Forum

[Les H]

No problem whatsoever Graham. If the trickle charger is working correctly the amount of hydrogen generated will be miniscule. However....You might consider taking the battery out of the bike though and take it back into the garage. I'm not a fan of constant trickle charging as I prefer to top up the battery to a fully charged state and remove the charger then recharge to max in about a months.... time repeat until normal usage is resumed. A cold place is always than a warm place to store batteries and by removing the battery, gives you a chance to wipe out the battery area with bicarb of soda solution or wash out to avoid old battery acid spray mist damaging and rusting the metal-work. Another thing about some battery chargers is they can mistake the state of charge if one cell is a little low and switch over to full charge to attempt to bring the total voltage up even though the other cells are fully charged. This will then overcharge the good cells and bubble off the electrolyte of these perhaps to a dangerous low level where the cells become exposed and they become sulphated and ruined. Modern sealed batteries are obviously better but I still recommend periodic charging rather than constant trickle charging...Les

[ric]

Just checked my OEM battery, 12.99Volts

also let some air out of the tyres now it's warmer.

[PeteF]

Were you at the Beamish last year? Nice job on the special if it was.

[jefrs]

Batteries on charge evolve hydrogen and oxygen. On trickle charge not very much at all. Hydrogen is very reactive and will quickly (oxidise) turn into water all by itself. Even on full charge the 'well ventilated space' equals shed.

It you do keep it charging it is essential to regularly inspect and keep it topped up because it loses water as that hydrogen and oxygen evolved off. If the battery is good then just put it into storage and recharge, if required, before use; I think I'd leave it on the bike, Bantam battery compartment is hidden between toolbox and air filter box (?)

[papasmurf]

Unless you are charging lead acid batteries of a large size or a bank of them, I would not be too worried about the dispersal of the oxygen and hydrogen produced. However smoking a cigarette and naked flames or sparking from electrical switchgear is something that should be avoided near batteries being charged.

[PeteF]

I thought hydrogen had to burn in the presence of oxygen to form water. It will certainly migrate into the upper atmosphere however, and may even escape the earth's gravity.

[Les H]

Just noticed that my post above appeared after Graham had entered new details of his bike (unseen by me) so he is saying battery not easy to remove.

I agree with PeteF... Hydrogen is not "Highly Reactive", but it does burn ferociously in the presence of oxygen to form water. If left unburnt, being the lightest element in the universe, it will simply float upwards to the highest reaches of the atmosphere unchanged and eventually drift off into outerspace eventually.

Les

[jefrs]

Hydrogen is highly reactive but what do I know, I only did chemistry to degree level as a side order to physics and maths. If it wasn't so reactive then petrol wouldn't work as fuel. It rarely exists in a free state, as a gas it will react with atmospheric oxygen to produce water vapour as soon as it can. It does burn very nicely, if you have a concentration of it. Combustion is just a chemical reaction that is exothermic enough to support ionisation (the flames). Set fire to a hydrogen filled balloon and it goes whumph!

Unless you get a concentration it's not a problem. In a well ventilated area gases disperse and mix very rapidly (Brownian Motion and Einstein showed us that).



Let's not get carried away. We ride around atop of hydrogen generating batteries and 3 gallons of petrol. We do not tend to explode

[Scalyback]

You might...

Mine got lithium-ions!

[papasmurf]

Jefrs, my K75S BMW has a nearly 5 gallon petrol tank with the pump and electrical connections inside the tank, behind the tank is a battery bigger than that fitted to some cars. I had an electrical fire on the bike some year ago, in the area of the ignition switch, fortunately I know which connecter block to pull apart to isolate the switch, and also how to "hotwire" the bike should I ever lose the key. Fortunately I was able get things sorted without having to use a fire extinguisher.
It was character building few minutes though.