Cold battery?

Jakexgt

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Anchorage, AK
Hay guys, first post here. I have a question about my battery. In the morning my 04 RX-1 Mountain started fine and had no issues throughout the day. I loaded it back on the trailer and drove about 60 miles back home. It was about -16 when I was riding that day and about – 4 when I got home. I don’t have a cover on the machine when it’s on the trailer. When I went to start it up and drive it off the trailer nothing happened. Thought I could here the starter solenoid click. Do you think my battery died because of all the cold air hitting it while on the trailer?
 
The same thing happened to me, my battery froze. Mine was only 1 year old and had been always charged with a optimate charger. I didnt charge it for 3 weeks before I trailered it. When I tried it it was -22 F and it was frozen. I was on a trip so I had to buy a new one to keep going,but I heared that sometimes you can thaw them out and re-charge.
 
wind chill does not affect batteries, or any other non-living thing. it was fine riding at -16 but was dead later at -4. it may have shorted or broken down internally but the temperature wasent the cause. all batteries loose cranking power as temps drop. a battery at 70 degrees has 100% power but at 0 degrees has only 40% of its origional power.
 
I was thinking of making some sort of battery blanket kind of like for our car batteries. I keep it in a heated garage so do you think it will be ok to use?
 
If your battery was weak to begin with then the temp. could defineatly be the cause. When a battery is weak that is when they freeze. How old was your batt.?
 
Did you leave the key on??? Thats the best way to kill the battery... I have done it twice...
 
I always keep the key with me in the car and never leave it in the machine. The battery is stock and it's an 04. How long do they last?
 
depends on conditions I have had two in mine but I switched to an aftermarket dry cell battery now and Its been in there since 2005 with no problems. The original didnt last more than a season but like i said i left the key on and killed it.

I run an PC625 Odyssey Dry Cell (more cranking and reserve amps and much lighter) but I dont think it will fit under the stock airbox as I run ECP filters. I also had to mod the battery tray A lil
 
What year did they change the battery?
The 03 battery was the best of all years, IF it was setup correctly. That battery is a bit of an oddball though, and the dealers screwed up a lot of them. I still use the original battery in mine and it cranks strong as ever... and that is with ABSOLUTELY NO MAINTENANCE. I've NEVER charged it in the off-season.

Now the thing with freezing is this; it kills batteries. When batteries are charged, they don't freeze, but when they are discharged, they do. Now the thing with freezing is that the freezing itself doesn't hurt batteries, it is the physical movements that damage batteries. Water expands with a great force when it freezes, and it is this force that damages batteries. Usually, once a battery has been frozen, it is severely compromised and will probably need to be replaced soon.
 
my 03 RX-1 sits in the garage in rangelymaine all week.when i get there the 1st thing i do is plug in my sled,as i put in the battery heater and the coolant heater.my sled never turns over more than 2or 3 seconds before if fires right up. if you have acess to 120 volts you should try one.
 


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