Dead ballistic battery

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Juicebox
Posts: 450
Joined: Sat Aug 14, 2010 4:50 pm
Location: sconsin

Dead ballistic battery

#1 Post by Juicebox » Thu Aug 11, 2016 6:32 am

I have been trying to read up in the electrical section and learn some things, but this stuff is difficult for me to grasp. I have had a ballistic battery in my bike for about 1 year now, and have had no issues with it at all. Then last week, I took my engine out to swap it with another motor. There was about a week between pulling the first engine, and installing the second. During that time, the battery was connected to nothing. Now the battery is dead, and I was wondering why the battery would go dead after being unplugged for a week? Also, does anyone know if a ballistic battery can be rejuvenated with a trickle charger....or can they only be charged with the $150 "battery manager"?


One final question please.....now that the new motor is in, i'm dying to start it and break it in so I can go riding.....can I run the bike with the dead battery in it and not worry about doing any damage, or is a dead battery the same as no battery, therefore requiring a battery eliminator? Thanks for any help.

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kpke
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Re: Dead ballistic battery

#2 Post by kpke » Thu Aug 11, 2016 11:23 am

I have two bikes with ballistic batteries and they seem to be holding up quite well. That is strange that yours went dead like that. The one in my 500 sat unused for about a year and a half before it finally got installed in the bike. While it was sitting I would check the voltage once in a while and it always was good.

It looks like you have read up on their fancy battery charger. If I were you I would put it on the trickle charger and see what happens.

In the meantime order one of the sealed alarm batteries which cost about $20 or $30 delivered. I have two bikes running these batteries and they work great and last years. No more wet batteries for me. You could buy about five of these batteries for the price of the ballistic charger.

I don't have a part number handy for the sealed battery I use.

But it is like one of these

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss ... ed+battery

I have run these bikes with near dead batteries, however it is probably not advisable. The other smarter people here can offer better advice on this.

whyzee79
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Re: Dead ballistic battery

#3 Post by whyzee79 » Thu Aug 11, 2016 1:41 pm

If you mean Lithium Ion battery, then no you do not use your standard charger unless you want to burn down your garage. Just a thought. They are very dangerous and have to be treated as such. If you read most battery instructions for these they say you are supposed to monitor the charging so you don't burn your home down. If you are talking gel cell, then you can charge with a normal charger.

RuZty
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Re: Dead ballistic battery

#4 Post by RuZty » Thu Aug 11, 2016 5:15 pm

I'm pretty sure Optimate also make a charger that will charge Lithium batteries, but I have started mine with a dead battery and used the bike to charge it, not sure how that will affect the Ballistic, but that's how it normally gets charged. I have had one of their 4 cells in mine for about 4 years, and it was in the basement for the last two and was still showing 11 volts when I put it back in the bike. Headlight and PV's worked as normal. I've emailed them before, they have good customer service, drop them a line.

waltmil
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Location: Panacea, FL USA

Re: Dead ballistic battery

#5 Post by waltmil » Thu Aug 11, 2016 5:59 pm

If the battery has zero volts it is probably open which is better than being shorted which you would have noticed by the fire. I accidentally bought a Noco Genius G750 trickle charger which just happens to be for lifepo batteries. It must have been cheap or I would not have bought it. Maybe try that before you toss the battery but I would not recommend a standard charger. Maybe a Battery Tender or similar but nothing bigger. Be careful and good luck.
Red/White US '84, Spec II pipes, Y-boot w/K&N, Fox Shock, Mikuni carbs?

RDZombie
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Location: Virginia

Re: Dead ballistic battery

#6 Post by RDZombie » Thu Aug 11, 2016 7:55 pm

Ballistic batteries are not lithium ion, they are lithium ferro phosphate; LiFePO4. They can be charged with a standard lead acid charger. The "special" Ballistic charger charges each cell in the battery separately, balancing them. LiFePO4 cells have a very low internal discharge rate, if your battery died after a short time disconnected its probably damaged. These things can sit a year plus with very low voltage drop.
84 KR RZ350
84 RZ421
RZ500/FZR400 hybrid STILL in the works
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tacky1
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Location: Pacifica,,

