Re-fitting battery after charging

[Ursa]

Hello, apologies for the blonde post, am not used to working with electronic parts yet (I am starting a bike maintenance course next month...), my 695 was standing for a couple of months due to illness, and the battery went flat. So I bought the Oxford optimiser 900 and charged it back up.
I have refitted the battery, and the bike fired up ok, I wasn't sure if I could hear a crackly noise. Is it an earth cable that goes on the negative terminal? There's nothing in the handbook about it. Just don't want to ride to work and have an issue.
Am sorry this is such a basic post, I've found it hard to get clear information online, please bear with me!

[chris yeatman]

Yes, earth cable goes on the negative side of the battery with battery post marked - and positive marked + cable comes from starter or relay to the battery. Hope this helps

[Ursa]

Great, thank you so much

[Mr Gazza]

Not such a blonde question as it happens...

You should always disconnect the earth first and re-connect it last (Negative is almost universally used as the earth these days).

The reason being that it is safer, as all the frame and other metal parts will be negative also, so you can't make a circuit with the spanner if you should touch any thing (Other than a bare positve.!) as like poles don't make a circuit.

This basic rule was ignored by a seasoned HGV driver whom I pleaded with to remove the earth before he retightened his loose positve terminal....inevitably the spanner wedged between the terminal and chassis....24volts and gawd knows how many amps went through the spanner and actually melted it quite rapidly.

As far as I know he still has "King D1ck" written across his palm to this day....Ouch!!

[garry]

exactly chaps.... no such thing as a stupid question..... just stupid answers.

actually love posts like these, as it clearly means somebody wants to know, and is clearly trying..

[Rascall]

I once dropped an uninsulated spanner into a backup battery rack, I was working above the rack and someone had left the top cover off. It had about 32 x 12v car batteries in it, wired to give -48v. The resulting flash vaporized the terminals of two the batteries and melted the ring of a 14 mm combi spanner clean off. The short circuit current delivery of a car battery can be scary and well capable of heating a spanner or screwdriver to red hot. The other outcome is likely to be damage to the battery itself due to the current. As a rule of thumb the short circuit current is about 20 times the amp hour rating, so your 100AH car battery can deliver 2000 amps for a short time, the limiting factor is the internal resistance of the battery.

in short

always remove the negative terminal first/ replace last on a negative earth vehicle

Russell

[Darren69]

Not such a blonde question as it happens...

You should always disconnect the earth first and re-connect it last (Negative is almost universally used as the earth these days).

The reason being that it is safer, as all the frame and other metal parts will be negative also, so you can't make a circuit with the spanner if you should touch any thing (Other than a bare positve.!) as like poles don't make a circuit.

This basic rule was ignored by a seasoned HGV driver whom I pleaded with to remove the earth before he retightened his loose positve terminal....inevitably the spanner wedged between the terminal and chassis....24volts and gawd knows how many amps went through the spanner and actually melted it quite rapidly.

As far as I know he still has "King D1ck" written across his palm to this day....Ouch!!

lol! that's perfectly apt seeing as he was being a tool!

[Ursa]

Thanks all, it's such a different machine to work on, from my old Lambretta and I can't find a Haynes manual for the 695, so I really appreciate the help.

Am now terrified of dropping spanners near the battery though hehe.

I start my motorcycle maintenence course in a few weeks, so hopefully I will be a bit more confident doing bits and pieces :)

[damien666]

You could download one from www.ducati-manuals.com
It's a USA site. Would have thought most of the spec to be the same, except maybe emissions? Unless anyone knows different?

[Flip]

Really don't mean this to sound patronising in any way but well done on getting booked on a maintenance course to learn a bit more about your bike- it is all about having the confidence to give it a go.

Where are you doing the course?

When I did mine there weren't very many colleges etc. offering part time courses and so I did my City and Guilds on day release (taking my time off work as holiday for two and half years) at Merton College in Morden- travelling up from the South coast each day.

One of the best things I have ever done as it was where I met my mate who I bought my Monster from!!!

Good to see you're keeping things Italian too- have you still got the Lammy?

[Nottsbiker]

My friend had a cam chain style bracelet on his wrist whilst working on a bike battery. Needless to say that the bracelet drooped and laid across both terminals making a circuit and as the human body seems to take a while to notice something painful when your eyes are on something else he got very badly burnt. Best bit it was a Ducati!!

[Ursa]

Really don't mean this to sound patronising in any way but well done on getting booked on a maintenance course to learn a bit more about your bike- it is all about having the confidence to give it a go.

Where are you doing the course?

When I did mine there weren't very many colleges etc. offering part time courses and so I did my City and Guilds on day release (taking my time off work as holiday for two and half years) at Merton College in Morden- travelling up from the South coast each day.

One of the best things I have ever done as it was where I met my mate who I bought my Monster from!!!

Good to see you're keeping things Italian too- have you still got the Lammy?

Thanks! It's at Hackney Community College, an evening course starting with the beginners module in January, then hopefully the intermediate afterwards.

I still have the Lammy, had her many years, she is a bit delicate for the London commute these days. I did loads of work on her over the years, and on my old Austin Mini, so I am keen to learn.

[Mr Gazza]

I'm all for owners doing their own spannering. That's just the way it should be. Self education is a wonderful thing but taking a proper course will be much cheaper...:rolleyes:

Worth mentioning is the breather pipe for the battery. Unless you have a gel or "sealed for life" type battery, it is important to make sure that the clear plastic breather hose is pushed firmly onto the breather and routed away below the bike with no pinches or kinks.

Certainly on the "M" series Monsters the acid plays hell with the frame and engine if the breather is not in place.

[Dirty]

I learnt everything I know about bikes from working on cars. Hence my total lack of any useful knowledge :)