So a year and a half ago my k100LT had a tiff and broke. I've since stripped the engine and fixed the original problem, blah blah blah

Finally got everything back into what i thought was good shape for its first start up since the rebuild. connected the battery which has been on trickle charge, clocks come back on. very excitedly i turn the key and press the starter and... litterally nothing. lights on the dashboard die, no buzzing, no whurring, nothing!

put the battery back on trickle charger to see what the readings are. it should be 12V - 19amps. instead it reads 14V - 0.83amps

the battery was new before the engine problems so has basically been on trickle changer for a year and a half... does this mean its goosed? ive no idea what the difference between volts and amps is

this all happened late last night and i was too tired and distraught to start a full investigation

You cant leave a battery on a trickle charger that is a charger that puts a continuous charge into it for any length of time or the battery will be damaged. What is needed is a smart charger which monitors the state of the battery and if needed gives a bit of a boost. I have seen quite a few trickle chargers advertised so as to lead one to think it is OK to leave it on all the time.
We have all done these things so don't feel too much of a plonker but unfortunately the battery is duff.
The best thing is to connect a trickle charger about twice a month for 4 hours and that will keep it charged and not damage it.

poor little battery. i brought it into this world, and i killed it

well as long as i know what the problem is i can fix it and get over it

since i'm going to need a new power supply can anyone recommend the smallest lightest battery possible to use with the K100? The one i have in it now is a mighty beast

There are 2 sizes for the K100, if you look in the battery tray you will see the recess for a smaller battery in the tray.
From memory the big one was 24 AH and the smaller 18AH.
Lithium batteries are very light but I decided to not use one because there is a possibility of them exploding, not a big possibility but when they do explode they burn with a very hot and nasty fire, that said they do pack one hell of a punch for their size and as well they are expensive compared with other batteries.
I use an AGM type and have just replaced it after 8 years, a Motobatt.

I wont use lithium batteries. Had 2 phones do it so far and its not nice. They put them in aircraft too.........one of them destroyed a B767 that's kept very quiet because it happened on the ground. If you read the report on it you will see it explains MH370 too.

That would be very interesting to read Olaf do you have a link.

I went looking for it and couldn't find it and will have another look. But I remember reading it, located under the cockpit starboard side, the fire perforated the fuselage which would cause a decompression, also killed the radio equipment. I didn't initially give it huge credibility initially but when MH370 went missing there wasn't a single comment from Boeing where normally one would have some comment. I saw how they fail in phones too and it makes me uneasy because it would need serious protection to prevent it causing damage.

ssj_Gill wrote:put the battery back on trickle charger to see what the readings are. it should be 12V - 19amps. instead it reads 14V - 0.83amps

the battery was new before the engine problems so has basically been on trickle changer for a year and a half... does this mean its goosed? ive no idea what the difference between volts and amps is

Before you go out and buy a new battery try the following.

Put a voltmeter on the battery while trying to start it.  That will give you better knowledge of the condition of the battery.  If the batter voltage stays up when you have the problem that you described, then your battery is not your problem. 

And by the way you won't see the 19amps on your charger meter.  A 19 amp/hour battery can draw 19 amps for 1 hour before it is considered dead.  I believe that is what the rating means.

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:I wont use lithium batteries. Had 2 phones do it so far and its not nice. They put them in aircraft too.........one of them destroyed a B767 that's kept very quiet because it happened on the ground. If you read the report on it you will see it explains MH370 too.

Boeing have had a few problems with lithium battery fires accross the board including the Dreamliner