Help diagnosing, and watch out for A123 mini batteries...

[scaylabs]

That is really good news. :clap: :clap:

What is the incentive for using them?

Did I miss a project build where you stripped everything off your bike and were trying to hide the battery, too?

If you have a more-or-less "standard" bike and are just trying to save some weight, how much are you really saving? 6 pounds? 8 pounds? On a bike that is about 600 pounds (ready to ride), that's only a 1% saving. Is it really worth the aggravation?

As you may have guessed, I am not into that kind of bike modification, so sometimes the logic escapes me.

.

Yes, I relocated everything to under the seat . Here is the final product: http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showpost.php?p=1472707&postcount=34

Well, not so final now that I'll have to come up with a battery box

 

[Guest]

Excellent! I applaud the seller for demonstrating integrity by both refunding you and admitting that there's an issue he is aware of.

Thanks for the clarification on the Ballistic Batteries, now I need to find a way to buy them (or something similar) over here.

BTW, I missed your build somewhere because that bike looks great! Not typically a fan of the bobber, but I really like how that one has turned out, well done!

 

[scaylabs]

Excellent! I applaud the seller for demonstrating integrity by both refunding you and admitting that there's an issue he is aware of.

Thanks for the clarification on the Ballistic Batteries, now I need to find a way to buy them (or something similar) over here.

BTW, I missed your build somewhere because that bike looks great! Not typically a fan of the bobber, but I really like how that one has turned out, well done!

Thanks for the compliment on the bike, I really like how it came out (burning battery aside ).

I just bought the Shorai battery that tthayer linked to in the beginning of the thread. It seems to be the most compact battery with 200CCA out there. With proven safety, that is.

 

[Guest]

Definitely a nice lookin' machine...

Good idea on the battery. Not sure how the physical dimensions relate but the 8 cell Ballistic has 275CCA. The four cell only has 135CCA but that ain't gonna work for your bike...

 

[Guest]

Well they sell the Ballistic ones here:

http://frps.com.au/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=24&products_id=53

Not sure if 135CCA is enough for the 450 but they do say suitable for multi's under 550cc's...

 

[scaylabs]

Well they sell the Ballistic ones here:

http://frps.com.au/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=24&products_id=53

Not sure if 135CCA is enough for the 450 but they do say suitable for multi's under 550cc's...

I think it was mentioned that your original battery is somewhere around 160CCA, so I would think that 135CCA should do, provided it starts quickly, etc.

Have you checked if they sell the Shorai batteries over there? They seem to have a good reputation.

I got another email from the seller saying that it was probably an issue with the charging, as suspected. He thinks "the BMS board is the key" (battery management system). It's not clear if my original battery had any kind of management or not, I'll try to run an autopsy on the remains .

 

[Guest]

I think it was mentioned that your original battery is somewhere around 160CCA, so I would think that 135CCA should do, provided it starts quickly, etc.

Have you checked if they sell the Shorai batteries over there? They seem to have a good reputation.

I got another email from the seller saying that it was probably an issue with the charging, as suspected. He thinks "the BMS board is the key" (battery management system). It's not clear if my original battery had any kind of management or not, I'll try to run an autopsy on the remains .

Yeah somewhere around 160 or 165 is about right.

I can't find a Shorai reseller at the moment, but another one with the same technology batteries is here though:

http://quickaccessories.com.au/turntech.html

I'm glad your seller is doing the right thing by you here, it's good to see he stands behind his products, and ditches them if they're not good.

I measured up where I would ideally like to put the battery tonight in my tail piece, but it's got quite awkward dimensions.

I could just fit the Ballistic 4 Cell Evo2 by tucking it down one side, otherwise any other style of battery would need to fit under the seat lock mechanism, so the dimensions would be about 40mm high x 105mm deep x 180mm long...

 

[scaylabs]

Pete,

The Shorai has been working great for the last week! (typing with fingers crossed is really hard, btw ). I've done about 60 miles around town, probably about 10 rides, 20 engine starts, with no issues.

These batteries do have an onboard BMS board, so I feel much safer now knowing the crown jewels are safe from exploding acids.

 

[Guest]

Mate that's good news indeed!

Fortunately, there is now a Shorai dealer here in Aus, but unfortunately, they want $250 for a battery! Too rich for this little duck...

At this point in time I'm thinking I'm going to stay with a stock gel or maintenance free lead acid because even if I do fork out for the Shorai, it won't fit in my tail piece, and the ones that do fit in the tail piece (Ballistic Batteries, Turntech) either have too small a CCA rating or have big warnings about not charging about 14.4v etc. which is not gonna fly on a GS...

However, that may change when I get to that point if I can find an easy enough BMS I can wire up to protect it.

 

[scaylabs]

Mate that's good news indeed!

Fortunately, there is now a Shorai dealer here in Aus, but unfortunately, they want $250 for a battery! Too rich for this little duck...

At this point in time I'm thinking I'm going to stay with a stock gel or maintenance free lead acid because even if I do fork out for the Shorai, it won't fit in my tail piece, and the ones that do fit in the tail piece (Ballistic Batteries, Turntech) either have too small a CCA rating or have big warnings about not charging about 14.4v etc. which is not gonna fly on a GS...

However, that may change when I get to that point if I can find an easy enough BMS I can wire up to protect it.

Yeah, $250 is way too much, was $150 here. I forgot to mention that the guy from the A123 battery referred me to batteryspace.com to check out their BMS's, apparently they are the guys to beat. They have a minimum order of something like 10 pieces or so though.

 

[Guest]

Yeah I thought it was a bit rude, but we're used to that over here.

Even though the Aussie dollar is very strong at the moment (maybe wavering a little at present), we still get stupid markups over what you guys get over there and it actually makes no sense whatsoever.

Over here it seems to be a matter of how much profit can I make on one individual item rather than how can we sell a lot of these by lowering the profit on one individual item? </rant>

Thanks for the heads up on batteryspace.com, I'll take a peek...

 

[scaylabs]

540 city miles and 3 months down, no issues at all with the Shorai battery! (knock on virtual internet wood).

 

[Big Rich]

Scalylabs, there is guy on the GSTwins site by the screen name Adidasguy that has Shorai batteries in (I think) all 3 of his GS500's. He swears by them as well. And a guy on dotheton.com by the name T71ford had an issue with the first generation Shorai battery - but after talking to the president of the company and getting the current generation battery he has had nothing but experiences with it as well.

 

[SqDancerLynn1]

I'm not sold on this..
Chevy Volt catches fire weeks after test crash

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/11/14/1645110/chevy-volt-fire-occurred-three.html

 

[Guest]

Glad to hear you're having more success with the Shorai!

At about $260 locally here a Shorai is just stupidly expensive... I ended up with a standard battery again for $69 delivered to my door... it'll do...

 

[dwvoss]

I'm not sold on this..
Chevy Volt catches fire weeks after test crash

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/11/14/1645110/chevy-volt-fire-occurred-three.html

GM has since come out with a de-energizing procedure for damaged battery packs to avoid this issue. Think of it kind of like draining a damaged gas tank.

NHTSA is currently doing more testing where they are now impacting the battery pack directly (not as part of an assembled car) without de-energizing the battery to help determine the root cause of the fire.