6 volt sealed battery replacement

[doug]

Hello out there,
My HD 6volt lead size of a tanker battery just crapped out and I was wondering if anyone has tried a sealed battery as a replacement. I have a B50 BSA also and I recently replaced the battery in that with a small battery made for an alarm system it works great.
Tha BSA battery was only 5 Amp hours. My Duoglide battery is 22 amp hours and I guess you need more amps with 6 volt. I hate to stick in too small a battery and blow the voltage regulator as the bike is totally stock (original paint) It is a real mess on the fender under the oil tank from 44 years of battery corrosion so I like to keep it greased down there. A sealed battery would end the corrosion battle.
Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Doug
61FL

[108]

Doug , My 6volt is in good shape now but I often think about a cheaper replacement that I can get quick if mine fails suddenly .I was just in a" Batteries Plus" store to get some ni-cads and saw a sealed 6 volt 18? amp that would fit the oil tank if you put a block of wood .etc. under it to make taller .Its made for those slow kid's electric cars and only $24 .I was going to go back to check what the higest charge rate it would take but there all made for fast charging these days so its probably ok.There were others that may work too .Check it out!

[59Panman]

I bought this one to replace mine here.

http://www.powerfactorinc.com/Batteries/cf-6v18.htm

ozwick

[108]

Doug, Go to a " Batteries Plus" type store .They have a 18? amp sealed 6 volt that will fit in the oil tank .Actualy there were a couple others that might work too. It's made for those slow plastic kids cars and its only about $25. I ment to go back and check on how fast a charge rate it can take in case I need one. check it out!

[doug]

Thanks Oz and 108,
I clicked on the link and there was a lot of interesting specs on the battery. I will order one and let you know how it works out. At 1/3 the price and less hassles it seems like the direction to take. I have got plenty of blocks of wood around to take up the slack.
Thanks again,
Doug

[doug]

Hello Ozwick,
I checked out that battery and went to order it but they took a long time to get back to me. In the meantime I measured my battery compartment and saw that battery you gave me the link to will not fit. It is over 6 inches long and I can only fit slightly under 5 inches long battery in there. Are you using the stock setup?
Thanks,
Doug

[59Panman]

I have a stock 59 pan with the stock battery posts etc. The OEM Harley battery is about 8" tall. I used a piece of composite decking material to sit the battery on along with some rubber padding on the bottom and 1 more piece under the battery lid for extra insulation over the spade connectors. The guy I bought it from here in the Bay Area said that this is the battery all the guys are buying.

ozwick

[52WLCnFL]

From the cell voltages it can be concluded that this is not a NiCd battery; it's a sealed lead acid battery. A NiCd won't last long. A SLA either unless you manage to keep the voltage down to 6.8-6.9 V. A three-brush gen will destroy the battery in short time due to over-charging. A classic battery can get rid of the over-charge energy by splitting its acid in hydrogen and oxygen. A SLA can't get rid of these gasses, they have to be recombined and that gives heat.
Even with proper voltage adjustment I wonder how these batteries survive in our oil tanks, the maximum charging temperature is 140 degrees F....

[Arthur]

Doug: Stock H2 6-volt batteries should be filled only enough to cover the plates ... far below the top of the battery. The extra height of the battery case was designed to avoid splashing and resulting corrosion. You might find your problem sufficiently cured by simply reducing the electrolyte level in you battery.

Having said that, I never liked the stock-type batteries in my Hydra-Glide either. I came across a Yuasa 49B-6 battery, designed for the 49-54 BMW R50 or R51. It’s a little bigger than the battery in your BSA (a 39B-6 by Yuasa’s numbering) and a little smaller than the stock H2, but has 14 amp-hours capacity … which I believe is the same as OEM H2 batteries (though yours is more).

Anyway, this battery has worked fine so far, and I like it much better than the original type: It’s cleaner, holds a charge better, and there is enough room around it in the battery box to add some padding to insulate it from the shock of riding in a rigid frame. I do not know whether a new one would be any cheaper, though.

BMW twins after ’54 took a different 6-volt battery. I don’t know anything about them, so they might or might not work as well or better.

[doug]

Thanks for the replies,
Arthur how come that battery is cleaner? I have a problem with putting a Beemer battery on my HD. It may cause me to ramble on excessively about boring topics. And might make my bike a little too reliable.
I have slowly been trying to bring my old battery back to life by long term trickle charging but no luck it will only hold 4 volts. I put it in in 99 so it owes me no favors.
52WRcnfl,
I hate to screw something up by putting in a SLA battery. Thats why I posted before doing any possibly destructive testing. Wouldn't want to find out a SLA battery did not work properly after it took my generator and regulator with it.
Ozwick unfortunately there is no way that battery would fit that you linked to. For some strange reason it seems like every battery website has totally different batteries.
A buddy of mine told me a story about getting home with a 9volt radio battery in a pinch.
I will post when I figre out which one to try.
Thanks,
Doug

[kickstart]

HD still sells their latest version of the battery, under part number 66006-29 F.

They quoted me $49, which seemed reasonable. I have not seen this battery and don't know anything about it.

ANyone used or bought this recently?

[108]

Kickstart, I am running that H2 from a Harley dealer since July and it seems fine . Only lost about .2 of a volt over the winter. I was suprised at the price since at least one Mail-order catalog I have wants twice that much! One the other hand --- the last Harley dealer battery I had was great untill it was about a year-and- half old and one day while doing about 50mph, something broke inside leaving it totaly "open circuit" ( very rare occurance), the voltage went sky-high and blew out all my light bulbs.So - you just never know. Also, I recently went to a Interstate battery store for a battery for a Zundapp I have and I saw the SLA H2 look-a-like mentioned in a post above. I asked if it could be used in the Harley where it might get as much as 12-15 amps for brief periods .He called Interstate , described the apllication correctly ,and they said it would work just fine ::)?.

[kickstart]

Thanks for the info. Here is what I know now. I stupidly ordered a battery from V Twin, through a local dealer. Damn thing was about 90 bucks, but was supposed to be exactly like OEM. Well it came in the dealer filled with acid, and it leaked like hell through the top seams. After some communication with V Twin he got me another. Filled it, and guess what, also leaked.

On close inspection, the upper cover or lid part of these does not seal against the side case, so when you tip it more than a few degrees, acid leaks out. Figuring the bouncing it will get on my hardtail, no way for these. BTW, they are made in India, and the dealer cost is about $66.

Meantime, I have ordered the HD battery, it has got to be a lot better than this rip off junk. Will report once I get it.