Batteries: Advantages and disadvantages of the types AGM, GEL – battery and lithium ion battery.
There are a variety of different battery types for your two-wheeler. To find the right battery, it depends first of all on the correct type. All common batteries of the brand manufacturers carry the comparison designations as a comparison among themselves. You can find the required type for your vehicle either in the manual / the operating instructions or you read off the designation when removing the old battery. These designations also give information about the pole arrangement in addition to the voltage and amperage.
Then it depends on whether you choose the inexpensive (but high-maintenance) acid variant, the gel or AGM battery. We introduce you to the most common battery types and show you how to care for them properly. Visit also: Long Dry battery price in Pakistan
Table of Contents
– Acid batteries
– Gel batteries
– AGM battery
– Lithium-ion batteries
– Winter care
– Chargers
Acid batteries
The most favorable beginner variant is the acid battery. Here you have to keep an eye on the acid level and correct it if necessary. Important: Refill only with distilled (demineralized) water! Only the initial filling of the battery is done with battery acid.
Be careful when filling the batteries. The sulfuric acid contained is highly corrosive. Wear protective gloves and goggles!
Gel batteries
For a long time, the Non-Plus-Ultra on the battery market, it is today however already in the years and is replaced by the AGM battery. Nevertheless, the gel battery is still very strongly represented and rightly so.
In gel batteries, the sulfuric acid is bound by silica, which thickens the contained electrolytes and therefore acts like a kind of gel! The batteries have an encapsulation that prevents the gel from escaping. Water does not have to be refilled with the gel battery.
In the gel variant, the sulfuric acid is bound by silica, which thickens the electrolyte and makes it appear like a kind of gel. Therefore, these batteries are also called gel batteries or gel accumulators. Such gel batteries often have an encapsulation that prevents any leakage of the electrolyte. Lead-gel batteries are thus a special form of closed / bonded lead-acid batteries.
Thanks to its closed design, the gel battery is easy to transport, as it has no prescribed operating position and therefore nothing can leak. The gel battery is almost maintenance-free.
AGM battery
The abbreviation AGM stands for Absorbent Glass Mat, which translates roughly as lead fleece. In this process, a glass fiber fleece is saturated with sulfuric acid. Unlike conventional acid batteries, there is no longer any liquid in the battery that could leak out in an accident, for example. This new type of construction has many advantages!
Due to a quite low internal resistance of the AGM batteries, the self-discharge is pleasingly low – the batteries therefore retain sufficient capacity for the next starting process even if they are not used for a longer period of time. Especially two-wheelers, which are not moved over the cold season, are ideal for the use of AGM batteries! An AGM battery is less sensitive to deep discharge. At cold temperatures it delivers quite a good capacity, which is not necessarily the case with normal lead-acid batteries. Due to these properties, AGM batteries also have a longer service life.
Unlike gel batteries, however, AGM batteries contain acid as the electrolyte, which is bound in a micro glass fleece (lead fleece batteries). Often AGM batteries are mistakenly offered as GEL batteries. The IONI AGM battery is also sealed and virtually maintenance free. The biggest advantage of the AGM battery over the gel variant is the noticeably higher starting power and cold stability. However, deep discharge should also be avoided here (as with a gel battery).
Lithium-ion batteries
Most people know lithium-ion batteries only from earlier times, when they meant a small revolution on the cell phone market. No more memory effect, much longer runtimes and much lighter in total weight!
Since a short time the lithium batteries conquer also the market of the batteries of motor vehicles, with enormous success. The advantages are obvious:
– Extremely low weight, compared to a conventional battery you save up to 80% weight
– Extremely higher starting current with up to 40 CA (cranking amps) compared to about 10 CA for acid examples
– according to JSD standard with over 2000 complete charging cycles an enormously long durability is offered (lead acid = 150-300 cycles)
– Increased environmental safety! leak-proof, contains no acid or heavy metals
– very stable discharge voltage – due to low internal resistance of the battery, it is ready for use even if not used for a longer period of time
– increased safety: non-explosive and non-flammable
A modern lithium battery can be recharged up to 2000 times, whereas normal acid batteries only manage about 150 – 300 charging cycles and gel batteries about 500!
Due to the very good storage properties, frequent recharging of lithium batteries is no longer necessary.
Winter storage / charging
If you want your motorcycle or scooter’s battery to live a long time, some maintenance is essential.
Many batteries are offered as maintenance-free. This is also correct as far as they are sealed and you do not have to refill any liquid. Nevertheless, even the sealed AGM or gel batteries must be charged / maintained during longer periods of standstill.
The correct wintering is very important. Here, due to the long non-use and low temperatures, most batteries go useless (deep discharge).
Proper winterization and charging will greatly extend the life of your battery.
When mothballing the bike, the battery – and it doesn’t matter if it’s an acid, AGM or gel battery – should be removed and stored in a cool place around 10 degrees Celsius. Always disconnect the negative terminal of the battery first when removing it and connect it last when installing it.
With a break of about 3-5 months, you should connect your battery to the charger about 2x during this period. However, carry out the charging process in a tempered room around 20 degrees Celsius. Please think of gas formation! Living rooms and bedrooms are taboo!
With conventional acid batteries, the acid level should be checked and topped up with distilled water if necessary.
Chargers
Only chargers with low charging current should be used to charge small motorcycle and scooter battery. A charger for car battery will damage our battery in a very short time. As a rule of thumb, the charger should charge at about 1/10 of the battery’s capacity. So for a 10-amp battery, that would be a maximum charge current of about 1.0-amp max. The intelligent chargers for bike batteries charge approximately in the range of max. 1.0 to
For vehicle rest periods of more than three months, battery must be permanently connected to special motorcycle battery chargers for “trickle charging” to prevent damage from what is known as deep discharge. High-ampere car or hardware store chargers are not recommended, as they can damage or destroy the small motorcycle battery. The right choice is an automatic charger with control electronics that automatically adapts to the size of the battery and its state of charge. For the maintenance-free gel and microfleece batteries increasingly installed in newer motorcycles, such “intelligent” chargers at prices between 15 and 30 euros are absolutely necessary: After all, visual inspection of the battery fluid is not possible.
Those who want to bring the battery of their motorcycle or scooter even more gently over a long winter or other long periods of standing should choose the price of an automatic device with additional charging and discharging function. Such devices simulate the rhythm of everyday driving: once the maximum charging voltage is reached, the battery is discharged again. The constant formation of the cells protects the battery and prolongs its life. By the way, it is also worthwhile for infrequent riders and two-wheeler fans who take longer breaks during the season. The same applies to vehicle collectors who want their treasures to be ready to ride. For details, please visit: https://upsonlinestore.com/
