Lightweight lithium batteries

[mbyoung424]

So it came time for me to change the battery on my CBR 1000RR and I came across a company called Ballistic Performance that sells lightweight lithium batteries. People who reviewed the batteries either loved them or hated them. Those that hated them just complained about them not working when it gets cold out. There is a video of these guys starting a Harley in Wisconsin during the winter. Took three tries to "wake up" the battery and then it was fine.

I bought the 8 Cell battery about the same time I ordered a few oil filters and when it arrived I honestly thought my oil filters arrived because the box was that light (1.7 lbs). They make a 12 and 16 cell battery too. The 16 cell tops out at 3.5 lbs and 480 cranking amps (5 sec @ 70°F). The cost probably exceeds the benefits for everyone except those looking for some extreme weight loss and you may need two batteries running in parallel to start. I really only bought it because I had a $30 credit with the parts store and they had a new battery in an open box so I got it for about 50%. They also come with a 3 year warranty. I've had Odyssey batteries for my Talon and although they were light they never lasted more than a year and are much heavier than these batteries.

Here is a thread that Lowell started three years ago for a home made battery if anyone is interested.
And a thread from Atuca talking about different mounting and safety options that are SCCA/NHRA/NASA compliant.

Anyways, just thought I'd throw this out there if anyone was interested. Now that I started this and then read their threads I think I'm well behind the power curve.

 

[Chumpaumpalumpa]

I believe the Lithium type car style batteries are around 5-6 pounds. Very light!!

 

[hotrodssnova]

Or just make your own from some capacitors
Replacing My Car Battery with Capacitors! 12V BoostPack Update:

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[mbyoung424]

The weight of the capacitor pack is pretty amazing, but it doesn't seem to hold a charge for very long. Then again, if you have a DD you won't need to worry about it and if it's for race only it shouldn't be a big deal either. I think the cost and weight savings makes that capacitor pack beat out the lithium batteries that last longer, but cost the same as a used car.

 

[91-GS]

For a DD i would not recommend a capacitor pack simply for the fact that, like mentioned above, it won't hold charge for long. It might be a good idea to keep a small battery in the car (maybe even one that is not connected permanently) for those times when you want to listen to music or have to leave a door open while loading or unloading something. It won't be good if the cap pack drained and left you stranded with no way to re-charge it without engine running.

 

[jbeaton9292]

lithium batteries so you all know i would never and i mean never put them in a car! i was big into the rc car thing for a while, and lithium is what you would run in them to go fast (electric cars). the discharge rate is incredible. they should crank over your started fairly easy depending on what size battery you have like a 6 cell is putting out 22.2v and then if you would happen to know the kv rating on a starter then you multiply that with the voltage and that gives the rpm. doubt that matters like cold cranking which someone has done that math anyway. now why they are bad here we go lithium acts violently with water, and i dont mean putting it in a pool of water even the water in the air is enough for that thing to explode! say you crash that pack gets jarred and hits something (not sure if the lithiums for real cars are hard or soft case) but regardless if you happen to break open even slightly, say goodbye to your dsm! like i said they will explode with even the slightest amount of water molecules getting to the lithium, and they will burn at around 2000+ degrees F till they are done and if your talking a multi-cell battery which you would be using in a real car when one burns it will in turn melt the casing of the next cell and keep going. that temp reaching 2000* doesnt take 2 mins or whatever it happens instantly! how do i know that because i lost around $5000 in rc related items in fire i had in my basement thanks to a lithium battery when it was charging. how did that happen you ask ill tell you. when you charge a multi-cell lithium battery the cells must be balanced evenly, this doesnt happen in normal charging the way a car charges. this happens by running a balance board coming from your charging source. if the battery is not balanced when its charged it does what we call puff. the puff is when the cell in over charged more than the others and wants to explode at that point its time to properly dispose of it. if you would like to see more look up lithium battery fire its kinda cool to see but would it be cool to see in your beloved dsm i think not!

 

[jbeaton9292]

the op was saying running 2 16 cell batteries in parallel so bassicly a 32 cell or as they say in the lithium batteries a 32s. that is alot of fire considering if they all pop at one time each putting off 2k degrees so 64000* fire under your hood, yeah not for me . also remember in my above post saying the batteries need to be balanced or your making the chances higher on the battery exploding, well guess what if you runn them in parallel or in series they will both discharge slightly different then one another. when that happens you just made the risk higher of them going boom!

 

[FalleN4ng31]

that is alot of fire considering if they all pop at one time each putting off 2k degrees so 64000* fire under your hood

Except that heat isn't cumulative. It would still be a 2000º fire, assuming that figure is correct. 64000ºF = 35819.9K... And that's hotter than the sun's Chromosphere. Or 5x hotter than the sun's Photosphere. That being said....

OP - You're better off losing 10 lbs yourself and sticking with a conventional battery or an Odyssey. IMO the cons of switching outweigh the benefits.

 

[mbyoung424]

Except that heat isn't cumulative.

You beat me too it.

I crashed a quadcopter into the ocean last Summer (a friend jumped off of the boat on top of it). We were able to recover it from about 30 ft, but the battery pack began to burn. It only really smoldered, but it was enough to freak out the boat captain. Lithium is the least reactive to water among the alkali metals. The explosion usually comes from overheating or overcharging and not water. There are plenty of videos of people dropping lithium batteries in water both pure and salt water with little to no reaction.

I'm not interested in the weight loss. For me, the cost outweighs the benefits. I was just throwing this out there for others that worry about every little ounce.

 

[jbeaton9292]

Ok yeah i wasnt 100% on that be cumulative ive been told it would be but now that your mentioning it yeah wouldnt make much sense but the rest of what i posted is accurate and i know that being i have had the fires and have purposefully set them on fire and used my heat gun to check them it gets ugly quick

To the op i would suggest getting a regular battery for your bike again granted i still use these batteries for an rc car but i also charge them after they die and i balance them as your supposed to

Oh and another thing im sure many of you dont know about these batteries too is that when they die they are junk there is no jumping them or recharging them it needs to be thrown away rc cars when they die there is a way that the ecu (speed controler) has a low voltage shutdown we call it lipo cutoff it really leaves around 5% charge enough to charge it up still and if you dont do that right away then just it sitting will discharge it beyond repair also