Hewey Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 Hi All, Went out lamping with one of my mates last night on his 05 Plate Honda 350 Quad Bike. He has the problem (obviously really) that the battery runs down very quickly with the Engine off and Lamp on. What do others do on here, do you carry a seperate battery for your Lamp, (If so what type), can you get a upgraded main Battery or have read somewhere about "Split Charging Systems" but I'm no electrician to say the least and have no idea how this works (if it would) or how much it would cost.. My thought was to get a spare Car Battery and just run it from that but thought I'd ask others their advise as we were getting cheesed off having to continually use the pull start. Any Advise welcome. Thanks Hewey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly87 Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 (edited) Sounds like the alternator might need looking at on the quad? it should be keeping the batt charged whilst you drive it (edit: either that or it sounds like a dudd batt on the bike) How long do you have to bike off for whilst using the lamp? Batteries wise you could always buy a couple of small 12v jobbies, the ones which are the size of a household brick. We find each one will last about an 1.5 hours of lamping, obliviously that isn’t with the lamp always on Edited September 9, 2008 by Curly87 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewey Posted September 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 Curly, We were out for about 3 hours, I suspect you might be right about the battery on it maybe not being in the best of health and I will get him to check the alternator. We probably had the quad off and light on for about 10-15 mins maybe less, do notice that when the Quad lights are on the Lamp is quite a bit dimmer than when they are off. Problem is with using an additional brick size battery is that the lamp is on probably 95% of the time so needs to be something that will last a good few hours that's why I thought a car battery might be the best option then just recharge it each day. Asked him to get me the details of the battery on it at the moment to see if there is such a thing as an upgraded one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 Sounds to me as though the existing battery needs replacing. If your mate is constantly using the quad battery with a lamp without the motor running, you will be puting alot of strain on the battery with both the lamp and engine starts. Its doubtless that the alternator will keep up with the usage as you'll not be running the engine long enough between swtiching it off. Try giving the battery a full charge from a mains charger or get it tested. If the battery is faulty, replace it. Either way, I suggest you buy an additional battery that can be mains charged, baring in mind its only a 14amp hour battery. What lamp are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly87 Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 yep sounds like the battery is dead! it might just be a case of one of cells being dry, depending on what type of battery it is, so just top it up with some clean water and like axe said give it a good charge for 12 hours or so on the mains with a trickle charger but sounds more likely you will have to replace it, most of my lamping is done on a quad and we have never had any problems with the batt running out (well maybe once, but that was only because some fool left the bike lights on before we got to it :look: ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 for a backup you can get the battery packs to jump start cars, they have a good sized well sealed battery in carry case with cigarette lighter socket and seem fine to power a lightforce for an hour plus. Mine was about £40, plus points are if you flatten the quad battery you can still jump start it from the kit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pavman Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 I have a ciggy lighter outlet on mine and have split to take red lamp for spotting and white light on scope mounted 170 no problems all night long, I do however take a spare lightforce batt pack, and Quad has a pull start if required, sounds like you need an upgrade of batt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jef Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 I have a winch on my quad and quite often use it without the motor running. You need to consider buying one of these, http://www.devon4x4.com/component/option,c...howcaticons,yes drop them a line and ask for Tim, he will be able to quote you for the right battery for your application. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewey Posted September 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2008 Hi Guy's Thanks very much for the info. Think the first step will probably be a new battery and see how we get on from there. Are the Odessey batteries much better than a standard one? the look expensive but if they do the job better then may be worth the expense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly87 Posted September 11, 2008 Report Share Posted September 11, 2008 yep odyssey batteries are the dogs dangles, however like you say are expensive! so if you have the money for one, go for it! if wont let you down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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