Shorai battery failure

[Charlief]

Both of my batteries are dead :-( both the Ducati and SV refuse to turn over enough to start. I was told there was no need to maintain over winter but I bought the Shorai maintainers any way.

I know the cold effects cranking on these but I'm a little dissappointed.

Any one else having problems with these?

I'm going back to Yuasa.

[drinkingmymilk]

Shoot them an email. I had trouble with mine in my street. Turns out they never factored in off key draw. I had a new battery and half off a charger free in under a week.

Their website has all the contact info to get an RA number. If you don't hear anything in a few days, this is the guy I was dealing with. Shawn Higbee <racetech@shorai.org>

[Charlief]

I plan to as they are both less than a year old. I only changed batteries because the Yuasa was pushing 7 years.

Having both dead leaves me with no great satisfaction with the product.

[drinkingmymilk]

I agree. I was pissed at the cost Vs. life. Thankfully they stand behind their product. Let's hope they got the kinks worked out that first year.

[loudog]

I have one that came from their second batch of manufacturing and it's going strong. I just cranked the bike over the other day during some testing.

[Charlief]

Both of mine are from the 2nd batch also. I'm going to charge them up and throw a meter on them and check the discharge rate over the next few days.

[loudog]

Both of mine are from the 2nd batch also. I'm going to charge them up and throw a meter on them and check the discharge rate over the next few days.

Bummer. That's gotta be frustrating....them suckas ain't cheap!

[Pigman]

Here is some good info..........


Charging LiFePo4 Batteries - 13x Forums

Battery Charging - Ballistic Performance Components

[HO-HUM-R1]

I have read similar threads and it turned out in those that the batteries needed to warm up.... something to do with the way the lithium batteries are made.. The solution for those guys was to turn the key on and let the bike sit for a several minutes, after the battery had a chance to "warm up" it apparently turned over faster and started. I don't have one yet personally but i have read several threads in researching them.. Kind of the opposite to a regular battery but for them it worked

[03Worc9R]

Do all these light weight batteries have the same effect in the cold? I also have a Shorai which was great all last year until taking my bike to work on a couple cold days. Wasn't too confidence inspiring have to sit and attempt starting bike multiple times. Especially in front of co workers who just don't understand these kind of things.

[HO-HUM-R1]

From what ive read looking around when the battery gets cold this happens. But letting the bike sit for a few with the key on should warm it enough to start

[Charlief]

I'm going to switch to a regular battery for my street bike. I'll keep the shorias for the track.

[ZX-12R]

This is part of the reason why I still don't recommend switching to Lithium batteries yet for street use. The charge/discharge cycle of Lithium batteries is different than lead acid and the electronics/charging system on a motorcycle is not designed to work with them. What makes the problem worse is Lithium batteries are being sold purely as a battery pack which is nothing more than multiple cells in series. It would behoove the manufactures to integrate a charge controller into the battery pack to optimize its performance and prevent situations like yours where the pack was allowed to be discharged to the point of failure. There is no reason why they couldn't be doing this now.

For the time being, lead-acid batteries are more reliable and their extra weight is insignificant on the street.

[Stromper]

New update other forum says they DO NOT WORK when cold

He says turn on headlight for 5 minutes to warm up the battery then try it

[smokinjoe]

From the many things I have read about the lithium batteries they are really not good for street applications.

They are very sensitive to amp variances and not real happy with motorcycles as a charging system. They dont play nice with regulator rectifiers either.

For me I ride year round and wouldnt trust them for that either plus why do I care about the tiny wieght savings on the street?
Racebike I could see maybe but ONE gallon of extraneous gas in the tank negates all savings.

[loudog]

New update other forum says they DO NOT WORK when cold

He says turn on headlight for 5 minutes to warm up the battery then try it

That would suck. Do you have a link to that thread?

I'm not sure what kinda cold we're talking about here...I've fired mine up around 40F without any issue. It always turns over strong and never needs to warm up. Granted, I mainly ride in warmer weather.

[The Snowman]

Man, I'm hoping they work ok for my race bike. It's a total loss system, so I have to charge it between races/sessions/practices.

I picked up 2 Shorai batteries and their charger, since I also hear that using a standard Battery Tender isn't great with the Lithium iron phosphate batteries.

[03Worc9R]

I contacted Shorai about my cold issues. I got a quick response and a new battery, next size bigger, in the mail a week later. They included a return label to send my used battery back to them.

This issue seems to be a characteristic of the batteries and not a particular brand.

I am more than please with the customer service of Shorai.

Chuck, I have no doubt that the battery will be more than sufficient in that application. The Deltran battery tenders are actually recommended for these batteries because they don't have the desulfate mode which is what will ruin the lithium-iron batteries.