Landracing Forum
Misc Forums => NON LSR Posting => Topic started by: wobblywalrus on December 07, 2009, 09:37:04 PM
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It is going to be 14 degrees here tonight and tomorrow night. The Truimph is outside. We do not have a garage. How cold can a bike battery get before it is damaged?
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Take it off and bring it in the house!!
Lynda
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Take it off and bring it in the house!!
Lynda
Leave the batter in teh bike it will be fine..
As long as you bring the bike in the warm house.... :cheers:
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Even better idea John!! Why waste time removing the battery when the whole bike can be moved...besides, it could get lonely without its heart!
Lynda
Anyway, no matter how it is done....14 degrees is too cold for a battery!
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What, are you looking to ride it somewhere tomorrow?
Gosh, I'm arguing with Lynda here - this can't be good. :roll:
From a dumb 'ole Iowa farm boy who moved to Wisconsin because it wasn't cold enough in Cedar Rapids:
A battery is a battery. I've started cars that have sat out in sub-zero weather for a couple of days and never even gave a thought as to whether it was hard on the battery. I was always more worried about the bearings and cylinder bores.
If it's to remain outside, I would make sure it had a good charge on it. Charged batteries seldom freeze.
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I was told a fully charged battery won't freeze above -50 degrees.
Never had to test the theory.
Maybe Slim could weigh in.
Will
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Lynda, I'm glad you are concerned about my bike being lonely. My family will assure you that it gets plenty of attention.
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If the battery is fully charged, it will probably be ok. Throw a blanket over it and put a light under it, or close to it over night - surpising difference. Long term cold is not good. Or put a battery tender on it.
We'll be in the balmy 20s tonite, its snowing.
Good luck.
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We're headed below zero (-8 right now) Fahrenheit tonight. A night or two of that wouldn't hurt as long as the battery was fully charged. For some reason motorcycle batteries don't last if left outside for very long. On the other hand car batteries will last 5 plus years with somewhat irregular maintenance. I used to figure 2 years for a motorcycle battery and 5 years for the car battery. Anything more is a bonus.
Pete
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If the battery is fully charged, it will probably be ok. Throw a blanket over it and put a light under it, or close to it over night - surpising difference. Long term cold is not good. Or put a battery tender on it.
We'll be in the balmy 20s tonite, its snowing.
Good luck.
Thanks. I just realized I'm going to be a millionaire. David, you gave me an idea. My new invention is a "Snuggie" (as seen on TV) for motorcycles. The warm blanket arm sleeves can go over the handlebars, and the blanket covers the battery. The light under it can an accessory (extra 5 bucks). Color choices: British Racing Green - Triumphs, Blue - BMWs, Red - Honda, White - Suzuki, and Black and Orange - nah, we got enough colors. And no pink.
68 degrees tonight in Florida. 10% chance of a light rain.
RAIN ? RAIN? That's it, a poncho for the bike Snuggie. No, we'll make it rain-reversable for two easy payments of $19.95.
I'll be able to buy my own streamliner rather than ask to borrow one for my license.
Opps. I just pinched myself. . . never mind.
David, I spent a fun week in Durango 10 years ago camped on the front lawn of the high school at a National BMR Bike Rally. I went to Silverton by steam train. You got it good there.
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Speaking of cold. We had a case of Havoline 5w-30w motor oil and it had gotten down to about 0 degrees. We were going to put some oil in a pickup and went to pour it in the engine and it wouldn't come out of the quart bottle. It came out real slow in a big slug luggie. It was unbelievable. We thought what the heck goes on in the pan every year when it gets that cold. It really makes you wonder. We took it to the local Texaco dealer and he sent it off never heard a word.
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move to So Cal or Fla................ :-D
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move to So Cal or Fla.
Umm ..... You do know it's going to be 36 tonight in the San Fernando Valley.
Chance of snow at El Mirage.
eave the batter in teh bike it will be fine..
WOW. Noonan's working that internal anti-freeze!
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Hahha, I remember that rally - I sold my old R75 to a guy that crashed his on Red Mtn Pass.
