ATV Batteries – What a mess.

I totally killed the battery on my Polaris Sportsman last weekend. Hot weather and doing hard work carrying the spray rig and 20 gallons of water plus my svelte 185 pounds, so I was in low gear and the cooling fan and the sprayer pump were sucking juice. Game over for that battery. Totally failed and none of the usual revival efforts worked.

No problem, battery was probably a few years old and has been in the machine since I bought it last year.

But why does replacing ATV/motorcycle batteries have to be such a mess? Every other battery comes with the acid in it and it’s plug and play. Sure, you can get ATV batteries that are pre-filled. For exactly double the price.

So of course I filled the battery with acid and water following the instructions exactly. Let it sit for an hour as per directions and then charged it. Came out this AM and about a cup of water/acid had come out the overflow all over the work bench. Luckily, I had put down newspaper so the spill was contained, but what a flipping mess and of course you have to carefully clean up a spill like this. Why’s it gotta be this way?

And BTW, how long should I expect these batteries to last? I got the Fleet Farm brand at $36

I have a solar battery maintainer in my shed, so the battery stays topped up when not used. But I’m afraid when I do use the ATV/battery I’m beating it like a rented mule. Running a sprayer and the cooling fan cannot be easy on a battery with the limited charging capacity of a stator system.

Grouse

Not sure what your buying for a battery but my last ATV battery ran me just under $100.00 It was for an Artic Cat 500 and it is a 20 amp hour battery. Maybe a higher capacity battery would better serve your needs?

I only buy AGM batteries for anything anymore. My truck, ATV, Sleds and of course my boat. Can sit idle and only lose 1% of charge a month. They can handle a deep cycle event without wrecking them unlike lead acid batteries. Last years longer and can handle several months of down time. Worth the extra $. With batteries you get what you pay for for sure.

Some useful information;

Comparing the AGM battery vs the Flooded Lead Acid Battery for Marine applications.
First off, either of these batteries will work fine from an operational standpoint. The question comes down to what is your time, boat, and frustration worth?

Flooded Lead Acid Batteries are standard equipment on many manufacturers boats, yachts, and watercraft. However, each is offered with AGM as an upgrade for your convenience.

EACH WILL WORK:
Both AGM and Flooded lead acid batteries are amperage tolerant. AGM and Flooded Lead Acid Batteries are designed to push heavy amperage loads without detrimental effects to the battery. Both AGM and flooded batteries are able to be charged with high output alternators on those motors. These standards, and the battery’s ability to cope in this environment make either a solid choice over a GEL battery.

AGM is BETTER!
We have established that either will work on the boat, AGM or Flooded batteries, but let’s get into what separates these two types of batteries in actual use. AGM Batteries are maintenance free, whereas flooded batteries and the space around them require much maintenance.

AGM batteries, being sealed, will not bubble acid out while under a charge. This seal also retards 90% of the smell from the chemical reaction. There is no need to add water to the battery cells monthly, nor is there anything you must do to these batteries but charge them. Simply install your AGM batteries, charge them routinely, and forget about them. There is no clean up, no acid, and no watering to keep up with.

Flooded lead acid batteries on the other hand will smell, will excrete a mist of sulfuric acid, and may even bubble over onto their surroundings during charging and discharging. You must add water to compensate for this or the battery plates will be exposed to the air. Plates that are exposed to the air disintegrate. This acid must be cleaned routinely or any metals in the vicinity will also disintegrate. Basically, if you use flooded lead acid batteries, the money you save you are paying yourself to clean up and maintain the system. What is your time worth?

AGM is more efficient.
Based on Peukert’s equations, the German scientist who mathematically solved the battery discharge problem, each battery’s efficiency can be computed. AGM batteries are generally far more efficient than are flooded lead acid batteries. This is important when determining the cost to charge and discharge the batteries. Generally an AGM battery will give you between 80-90% of the power pushed into the battery, back. On the other hand, flooded lead acid batteries typically have efficiencies in the 40-60% range. The bottom lines here are time and money. Basically you spend more to charge a flooded battery than you do an AGM. This translates to money as generators eat gas, alternators rob horsepower from the engine, and battery chargers eat kilowatts. The real tragedy is that you get less of that power back from the flooded battery than you do with an AGM battery.

