender. Now the battery is fully charged.

There are 2 cells that are about midway between the allowed upper and lower levels, 2 that are at about the same as the lower line, and 2 that are about the same as the upper level (maybe a tiny bit overfilled).

I'm not sure whether I should remove some acid from the 2 that are high and put them into the 2 that are low. Or should I fill the 2 lower ones with distilled water, and simply drain the 2 overfilled ones a little bit with a syringe? Speaking of which, where can I get a syringe appropriate for this (hopefully locally)? Or should I just leave it?

Also, the battery I got is an A2 instead of B2 (the exhaust vent is on the other side), I haven't looked yet at how I'm going to reroute the drain line. Anybody have any tips or a method I could follow?

Thanks,
-UnSaniTiZ

[Kerry]

It sounds like all of the cells have plenty of electrolyte.  But if you have a way to pull some out of the "overfilled" ones, I would go ahead and transfer it to the "underfilled" ones.

Instead of a syringe, I would just use the "finger over the open end" method with a drinking straw ... or even with the drain hose, since you're going to reroute it anyway.  (Just make sure to rinse out both ends of the hose really well, in case any acid has gone through it before.  )

[gsJack]

You have enough acid in the cells, just top up with water to the upper line and charge it.  I've always used the A2 replacement batteries, they are cheaper and more readily available at auto parts stores and Walmarts.

On the 97 GS I just pulled the vent tube out and dropped it down the left side, it just hung there that way for 80k miles which was probably about 3 replacement batteries.  On the 02 GS I just pulled the tube up far enough to reach the left side vent and it still went thru a couple clips to hold it in place.  Works either way for me.

[scottpA_GS]

WOW!

Two posts by two of the kings of GS  Thats rare...

Thanks Kerry and GSJack! Two of my FAVORITE GSTwin contributors 


And yea.. +1 to what both have said 

[ohgood]

WOW!

Two posts by two of the kings of GS  Thats rare...

Thanks Kerry and GSJack! Two of my FAVORITE GSTwin contributors 


And yea.. +1 to what both have said 

Ohhh the suck up level is just insane nowadays

Ya, it's cool we have so many good hands to learn from. Thanks guys. 

[UnSaniTiZ]

hehehe thanks guys. I was worrying about it probably a bit too much. If I tried to use a straw to suck it out, wouldn't I run a large risk of getting acid in my mouth?

The battery is already charged... I'll probably just top off the lower cells with some water. Then we can see if the bike starts again. woohoo.

[Kerry]

If I tried to use a straw to suck it out, wouldn't I run a large risk of getting acid in my mouth

Whoa ... none of your lip!  (Heh heh)  When I mentioned the "finger over the open end" method, I meant this:

  * With both ends of the straw open, dip the straw into the acid in an "overfilled" cell
  * Seal the upper end of the straw with your finger
  * Pull the straw out of the "overfilled" cell.  It will have some amount of acid in the lower end.
  * Insert the straw into an "underfilled" cell and remove your finger from the upper end to
     allow the acid to drain from the straw.
  * Repeat as necessary

You've probably done this your whole life with Kool-Aid and juice and soda and stuff.     You just didn't know what you knew!

[UnSaniTiZ]

Ahh of course. I will do that later today or tomorrow . Thanks a lot guys

UnSaniTiZ