New Battery? - Odyseey - Pt3
 

My SPS turns over but the battery dies before the engine fires. I bought the bike just before Xmas and it is the first Ducati I've had so I'm not sure if it just needs a new battery or if there is a more efficient starting procedure that I should be using or (hope not) there is something else more fundamental wrong.

I bought the bike just before Christmas and have garaged it since then on an Optimate. I rode it once or twice in the new year and it started fine (though it needed turning over for quite a long time before it fired). It went away for servicing to Moto Louigi in Jan and when it came back Rich mentioned that the battery was low so they had topped it up and charged it. Back it went into my garage and onto the Optimate again. Since then I have ridden it only a couple of times and each time I have had to jump start it from my car. It has been 2 - 4 weeks between rides and the light on the Optimate has indicated that the battery is 'good' but when I go to start it the bike turns over OK for 30 seconds or so but dies before the engine fires. I have also noticed that the noises from the alarm (Datatool Veto) are much quieter than they were.

I went to start it this morning and it has just done it again. Unfortunately my wife is out in the car so I am stuck. I know sweet FA about bike electrics so I have been meaning to ring Rich at Moto Louigi but haven't got round to it and now of course it is Sunday so I can't raise him!

Any advice much appreciated!

Cheers

Sounds like the battery has seen beter days. Drop a new, quality, one on her. Yuasa, Varta etc.
The SPS can be notoriously heavy on the battery, so trying to get away with a cheap one wouldn't be a wise move.
You could look at a high performance type like the Oddysey but they are big bucks.

Thanks very much Nelly. Anyone have recommendations on the cheapest place to buy these?

Don't you have to modify the battery tray to get the Oddysey battery to fit?

I found this http://www.batteryweb.com/motorcyclebattlist.cfm?ID=53&motorbrand=Ducati&cc= 996 which suggests that an Odyssey PC680 is the one so I had a look for UK suppliers and came up with two different batteries - similar specifications but quite different prices ....

http://www.ekmpowershop3.com/ekmps/s...&productid=303

and

http://www.priracing.co.uk/product.p...od=104&xSec=41

Does anyone know if it is either of these that should be used?

According to Varta spec on the web the YB16AL-A2 which I have in the bike at the moment measures:

207mm x 71.5mm x 164mm

and the Odyssey PC680 measures:

185mm x 79 mm x 170 (narrower, taller, deeper)

Anyone modified the battery tray to get an Odyssey in?

On a standard 996 I had one cable tied into the battery tray and raised with some cardboard cut to fit the tray. I was going to do something more permanent but I sold the bike and bought the 998R. The R needed a battery recently but the tray is even smaller than the 996 so I just bought a Varta direct replacement instead of going the Odyssey route.

If Odyssey made a battery small enough to fit the tray in the R and had twice the cranking amps I'd have one in a shot - they are great.

Any idea if it was this one?

http://www.ekmpowershop3.com/ekmps/s...&productid=303

or this one?

http://www.priracing.co.uk/product.p...od=104&xSec=41

and being fatter than the standard battery, how much did it distort the fairing panel by?

Check out Shazam he knows a thing or two about these things.
http://www.ducatisportingclub.com/xm...2350#pid103903
I'm in the market a new battery for my 748r which has been on a optimate all winter, five days off charge at servicing and now its died?

[Edited on 20-3-2006 by AndyW]

If you guys can get to Cadwell this weekend, we've got a load of A1 condition OEM Ducati Yuasa batteries that will be going for £20 a piece.

They're the smaller YT12B-BS ones, but should be a fine replacement for the bigger YB16AL-A2.

antonye sounds a good deal to me.
Cant make Cadwell though!
Motherinlaw's party :puzzled:

David>

Ring Louigi. He stocks some very good batteries which have more oomph that the the stock one, and they're the same size, so no need to modify the tray.

Can't remember what they're called, but I've got one and it cost around 50 quid odd, can't remember exactly.

Do you know if an Otimate will work with this Odyssey battery?

i think optimates will work with any battery won't they???

Failing that, you can always bump start your bike! Works every time with mine...

I wasn't sure, but it says on the Optimate website that it is "optimised for modern batteries from 2.5 Ah to 28 Ah"

The Odyssey PC680 is 16Ah so it should be OK - I hope so anyway as I have just ordered one from here!

I use a Battery Tender. I don’t use it all the time because the drain/discharge is very slow for this type of battery. I charge it when the on-board voltmeter drops from 12.8V to (say) 12.7V or 12.6V.

In the Owners Manual that comes with the battery, here’s what the manufacturer (Hawker) says about chargers:

“To get long life from the Odyssey battery it is important that the battery be kept near full charge. Low power 1.25 amp Battery Tenders will keep a fully charged battery fully charged, but cannot recharge if Odyssey becomes discharged.

Special chargers such as the Deltran 12V 6 amp or 12V 20 amp designed for Odyssey are required for routine deep discharge applications (such as total loss racing applications where you don’t charge during a race). If a standard automotive charger is used to boost charge a discharged battery (11.5V) because of an accessory left on, it is important to make sure that the charging voltage does not exceed 15V during charge.”

(For a PC 680 this means no faster than a two hour charge time at 10 amps.)

