Recommend an ATV battery

I need to buy a new battery for my ATV. The last one I bought in March was Kimpex AGM battery that I was hoping was just a rebranded YUASA, but turned out to be a total piece of garbage. I have bought YUASA AGM batteries in the past, and they lasted about 2 years.

Can anyone recommend something good? I am tired of changing the battery so often. Also, please recommend a charger. I have a YUASA smart charger, but I am wondering if maybe it is not working properly, especially now that this last battery only lasted about 7 or 8 months, despite me charging it periodically.

I made the same mistake with "rebranded" batteries from Can Tire. They all turned out to be Chinese junk. Canadian Tire was great about them,refunding evey penny. I notice they've stopped selling them. I finally bought OEM from my Honda dealer and a 2A "keeper" automatic trickle charger. No trouble since.

id be verifying my charging system is working correctly if even the cheapest battery only lasted since march

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Originally Posted by FishHog

id be verifying my charging system is working correctly if even the cheapest battery only lasted since march

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You mean the charging system on the ATV, or the trickle charger? I am confident the system on the ATV is working because after running the ATV for a while, the battery actually works for a bit. The trickle charger might be the issue because even after plugging it in, the battery is essentially dead.

I run the Noco genius charger for my 1990 fourtrax. charge it every once in a while but the battery has got to be 5 years old

I've found a dealer out west that sells no name AGM batteries that last just as long as Yuasa, at about half the price. I've been using them for several years now, in my snowmobile, SxS, ATVs, and motorcycle. Never had a premature failure, and I recommend them to all my friends. The secret to a long battery life in a powersport vehicle is keeping it charged with a dependable maintainer when the vehicle isn't getting much use. On my snowmobile, in the off season I put the maintainer on it for a day or two every couple months. With my SxS, ATVs and motorcycle, I make sure that the maintainer gets put on them at least once every 3-4 weeks in the winter. I have a Battery Tender, a Schumacher, and a Motomaster charger/maintainers, and they all do the job for me.

https://saskbattery.com/product-cate...aled-atv-moto/

I bought mine off of Amazon and works fine.

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Originally Posted by rf2

You mean the charging system on the ATV, or the trickle charger? I am confident the system on the ATV is working because after running the ATV for a while, the battery actually works for a bit. The trickle charger might be the issue because even after plugging it in, the battery is essentially dead.

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well I guess both, but a charged battery should still be OK after sitting for a few months. I typically throw a charger on mine every 3 months or so to top them up. If you used the ATV at all since you go the battery, I'd be shocked if the battery is dead and the charging system is working.

Trickle chargers are nice to just forget about the battery, but throwing a charger on every 2-3 months if you haven't used the atv should be more than enough. Just make sure the battery is fully charged before leaving for any length of time. A mostly discharged battery will be toast in 3 months if its left sitting. A fully charged battery should be perfectly fine

Another thing no one has mentioned is when you shut off the ATV do it with the key, if you use the kill switch, some items can still function slowly killing the battery. Hard to believe your batteries are only lasting 2 years. My '09 Grizzly is on its second battery, first lasted about 8 years, second one is still good. I keep mine on a NOCO maintainer ALL the time. Batteries sitting idle slowly discharge and sulfate, once that happens you loose capacity. I would have your charger checked, it may not be doing its job. Keeping the battery terminals scrupulously clean and tight needs to be checked too.
Some of those Yuasa batteries may be knock offs.

To be honest, I've come to expect 8 to 10 years out of factory batteries. Maybe it's just been luck. I do the maintainer thing in the winter but not always the most diligent with it.

I've noticed a real decline in the quality of some no name batteries both at work and with some of my own. The price still isn't cheap enough to justify annual replacement.

Thanks for all the advice. I think I will replace my charger when I replace the battery. Noco seems to be mentioned a lot, so maybe I will pay the extra and get one. But what brands of batteries have you had luck with?
I admit that I haven't used the ATV much since I put the new battery in, but I believe the battery was fully charged, and I put the charger on it every couple of months. I guess if my charger wasn't working properly, that could explain things. I will also try to check the charging system on the ATV itself.

I believe it's a magnacharge in my welding machine, it's been in there since 2012 and not treated kindly. Even been run dead a couple times due to a charging issue a couple years ago. That's the best example I have from an aftermarket battery.

before you replace your charger, check your battery with a volt meter. Then hook up the charger and test again while charging. Once charged, let it sit and test the battery again.
While charging, your battery should be getting around 14.5volts. Once charged and allowed to sit for an hour, your battery should be around 12.7v. Let the battery just sit on the bench for a week and test again, should still be around 12.7. If its lower the battery is toast.
Then leave it in the ATV hooked up and test again in a week. If its significantly lower, you have a draw in the ATV that is killing the battery. If not perhaps your ATV isn't charging.

