How do I charge my Spree's battery?

Fixin' Spree · Post by **Fixin' Spree** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:22 pm

Hi, I am having some electrical issues with my '84 Spree:

1) Turn signals do not function, nor does the signal indicator light or sound.

2) Brake lights do not function.

3) Electric starter is apparently in good shape, but does not function.

4) Horn does not function.

5) Headlight, including high beam and high beam indicator light, FUNCTION.

6) Thing starts right up without any issues when I kick start it.

I just purchased this machine from a mechanic who said he rebuilt the starter and rear brake, but left the key in the ignition the night before I bought it, thus draining the battery. He told me the battery would need to be charged to get the electric starter to function.

I spoke to a scooter repairman today who immediately suggested that all of my issues would be resolved by charging up the battery.

Am I correct in thinking my Spree has a 12 volt, 4 amp battery? What specific charger do I need to charge this battery, or will any old one do?

Many thanks.

SpreeFeverBob · Post by **SpreeFeverBob** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:01 pm

Fixen Spree,
I had to recently buy a battery charger for my scooter and I bought mine off Ebay for less than $20.00, but Wal-Mart sells motorcycle battery chargers and that might work for you. I think a car battery charger is way too much charging power and might damage the scooter battery so yes please buy a scooter battery charger instead and you will be good to go. I did and my battery works good as new now and I almost went to Wal-Mart and bought a $40.00 battery.

chevyguyjay · Post by **chevyguyjay** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:55 pm

follow your red + terminal, check and c if u didnt blow the inline fuse. it could be a possibility.

steffen707 · Post by **steffen707** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 1:22 am

is 2 amp trickle charge really too much?

keithw · Post by **keithw** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 8:46 am

For those with a bit of electrical talent you can use a 12 VDC wall wart. They are normally rated at an amp or less and can be picked up at the thrift stores for a buck or so. Snip off the end of the cord that goes into the toy and install a red and black clip available from Radio Shack or a good car parts store. I've built several and they work fine for an overnite charge.

They are unregulated DC meaning that with no load they run about 16-18 volts. You do need to make sure that the red clip goes on the posative wire.

keithw

steffen707 · Post by **steffen707** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 9:45 am

Is there any problem with charging the battery up at 16 to 18 volts though?

Kenny_McCormic · Post by **Kenny_McCormic** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 11:05 am

jonsteffen wrote:Is there any problem with charging the battery up at 16 to 18 volts though?

It wont get that high. ONE MUST BE VERY CAREFUL charging batterys this small, especially the sealed variety.

The lights should work without a battery, check the fuse. If the fuse is good the regulator or wiring nearby is *. The bike will charge its own battery if you ride it. your stator is good as the headlight works.

keithw · Post by **keithw** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:20 pm

With the load of the battery the voltage will not get that high. A fully charged battery will run about 14 volts.

keithw

steffen707 · Post by **steffen707** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 1:32 pm

So what do you mean by being careful? What's too much current?

mousewheels · Post by **mousewheels** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 3:37 pm

Scooter batteries get lots of abuse - chargers not suited for them, and discharging to dead over the winter. They aren't that expensive, so getting purpose specific equipment may or may not be attractive to the owner.

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Charge current is generally lower than the amp hour capacity. This is true for cars too.

Automotive
6A car charger, 60 Amp hr battery = C/10 max charge rate.
Fast charger/engine starting setting 50-100A < 2C. Fast charge/engine start setting is not recommended for charge...

Carrying that over to a scooter sized battery 3 to 4 Amp hr, that would put a charger at 300/400mA max and a 'boost' charge to less than 8A. That's ballpark, battery manufactures specify max charge current.

So not only is the battery charger designed for specific voltage output, (multiple voltage outputs for 'smart chargers') the max current output is tailored for the battery application also.

A good charger will typically have at least 2 charge voltage levels - 'fast' (charge to 80% or so in 2-4 hours (C/2 - C/4), 'slow'(charge the remainder in 8-16 hours), and possibly a final 'float charge' level, a lowered voltage at which charge is maintained, but there is no overcharge. If you had experience with old SLA camcorder batteries and chargers, this is approx what they did.

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There's some information about chargers at
Charger Review: http://www.webbikeworld.com/r3/motorcyc ... y-charger/
http://batterytender.com/faqs.php

Kenny_McCormic · Post by **Kenny_McCormic** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 3:48 pm

Not being careful: Putting a starter box( a battery charger with enough kick to start a car on its own) set for 14 volts on a spree, caps popped out of the sealed liquid acid battery and sprayed acid everywhere. The first time I made this mistake wasnt enough, last month I did the same thing and spent the next hour rinsing out my Camrys engine compartment(forgot to pop the caps off, battery puked acid).

steffen707 · Post by **steffen707** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 4:43 pm

I've got 4 out of 5 scooters with bad batteries. People just don't like to charge em, and they must be abused as well.

mousewheels · Post by **mousewheels** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 10:10 pm

Putting a starter box( a battery charger with enough kick to start a car on its own) set for 14 volts on a spree, caps popped out of the sealed liquid acid battery and sprayed acid everywhere.

LOL - Spectacular!

That's the why of comparing the 50-100A boost on a car charger to (~1 to 2X amp hour capacity) A small 8A car charger on a Scooter battery. The car charger is way big side from the get go. A couple minutes at 4-8A will generally get a scooter started. If the battery will not accept any charge current its screwed up. Long term sitting discharged will make a battery not accept charge current.

Fixin' Spree · Post by **Fixin' Spree** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 9:53 pm

Thanks for the responses, but I must admit that they've done nothing but confuse me. Can anyone tell me SPECIFICALLY what I need to charge my Spree's battery?

Wheelman-111 · Post by **Wheelman-111** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 10:37 pm

Greetings:

A brand called Battery tender is good but pricey choice. There are others. This type of charger is popular with motorcyclists for winter storage. You can hook it up and leave it all season.

A microprocessor controls the rate of charge, backing off when it approaches full to prevent something called sulfation of the lead plates. Some even claim the ability to recover a far-gone battery, but YMMV,

Battery Tender is a known and respected brand, since you asked for a specific recommendation. There it is.