Its nice here, if you can get up the hill to the house1 (sold all my 4x4s - what a dummy).
cheers,
If the battery is fully charged, it will probably be ok. Throw a blanket over it and put a light under it, or close to it over night - surpising difference. Long term cold is not good. Or put a battery tender on it.
We'll be in the balmy 20s tonite, its snowing.
Good luck.
Thanks. I just realized I'm going to be a millionaire. David, you gave me an idea. My new invention is a "Snuggie" (as seen on TV) for motorcycles. The warm blanket arm sleeves can go over the handlebars, and the blanket covers the battery. The light under it can an accessory (extra 5 bucks). Color choices: British Racing Green - Triumphs, Blue - BMWs, Red - Honda, White - Suzuki, and Black and Orange - nah, we got enough colors. And no pink.
68 degrees tonight in Florida. 10% chance of a light rain.
RAIN ? RAIN? That's it, a poncho for the bike Snuggie. No, we'll make it rain-reversable for two easy payments of $19.95.
I'll be able to buy my own streamliner rather than ask to borrow one for my license.
Opps. I just pinched myself. . . never mind.
David, I spent a fun week in Durango 10 years ago camped on the front lawn of the high school at a National BMR Bike Rally. I went to Silverton by steam train. You got it good there.
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Thanks for the advice. I just went out to the shed for an armload of firewood and I put a light under the bike's cover. It is warmer than me now.
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move to So Cal or Fla................ :-D
So Cal? Hmmmm. That's a thought. Love it out there - BUT -
Will Pep Boys trade a new battery for my tax refund IOU?:roll:
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We have a car dealer that will trade a car for a tax refund IOU :-D
Robbie
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I forget the exact numbers, but basically -- a battery that's fully charged at 70F will have about 30% of rated power/current/CCA available at 0F. It's still fully charged, but lead-acid batteries work because of the chemical reaction - and that reaction goes slower at low temps than at higher ones. Another way to think of it -- if your battery is unable to crank the motor on a cold day -- and assuming you've got the time to do this "experiment" -- take the battery out of the vehicle and warm it to room temperature (which will probably take 12 hours unless you try something like a warm water bath, and be careful of heating too quickly and damaging the thing if you do so). Once you've got a warm battery -- put it back in the vehicle and it'll most likely spin the engine just fine.
A fully-charged lead acid battery won't be damaged by the cold until the temp reaches far below zero F. If it's going to be all of +15F or whatever -- there's NO NEED to put the battery in the house overnight.
I've used battery warmers to help during cold weather. They're pretty much an electric blanket -- plug into 110VAC, are 6" wide by long enough to wrap all the way around the battery, are coated with a rubberlike material that isn't harmed by leaking acid, and will keep the battery at about 50 or 60F.
Bike batteries are likely different than car/truck units -- probably because they are designed for use during warm (relatively speaking) weather. I make sure the bike batteries are fully charged if the bike is staying out in the barn -- and usually remove them from the bikes and store the batteries in the warm part of the basement during the winter. I haven't used a "battery tender" and I haven't suffered over-winter battery damage. But I do charge the batteries a bit during the off season.
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I just went out to the shed for an armload of firewood and I put a light under the bike's cover.
How much firewood do use to keep the battery warm?
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as much as it takes?
It has warmed considerably here. and not yet 2 feet of new snow! No sign of snow plows or life. Everything closed (schools, banks, gov't) and a lot of the county w/ no power. Gotta go find my camp stove, lantern and stuff.
A lot of white, but no fun.
Hope everyone is surviving with honor!
I just went out to the shed for an armload of firewood and I put a light under the bike's cover.
How much firewood do use to keep the battery warm?
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Just to put a point on it, a fully charged battery has a sulfuric acid specific gravity of 1.250 and freezes at -65°F.
In the charged state, each cell contains electrodes of elemental lead (Pb) and lead (IV) dioxide (PbO2) in an electrolyte of sulfuric acid.
As the battery discharges the specific gravity drops. In the discharged state both electrodes turn into lead(II) sulfate (PbSO4) and the electrolyte loses its dissolved sulfuric acid and becomes primarily water. Due to the freezing-point depression of water, as the battery discharges and the concentration of sulfuric acid decreases, the electrolyte is more likely to freeze during winter weather.
