LITHIUM ION BATTERIES

[texranger]

Greetings!

I have posted this on the S2S forum as well and then came here looking for additional info; I need to get into the habit on checking in here more often as I may have found the answer to my own question already after reading a few posts...but here's it anyway:

Well, some of you may remember me from a few weeks ago when troubleshooting a no-charge issue on my GT550A. After having fixed that, I took the bike for a nice, long ride on Sunday. Almost 150 miles of fun and visits to gas stations (getting only about 17 miles to the gallon but that's for another topic).

I fully charged the battery the day before my ride but a few miles from getting back home she completely died. Pulled over, kicked it a few times and nothing. Waited a few minutes, kicked it and she started only to die again 30 seconds later. Checked all the connections and everything looked OK. Called the wifey and asked her to bring me a battery. Got home and first thing I did without shutting her off was to check if she was charging...and she was.

Additional details: the battery that was on the GT is a Lithium Ion type. The battery I put to get me home is an AGM type.

So, here's my question: could it be that these old charging systems don't do well recharging these modern Lithium Ion batteries? I have heard some mixed opinions on them regarding not lasting long.

Maybe it's due to a weak voltage regulator? Any thoughts and feedback will be appreciated!

Cheers
Nic

[teazer]

What you heard is correct. Lithium Ion batteries require a much better control of voltage than a lead acid or AGM battery. There are people on this forum with a better understanding as to all the whys and wherefores, but to run a LiPo battery you really need a modern solid state regulator/rectifier.

AGM is just lead acid with the acid in a mat rather than sloshing around so it should stay charged if the stock charging system is working properly. How did you check it and what were the results?.

[texranger]

Thank you for the reply. I checked the charging system per the manual, by making sure everything was connected and rising the engine speed gradually. Now, I did get 14.8V at one point. Not sure if that's because the AGM battery I was using was not fully charged or if an indication that the voltage regulator may need some adjustment...or replacement? Manual says if over 14.5V to adjust or replace (?).

Thanks again ~ Nic

[barney01]

Your charging voltage is just fine. The problem with Lithium ion batteries is if overcharged they will catch fire or explode so it needs a very careful safe rectifier which ours from the 70's are not
Charging numbers are between 13.8v and 14.7v.
Under 13.8 wont charge over 14.7 will cause batt to gas
Just a footnote if an AGM battery is allowed to go below 25% charge it is unable to recover. .

[winkle]

Hi All
Have seen a lot of you kettle guys recommending motobat, so i thought thats good enough for me I'll put one on my
delicious GT500.
Now reading this post maybe not such a good idea ?
I have not used it yet but I could do without it exploding under my jacksy when I do.
Any reassurance would be most welcome please.

Winkle

[canaletto5]

I've got motobatts in all my bikes and my ar"e is still in one piece

[PaulD738]

Hi All
Have seen a lot of you kettle guys recommending motobat, so i thought thats good enough for me I'll put one on my
delicious GT500.
Now reading this post maybe not such a good idea ?
I have not used it yet but I could do without it exploding under my jacksy when I do.
Any reassurance would be most welcome please.

Winkle

I've got Motobatt batteries on both my bikes and they're fine. If I'm not mistaken Motobatts are AGM type not
Li-PO

[teazer]

Yes. Motobatt are conventional Lead Acid batteries in AGM form. If your charging system is within spec, it should be OK.

No hot curry aftereffects with that combo.

[texranger]

Great info, thank you everyone!

[stevewharton]

Motobatt on all my bikes and the same one on the kettle for the last five years, previous to that Yuasa lead acid which never lasted very long before a cell went down. Keep the Motobatts on Motobatt Baby Boy trickle chargers too and never had a problem