| Author | Message | ||
     Blake |
I've always been notoriously lax in battery maintenance. Never had a problem. Always got at least five years out of a motorcycle battery. I haven't ridden much lately, various lame reasons. Anyway I left the Uly battery unattended and over the severe cold snap, down to 16F here, it seems to have destroyed itself. It had nothing. Two year old bike with a dead battery that won't hold a charge. Voltmeter check showed 7.9V. Geesh, when I kill a battery, I kill a battery! Lesson learned. Get a battery tender and use it. Apparently the electrolyte can freeze if it doesn't hold enough of a charge. So the owner's manual states. There is no visible damage to the battery, no distortion in the case, so I've been trickle charging it for days just to see what might happen. When I disconnect the charger it reads over 13V, but as soon as the charger is removed it starts to drop about 0.01V per second. Not good. Bad cell due to ??? I looked real hard at the Erik Buell Racing Li-ion racing battery. If they were half the current price I'd have tried one no question. I do wonder how they would perform in street use. I know Li-ion self-discharges pretty quickly. Anyone tried one yet for street use? | ||
| Sprintex |
Check these out, cheaper and good reviews. http://www.mavirykdesign.com/ | ||
| Froggy |
I'll be placing an order in the next few days for a Erik Buell Racing race battery for my XB. I had a Speedcell Lithium battery in it, but due to its inferior design and lack of any load balancing circuity, it stopped becoming reliable for starting this winter. It worked great before though, never had any problems starting, even in NY winters. | ||
| Desert_bird |
Lead is yesterdays energy technology. Take a look at Shorai LiFe batteries. Great warranty. Just put one in my Uly for a South America trip. 'Bout $150 for 14 amp unit, $180 for 18 amp. http://www.shoraipower.com/t-faq.aspx http://www.shoraipower.com/default.aspx | ||
| Froggy |
I'm still not convinced that Shorai isn't using junk cells, and they don't have the load balance components. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Blake, if the electrolyte froze, it could have distorted/displaced the plates resulting in a near-dead short in one or more cells. I've seen shorted cells in a car battery act like that. Battery would charge and register ~13V. As soon as you put a starter load on it it would die. | ||
| Desert_bird |
While Li-fe lacks the (nominally) superior energy density of Li-ion, it is less sensitive to charging cycles, loses less power over the long-run and is less sensitive to a requirement for balancing when charging. Li-fe technology provides a more robust energy source, with a longer cycle life and far more charge (cycles) than Li-ion. Li-ion is 1970's technology. Li-fe; late 90's. .... it's also half the price. In the end, time is the best judge. Mavirykdesign are also Li-fe. Seems like they are hit or miss. (Message edited by Desert_bird on February 16, 2011) | ||
| Froggy |
My Speedcell was also Li-fe. My point still stands. | ||
| Blake |
I'm with Froggy, without the load balancer, none of the cheaper Li batteries seem worth the risk. Will see what you find out Desert-Bird.  Will start calling you "Desert_Guinea_Pig".  | ||
| Blake |
That is interesting. Didn't even notice we were dealing with two different battery technologies. Are we for sure, or are we calling the same battery by different names? | ||
| Desert_bird |
Happy to be DGP for the Shorai Li-fe battery. Froggy GP'd a few others. He ain't ribbuting. Hmm, could I be refining the definition of idiocy?: Seeking a different output with the same inputs. So be it. Just as long as one of you sorry arses helps get me out of a bind if it should fail somewhere in Columbia, SA! | ||
| Blake |
I didn't give up on the battery. Kept charging, cycling, tapping on it, bounced it around on the wood floor of the shop, kept recharging for five days. After teh first day at 2A charger setting, the voltage reat 9.5 volts. Next day, it was up to 10.5. I rocked it back and forth and bounced it around on the wood floor a bit and upped the charging rate to 10A setting. Next morning it was warm and a very tiny almost imperceptible amount of discharge was detectable. I wiped it of on the wife's favorite blouse, then jiggled it around on the floor some more and let it set and cool for a while. It was up to 12.3V. Later that day after it had cooled off, I hooked it back up at 2A. Next morning it was at 13.3V. Put it in the bike and off we went. Ran around town, stopped shut her down, got some gas, started her back up, rode to the car wash, shut down, wash, off to get put air in the tires, shut off, aired tires, then back home. Next day, today, turn ignition on, let it set for ten seconds with lights on. The hit the starter button. She fired right up. Will check voltage tomorrow. Never give up? ![: ]](http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/clipart/proud.gif) The new battery arrived yesterday. It will be going in the bike. Will keep the resurrected one for auxiliary power duty. | ||
| Blake |
This article explains a lot. Wish I'd known all that a long time ago! http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/what_ca uses_car_batteries_to_fail | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Wow, Blake, thanks for posting that article. Wish I'd read that a year ago. That stop n go in traffic for short distance riding was exactly the type of riding our Triumph Thruxton was subjected to, and we replaced the battery in that bike two times in less than a year. All is good now, the trumpet is now living with someone who doesn't own Ulys that compete with her for seat time. That study, combined with rising gas prices, are perfect reasons for my hubby to start putting more miles on our thumper. | ||
| Iamike |
Did you try a short time high charge rate? As they sulfate from the low charge they will build up a coating on the plates that can be broken down with that method. I've always worried about blowing up a battery trying that at work. Usually though, once a battery is past 3 years, any hiccup means it's out the door. | ||
| Tootal |
If it's a "dry cell" or "AGM" battery then they like a fast charge. My Odyssey will take 100 amps! They hate trickle chargers until they show full with 10 amps or more. Once full you can top them off with a battery tender or equivalent. | ||
| Gunut75 |
LOL Blake! I'd be doing the same thing to see if I can "save" the damn thing. I treat my batteries the same way. This year it's due for replacement. | ||
| Crusty |
I usually ride enough throughout the year, that my batteries last a long time. However, since I got the Norge, the poor XT has been neglected, and now, the battery doesn't want to take a charge from The battery tender. I'll pull the battery, give it a good shaking and put it on a higher amp charger. Maybe it'll come back to life. | ||
| Blake |
Mike, When I was trying to get the bike to kick over originally, I had indeed charged it at the highest rate, also connected one of those miniature portable jumper batteries in parallel with it. That probably put some serious amperage through it. Crusty, Try laying it on the opposite side as normal while charging. Take note of the recommended sequence of recharging in the article, start with high, then medium, then trickle charging with resting times in between. | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
I just revived my XT's battery using this method and only with a tender. Took the battery out of the bike yesterday, shook it around a bit (even gently dropped it a few times) and hooked it up to the tender again at a weird angle. Today she fired the old Uly right up. The thing I find odd, is that I've ridden the XT with that battery quite a few times since our last cold spell here in OK. Also, it's always hooked to a tender when not being ridden. Makes me wonder why it appeared to be bad in the first place if the tender is really doing it's job.. |
