Another Shorai Battery dead in 9 months.

[Equanish]

Batteries that last 5 to 6 years not starting bike in 6 months with tender. Hot blobbed soldier in the crimped charge circuit (not a cold joint) and replaced stator after 1 battery. I hate this 600 dollars in battery & electrical repairs to date and no clear idea about where the bias in the electrical system is. It's a Yamaha the highest quality you can buy.

 

[02GF74]

Dunno if yamaha is the highest quality but it'll be better than for example cheap Chinese knock off.

So the question is, what killed the battery?

Could it have been faulty? Probably not.

I don't have one myself but've read mixed reviews of trickle chargers, some say they are the bees knees, others say they kill batteries.

During a 6 month lay up, I would fully charge the battery maybe once, and definitely before the big Summer start. There should be nothing draining it other than turning ignition to run fuel pump to top up fuel in float chambers. (we're talking gen 1 right ?)

Most likely candidate is RR - have you measured battery voltage when bike is idling and when revving up to about 4k?

 

[Fire-medic]

Yes, an overcharging R/R can kill an otherwise healthy battery. throw a multimeter onto the bike, run it at about 3K-3.5K RPM, & what volts reading? If it's in the 14+ volt range, is your battery swollen? I think that is an excessive charge rate by volts. Excessive charging can cause your battery to swell due to overcharging, the bad R/R can go to 17-18 volts in an excessive condition.

 

[Mr. Max]

What kind of trickle charger you have been using? Measure bikes charging voltage and also current draw when everything is off.

 

[gentsvmax]

My first Shorei sort of helped my oem RR out to pasture. Burned out the RR and blew ALL my running light bulbs.
When removing, the Shorei was warm almost hot to the touch and remained so for the four hours it took me to make repairs at the time (2015). When I went to reinstall it , it was still hot and measured 16 volts but wouldn't turn over the motor. 16 ampless volts, weird and unusual for sure. Many youtube videos on this.
I had just bought the battery so I called Shorei, the guy that I eventually spoke to really took interest. He said after taking my info to verify the purchase that a new battery was being air mailed and emailed me a shipping label for the return of mine.
It happened again with the new Shorei and my salvage yard oem RR. This time the dealer, Performance Cycle, replaced it no questions asked.
This is when I got a RR from Jack Flemming at Roadstercycle. A Shindengen Mosfet RR, with wiring kit and have not had any charging or pulsing L.E.D.s issues since. The SH 847 is my newest, well about 2 yrs now.
I have always used nothing more than a little cheap harbor freight maintainer for the Shorei even though they say you can't.
The one thing a guy should never do is run a Shorei completely dead, that pretty much ruins that lithium battery.

Gent

 

[TK3333]

I let my Shorai sit too long 2x's during the winter and brought it back with this tender jr. Never a problem in the winter with it hooked up. Well worth the $50 or so and time spent hookin it up.

 

[Equanish]

My first Shorei sort of helped my oem RR out to pasture. Burned out the RR and blew ALL my running light bulbs.
When removing, the Shorei was warm almost hot to the touch and remained so for the four hours it took me to make repairs at the time (2015). When I went to reinstall it , it was still hot and measured 16 volts but wouldn't turn over the motor. 16 ampless volts, weird and unusual for sure. Many youtube videos on this.
I had just bought the battery so I called Shorei, the guy that I eventually spoke to really took interest. He said after taking my info to verify the purchase that a new battery was being air mailed and emailed me a shipping label for the return of mine.
It happened again with the new Shorei and my salvage yard oem RR. This time the dealer, Performance Cycle, replaced it no questions asked.
This is when I got a RR from Jack Flemming at Roadstercycle. A Shindengen Mosfet RR, with wiring kit and have not had any charging or pulsing L.E.D.s issues since. The SH 847 is my newest, well about 2 yrs now.
I have always used nothing more than a little cheap harbor freight maintainer for the Shorei even though they say you can't.
The one thing a guy should never do is run a Shorei completely dead, that pretty much ruins that lithium battery.

Gent

Seen some video on bench testing the r/r and realized I might have purchased a used late model to save money and never verified trhat it actually worked, Anything less than a 99.5 rating from eBay means the seller is criminal.

 

[dgamber0]

Sorry I did not know a Shorai battery is lithium.

I have noticed that the battery tender will over charge a lead acid battery and cook it. The battery tender JR is a great charger, but after the battery is fully charged (green light on) disconnect it. This only takes a few hours usually. After the bike sits a month, reconnect it and bring the battery up to fully charge and repeat. The AGM batteries can stay on the charger and not get cooked. Not sure if this is your problem? I cooked 2 batteries before I figured this out. Mainly in winter storage.