So, test the battery voltage, then start the ATV, and test again, should again be getting around 14.5v while the ATV is running. Probably a bit lower at idle, but will increase as you increase RPM's. Either way if its higher voltage while its running then its charging.

A cheap volt meter can save you a lot of money and verify stuff is working. One of the handiest tools going if your own anything with batteries.

I had to search for a proper replacement battery for my ATV and ended up at CTC and two years later all is fine. Having the right battery size as per mfg's recommendation is a must do . I could have had other batteries that would fit but they weren't big enough as in amp hour ratings. Never drain any battery dead as it will mess up ( sulphate I think is the term ? ) the plates inside and you will end up with a dead cell which means a pooched battery. A new fully charged battery should show a voltage of approx. 14.7 after that it's a long downhill slide to replacement time. They do have a life span but 5 years should be the minimum and after that you are on borrowed time. As for storing ? Charge until FULL and check on them once a month over the winter. I still store mine by placing wood or a rubber mat underneath them and should you be able to top off the water (electrolyte) inside them use only distilled or deionized water !

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Originally Posted by longpointer

A new fully charged battery should show a voltage of approx. 14.7

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I believe you meant 12.7. If your getting 14.7 from a battery that is not currently charging you have other issues.

Attachment 44187

Voltage alone is not a good indicator of battery health. Just reading the voltage with no load does not give you an indication of good battery health. At minimum to check a battery, check voltage while cranking the engine to ensure it can handle a load without dropping significantly below 12 volts

ODYSSEY Battery a bit expense but i have my in my artic cat from 2009 and still going it is a gel filled battery

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Originally Posted by thunderbolt

Voltage alone is not a good indicator of battery health. Just reading the voltage with no load does not give you an indication of good battery health. At minimum to check a battery, check voltage while cranking the engine to ensure it can handle a load without dropping significantly below 12 volts

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Good advice. A damaged battery can show a good no-load voltage, but when placed under load voltage drops because of a bad cell. I've also replaced regulators on machines because of under charging or over charging. A dead battery isn't necessarily caused by a defective battery.

Battery Load Tester

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/m...-0113003p.html

https://www.princessauto.com/en/100a...t/PA0008494031

I had one of the larger ones from above, they draw far too much current from the small ATV battery. Picked this one up for doing smaller batteries, they have adjustable input. https://www.princessauto.com/en/12v-...t/PA0009067968

Cheaper to. How do you like it?

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Originally Posted by Fisherman

I had one of the larger ones from above, they draw far too much current from the small ATV battery. Picked this one up for doing smaller batteries, they have adjustable input. https://www.princessauto.com/en/12v-...t/PA0009067968

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Great, very easy to use too, hook it up, arrow to the type of battery, arrow to the battery rating. "Enter" and it gives and instant readout in numbers. And the price is right.

I checked the voltage while the ATV is running and it is around 14.5-14.7, so the charging system on the ATV seems to be working. I bought a new charger, and hooked it up. It did the same thing as my other charger - starts charging and then within about 5 minutes says fully charged, so it looks like the battery is done. I'm trying to do a warranty claim on the battery, but I have already purchased a Deka battery, since the one on my motorcycle seems to be really good.

I will have to look into the possibility of parasitic loads on my ATV. How would one determine if there are any, besides just noticing that the battery dies quickly while the ATV is not used? Would a higher end multimeter be able to tell me if there is a tiny current draw from the battery when the ATV is off?

Take the negative cable off the battery, then take your ammeter set to the highest setting, (most have 10amp setting), and put one lead on the negative post and the other to the negative cable end. If there's any draw over a couple of milliamps for remembering the clock, then there's something else. Then, charge the battery until full, without the pos and negative cables connected. Let it sit for 24 hours, come back and do a voltage test. A good battery should still read around 12.6 - 12.7 volts. If it drops below that, it could be you got a bad battery right off the shelf, it does happen.

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Originally Posted by FishHog

I believe you meant 12.7. If your getting 14.7 from a battery that is not currently charging you have other issues.

Attachment 44187

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I stand corrected ! My charger shows Full at 14.7v otherwise 12. 6 or 7v at rest.