WINGWORLD MAGAZINE - The Most Frequently Asked Battery Question - and an Answer from Battery Bug

"I give it my enthusiastic endorsement as the most useful, practical, and accurate device for reporting real time voltage and battery condition."

 

Three years ago while attending the Automotive Aftermarket Product Expo (AAPEX) in Las Vegas, I stumbled into a demonstration put on by Argus Analyzers. This was a demonstration of a battery tester, but with a twist. You see, most testers either measure a battery’s conductance or place an actual load on it to determine available Cold Cranking Amps (CCA). There are also testers that report a battery’s condition in terms of available amp-hours or percentage of original “health.”  Though some of these results mean more to the person doing the testing than others, none of them answer two basic questions that I receive constantly. Those  questions are,

• Is this particular battery suitable for starting the engine of the vehicle in which it will be installed?
• How long will this battery remain serviceable?

The battery in your motorcycle is intended to power the electric starter as well as providing supplemental power when alternator output is low, such as during periods of engine idle. Knowing only the available amp-hours would be just swell, provided we were using the battery to power a total loss system such as a trolling motor, and we’d recharge the battery manually when not using it. Battery health? That’s a rather nebulous term intended to convey the condition of the battery relative to its condition when new. Because our bikes use electric starting motors, our main concern should be that battery’s ability to crank the engine under conditions we’re likely to ask of it – conditions such as cold temperatures or repeated start attempts to clear a flooded engine.  And even knowing the available CCA may not be sufficient proof.

 Argus was demonstrating a tester capable of reporting CCA, among other things. But what intrigued me was the product’s ability to predict with near certainty whether any particular battery was satisfactory in its current application. For instance, a rider might take a battery to a dealership to be tested, because the bike was slow cranking, and no amount of charging improved the situation. A mechanic might then test the battery with a load tester or conductance test and proclaim it to be in perfect health. “Really,” the customer might ask. “Then how come it won’t start my bike?” The mechanic, not seeing the bike, might not realize that the 12 amp-hour battery he’d just tested had been installed in a bike requiring a battery twice the size. Then again, a battery that’s over sized for the application, even though it tests weak, might be perfectly able to perform its duties.

A New Test Regimen

What Argus had done was develop a test method by which the tester could capture the lowest voltage reached during a start attempt. We’re not speaking of stabilized voltage; we’re talking about that instantaneous downward voltage spike that occurs when the start button is pressed, and the starter attempts to turn the stationary engine. Through testing, Argus was able to determine what that lowest voltage could reach before the battery was unlikely to continue its duties as a starting battery. They’ve termed this technology CrankCheck™.  Because each motorcycle is different in terms of amperage needs during starting, this makes perfect sense. Even two apparently identical motorcycles could vary for reasons such as engine condition or oil viscosity. Of course, a mechanic would need to have the subject vehicle present for this test. But isn’t that what we want? We don’t care if a battery will start our buddy’s bike. We want to know if it’ll start ours.

From Tool To Accessory

So, the new range of Argus Analyzers are great tools capable of testing in-vehicle, when it’s available. That’s fine for the shop mechanic. But Argus then upped the ante by transferring this CrankCheck™ technology to a battery monitor that combines several Functions. Wearing the moniker “Battery Bug,” the device is simply hooked to the battery terminals where it constantly monitors the battery voltage as well as the battery’s performance over time. The battery’s starting health, as determined by CrankCheck™, is reported as a percentage as well as with lit segments on a scale. A flashing segment will indicate the battery’s performance on the last start. Both a “weak battery” (30% starting health) and a “replace battery” (10% starting health) icon are present to alert the rider to impending battery failure. If the 10% icon turns on during a start, an alarm will sound for 30 seconds after the engine is shut down. As a bonus, the Battery Bug’s LCD display alternates between cranking health and real time system voltage. And the extended wires of the new Powersports version allow the user to place the unit where it’ll be easy to monitor.

That’s fine - the Battery Bug may give us some early warning, but many riders want to know, well in advance, how long their batteries will last. The Bug gives us a way to approximate the answer to that question. For instance, assume that we notice our battery’s starting health dropping by one LCD segment per month (roughly 7%), and that it currently is reported at 30%. If the downward slide continues at its current pace, we could presume our battery will be unserviceable (10% starting health) in roughly 3 months. That should provide plenty of time to prevent us from leaving on a two-week trip with a potential one-week battery.

Finally, the Battery Bug incorporates a Low Charge Alarm. This is different from the alarm for imminent starting failure. The weak battery icon and a periodic beeping signify the low charge alarm. I recently had the opportunity to hear this alarm, though I didn’t realize for several hours what it was that I was hearing. Having not practiced what I continually preach, I’d allowed one of my bikes to sit unattended for what I thought was only a week or so without being attached to a battery maintainer. It was obviously a lot more than one week, and the Bug was giving me five beeps periodically as a low voltage warning. Finally realizing where that infernal beeping was coming from, I saw the voltage reported as 12.4 volts. That battery was at least 50% discharged. Had I ignored it any longer, it likely would have suffered permanent damage.

The Bottom Line

I have worked with Argus, pestering them actually, for more than 2 years since first viewing CrankCheck™ technology in the form of the Battery Bug. As a result, the product for powersports (BB-SBM12-PS) got its own test  algorithm and dispensed with its tightly coiled cords in favor of long, straight cords that can be trimmed as necessary. Having tested this device it its various development stages on several bikes and over the course of more than 20,000 miles, I give it my enthusiastic endorsement as the most useful, practical, and accurate device for reporting real time voltage and battery condition. Whether mounted prominently or hidden under a removable body panel for occasional viewing, I wouldn’t be without one. The Battery Bug for Powersports is available through Amazon.com for $49.95, and powersports dealers should be able to order it shortly from their favorite warehouse distributor.

For more information, visit Argus Analyzers at www.batterybug.com.

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