A small drop in specific gravity to 1.225 raises the freezing point to -39°F. Keep that battery charged!
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A note on battery minders . . .
I'm cheap and buy cheap ones. Don't know if they're any different than the expensive ones. But, besides always having a charged battery on my hot rods and race car, they seem to significantly extend the life of the batteries. I had a dead battery in my Mercury Torpedo Salon, looked up the warranty -- ten years old. No adjustment there, but ten years is a good time. The two in my roadster have been there nine years and are only used about 3 times a year and seem fine (at least in May they were).
Great, cheap Christmas gift, too.
Stan
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Stan,
Where do you find the cheap ones?
Thanks,
Tom
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I've bought motorcycle ones -- and I've seen 'em at Harbor Freight.
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Yup, it was 11 degrees last night. Today was the big thaw. A tropical 31. I heard this funny noise in the basement. Sort of a nice soothing rushing stream type of sound. The Three Stooges had a show where they were plumbers. That is what I saw. Water was spraying everywhere. It seems a few busted pipes thawed out. An inch of water on the floor. I should not have worried about the Triumph battery. That was the least of my problems.
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Move your hot rod inside, easier to work on while visiting your new x-wife.
Priorities in the proper order are very important.
Ray AMA #1944 #1949
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Around here we call that "your future ex-wife."
12 degrees @ 9 a.m., the kee-kee birds are singing in the bare oak branches, "Kee, kee, keereist it's cold!"
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Been building my lakester in the cellar for many years now . Wife knows where i am, Says it keeps me out of
the bars. Spent our honeymoon at Bonneville camping in the dump 37 years ago.
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How are you going to get your lakester out of the cellar?
It was 12 last night and it will be 16 tonight. I made a hole in a window before the freeze so Buster could get in and out of the basement. A little 3" by 8" cat size hole in plexiglas so he could come in at night and get warm. The cold air got in and busted nearby pipes. Another one thawed and broke this afternoon. Buster had his collection of dead birds and headless rats hidden somewhere in the shop. They all floated out when the place flooded. Buster was nowhere to be found. He is allergic to water.
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Wobbly:
Google pet doors. They usually have a flap that's easily pushed out of the way by the pet but they keep the cold out and the heat in to a great extent.
Pete
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Then there's the concept of keeping the cat indoors 100% of the time. The closest either of our two kitties has evver been to outdoors is to go into the screened back porch -- whereupon they discover that zero degrees and snow aren't as much fun as they appear to be when looking through a window.
It was -6F this morning, with the temps forecast to soar into double digits today. "Throw another log on the fire, Jon, and snuggle up close to me in the heated waterbed", says Nancy
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12 degrees @ 9 a.m., the kee-kee birds are singing in the bare oak branches, "Kee, kee, keereist it's cold!"
The first time I heard that line was from a NOVA television episode "B-29 Frozen in Time".
The Kee Bird was a B-29 Superfortress, of the 46th/72d Reconnaissance Squadrons, that became marooned after making an emergency landing in northwest Greenland during a secret Cold War spying mission on 21 February 1947. Although the entire crew was safely evacuated, after spending three days in the isolated Arctic tundra, the aircraft itself was left at the landing site.
It lay there undisturbed until 1994, when a privately-funded mission was launched to repair and return it.
After months of painstaking work over two years on the aircraft and setbacks such as the death of the mission's chief engineer, the repairs were completed and the aircraft prepared to take off from a frozen lake nearby on 21 May 1995. As it was taxiing to its takeoff position, however, a fire broke out inside the rear fuselage, from an auxiliary power unit mounted there, and quickly engulfed the whole fuselage. The entire crew on board escaped unharmed, but the Kee Bird's fuselage and tail surfaces were completely destroyed. When the lake thawed in the spring, the wreckage (with nearly intact wing panels and engines) sank to the bottom, where it now lies.
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12 degrees @ 9 a.m., the kee-kee birds are singing in the bare oak branches, "Kee, kee, keereist it's cold!"
