Dead Shorai Battery after 3 days

[vanbry]

So, I shelled out a couple of hundred bucks for a Shorai battery; installed in on Wednesday night. The bike started wonderfully Wednesday night and Thursday. I didn't ride it on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Sunday night, I decide to take a quick spin, go to start the bike and it won't even engage the starter. Check voltage across the battery and it comes in at 9 and some change.

I have no extra accessories hooked up to my max; is there anything that I should be checking for residual draw on this thing? I have a RMA in with Shorai for a new battery, but if it's the bike causing it, I want to get to the bottom of it.

Any ideas for me?

Thanks,

Keith

 

[1967vmax]

I have the same problem,check an verify that your stator and voltage regulator are working then if they are you may have a short in the harness you could start pulling 1 fuse at a time till you find the fuse that will put you in the neighborhood of where the short is at. Mine i think is my led lights over the couse of 2 weeks it drains the battery i just leave it on a battery tender. good luck

 

[[email protected]]

You need a meter capable of reading DC Amps, up to 10A should be good.

Disconnect negative battery cable.
Connect one lead of meter to battery cable, other lead from meter to battery terminal. Any current leak will be shown on the meter. You should see nothing more than a few milliamps as there is nothing on a 1st gen vmax that would draw power with the key off.

Pull fuses one at a time till you find the circuit with the problem.

 

[sdt354]

Charge up the battery at 10 amps for an 1 11/2 hrs. Let it sit disconnected over night. You should have no less than 12.8 volts, or return it, it's defective. Batteries usually are reliable when new, but eliminate this possibility.

 

[vanbry]

Charge up the battery at 10 amps for an 1 11/2 hrs. Let it sit disconnected over night. You should have no less than 12.8 volts, or return it, it's defective. Batteries usually are reliable when new, but eliminate this possibility.

I don't have their charger, and the lady from Shorai said that conventional chargers only charge the first cell, and apparently they are divided into cells of 3.6 volts. I did put my charger on the battery, and it discharged within a half an hour...she said that it would do that as a protection with a conventional charger...so, it you need to charge a lithium battery, you must spend the 100 buck for their charger. Regardless, I didn't think that I would need to charge a battery so soon. I charged my conventional battery, and put it back in last night, and it seems to be holding around 12.8.I'll check that again when I get home from work.

 

[vanbry]

You need a meter capable of reading DC Amps, up to 10A should be good.

Disconnect negative battery cable.
Connect one lead of meter to battery cable, other lead from meter to battery terminal. Any current leak will be shown on the meter. You should see nothing more than a few milliamps as there is nothing on a 1st gen vmax that would draw power with the key off.

Pull fuses one at a time till you find the circuit with the problem.

Thanks Mike, I will do that when I get home from work today.

 

[vanbry]

You need a meter capable of reading DC Amps, up to 10A should be good.

Disconnect negative battery cable.
Connect one lead of meter to battery cable, other lead from meter to battery terminal. Any current leak will be shown on the meter. You should see nothing more than a few milliamps as there is nothing on a 1st gen vmax that would draw power with the key off.

Pull fuses one at a time till you find the circuit with the problem.

Just checked, and there is no draw between the negative terminal and the cable with the cable unhooked, and the standard battery was still at 12.8 volts and holding.

 

[[email protected]]

Sounds like you got a bum Shorai

 

[Bill Seward]

That's why I did the Gold Wing battery box modification, and put in a Interstate AGM battery. If the ignition craps out in my '85 - I can probably get a few miles on the starter motor.....

Seriously, my bike cranks like a bandit with the Wing battery..

 

[Fire-medic]

Those of us old enough to recall when the GPZ1100 went to digital fuel injection (DFI) and a lot of people were saying, "how do you fix that by the side of the road?" Well, you probably don't, but the reliability of the modern technology is superior to 'what was,' at least until the electromagnetic pulse happens. But at that point, 'about 6 billion people are in for a very bad day!' (Terminator)

I had a Ballistic battery go bad, and I got it warranteed by the distributor, Parts Unlimited. It was just under a year old, as I recall. I posted on here about it. I replaced it w/a Shorai and have had no issues.

I still like the Li-ions.

 

[vanbry]

That's why I did the Gold Wing battery box modification, and put in a Interstate AGM battery. If the ignition craps out in my '85 - I can probably get a few miles on the starter motor.....

