Jump to content
CBR1100XX.org Forum

LiFepo battery for XX????


redxxrdr

Recommended Posts

I haven't measured the draw on my bike, but 3ish months and the battery was dead.  On the shelf they're said to go over a year without a problem.  The first time it went dead was only after a couple weeks, but before parking it I was trying to diagnose a problem and I did several short run cycles and and some key on diagnosing so it got drained down before being parked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, SwampNut said:

Also the auto-disconnect won't help with just self-discharge.  Only for the bike having a vampire draw.  What is that on the BB?  Seems like it should be super low?

 

According to the manufacture the auto-disconnect is set at 12.4 volts regardless of what draws it down or how fast it is drawn down. Designed specifically to prevent a dead battery from long periods of time with no use.  Since lithium batteries have virtually no natural drain-down time after sitting for months when disconnected, the self discharge from the bike is suppose to  cause the auto-disconnect to happen and then hold the 12.4 volts indefinitely or for at least a year or so they claim.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Received my new AntiGravity Lithium-ion battery with "restart" technology.

Came with a notice plus they told me verbally before buying the batter, that the battery arrives with a reduced charge and must be initially charged with an appropriate LIFEPO4 charger.
It spent about an hour on my Optimate lithium charger and now shows 13.6 volts. I should have but forgot to read voltage right out of  the box.
At 360 CCA it spins the XX starter motor crazy fast. Starts instantly.
At $179 It better outlast the 18 year old Bird!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, John01XX said:

At $179 It better outlast the 18 year old Bird!

I wouldn't take that to the bank. 😊  If you are not putting a lot of miles on it these days there is no reason for for the Red Bird not to be around.  In 2024 update us.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, John01XX said:

At 360 CCA it spins the XX starter motor crazy fast.

The amperage is part of it, plus being more voltage.  I was shocked the first time I hit the button with the lithium, almost sounded like idle speed before it fired, and fired real quick.  Now I'm back to a normal one and can hear the compression strokes during cranking.

Edited by superhawk996
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I looked at many of the suggested battery’s. 

I finally chose a scorpion.

Mid range price (for these batteries), equalizer circuits, to balance the cells, and no specific charger required.  

 

But you are correct. When you pick it up, you are sure that you have been ripped off.

So light.  And the XX spins real fast. 

Time will tell how long it last.

I missed a early retirement package by being 11 days too young.   So I guess that I will be testing the shelf life function this year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, redxxrdr said:

equalizer circuits, to balance the cells, and no specific charger required.  

Pretty sure you'll need a special charger to make use of those balance charging connections.  But for normal charging none of them need a special charger.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 minutes ago, superhawk996 said:

    Pretty sure you'll need a special charger to make use of those balance charging connections.  But for normal charging none of them need a special charger.

    There is no additional port for load balancing , like those that you see on lithium ion model plane batteries.  So they must be doing something different. Or a sales gimmick.

  • I have a 1amp, no frills , trickle charger for my bike. I HOPE that I ride enough to not need it.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

AFAIK there's no way to balance charge without individual connections to the cells.  There might be some voodoo circuitry that makes it more balanced than other batteries, I'm guessing it's just a gimmick.  I would side towards disconnecting it instead of using a maintainer.  I have no special knowledge to say that's the right suggestion, just what little I know about lithium makes me think that leaving it to stand on its own would be better than constantly feeding it to counter the bike's drain.  If the bike has no drain then no biggie, just walk away.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/5/2019 at 9:39 PM, superhawk996 said:

AFAIK there's no way to balance charge without individual connections to the cells.  There might be some voodoo circuitry that makes it more balanced than other batteries, I'm guessing it's just a gimmick.  I would side towards disconnecting it instead of usinga a maintainer.  I have no special knowledge to say that's the right suggestion, just what little I knowto  about lithium makes me think that leaving it to stand on its own would be better than constantly feeding it to counter the bike's drain.  If the pbike has no drain then no biggie, just walk away.

 

I ran an Antigravity for a short time a couple of years ago on a 127" Harley 'cause the lead/acid batteries just didn't have the CCA to provide reliable starting even with compression releases on both cylinders. While I had a little tussle with the battery manufacturer over a defective unit, I will say that the battery spun that engine with ease. I learned a couple of things from that experience, though.

 

First, it pays to measure the key-off draw of the bike. The LiFePo4 batteries provide a lot of cranking power, but they can get pulled down over time more quickly than one might think. With the technology where it was a few years ago, that was supposed to be very, very bad.

 

Second, apparently these batteries don't like the float stage that lead/acid batteries get from modern chargers. However, they can be brought to a full charge on a conventional charger (which is, of course, what happens when they are installed on a motorcycle). Just make sure it's disconnected when the battery is fully charged.

 

Third, these batteries don't like cold. It puts them to sleep, I guess. However, as mentioned earlier in the thread, they can be awakened by just turning on the headlight for about 30 seconds.

 

When I first got my AG battery, I was pretty excited about how light it was, compared to the AGM I had been running, so I weighed both of them: about 15 lbs for the AGM and far less than 2 lbs for the AG. However, it turned out that the AG should have weighed a kilo (they left something out when they assembled it, hence the tussle with the manufacturer). In the end, they sent me a new battery on the condition that I return the defective one, but they never gave me a clear answer about the nature of the defect. I've been pretty shy of AntiGravity ever since, but maybe they've gotten better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/5/2019 at 7:39 PM, superhawk996 said:

AFAIK there's no way to balance charge without individual connections to the cells.  There might be some voodoo circuitry that makes it more balanced than other batteries, I'm guessing it's just a gimmick.  I would side towards disconnecting it instead of using a maintainer.  I have no special knowledge to say that's the right suggestion, just what little I know about lithium makes me think that leaving it to stand on its own would be better than constantly feeding it to counter the bike's drain.  If the bike has no drain then no biggie, just walk away.

 

It could have an internal balance circuit.  There is absolutely no way to keep a Lithium battery balanced without some intelligent electronics being connected to EACH cell individually.  You can always put a meter on the balance leads to see how similar or different they are.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/5/2019 at 9:02 PM, redxxrdr said:

I looked at many of the suggested battery’s. 

I finally chose a scorpion.

Mid range price (for these batteries), equalizer circuits, to balance the cells, and no specific charger required.  

 

But you are correct. When you pick it up, you are sure that you have been ripped off.

So light.  And the XX spins real fast. 

Time will tell how long it last.

I missed a early retirement package by being 11 days too young.   So I guess that I will be testing the shelf life function this year.

 

Craig, what model is it? I am about to get a new one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry it took a couple days to pull the battery. The battery spacers wedged between the sides of the battery box and the round spacers at the bottom.  It does make for a solid installation.  I forget where I bought it.

 

 

3D04E6F0-55E6-4E9E-B71A-0835C2889244.jpeg

F1CA9AF8-FC06-423C-BC8D-7EFBFD9BCE96.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use