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Charge battery from starter terminals
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I have a Honda Spirit and one of the counter staff said I could
recharge the battery from the terminals at the starter. Never did this
before, and it was a bit less cumbersome than pulling the seat off to
get to the battery. Anyway, when I hooked up the group there were a few
sparks. I am going to give this a trickle charge, but got to wondering
if I could have damaged the starter doing this. Comments? Thanks.
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You can put the negative pretty much anywhere on the frame or bolt.
That all should be grounded.
The positive wire should lead from the battery to the starter solenoid.
Putting the positive from the charger there would be the same as
putting it on the battery. You should be able to follow the large
battery wire down to the starter and see where it goes.
FYI- the solenoid is like a big switch. Positive lead goes to one side,
the other side to the starter. When you push the starter button, the
"switch" closes and the bike turns over.
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What Kirb and Stephen said.
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Depends how the starter is operated. On a Car it would never work.
Most are operated by a contactor (relay) because the current would
burn out the starter switch (takes about 35 amps to crank a 300cc
engine, more for larger displacements). If the Contactor is between
the starter terminals and the starter, you can charge it that way. If
it isn't, then there is only a connection to one side of the battery
from the starter, so you won't be able to charge the battery that way.
Easy way to check is to put a voltmeter across the starter terminals.
If there is 12V there when the engine isn't cranking, it will work. If
there isn't 12V when the engine is running, there is no battery
connection to both the + and - side of the battery.
My advice is that it is a bad idea.
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My battery charger, a Schumacher MC-1 Manual 1-Amp trickle,
came with a wiring harness. True, you may have to pull the
seat the first time, but if you locate the connector end where
accessible, once installed should simplify life.
You must have touched the cable main end from the battery to
the starter motor (the big wire) to ground. You may have not
damaged anything if spark was momentary. However, such heavy
discharges tend to be hard on the battery.
I hate to say this, but the one thing not mentioned by the
counter staff is that you should disconnect the battery prior
to monkeying with the starter end of the wire. It is always
hot. (Starter solenoid when energised completes the circuit
and engages starter.) If you had pulled the seat and
disconnected the battery, then there would have been no spark.
Also, since the bolt holding the starter end of the battery
cable is considerably bigger, would mean a larger crimp wiring
ring to connect.
IMHO, sometimes inasmuch as one would like a shortcut, there
is none. I would pull the seat and wire from the battery. It
makes life so much simpler.
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