dan28 Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 I will soon have a bigger than standard battery tray I m planning on replacing my old battery with a lithium ion item as these are much lighter my lights are wired permantly on the old battery is 12v 6 ah if I fit a larger battery with a high ah rating would it be safe to fit a 8 ah or over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Cynic Posted April 2, 2013 Moderator Share Posted April 2, 2013 Ewww why do you want one of those on your bike. Special charging equipment. You have to be carefull how much you take out and the real bonus. If not charged properly or their damaged. Even lightly they catch fire. Oh and the chemicals inside are nasty... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator drewpy Posted April 2, 2013 Moderator Share Posted April 2, 2013 yep, that will be fine. It just means they'll stay on longer if the engine is off. the issue with L-ion batteries is they don't like to be overcharged and will fail. Fist check the specs of your bike and that of the battery before purchase drewps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dt502001 Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 I'm with Cynic for the cost of a lith battery you can buy 3 normal batteries,whitout the hassel of chargers and they don't catch fire all on thier own,can be run flat and recharged ,the lith will be junk if run below its thresh. If you need to save a lb or 2 have a good dump before a ride,or unless you have less than 2% body fat hit the gym the money saved will pay for a couple of months of membership to a gym. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan28 Posted April 3, 2013 Author Share Posted April 3, 2013 its not the weight saving that I see as the main benefit the standard battery is small the lights come on with the ignition ( twin halogen up front an led rear) if the bike is only used for short journeys it doesn't generate enough current to charge the battery or if the bike isn't used for a while say its started up once a week there becomes a point where the lights are on but the standard battery doesn't have enough cranking power left to start the bike I bought the battery new its always been like this I wanted to fit a larger battery as it would take longer to go flat by fitting a l ion battery I could have used a much bigger battery an it wouldn't add much weight as they are much lighter than standard I read some where an l ion bat the same size as a small standard battery has much more cranking power so I thought fit the biggest I can an have lots of cranking amps never hard anything about them catching fire before If I fit a bigger standard battery it will ad a lot more weight what options do I have I m interested to hear peoples thoughts on this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dt502001 Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 A battery tender will solve the problem of not starting for months on end or just days. If running for short periods dosn't re charge the battery then you might have a faulty volt reg/rec,or weak charging coils. 5 min of running time should be enought to recharge the battery. Also possible is the starter is weak needing more than normal CCA to do the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan28 Posted April 3, 2013 Author Share Posted April 3, 2013 A battery tender will solve the problem of not starting for months on end or just days. If running for short periods dosn't re charge the battery then you might have a faulty volt reg/rec,or weak charging coils. 5 min of running time should be enought to recharge the battery. Also possible is the starter is weak needing more than normal CCA to do the job. to be honest I think its because the lights are always on what replacement (larger battery) would be recommended are gel batterys any good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator mervin Posted April 3, 2013 Moderator Share Posted April 3, 2013 tbh if you wanna upgrade AGM batteries are the way to go i reckon http://motobatt.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Cynic Posted April 4, 2013 Moderator Share Posted April 4, 2013 Your problem is not the battery. That just stores power. A bigger battery will go just as flat. As will a Li-ion. Your problem is that you are using more than the charging system can replace. Either reduce the electrical load or improve the charging output. Although of the 2 reducing the load is by far the easiest. Dont foget how juice hungry halogen lights are. If you have 2x35w halogens up front your pulling 6a for the headlights alone. Add in sidelights and instrument lighting plus some losses you could easily be nearer 8a.That is a lot for the charging to cope with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan28 Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 Your problem is not the battery. That just stores power. A bigger battery will go just as flat. As will a Li-ion. Your problem is that you are using more than the charging system can replace. Either reduce the electrical load or improve the charging output. Although of the 2 reducing the load is by far the easiest. Dont foget how juice hungry halogen lights are. If you have 2x35w halogens up front your pulling 6a for the headlights alone. Add in sidelights and instrument lighting plus some losses you could easily be nearer 8a.That is a lot for the charging to cope with. can you explain in more detail about reducing the load an improving the charging output please? my bike doesn't have any sidelights (dipped beam comes on with the ignition) speedo ilu is led so are the warning lights the indicators an tail light are also led I m thinking of doing kellums rectifier mod seen here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finnerz89 Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 What bike is this Dan? And also have you added the two halogen's or are they standard? If your battery is the correct manufacturer recommended size and your lights are standard, then you need to look at the charging system as they wouldn't supply an inadequate battery on a bike from new. Or just buy a trickle charger and leave that hooked up to the bike when you're not using it. I have an uprated headlamp and only do small journeys (2 miles to work) and have never had any problems. Once the bike is started the charging system on the bike should take over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan28 Posted April 6, 2013 Author Share Posted April 6, 2013 What bike is this Dan? And also have you added the two halogen's or are they standard? If your battery is the correct manufacturer recommended size and your lights are standard, then you need to look at the charging system as they wouldn't supply an inadequate battery on a bike from new. Or just buy a trickle charger and leave that hooked up to the bike when you're not using it. I have an uprated headlamp and only do small journeys (2 miles to work) and have never had any problems. Once the bike is started the charging system on the bike should take over. bike is xvs 125 I think the only standard part remaining is the tank I ve added the halogens an it is using standard battery 12v 6ah (an dipped beam is on with the ignition ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedshop Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Its not the battery that demine's what size headlamp you can fit. Its the generator. The generator supplies all the power to the system once the engine is running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preload Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Cynic is on the money, you're pulling more power than the charging system can make and will kill your reg/rec if you dont watch it or worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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