Batteries for the Commander

[andygbsmith]

As you may have guessed I have just got the bike, the batteries on it are on there way out so I am looking to replace them. My question is;Running two batteries isn't good practice as the resistance across the cells will vary, so you will have some cells charging while others are discharging and in short the two batteries fighting each other (at least thats what I have been told).Has anyone fitted one battery to replace the pair, the new generation gell batteries are more powerfull for there size and can be installed in any orientation.What is the battery size required? Amp/Hour?Again any info would be good.Andy

[Richard Negus]

Andy,The Commander had two batteries in parallel to give extra capacity for police equipment when stopped at an incident. As both civilian and police Commanders had the same rolling chassis, the civilian bikes also had twin batteries. If both batteries are in good condition, no problem ; if one cell develops a fault, then both batteries are affected and self-discharge. replacement of both is the only cure.IP2, Classic & F1 only have one battery and crank over well enough, although the F1 tends to overheat its battery which does it no good at all.NML have done several F1 conversions with the battery in the rear of the seat where it's much cooler ; the usual battery for this conversion is a YTZ12 something which has slightly less Ah but much more cranking current; this is a gel type and seems to perform ok. It will fit a Commander tray, standing on end.We have also fitted Odyssey gel batteries to Commanders but have had one or two failures (replaced under warranty, I'm pleased to say).Now I have a 50A alternator working on my Commander, I will fit a single gel battery.R.

[graham]

Hello Andy,Hello Richard,The Commander engine I fitted in my Interpol in 1993 ran on a single CB14LA2 until 2005 without any problems.For some strange reason I then spent an inordinate amount of time removing the old battery box and creating a BIG new one to take a CTX16 Gel type battery as fitted to the latest big Hondas.There was no noticeable improvement but I did do some tests without plug leads on and it's obvious that the Gel type batteries spin the engine at high speed for longer right up until it's almost completely discharged. I have stopped using Gel batteries now and gone back to Lead Acid because if you ever allow a Gel battery to go flat, it's scrap. I have tried various modern chargers but they don't come back to life. If the current price trend continues and Gel batteries end up the same price, I might try one again.So, yes, a single CB14LA2 is fine, you do need to look after it when not in use though.What we really need is two 6 volt batteries in series but I've never come across anything but giant industrial ones.Graham

[andygbsmith]

Hi RichardHi GrahamGraham, I'm surprised that you had trouble with gel batteries not coming back when they go flat as that is supposed to be one of there strong points. How did you try to recover them? I suppose keeping them on a trickle charge would help(optimate etc) one of the wife's bikes has the original battery in it and it's ten years old now.I have a 14A/H battery in the garage and will offer it up for size later today I will let you know how it goes.I have tried to go for gel batteries in all my bikes as I have found the lead acid batteries can do so much damage if they leak. If they get very hot(as Richard mentions) just the vapour from the breather will strip paint given enough time.Andy

[Richard Negus]

What we really need is two 6 volt batteries in series but I've never come across anything but giant industrial ones.

Hi Graham,There is a 6-volt gel battery with, I think, 120Ah capacity. I did several F1 Sport battery conversions (may still be a picture on the NML website under 'News') but, as they were too big to go under an F1 body, we went for a single YTZ12 ..... as the standard for both conversions. I don't have the catalogue by me, but I think the ref was YTZ9B. Although we buy from Banner, that well-known Austrian battery manufacturer with their UK distributor only 200yds away, the gel batteries sometimes carry the Yuasa logo on them.R.

[kanonkopdrinker]

The ROC still has plenty of new (dry) Varta batteries to fit the Nortons at £22 each, here in Essex .... the downside is the £9 or so postage for a single one to be sent within the UK.DC

[Richard Negus]

There is a 6-volt gel battery with, I think, 120Ah capacity. I did several F1 Sport battery conversions (may still be a picture on the NML website under 'News') but, as they were too big to go under an F1 body, we went for a single YTZ12 ..... as the standard for both conversions. I don't have the catalogue by me, but I think the ref was YTZ9B. Although we buy from Banner, that well-known Austrian battery manufacturer with their UK distributor only 200yds away, the gel batteries sometimes carry the Yuasa logo on them.R.[/color]Hi Graham,Apologies for that total load of rubbish ! 120Ah indeed ! 6-volt gel battery ! All absolute bo*&o$ks !I checked the catalogue ; YTZ9B is a gel 12v battery, 8Ah, so I must have wired them in parallel.Goes to a darkened room for a lie down.R.

[John in Leeds]

I had no end of trouble with batteries failing until I junked the pair and fitted a single Odyssey dry battery from Knight Batteries. I think its a PC545, but you'd better check. It cost -gulp!- £90 but has been well worth it. It just fits the battery compartment if stood on end, (which it amuses me to do anyway!). Huge cranking current, built for deep discharge, and retains charge a long time on the shelf. But not when connected to your standard-wired Commander, with the ignition unit draining it absolutely flat!!!! That will ruin it, just like Graham says about the Gel ones. Other than that, it's bullet proof. (Literally; see the website!)Then you can put the ignition system in the empty side, out of the rain, and available for fault finding.

[andygbsmith]

I ended up buying dry cell replacements for the standard lead acid, next time I will go the same way and change to a single battery.Thanks for the info.Andy

[Dave]

Hi, sorry to use an old link, but having had the batterys on my commander fail several time over the years, and allways having to buy a pair at the same time, would it be possible to just disconnect one of the originals and tape up the leads and run on just one?, maybe leaving the other one in place, and keeping it charged via a mains charger, just to use in an emergency? ( i'm thinking on the lines that one failing would not ruin the 2nd battery ?)dave d.

[graham]

Going back to basics, each 'battery' is a series of six cells producing just over 2 volts each. They are all individual and contribute 2.1 to 2.3 volts each roughly. Some cells will be more efficient than others but it doesn't matter because they are all daisy chained one after the other.That's why two six volt batteries would be ideal, each cell would have an equal chance to be charged or discharged. I wonder if there is an existing product in the marine or caravan world that can charge multiple batteries without the problem we have of the good battery always trying to bring the voltage of the inferior one up to scratch.Something like this?http://www.marinedeal.com/product_p/wbi100.htmThe more I read, it looks ideal, you can manually connect both batteries together for starting yet charge them to their maximum capacity individually.Looks a bit dear though :-)Anyone know of a cheaper alternative?Graham