The first time I heard that line was from a NOVA television episode "B-29 Frozen in Time".
The Kee Bird was a B-29 Superfortress, of the 46th/72d Reconnaissance Squadrons, that became marooned after making an emergency landing in northwest Greenland during a secret Cold War spying mission on 21 February 1947. Although the entire crew was safely evacuated, after spending three days in the isolated Arctic tundra, the aircraft itself was left at the landing site.
It lay there undisturbed until 1994, when a privately-funded mission was launched to repair and return it.
After months of painstaking work over two years on the aircraft and setbacks such as the death of the mission's chief engineer, the repairs were completed and the aircraft prepared to take off from a frozen lake nearby on 21 May 1995. As it was taxiing to its takeoff position, however, a fire broke out inside the rear fuselage, from an auxiliary power unit mounted there, and quickly engulfed the whole fuselage. The entire crew on board escaped unharmed, but the Kee Bird's fuselage and tail surfaces were completely destroyed. When the lake thawed in the spring, the wreckage (with nearly intact wing panels and engines) sank to the bottom, where it now lies.
I almost cried watching that show, I thought for sure they were going to pull it off. Those poor guys worked so hard and spent so much time and money for nothing, plus they lost a great piece of history.
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Every genuine Alaska bush story begins: Now this is no Subaru. So, this is no Subaru . . . By January up on the Yukon, my blood would thicken to the point that if I was zipping up my parka, it was always about -35. If the Athabascan kids were playing ball out on the frozen river in shirts, it was 10 above. Now this is no Subaru, there was a search and rescue effort based in our village for a week with temps about -25 or so. Volunteer pilots stayed at the hotel. Land the bush planes in the afternoon, drain the oil from the engine into metal cans, take it to the hotel, get up in the morning and put the can on the stove to warm it, hurry out to the airport, pour it in, circulate with mag off, mag on, yours truly would prop start, (no references to HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED, please) batteries were removed for the season and that was just the routine. Now, the fun part was all the planes were on skis, no brakes, so when the motor fires, the plane starts sliding forward. Anyway, they didn't find the lost plane until summer, in a lake. Now this is no Subaru . . . to open a frozen sewer line in winter in one of my villages I brought in a steam cleaner, built a manifold to connect it from the steamer, ran six lines off the manifold to 8 ft lengths of i/2 inch pipe, held them vertically on the dirt road surface until they ate their way down a foot or so, then they bored their own way, spread the six points around and let the thing run over night. In the morning, dug out the mud down to the sewer main, cut a hole, and ran the steam hose attached to a heavy plumbers snake using my "steam drill bit," an attachment that shot steam forward and backward. Voile, it's working, dump 500 gallons from the village fire tanker down the lift station cistern to keep it going while patching the pipe and backfilling, and steam is your friend in the SubArctic. Keep the new-fangled toilets paid for by oil money flushing. Now this is no Subaru . . . oh, I'm getting homesick for a big plate of stinkheads and deep fried King Crab Acuras.
Somewhere in my files I have pictures from Kiska Island, circa 1972. After the island was taken from the Japanese, and after the war ended, everything was just left. 14 Japanese wrecked ships in the harbor, rusting miniature subs on the beach, airplanes all over in the tundra, buildings, bullets, ammo dumps, and I remember standing in one place looking at the hills covered with gun emplacements with the guns intact. Anyway, the native corporation had the government come in and clean it up as a make-work project later. After all, no one ever goes to Kiska. We just stopped in to get out of a storm.
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Dean, Bbarn...That was a great show....until the end.IIRC the APU was left loose and bounced around,starting the fire. Tragic. J.B. ( 14 degrees and the snow if falling side-ways,Fred`s not down w/ working today)
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Will have to disassemble but chasis will fit out the hatch way. Already checked that.
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(http://www.foxnews.com/static/managed/img/Scitech/UnitedStatesSnow_slideshow_604x500.jpg)
Dec. 9: NASA's MODIS Rapid Response satellites Terra and Aqua captured this image of snows covering the Western United States.
Brrrr!
Mike