BTW, the Odyssey carries a two year full free replacement warranty when used in a motorcycle.

http://batterytender.com/notice_odys...43f5 f600533f

Notice to Odyssey Battery Users

Deltran Battery Tender no longer endorses nor recommends the Hawker Energy Products Odyssey line of batteries for PowerSports vehicles. In our opinion, Hawker's advertising program for the Odyssey battery does not promote the best interest of the PowerSports industry or consuming public.

The marketing department at Hawker uses the term "PCA" to rate their battery cold cranking capacity. The term "Pulse Cranking Ampere" is not a BCI (Battery Council International) industry standard and in our opinion should not be used to measure battery output.

The battery industry has, and still uses, a very specific set of criteria to test batteries ("CCA"). The term "PCA" can be, and is, very misleading to the consumer because it is inconsistent with industry standards.

Deltran is a forty year old family-owned business that prides itself on not only customer satisfaction, but most importantly, product safety. In our opinion the chargers specifications recommended by Hawker could be very dangerous to the average consumer if those chargers were inadvertently used on normal flooded or gel batteries.

Deltran also believes that most of the today's PowerSports vehicles are supplied with standard alternators that have an output of approximately 14.2 volts. Hawker Odyssey batteries require a voltage over 14.7 volts to fully recharge the battery. The standard alternator will not return a Hawker Odyssey battery to a full state of charge.

We feel that the Hawker Odyssey battery was developed for the Stand-by Power industry and not for Powersports vehicles.



COMMENT: This sounds like a finger-pointing battery failure dispute between Hawker and Deltran, but I can address the two issues mentioned.

First, my Odyssey Owners Manual states that the battery is rated at 280 "CCA", not "PCA" as Deltran claims, so I haven't been misled.

Second, according to my on-board digital voltmeter, my 916 charging system that outputs around 13.6V will bring an Odyssey to the fully-charged voltage level of 12.8 volts that Hawker specifies, so Deltran's statement that a voltage output greater than 14.7 volts is needed for a full recharge is not correct - at least for a partially discharged PC680 battery. Perhaps this is an issue only for an Odyssey that has seen a deep discharge.

[Edited on 3-22-2006 by Shazaam!]

Blimey! What does that all mean in practice for an electronic-ignoramus like me with an Odyssey PC680 and an Optimate III? :o

I'm with you David. Will it start or won't it is about as complicated as I can cope with. Having read this thread I've just checked if my 996 will turn it over and it does. Before Christmas, it was dead. I first put it on a full size (i.e. not an Optimate) battery charger as the battery was only about 9 months old. That got it going and since then it's been on an Optimate. Started up a treat just now.

Might sound stupid but do you know there's a little button on the throttle that gives it (I'm assuming) a touch of choke to start it up. I only discovered this about a year ago so pardon me if I'm teaching you to suck eggs. Let it run for 2 or 3 minutes then rev the throttle and the button will click off.



:roll::roll:

Funny you should mention that - I discovered it for the first time at the weekend when I got my bike up on my new lift :) for the first time and saw it from a whole new angle!

Whaaattt!!!! Only just noticed, how have you guys been cold starting it then? Never mind, not a choke but a device that holds open the throttle slightly via a wedge within the throttle mech to save you blipping. ECU works out the correct ratio mixture for cold starts via sensors and pure magic. ;)

Whaaattt!!!! Only just noticed, how have you guys been cold starting it then? Never mind, not a choke but a device that holds open the throttle slightly via a wedge within the throttle mech to save you blipping. ECU works out the correct ratio mixture for cold starts via sensors and pure magic. ;)

Ooops! Twitchy fingers. :D

The other thing to mention is that neither of my Dukes like to start if you dick about with the throttle, opening and closing it while trying to start.

Just crack the 'fast idle' button then crank it and leave the throttle alone until it catches. Works for me every time.

If I wally about with the throttle I just get the thing churning over and a few big backfires for my troubles.

Well my Odyssey PC680 battery has arrived. Sad to admit but I have never changed a battery on a bike with an alarm before. It is a Datatool Veto Evo and unfortunately I don't have a manual so I have no idea if it will cause any problems if I just turn off the alarm whilst I change the battery. I'll have a look on the web and see if I can find a manual! Then I'll have to see about how to make it secure in the battery tray.

When you connect the new battery (or clip a charger on a completely dead battery when it's on the bike) the alarm will go off - just switch it off with the keyfob like normal and the job is done.

My veto evo works like that anyhow

David If you want a hand give us a shout I should be able to pop in tomorrow night if you want.

age

Thanks for the offer Age ... I've managed to get the battery in OK. It is snug but it doesn't distort the fairing. I haven't tried starting her up yet (maybe I'll go for a spin tomorrow if the weather is fine) but my Halfords battery charger says that it is fully charged. Strangely though, my Optimate 3 is showing an amber LED for 'Charging' - anyone have any idea why this is? My guess is that it is something to do with it being an Odyssey high power battery. Does anyone know if the Optimate will do its job on an Odyssey?

Well this morning the Optimate is showing a green LED so I guess everything is OK. Can't be sure though as it is chucking it down with rain so I won't be trying to start her up yet.