Burlen 6v Battery Charging

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thornebt
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Burlen 6v Battery Charging

Post by thornebt »

A few weeks ago I bought a Burlen Cyclon type battery for my 6V positive earth G80S. I have used it for about 50 miles since then. Today I found it only has 0.7V in it. More worryingly it looks as though each end of the battery top has risen slightly - see photo - probably by less than 1mm but can be seen by eye, no need for a straight edge. I'm wondering if my regulator (electronic unit made by CMES Bristol) is faulty and has cooked the battery. I guess the first thing to do is to charge it back up, connect it up to the bike and test the voltage at the battery terminals at a fast idle with an analogue multimeter? Rather annoying my mate who never returns things has borrowed my battery charger!

Anyway, is that the best starting point please? Test the voltage going into the battery? Or can I do any another checks like measuring resistance of the flat battery etc.

Cheers. Bruce.
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REW
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Re: Burlen 6v Battery Charging

Post by REW »

My Cyclon 6v battery died overwinter after 11 years of neglect but perfect functionality. It too registered .7v upon testing and no amount of coaxing would get either of my 6v capable smart chargers to switch on and do the business.

If you can get some charge into the battery you may then get a charger to work. I have in the past used a 12v leisure battery hooked up to a totally flat 12v battery then to the charger, all in parallel, to "kick start" the process and that bike battery works fine today, 2 years on. I tried the same trick, in short bursts, with the 6v Cyclon and managed eventually to get up to about 2v but no further so I reckon at was an ex-battery.

I have gone back to an AGM 6v (Motobatt) battery as it seems easier to keep charged and re-charge from low if required. Cheaper too.

HTH.
Ron

1951 Matchless G3L thumping round the Durham Dales.
alanjennings
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Re: Burlen 6v Battery Charging

Post by alanjennings »

I reckon it's " cooked", motobatt are pretty good value. You do need a tester, about 7.4 volts when reved up any more is not good news!
Alan [Morini] Jennings
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thornebt
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Re: Burlen 6v Battery Charging

Post by thornebt »

I charged the battery up on a standard battery charger and within three hours it was up to 6.33 volts. I then fitted it into the bike and did a few miles. After that my meter showed it as having 6.25 volts. I put a digital multimeter across the battery terminals and with it idling it showed over 6 volts increasing to 7.4 volts at a faster idle. It was a bit hit and miss as it's one of those jobs you need three hands for.

What worried me earlier today was the slight rise at the ends of the plastic top. I've emailed Burlen but it says on their website it can take some time to reply as they get 250 enquiries a day and about 2000 spam emails. They also said they may not reply at all!

I probably need to spend a bit more time on it. I'm not sure my test of measuring the voltage at the battery is the best way to do it as I've since read that you should connect the two dynamo terminals together with a bridging wire and test it that way. I've got James Smith's Classic Motorcycle Electrics Manual so I really need to sit down with that and educate myself before going much further. I'll also stick the voltmeter on the battery tomorrow to see how much charge is left in it.

Cheers. Bruce.
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clive
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Re: Burlen 6v Battery Charging

Post by clive »

Just a thought does your electronic regulator disconnect the battery when the engine is stationary? some do not and as a consequence the battery gradually discharges through the primary windings. No problem with regular use but if you leave the bike for some weeks it may flatten the battery.
clive
if it ain't broke don't fix
Mick D
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Re: Burlen 6v Battery Charging

Post by Mick D »

Hi

Checking the voltage across the battery terminals is the correct method of determining the charging voltage - if you are seeing something around 7V all is fine.

To get a rough idea of battery condition check it's voltage when the headlight is switched on - on a fully charged battery with the engine off it should be around 5.5 - 6V.

Less than this or a declining voltage indicates a failing battery.

Regards Mick
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thornebt
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Re: Burlen 6v Battery Charging

Post by thornebt »

clive wrote:Just a thought does your electronic regulator disconnect the battery when the engine is stationary? some do not and as a consequence the battery gradually discharges through the primary windings. No problem with regular use but if you leave the bike for some weeks it may flatten the battery.
I am not aware that my regulator disconnects the battery. It's one of the modern black box type that looks a bit like this one:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Boyer-Dynamo ... SwCKRcrcYZ

I took the battery off the bike today and charged it up. It showed 6.42V immediately after disconnecting the charger and two hours later it is down to 6.24V. Perhaps a higher voltage is to be expected immediately after charging when the battery is still 'fizzing'? (I don't mean that it's making any noise, just that the 'acid' is still active?)

When the wife is around I will get some more charging figures at the battery. It's much easier when she can rev the bike and I can hold the probes on the battery. I will use my analogue meter this time as I understand that is better. I previously got 7.4V at a fast idle but don't know what it might rise to given some proper revs.

Cheers. Bruce.
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thornebt
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Re: Burlen 6v Battery Charging

Post by thornebt »

Mick D wrote:Hi

Checking the voltage across the battery terminals is the correct method of determining the charging voltage - if you are seeing something around 7V all is fine.

To get a rough idea of battery condition check it's voltage when the headlight is switched on - on a fully charged battery with the engine off it should be around 5.5 - 6V.

Less than this or a declining voltage indicates a failing battery.

Regards Mick
Thanks Mick. I'll try that test as well. Cheers. Bruce.
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thornebt
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Re: Burlen 6v Battery Charging

Post by thornebt »

thornebt wrote:
Mick D wrote:Hi

Checking the voltage across the battery terminals is the correct method of determining the charging voltage - if you are seeing something around 7V all is fine.

To get a rough idea of battery condition check it's voltage when the headlight is switched on - on a fully charged battery with the engine off it should be around 5.5 - 6V.

Less than this or a declining voltage indicates a failing battery.

Regards Mick
Thanks Mick. I'll try that test as well. Cheers. Bruce.
After fully charging my battery three days ago it settled down to about 6.33v. Today it showed 6.12v. I put it back in the bike and connecting the volt meter across the battery and giving the bike some revs it topped out at 7.45v. I read that the optimum charging voltage is 7.0v - 7.2v so maybe this is slightly high? With the bike not running I tried the headlamp test Mick suggested. The voltage dropped from 6.12v to 5.85v with the headlamp turned on, so that seems reasonable.

Having never had a fuse fitted I think that it is now time to include a fuse in the negative close to the battery. I think 15A should be about right?

What I really need, please, is some advice on my charging rate of 7.45v. If this is too high then I will have to replace the electronic control box and would fit one of these:-

https://www.dynamoregulators.com/dvr2.php

This control box seems like a good one and is recommended by James Smith (who I think is the Matchless Clueless guy) in his Classic Motorcycle Electrics Manual.

If my charging voltage of 7.45v is OK then I possibly need to fit a fuse in the wiring to it - in addition to one at the battery. Should this be in the wire to the dynamo or the ammeter and what voltage fuse please?

Finally, I should probably admit that I was foolish enough in the past to accidentally connect my battery the wrong way round so the control box may well have been damaged!

Cheers. Bruce.
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thornebt
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Re: Burlen 6v Battery Charging

Post by thornebt »

After connecting the battery yesterday it has gone from 6.12v to 5.71v in less than 24 hours. I am wondering if this is a fault with the control box and as Clive suggested it might be discharging through the primary windings. As previously mentioned I did accidentally connect the battery the wrong way round at some point in the past so it may have screwed one of the diodes? I think it is probably time to replace the control box but does anyone have any thoughts before I do please? Cheers. Bruce.
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