Interstate Batteries

[argent brick]

Has anyone used an Interstate battery on their bike. Did you like it?

[branandfox]

I think Im going to invest in the bikemaster Gel battery next. Interstate, I haven't heard of so ill do some research  :hmm:

[argent brick]

Johnny,

Well, the next time you have 200 bucks laying around... give me a call.

BTW, Who is the third company?

[frogy]

Anyone try the Lithium batteries yet.They look small and light.The battery sitting under my seat is a jelly :hehehe battery and saves a little wght. but dang its BIG.

[branandfox]

I was looking at the lithiums, I dont think they're quite as good as the jellys though :X

[mikeinwis]

lynn,
Have one in my k11.  At least 5yrs old and still OK (I think)!  Have one in the ATV also, almost 7 yrs old.  That poor thing is totally abused--hardly ever on the charger-and just keeps going.
Interstates have proven to be extremely durable for me compared to "bargain" batteries.
Mike

[branandfox]

hey mike, which lithium battery did you fork out some limbs for?  :laugh

[argent brick]

All my plans and research to get a new battery for my K75 my be for nothing. I pulled the Yuasa out, charged it, and marched down to our local parts stored to have it load tested. Throwing a meter on it gave us 10.5 volts. We stopped right there. No load test.  New battery time. Of course, they do not stock the right size, and no they can't order it. Typical.

Now that I have the battery home, I noticed that this is not a sealed unit. Unscrewing the caps, I find that it is bone dry.
All six cells. I know, I should have checked that first, but how many people buy a old style battery these days? Sealed batteries are not that much more money. Why would you buy anything else?

I do not know how old my battery is, so I probably should get a new one. I think I might try to bring this one back from the dead. It would be nice to know if I just have a old battery or a charging problem.

[kennybobby]

You definitely have a charging problem--overcharging and boiling off your electrolyte.  If you use one of those worthless unregulated trickle chargers then that was the likely culprit.  Measure the charger voltage to see if it is above 14.4, which is where the cooking occurs.

If not then maybe it's just an old battery that the level wasn't maintained.

The advantage of the old style is that you can add distrilled water to keep it topped up when the level gets low.  The disadvantage is that you do have to check and keep it topped up--it's not plug and play and forget about...