Hi all, My Vespa scooter battery is dead. On the side it says 12V 9Ah 80A (eng)
My question is, if I just run 12V DC into the battery, will that recharge it? I have an AC transformer which puts out 12V DC. I could hook it up to the battery. Or is this a moronic proposal which will dramatically shorten my life expectancy?
If it is at all reasonable, how long should I charge it for?
Thanks.
If it is a regulated 12v supply it won't charge the battery. If it is unregulated it probably puts out 15-16v without a load. That might work but I wouldn't try it without hanging a meter on it to see what it is doing and I wouldn't leave it on there for extended periods in any case
Why not just borrow a real battery charger from someone?
Wots your real problem?
Surely you have the charger that came with this Vespa or did has it failed.
Use the proper charger unless you know enough to do otherwise. It is very difficult to give advice based on some limited facts.
John G.
You certainly don't want to use a regular car battery charger unless it has a "trickle charge" setting. These are little batteries and slamming them with 10 or 15a will fry them.
Sure is John, however a little searching shows Vespa make gasoline powered scooters so this is apparently a starting / lights battery.
Most likely the battery will need to be charged to 13.8 volts and should drop to 12.6 volts when not being charged.
The battery should be charged at 1 amp (or less) for 9 to 12 hours.
If you "sacked" the battery say by leaving the lights on, it may never again reach a full 9 AH capacity. It may be time for a new one.
That brings back memories of my Lambretta LDA days. Then, the watts put in by slow speed short distances and frequent stops that typify town driving, never seemed to quite match those taken out by starting a few times. Put the lights on and you would be in bump-start territory in no time at all. Getting the battery out was a time-consuming and filthy job - so taking it out for a recharge on a regular basis was not an option. For me, living a a rented second floor flat, getting the scooter to a mains supply wasn't much of an option, either.
What I used to do was to have a 12v recreational battery in a pram. Wheel that to the scooter and jumper it to chassis and starter motor supply lead. A few minutes of that, then wheel the pram back to the flat and put the battery back on trickle charger.
Worked for me!
-- Sue
My old Lambretta only had kick start and a magneto. That was my first vehicle. What a load of fun it was.. Eric
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