Seriously, my bike cranks like a bandit with the Wing battery..

I thought about going that way, but I couldn't find a number for the Gold Wing battery in AGM. The numbers that were posted in the thread were all bad. Hopefully, I just got a bad battery; new one will be here Friday.

 

[marsmax85]

Get yourself a shorai charger when you can . I leave mine on both my 09' and 85' during the winter months .

 

[sdt354]

I don't have their charger, and the lady from Shorai said that conventional chargers only charge the first cell, and apparently they are divided into cells of 3.6 volts. I did put my charger on the battery, and it discharged within a half an hour...she said that it would do that as a protection with a conventional charger...so, it you need to charge a lithium battery, you must spend the 100 buck for their charger. Regardless, I didn't think that I would need to charge a battery so soon. I charged my conventional battery, and put it back in last night, and it seems to be holding around 12.8.I'll check that again when I get home from work.

If that's the case, you should need a different regulator on the bike, don't you think? Gell cells, which aren't lithium I realize, use a three step charger as part of the change over. Maybe others here with Lithium batteries will chime in with how there lithium install worked out.
Steve-o

 

[ga_max]

The PO put a Shoria battery in my max and so fair it works well. Having working with Lithium batteries for my RC toys I know a balancing charger is important but the battery can still be charged with a tender (I think their website gives details). When the battery is charged by the bike it's not balanced so I'm assuming the battery has some internal way to balance the cells. The biggest help to my charging system was a new RR from Sean and by bypassing the crimp and going directly from the + rr to the battery.

 

[fmcandrew]

Interesting thread...I have a Shorai...my R/R went bad and I drained it to all hell...charged on a 3a trickle no problem (poles showed 13+A when done charging)...new R/R is charging it just fine as it cranks (even when hot), like never before...

 

[Bill Seward]

As a VMax owner since 1985 who has hassled with a crappy charging system since the bike was still new and shiny, I feel changing the voltage regulator to a MOSFET style was the absolute best mod I have done to the bike. It charges perfectly, and cranks strong, every time.

 

[Dorney]

If that's the case, you should need a different regulator on the bike, don't you think? Gell cells, which aren't lithium I realize, use a three step charger as part of the change over. Maybe others here with Lithium batteries will chime in with how there lithium install worked out.
Steve-o

I thought the same thing but as long as it is a straight battery tender low amp. you should be fine. A high voltage & or Anti - Sulfation charger is no good. When I got my Shorai it said that the voltage needed to be at least 13.2 & I charged it on my 1.5 amp tender. It worked fine & works great in the bike.

Dave

 

[vanbry]

All Great info. I will definitely get the Shorai charger down the road. New one will be here tomorrow; hope I have better luck with it.

 

[D-Max2012]

I have the Shorai battery also.. So far, so good.. Almost 2 years now.
Built my own wires to use my hobby smart charger for it while I had it in the house for the winter.
For charging in the house, you use a computer balance charger, to keep all cells in sync with each other..
Shorai sells one for something like $75.00.
Since I had one already for my hobby that does all types of batteries, I created a balance lead to go from my charger to the battery.


Also, the Shorai battery runs off the same charging system that's in the bike. Nothing special is needed in the Max.


Now for your question..
Do you happen to have a clock or GPS /USB power supply on your bike?
If so, is it wired to be on, ONLY, when the key is in the ON position?

USB converters used for cars/bikes, convert 13.8 volts down to 5 Volts.
These are constantly running even if you have the USB device in your pocket.
So, if its not wired thru your ignition cut off, it will drain your battery when not in use.

I tapped off the headlight wires for my GPS.

Just something to think about.



Created a video for my charger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roj4zCvgdMs

 

[vanbry]

Now for your question..
Do you happen to have a clock or GPS /USB power supply on your bike?
If so, is it wired to be on, ONLY, when the key is in the ON position?

USB converters used for cars/bikes, convert 13.8 volts down to 5 Volts.
These are constantly running even if you have the USB device in your pocket.
So, if its not wired thru your ignition cut off, it will drain your battery when not in use.

I tapped off the headlight wires for my GPS.

Just something to think about.

I've got no extra's hooked up at all...well, a shift light, but it isn't drawing with the key off. When I checked with the negative lead unhooked, there was no draw at all on the battery. New one is on the truck for delivery today. I hope to have better luck with it.