Re: Dead ballistic battery

#7 Post by tacky1 » Thu Aug 11, 2016 10:50 pm

This is what I use on all my Ballistic battery's, I leave my 500 plugged in https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N5 ... UTF8&psc=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
1985 RZv500
1984 RZ500 Hybrid
1986 RG500 Walter Wolf
1986 RG500 Skoal Bandit
1984 RZ350
1984 RZ350 Hybrid
1981 RD350LC
1981 RD350LC Hybrid
2009 CR500AF Supermoto 250X
2007 CR500AF 250X
1988 YSR50 (2)
1984 GPZ750 Turbo
1989 VFR750R RC30

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Juicebox
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Re: Dead ballistic battery

#8 Post by Juicebox » Thu Aug 11, 2016 11:27 pm

Yeah, I thought the Ballistic was great. Mine also sat for around a year and a half before installation, and there was no drop in volts. While it was in the bike, it worked perfectly. Then this. The only thing I can think of, is that maybe I left the key on for that week it sat there, and then somehow I turned it off without noticing it was on. Seems unlikely, but who knows. I went to the Ballistic site, and read that you can use a regular battery charger, as long as it meets certain criteria. I had no idea what any of their criteria meant, so I hooked it up and took a shot. I watched it very closely, feeling for rapid heat increase, and measuring with a multimeter. After about 30 minutes, it was warm to the touch, and measured 13.5V. I took it off at that point, and let it sit to cool down. I then measured about 1 hour after that, and it was down to 10.37V. I dont know what any off that means, in terms of the state of the batterys health, but I figured i'd put it in and see if the bike running will charge it properly. Thanks for the responses guys. If anyone has anything to add based on whats been said, please do. Like I said...i'm trying to learn.

waltmil
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Re: Dead ballistic battery

#9 Post by waltmil » Fri Aug 12, 2016 5:01 am

My only concern would be if the battery had an internal failure which I think yours does. The voltage should not drop like that without any load. I think you have a bad cell and I don't know what might happen but it could catch fire. I think you should contact the manufacturer with details.
One other thing, I have one too so I am very interested in what you find out.
Red/White US '84, Spec II pipes, Y-boot w/K&N, Fox Shock, Mikuni carbs?

RDZombie
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Location: Virginia

Re: Dead ballistic battery

#10 Post by RDZombie » Sun Aug 14, 2016 10:25 pm

Charge at a low rate to be safe, 500ma-1amp for these small 4 cell batteries. If need be you can monitor individual cell voltages through the multi pin connector in the middle of the battery (if yours has it). I don't remember the pinout but not hard to figure out with a multimeter. I've had a couple of these ballistic batteries and made 4 home brew ones; bout 40 bucks vs 80 for the ballistic, without any issues.

Edit, just looked on ebay, these thing are selling for $120-$130 now,,, Holy Crap!
84 KR RZ350
84 RZ421
RZ500/FZR400 hybrid STILL in the works
74 GT750
02 RS250
91 NSR250

Ballistic
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Re: Dead ballistic battery

#11 Post by Ballistic » Tue Aug 16, 2016 10:52 am

:smt006

Hi guys,

Thank you for using our products in your bikes.

OP, it does sound like the battery was drained below its minimum voltage and then only 75% (9.0-10.0v) was recovered.

Give me a call at 920-545-4956 ask for Jason or email me at info@ballisticparts.com and I will try my best to help you out.

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kpke
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Re: Dead ballistic battery

#12 Post by kpke » Tue Aug 16, 2016 11:14 am

That's very cool that the vendor got on here and responded.

Nice to see. :smt023

Juicebox please keep us filled in on the results. I still find it strange that your battery was working fine and suddenly went way dead like that.

RuZty
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Re: Dead ballistic battery

#13 Post by RuZty » Wed Aug 17, 2016 8:52 am

Told you they had good customer service, nice show Jason.

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Juicebox
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Re: Dead ballistic battery

#14 Post by Juicebox » Thu Aug 18, 2016 3:23 pm

I gave them a call, and they said it's hard to tell without having the battery in front of them. The battery has a 3 year, prorated warranty. They will take care of me.

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