NeilP
1 GW
A mate of mine has a standard ICE powered KTM 690 motorbike
He replaced the standard battery for starting the bike with a Lithium pack bought from a dealer in the UK, but I think he has been ripped off.
The bike is very difficult to start now with this new pack, especially from cold. It almost seems that you need to draw a few amps in attempting to sart the bike..the battery possibly gets a bit warm due this current draw, then the bike starts. I never actually saw this, just what he reported to me.
He has not removed the shrink wrap to check inside, but it looks like it is constructed from 8 cells, each one, maybe 2.5 inch long, by about 3/4 inch diameter. I imagine this is therefore a 4s2p pack...he says the pack is 4.6Ah.
What I find disturbing is that the pack does not seem to have ANY form of BMS built in to it, and there are no balance taps externally, and so far he has not pierced the shrink wrap to check the individual cells. Until he does that we are screwed as to what the problem may be..i am guessing out of balance pack and also not enough capacity.
I found this site
http://www.ktmworld.com/products/4035-shorai-battery.aspx
They are selling a battery of 14Ah..his is 4.6Ah..what is the C rating likely to be of cheap LiFePO4 cells?? 10C if you are lucky? His complete pack cost about $90 USD.
The other worry is charging it on the bike..no form of change or re adjustment to the bike charging system , so the pack is being charged as if it is the standard Lead Acid bike battery..that can't be doing it any favours either.
Any thoughts? can a LiFePO4 battery jsut be stuck in to a bike in place of a Lead Acid without modding the charging system? I would have said not..but what do you guys think?
He replaced the standard battery for starting the bike with a Lithium pack bought from a dealer in the UK, but I think he has been ripped off.
The bike is very difficult to start now with this new pack, especially from cold. It almost seems that you need to draw a few amps in attempting to sart the bike..the battery possibly gets a bit warm due this current draw, then the bike starts. I never actually saw this, just what he reported to me.
He has not removed the shrink wrap to check inside, but it looks like it is constructed from 8 cells, each one, maybe 2.5 inch long, by about 3/4 inch diameter. I imagine this is therefore a 4s2p pack...he says the pack is 4.6Ah.
What I find disturbing is that the pack does not seem to have ANY form of BMS built in to it, and there are no balance taps externally, and so far he has not pierced the shrink wrap to check the individual cells. Until he does that we are screwed as to what the problem may be..i am guessing out of balance pack and also not enough capacity.
I found this site
http://www.ktmworld.com/products/4035-shorai-battery.aspx
They are selling a battery of 14Ah..his is 4.6Ah..what is the C rating likely to be of cheap LiFePO4 cells?? 10C if you are lucky? His complete pack cost about $90 USD.
The other worry is charging it on the bike..no form of change or re adjustment to the bike charging system , so the pack is being charged as if it is the standard Lead Acid bike battery..that can't be doing it any favours either.
Any thoughts? can a LiFePO4 battery jsut be stuck in to a bike in place of a Lead Acid without modding the charging system? I would have said not..but what do you guys think?
