Anyone run this lithium battery?

strokher racing · 08:08 PM

Lithium battery replacement for automobiles and motorcycles

They sale a lithium battery that will hold up in my 911 turbo for $395 so that sparked my attention, but not sure......
I am looking for feedback if anyone is familiar with them

sc_rufctr · 03-06-2012, 11:24 PM

I don't know anything about them but they look great. Bit Pricey but damn they're light.

Steve@Rennsport · 03-07-2012, 12:53 AM

Just remember that LiI batteries require additional cooling and very closely controlled charging to prevent excess temperatures.

BMWDavid · 03-07-2012, 02:39 AM

These are lithium iron not lithium ion. Lithium iron batteries do not have the issues that lithium ion batteries have.

Lot of activity in the motorcycle field with LiFe batteries because they are so light and small.

Bill in OKC · 03-07-2012, 09:13 AM

I have an 8 cell LiFePO4 in one of my bikes for 2+ years now and have some input. They work great when they are working right. If you let them run down, they will get out of balance, some cells charged higher than others, and the weakest cell prevents the others in series from working. When you try to charge it back up it will not fix the problem. Some manufacturers have balance connectors on the battery & special chargers that can charge each cell individually and that is a good thing. Other manufacturers do not and they do not warranty the battery if it gets run down. On my battery I am able to access the individual cells and can charge them each separately with a 3.65V 10A charger. I was able to restore it to service after it got unbalanced and would not start my bike any longer. I would look for a battery that gives you the factory option to connect to a balance charger or that gives you access to the individual cells.

liteweight · 03-07-2012, 10:48 AM

like this ?
this is a 16V racing battery
If charger puts out 14V, thats ok for 12V battery

aftermath · aftermath's Garage

I ran one similar in my ls1 track car, it cooked pretty quick and was a bad choice for me. I have a friend who has one in a bmw daily driver with no issues.

uwanna · 03-07-2012, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill in OKC

I have an 8 cell LiFePO4 in one of my bikes for 2+ years now and have some input. They work great when they are working right. If you let them run down, they will get out of balance, some cells charged higher than others, and the weakest cell prevents the others in series from working. When you try to charge it back up it will not fix the problem. Some manufacturers have balance connectors on the battery & special chargers that can charge each cell individually and that is a good thing. Other manufacturers do not and they do not warranty the battery if it gets run down. On my battery I am able to access the individual cells and can charge them each separately with a 3.65V 10A charger. I was able to restore it to service after it got unbalanced and would not start my bike any longer. I would look for a battery that gives you the factory option to connect to a balance charger or that gives you access to the individual cells.

The maker of the batteries in the link in the OP's first post offers an option called BMS ($200 extra for auto size battery). BMS (battery management system)is some type of voltage monitoring circuit that prevents a voltage drain and imbalance, which can lead to the type problem that you had.

ERH · 03-07-2012, 02:46 PM

I have been using this in the Caterham, 2.4lt 10.8 compression, with no problems so far (6 months).

EVO 2 , 3 lbs.

Ed

strokher racing · 03-07-2012, 05:22 PM

Ed what do you have the battery in?

Aurel · Aurel's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by BMWDavid

These are lithium iron not lithium ion. Lithium iron batteries do not have the issues that lithium ion batteries have.

Lot of activity in the motorcycle field with LiFe batteries because they are so light and small.

Just to clarify things, lithium iron is lithium ion.

Lithium ion means a battery that uses a lithium intercalation anode (graphite in both cases), rather than metallic lithium. But it is true that the "lithium iron"cathode, which is LiFePO4, is safer than LiCoO2 found in most lithium ion cells. It is safer because the voltage is lower, and there is much less exothermic reaction in case of thermal runaway.

ERH · 03-08-2012, 03:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strokher racing

Ed what do you have the battery in?

Caterham (Lotus 7)

sc_rufctr · 03-08-2012, 05:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by liteweight

like this ?
this is a 16V racing battery
If charger puts out 14V, thats ok for 12V battery

That looks great but I'm concerned about the copper strips the terminals are bolted to.
They look a bit thin for the current that will be going through them.

Am I wrong in thinking that?

Aurel · Aurel's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

That looks great but I'm concerned about the copper strips the terminals are bolted to.
They look a bit thin for the current that will be going through them.

Am I wrong in thinking that?

Copper is one of the most conductive metals. Lead is only 7% the conductivity of copper, so by using copper, much thinner terminals can be used. Of course copper cannot be used in lead acid batteries because it would turn into copper sulfate right away.