Battery caps cracked on 2011 gti??

[cmendla]

I just took my 2011 GTI in for winterization. The shop called back and said the 'battery was trashed'. ie the caps had 'sheared off' and the battery was 'corroded'. They claimed that the caps had been overtightened.

Is this something that happens??

• I had taken the battery home for the winter. I charged it about every month for an hour or so with a 10 amp charger. I had opened the caps because it wasn't clear if they needed to be vented or not
• I put the caps back firmly but did not, as far as i know, overtighten. I definitely did not feel any 'shearing'.
• We put about 50 hours on the ski this summer. We will ride at about 20mph in chop but never go airborne

My questions are

• Is this a common occurance with the seadoo batteries?
• How sensitive are they to overtightening the caps.? ie should they be just finger tight or finger tight using needle nose to grip them
• Even if they were tight, the battery sits on a foam cushion and is relatively robust. I'm at a loss to understand how stress could cause caps to crack due to being overly tight.
• If you are throwing a one hour charge during the winter with a 10 amp charger do you even need to open the vents?

I'd appreciate any thoughts on this. The shop is supposed to be emailing a pic of the battery tomorrow.

Thanks

Chris

 

[Coastiejoe]

The caps crack and break pretty easily when they are over-tightened.

I would assume you have little O-Rings on your caps. If so, you just want to snug them down a bit as the O-Ring will keep the cap in place.

I also remove mine when they are on the charger or tender, I figure it helps. Not sure if it does, but been doing it this way for years...

 

[dbdave]

If it's the stock Sea-Doo battery (Yuasa), it has a vent. You hook a hose to it when it's installed. There should be no need to remove the caps at all unless you have to add distilled water. The level can be seen through the white plastic case and the proper level is marked on the case.

 

[bell99man]

You really should use a trickle charger or battery tender with a 1 to 2 amp charge. And why pay them to winterize? It's pretty easy to do. Could save some money and you won't have to wonder if they made up some bogus charges.