Lithium Batteries - Different Charger Requirements

I did a little investigation of lithium batteries and their charging requirements. Found I wasn't really taking care of our two Earth-X batteries.

I have the Battery Tender Plus I was using to charge my Earth-X batteries in the Huskies. I found the float voltage (the trickle charge voltage) put out by the BT Plus charger is too low - it will in fact make the lithium battery discharge down to 13.2 volts. While the BT Plus is great for lead acid batteries, it is not putting out the right voltage for the lithium style battery

Battery Tender is now making 2 small chargers for lithium batteries, around $30-$36 USD. These two chargers have a float rate of 13.8 volts to keep the battery happy. When the charger is taken off and the battery is allowed to rest, the voltage should be 13.3 volts or above.

The Battery Tender and Earth-x customer service folks were great in replying to my questions.

I don't know what the effect of keeping the Earth-X is at 13.2 volts, but I sure don't want to replace these batteries any time soon. At full charge, they spin our bikes much faster.

You shouldn't have to keep a charger on them. They maintain charge for a long time on their own

Zomby -

You are absolutely right, lithium batteries do maintain charge much better than lead acid, but when I want to grab the bike and get out, I don't want to deal with a discharged battery. To me, it's worth $30 USD to get the right charger / maintainer to avoid a possible problem. I've not yet seen a definitive opinion on whether keeping a lithium on the "right" charger will also extend battery life, I guess time will tell.

I have an Oddessy Extreme battery in a hand held crankshaft starter and if I remember right the voltage numbers in your first post were the same as in my Oddssey info sheet. I think they said not to charge it unless the voltage dropped below a certain level and that it could sit for over a year without a charge and not lose it's charge (unlike a lead acid battery). In your case when you are riding your battery is getting all the charging that it needs, I would think the trickle charger is not helping anything and maybe doing more harm than good.

Lankydoug,

You have to do what you think is right. I'm just relating the recommendations received directly from Earth-X, so given we have Earth-X batteries, I'll follow their directions. Best of luck.

Just remember that on a 13/14 310 as the battery gets topped off it will cycle one of the relays and ends up flooding the bike. Unless you are right next to the bike, charge any battery off the bike. The following is what occurs... BTW, this is an ancient BT jr. Only used it once or twice during 2+ yr life of my EarthX. I should probably get the new version.


View: https://youtu.be/DYS1RBrnDE4

The stock Yuasa will cycle at a lower rate but still acts the same.

The title of the thread doesn't specify that we are only talking about Earth-X and I'm saying Oddessy might be a little different than what you are doing. Trickle to your hearts content.. lol


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sVUXpOdbik

Lankydoug,

I went to the Oddessy Battery site and their Oddessy Extreme Series Battery is an AGM lead acid battery, it is NOT a lithium battery. Do you maybe have a different battery?

http://www.odysseybattery.com/extreme_batteries.aspx

RR

My mistake, you're right about the Oddessy not being lithium but the description also says it is a dry cell and lacks acid. Maybe they consider gel a dry cell I really don't know. I remember the charging info was very specific on voltage (similar to your 13.8 V and letting it sit after charging) and recommended not using a trickle charger. The guy who built my crank drive starter recommended the Oddyssey and said he would usually go a race season without charging his.

On the Earth-X website they state that you can use a regular lead acid battery charger, as follows:

In the event you have to charge the battery, use a Lithium (LiFePO4) battery charger or a lead-acid battery charger that does not charge above 14.6V, will automatically turns off when the battery is fully charged (based on volts) and does not have a de-sulfate mode. Do not use any charger with voltage that pulses above 15V! This will damage the battery. If in doubt, consult the manual that comes with your charger.

They also have a chart showing which chargers can be used. The Battery Tender Jr. is okay, but they also specifically state what you're saying, that the Batter Tender Plus only puts out 13.2 volts.