 

[Fire-medic]

I am not an EE. My reading on battery chargers is that many simple chargers aren't capable of reducing the charge current enough to prevent over-charging. The Deltran is a good unit, I have both a big one and several of the Deltran battery tender juniors. They go to 1/20 amp once the battery is fully charged. They also have circuitry to properly charge Li-ion batteries.

If Li-ion batteries drop below a certain point, the circuit protection will not allow a charge to be accepted. The internet has various ways to trick or to fool the Li-ion battery into accepting a charge to bring it above the minimum charge necessary to allow the circuitry to accept a charge. Using a regular, old-fashioned charger on a Li-ion battery can cause the battery to fail. What are failed batteries capable-of? Overheating and short-circuits. That could cause a fire.

The Miami Ferrari dealer had a car in their enclosed parking catch on fire due to a bad battery, yes, it was a Ferrari.

If you spend the $$ on a Li-ion battery, spend the $ on a proper li-ion battery charger.

 

[Mr. Max]

Correct charger is crucial with lithium batteries, that’s why I asked what kind of charger op has been using.

 

[Woody]

Correct charger is crucial with lithium batteries, that’s why I asked what kind of charger op has been using.

Special charger for Lithium. Then how does the vmax charging system charge Lithium batteries?
I'll stick with my pc680.
11 yes old
And still preforming like new.(battery tender on when not riding)

 

[Mr. Max]

Special charger for Lithium. Then how does the vmax charging system charge Lithium batteries?
I'll stick with my pc680.
11 yes old
And still preforming like new.(battery tender on when not riding)

It charges while engine running. Maybe if you ride two months straight without turning engine off and lights etc. turned off with lithium battery, you end up with f’d up lithium battery.

 

[Zeus36]

Went with the big battery mod using a GL1500 Goldwing-style battery. Just pulled out the stock battery box and it slipped right in. No more charging issues, no more dead battery, no more slow cranking, no more dim lights. Paid around $54 $102.

 

[Fire-medic]

Any bottom or side cushioning, any fastening-down? Pics? I read Sean's GW swap article years ago. I think he carves-up the OEM battery box.

 

[Zeus36]

Any bottom or side cushioning, any fastening-down? Pics? I read Sean's GW swap article years ago. I think he carves-up the OEM battery box.

Bottom support - yes. I used a piece of 1/4" plywood painted black as a base. Used the larger battery base as the template. The fit is snug against the frame tubes to the point there is no movement fore and aft or laterally, so no fastening down. I just looked up my original post from May 29, 2020 and I was way off on the cost for the battery:

"...Pulled out the battery box, made a bottom shelf, used the factory rubber mat and picked up a ETX18L battery for $103.99 at
O'Reilly Auto Parts. My military discount paid the tax so it was $102 out the door. I counterbored the shelf for the factory bolts and capped them with cannon plug dust covers.
This a Group BTX24HL AGM sealed battery with 340 Cold Cranking Amps and weighs 18 pounds. The 24HL is the same group size for either a 1990 Gold Wing GL1500 as in Sean's post and also used on Yamaha's VMAX VX700 XTC Snowmobile.

 

[Equanish]

I am not an EE. My reading on battery chargers is that many simple chargers aren't capable of reducing the charge current enough to prevent over-charging. The Deltran is a good unit, I have both a big one and several of the Deltran battery tender juniors. They go to 1/20 amp once the battery is fully charged. They also have circuitry to properly charge Li-ion batteries.

If Li-ion batteries drop below a certain point, the circuit protection will not allow a charge to be accepted. The internet has various ways to trick or to fool the Li-ion battery into accepting a charge to bring it above the minimum charge necessary to allow the circuitry to accept a charge. Using a regular, old-fashioned charger on a Li-ion battery can cause the battery to fail. What are failed batteries capable-of? Overheating and short-circuits. That could cause a fire.

The Miami Ferrari dealer had a car in their enclosed parking catch on fire due to a bad battery, yes, it was a Ferrari.

If you spend the $$ on a Li-ion battery, spend the $ on a proper li-ion battery charger.

Well I did get the Shorai charger but after 7 months it wouldn't charge the battery. I tried trickle a few times and that worked but the last charge (all night) killed it.

 

[Equanish]

Correct charger is crucial with lithium batteries, that’s why I asked what kind of charger op has been using.

I used the Shorai charger from Day one and the battery did not last 9 months. Vendor not eating it. Shorai Customer service requires airline maintenance sized documentation. ***'em.

 

[Mr. Max]

I used the Shorai charger from Day one and the battery did not last 9 months. Vendor not eating it. Shorai Customer service requires airline maintenance sized documentation. ***'em.

Well then, if bike is not overcharging it.. That's strange. What model was that? Just curious about what kind of cca and ah it has.
I bought stock battery, have got it two seasons now with no problems. Also no charging during season. And I think these bikes can handle it's weight in normal traffic/riding..