KymcoForum.com
Scooters - 125 to 300 => Grandvista 250 => Topic started by: Carew on November 24, 2012, 08:15:15 PM
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I was considering adding a trickle charger to help the battery during the winter. The battery appears enclosed under the seat. Any suggestions for making this easily accessible for frequent connecting?
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I put a SAE cord on mine and routed it out under the side of my Yager.
It's ty - wrapped so it won't flop around but east to get to.
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I would suggest installing a 12 volt accessory plug. It's a one time shot. You can get a battery tender, and buy an adaptor that will plug right into the 12 volt plug. Then you also have the use of the plug for a GPS or other 12 volt accessory while you're riding.
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thank you both for the response. mrmike, I have an accessory plug already located under the seat. Are you suggesting that I can purchase a trickle charger that plugs directly into the accessory plug rather than one that needs to be connected directly to the battery cables?
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The power plug that is under the seat on the GV250 is switched by the ignition switch.
So it only connects to the battery when the ignition is on.... not what you want for charging your battery.
If you buy a name-brand battery maintainer (Sears Craftsman or Walmart has Schumacher brand for $20),
it will come with a short wire that connects to the battery posts and has a 2-wire connector on the other end.
That end connects to the mating connector on the wire from the battery maintainer. So all you have to do
is to connect the short wire (pig tail) to the battery permanently and then route the other end to where you can get to it.
We leave the connector end under the seat and route the wire from the maintainer up by the rear shock into the
under-seat area when we want to charge the battery:
Open the seat, reach down by the shock with 1 hand and up holding the wire with the other hand, pull up the wire,
connect the wires, plug in the maintainer, & close the seat.
I am sure that you could use a longer pig-tail and secure it outside of the under-seat box,
but it wasn't worth the effort to us since we ride most of the year.
Scoot safely,
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I use this. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CITK8S/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000CITK8S&linkCode=as2&tag=kinderinfocom-20 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CITK8S/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000CITK8S&linkCode=as2&tag=kinderinfocom-20)
This part stays on the battery and you can just plug up to outlet without having to open up battery cover.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61meydBt7VL.jpg)
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61VO44zgpwL.jpg)
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You can also adapt a laptop charger or any adapter to charge your bike's battery. If it has an output of 12V DC @ 1.2-1.5 Amps it would do the job just fine. If your PC has a 12V DC at 1-2 Amps supply it can also work.
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Battery Maintainers differ from battery chargers in that they reduce the charging when the battery is fully charged and just "maintain" the battery until it needs more charging. A battery charger will actually overcharge the battery if it is left connected to the battery a long time.
So, the $20 cost of a Schumacher maintainer at Wal Mart is worthwhile, especially since it comes with the pig tail wiring and connectors.
The maintainer also have lights to help "diagnose" the battery state:
Red= Bad battery or connected wrong
Amber= charging
Green= fully charged
Plug it in and forget it until you are ready to ride. Or as we do, we plug it in and unplug after the green "Ready" light comes on.
Scoot safely,
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Some AC/DC adapters and laptop chargers turn them selves automatically off when the battery is fully charged.