Forum

[papasmurf]

Exile you CANNOT use any old charger on a Lithium Ion Battery. (Give me strength) The batteries come with a warning about it.

[John R]

I will contact our hosts. I possess a desulphating Optimate, which I know not use, and a very basic little charger which works with conventional batteries but does not seem to do anything for the Lithium.
I'm surprised that the crude system on the Bullet is expected to work if a specialised charger is needed!
Best results seem to be obtained by charging up a lead acid and connectiong it in parallel with the Lithium on the bike. I'm trying to sort the wiring to the lights and need a decent current to test what goes where.

Don't really want buy a lithium charger. Call to hosts is indicated.

[Dennis C]

Below is from a makers web site not my own words.

[Dennis C]

A LiFePO4 battery can be safely overcharged to 4.2 volts per cell, but higher voltages will start to break down the organic electrolytes. Nevertheless, it is common to charge a 12 volt a 4-cell series pack with a lead acid battery charger. The maximum voltage of these chargers, whether AC powered, or using a car's alternator, is 14.4 volts. This works fine, but lead acid chargers will lower their voltage to 13.8 volts for the float charge, and so will usually terminate before the LiFe pack is at 100%. For this reason a special LiFe charger is required to reliably get to 100% capacity.

[PeteF]

I'm having good results from a AGM battery. I think Li-ion is a bit overkill for a bike.

[Steve L]

Just be careful charging with a normal charger. Put a volt meter across the battery while it charges and you may be surprised how high they go after a while. They do not like over 14.8 volts and if you have ever seen one on fire you had better hope you are there to deal with it. I've seen two both through over volts being applied. A Ducati at Classic Club was nearly destroyed by a faulty regulator and if the seat was not quickly detachable it would be no more. The other was being charged with a normal charger and I arrived as it was being flung out into the garden where the smoke and smell was not good. None of my 3 chargers keep below 15 volts measured so I Invested in the correct charger. Cheapest way of weight loss though!

[Scalyback]

The technology is different between mobile phone/camera AA type cels/batteries and those made for bike applications.


The end game fact of the matter is this: Baby it with a constant current, constant voltage charger if you prefer, But as soon as you install it, your bike is going to ram a ton of current into the battery, especially if half flat. I have had nearly 3 years out of Tornado's with no problems, and if andy is about, maybe he could comment on Thunderbolt's? Kevin has only had one for a year, so I will discount that.

As for fire, my charging system can sometimes indicate an amp or two going in, but I have never had a noticeably hot battery.

It says they can safely be overcharged at 4.2V. 4 cells times 4.2 = 16.8 Volts. Should not be a problem unless the voltage regulator is buggered, in which case, any type of battery would be in danger of damage.

Fit and forget guys.... (But do install an inline fuse if your bike does not have one).

[jefrs]

One of the big things about lithium batteries is they hold their charge for years. If you put it away charged you can come back to it a year later and it will still be charged, unlike a lead-acid. So why do you need a battery charger?



I also have an E-bike with a very fancy lithium, it's the only vehicle that gets charged (with it's special charger), because with no motor it doesn't charge itself. I can't remember the last time I used a battery charger on another vehicle.

[John R]

I accidentally partly discharged it through leaving the ignition on. I am currently rewiring the bike, it isn't a runner so I can't charge it by running the engine.

[Presto]

The supplied instructions for charging with a lithium battery require only three criteria to be met: a charger with over 14 volts; a charger with less than 15 volts; a charger that does not have an automatic desulfation mode. It otherwise refers simply to using a ‘standard charger’. These are not my opinions. They are the supplied instructions. They seem simple enough to me.