AGM self discharge rates are 80% – 99% better.
Batteries, being a chemical equation in flux, are not perfectly stable. A battery will self discharge as it sits. AGM batteries are far more resilient than flooded batteries when it comes to self discharge. The typical AGM battery will discharge 1 to 3% per month, with this rate remaining stable over the life of the battery. Flooded battery models do not fare as well, losing 5-10% per month when new, and up to 20 or 40% per month as they age due to antimony contamination in the negative plates.

I have always struggled with the 20 amp battery on my 500 Sportsman since I’ve owned it new. I do keep the charge topped off when not in use, but the winter cold really depletes the charge quickly. If it doesn’t pop off during the first 3-5 turns of the crank shaft at 0F, the battery is dead and I’m pulling the cord. It’s never left me stranded and always starts on the pull rope. This is on the Fleet Farm wet battery.

I picked up a new to me machine last year and replaced the battery with a 20 amp AGM from the Polaris dealer. I did spend more than I wanted to at $90, but my hope is that the extra dollars buys me performance to my expectations.

I don’t have an answer for you expect to say I’ve never been happy with what seems to be under powered battery.

Ebay has AGM batteries for ATV’s at a decent price. Mine has been going strong for 3 years. The battery before that I bought at Fleet Farm. That lasted about 4 years.

Could you dedicate a battery to the sprayer?

Let us know how it goes because I cant imagine a decent battery only costing $36 unless its for a flashlight. I usually pay just south of $100 for quad batteries but I am getting 6-7+ years out of them on my driver machines. 2-3 on my winter plow machine. Honestly I dont know what to expect out of a battery this size for rough service like you described.

Get a lithium ion and tell us about it!!!

If I had the option of a $36 battery when buying my last sealed ATV battery, I would have taken the old, “you sometimes often what you paid for” advice to heart. I think mine was close to $100 as well…. Tried pull starting mine once… don’t want to be out on the ice, or in the woods and ever have to do that again. Like in the boat, I try not to take a chance on batteries.

Don’t know how to fix your problem, but sounds like you have a lot going on there for the little battery. Good luck on it.

Lots of good advice and points. I didn’t have a lot of time to research options because I was dead in the water and I’ve got work to do, so for $36 I figured I’d pull the trigger now and contemplate the better direction later. If it only lasts a year, so be it.

AGM batteries will be the next stop and I’ll have to look at what amperage options I have that will fit the Sportsman because more would certainly be better for a work machine.

FrancisK, good point re the dedicated sprayer battery. I had thought of grabbing the deep cycle out of my boat, but what killed this idea was the weight. I’ve already got 185 pounds of rider and 166 pounds of water plus the weight of the sprayer. Adding a battery would put me over the 400 pound mark and work the machine even harder, so I kind of nixed the idea based on that factor, but that option may be brought back.

I’ll be spraying something like 7-8 acres of food plots. I have upgraded the sprayer pump and the water hauling capacity, so now the main holdback was this battery situation. Hopefully I’ve got at least a this-year fix in place, I guess we’ll see.

Grouse

You could always go with the family pack of double AA’s

Like others have said , AGM batteries are all I put into my toys now. Replaced the Jetski and 4 wheeler batteries within the past year. You might pay a little more $$ up front, but you’ll more than make up for it the life of the battery. I also purchased Battery Tender quick disconnect cords for each battery so it’s super easy to throw it on the tender every now & again. Surf the net, lots of super cheap prices can be found. I believe I got both batteries under $80 each, heck of a deal…

I’ve bookmarked some AGM batteries already that fit the Sportsman, so that’ll be the next move. I put the new el cheapo battery in on Saturday and it got me up and running.

And, of course, while I had the machine in my shop, I did an oil change and while I was under the machine, saw one of the CV boots was ripped. Ug! And I also notice I’ve got a tire with a slow leak. So the Polaris hit the shop on Monday.

Grouse

Your ATV should be able to handle well in excess of 400# with rider and gear. Its a 500 right? I wouldn’t be at all worried about the what 20# of another battery.
It should be able to accommodate 100# on the front rack and 250# on the rear alone. Fab up a battery box on your rear rack and get some heavy gauge wiring and dedicate that to the sprayer. It might be a good idea to run it parallel with your other battery that way it could effectively be recharged by your alternator. It should be able to handle that without even thinking twice about it. I put my gas auger (28#), 2 adult riders (close to 500#), 100# of gear and pull my otter lodge fish house with more gear in it in tow and my ATV doesn’t even think there is a load.