Honda foremans chewing batteries

[Stumpy]

Hi out there I'm not a mechanic by any means ,but it seems both my honda foremans chew through batteries 1 a year .Anybody having same problems electrical system seems to be charging but if left them both over a 2 week period and now arfe pooched again .

Any suggestions even a good replacement battery ,with longevity?????

Please help 1 is 98 honda foreman 450es the other is 2002 honda foreman es

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[ttpowersports]

Hi out there I'm not a mechanic by any means ,but it seems both my honda foremans chew through batteries 1 a year .Anybody having same problems electrical system seems to be charging but if left them both over a 2 week period and now arfe pooched again .

Any suggestions even a good replacement battery ,with longevity?????

Please help 1 is 98 honda foreman 450es the other is 2002 honda foreman es

:

two things with atvs, motorcycles, snowmobiles, etc, They do not have an alternator. which is required to keep your battery fully charged.
They work of a stator that has different coils.. ignition, pulser, lighting and a charge coil.

A charge coil only puts back what the bike/atv is drawing. and in order to keep your battery charged up you need to trickle more into it than is going out. I believe all owners manuals tell you that you should put a battery charger on the unit a few times per year.

what normaly happens is that the battery goes dead or gets low and when it is discharged it will freeze over the winter or eventually die out. and then in some cases not hold a charge. sometimes you get lucky and can charge it and get it to come back to life.

Heres what i would recommend. - first charge and test your battery to make sure it is no good before you buy a new one. - it may only need to be recharged if your lucky.. if you load test it, you will know, this should be a freebee from any dealer..

if the battery is nfg then buy a new one. and grab a mini charger. they have some out now that are like 20.00 /similiar to a cell phone charger. You just put the small pig tail on the battery and leave it there that way its easy to plug in and charge.

plus if you have anyother units with a 12v battery you can buy extra pig tails for like 2.99 each.... thats what i have done. i have 4 m/c 's two sleds. two riding mowers and a couple of quads. i bought two chargers and just rotate them. its great for the Apex Mtn as i just plug it in a couple days before any trips to the hills and never worry about the battery...

hope this info helps you out..

Terry

 

[Stumpy]

I have tried a 2 amp to 10 amp charge which has 6 volt and 12 volt setting
so these batteries must be pooched . usually over winter i charge when stored and again every 2 months after that .But in summer i dont get out to the lake for approx 2 weeks and batteries have very little power .

Ithere a better replacement battery out there .And is it safe to keep trickle charge on for 2 weeks ata a time , dont want garage to burn down .
thanks again for your help!

 

[goodngrubby]

The battery in my wife's Ranger was doing the same, if it sat for a couple weeks it would be dead. I trickle charged it at 1amp for 20ish hours, then tested it. It was in the yellow. I put a dry cell battery in t, wow, it sure cranks it over fast now. I paid $157 for it, but I think it will be a gooder.

 

[magnet]

not sure whats in mine for a battery but i ahaven't burnt a full tank of gas out of it since fall, i know sorry guys to busy boating/ sledding, but anyways it always cranks right up when we go to start it. i have had it for 2 yrs now and not sure how long the bat was in before that. and it sits in a shed/ not heated or insulated year round. starts good in winter as well.

 

[DRD]

My 450ES is on the same schedule as well, I've had the best luck with the oem Yuasa.

 

[SNOWPUSHER]

i got the 02 foreman 450 and never had a problem with it

 

[tex78]

does your honda's have a clock in the display??? if it does its allways drawing power..................... i allways have the batterys full charged before winter and dissconect them and leave them in the quad and they don't loose the power in them cause ur quad has rubber tires so they very minutlay disscharge...... and the small 2 - 6 10 amp chargers are usless for those.... the batterys need .5 amp for 20 hours.... other wise u will boil them dry....

 

[Stumpy]

Thanks guys for all the info and the help. Installed new battery and bought 1 amp trickle charger lets hope this works.