I just leave mine on the Accumate all year round unless I am actually riding it. Never had any problems.

Phil

I have a 12v battery which I only use for around 4 months in the summer and then only 4 or 5 times so what I normally do is to fully charge the battery then connect a small load to slowly discharge the battery, to date the battery is around 10yrs old

H

Lead acid batteries should be stored fully charged and disconnected. Ideally somewhere cool but where the temperature does not fall below zero. Doing a discharge / charge has no benefit for a lead acid battery.
At the end of the winter give it a charge before using.

Robert G8RPI

Another fair weather motorcyclist and Accumate user here.

I don't take the batteries off the bikes & have fitted the Accumate "permenant" connectors to each of them – quick and easy to give each one a top-up every month or so over the Winter. This seems to work well and ,though I do also have a habit of changing my bike every few years, Mrs B's R65LS (which she bought in January '86 at 6 months old & she has assured that it will never leave ) generally does 6 or 7 years on a quality German battery. On the last bike I fitted a new battery to just after I bought it (Moto Guzzi Breva 750) it still had the same battery on when it was p/xed 5 years later. Mrs B's current Moto Guzzi V7 Special manual recommends pulling a fuse to stop the ECU draining the battery if the bike is left for more than a couple of weeks – my RE Interceptor doesn't seem to suffer from such a drain & comes up to charge very quickly.

There was a suggestion a few years ago that leaving an Accumate (or Optimate) permenantly connected over the Winter lead to the early demise of the battery, so I started the monthly top-up regime then & have not had problems.

Nigel B.

Never ever discharge a regular lead acid battery below 50% of its capacity. Special 'leisure' batteries are able to stand a higher discharge but even then it reduces life. Modern batteries (like the last 50 years) do not benefit from cycling. If you have it on trickle or are periodically (every month) giving it a quick recharge give it a good shake to dislodge teh gass bubbles, like it would get when on a vibrating vehicle. As well as self discharging condensation in the wiring loom, or even on the top of the battery in a cold garage contributes tothe gradual discharge.

The practice of supplieing new batteries dry and 'uncharged' is a side effect of the modern manufacturing technique and goes out the window once first used.

A lead acid battery on trickle charge should not be gassing. If it is gassing you are over charging it. I would never reccomend shaking any lead acid battery. If it is a flooded battery it is a hazard of splashing acid, if gel or AGM it's pointless.

Batteries supplied dry are not uncharged, they are charged but need a top-up charge wghen filled with acid. This i not modern practice, I've seen WWII surplus batteries that were dry charged. The instructions said a top-up charge was required but the battery could be used right away in an emergency.

The Accucharge units seem reasonable if little expensive.
Their claim that they work equally with flooded, AGM or Gel batteries is a bit of a streach. The voltages they use are a reasonable compromise, however the different types of batteries need slightly different voltages for optimal charging. Even similar types from the same manufacturer may be different e.g. a gel battery intended for standby in an alarm and the physically similar, same capacity battery intended for cyclic use, may have slightly different chemistry and charging voltage.
If you don't want to disconnect the battery they are a good option. If there is standby current draw (most modern cars and some bikes) it is OK to be permanenly on. Otherwise charge for a week, disconnect and leave for 4-6 weeks, reconnect for a week "rinse & reapeat"

Robert G8RPI.