No, there is a practical reason. If you use regular Coke, you may have to deal with gooey syrup after it dries, Diet Coke doesn't seem to have that problem. Also, I drink diet drinks exclusively, so that's what I have on hand.
It turns out it wasn't the battery after all, but rather a lame 5A fuse Honda but in between the battery and the starter. Must have blown when I tried a battery start in cold weather this winter.
No, there is a practical reason. If you use regular Coke, you may have to deal with gooey syrup after it dries, Diet Coke doesn't seem to have that problem. Also, I drink diet drinks exclusively, so that's what I have on hand.
Terry, I spent a few years in a GM shop but have never heard of this. What is the effect? Does it bubble like baking soda? Or...??
Dave
Unless motorcyle batteries have gotten substantially worse over the last couple of decades you should get at least three years out of one used for a generator. I suspect the trickle charger killed it. Unless it's a fairly sophisisticated "intellegent" charger it will keep charging the whole time it's connected. These "wall wart" chargers are designed to keep a battery topped up when it's sitting for an extended period with a small drain; like in a car that's got a clock or other electronics that continues to draw a small current. A charger that's designed to only prevent self discharge will be identified as a float charge. Those actually turn on and off as well as vary the voltage based on what they read from the battery(s).
I think the best thing for the battery (and the generator) is to leave it in place and run the unit long enough to bring it up to operating temperature every month or two. That's the way virtually all emergency standby generators are set up.
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