wonder battery

[Cormanus]

I acquired [url=https://www.projecta.com.au/products/IS920/12v-900a-emergency-jmpstarter]one of these after running into battery problems on my boat. I've used it on the boat and the car and it's a wonderful thing.

[Tev62]

Batteries are not what they used to be. My Triumph Tiger 1200 was on its third within 4 years (original and two replacements) and my my 9 month old GS ate a battery recently. I did/do have alarms on them but they always go on a tender if left for anytime. The CB never goes on a tender but no alarm either, it just starts.

[Nachodaddy]

At around $100 USD, my Honda Optimate 3 has been very helpful. I use it as a battery tender, but, if the battery goes bad, it lets you know before it is too late and you don't get stuck somewhere. Nice piece of equipment.

[Gone in 60]

I have not had luck with Yuasas over the past few years. The original one on my '13 CB lasted until a month after I bought the bike in April of '19, so not bad. (I continued to use the Harbor Freight trickle charger on that bike that the original owner handed me, and figured it was the bike's good luck charm. Unfortunately I blew it up during a hilarious wiring mistake when I accidentally wired a new outlet in my shop to the flourescent light circuit which was running over 300 volts.)

Only got about 2 years out of the next two Yuasas I put in the bike. Also only got about two and a half years out of the last Yuasa I put in the Triumph. I put all of my bikes on Optimate tenders when I'm on the road for work for a few weeks at a time, and the CB since I only ride it a few times per month.

I decided that if I'm only going to get a few years out of a battery, why pay for a premium one. The last time my CB battery went out over the Christmas break last year, I went on Amazon and bought a $30 battery, just to see if I could get at least a few years out of it. If I do, I'll be money ahead!

[Whoops]

Walked out to the garage and noticed my Battery Tender connected to the CB had a red light instead of the normal green.

Ordered this [url=https://www.mightymaxbattery.com/shop/lifepo4/mighty-max-battery-ytz14s-lifepo4-12-volt-11-2-ah-225-cca-lithium-iron-phosphate-lifepo4-battery/]LiFePO4 battery from MightMax. It arrived and was installed over the weekend. The LiFePO4 chemistry seems like a great fit for an automotive battery. While not quite as light as a lithium ion, it's dang close. The chemistry is far more stable however, so no worries about thermal runaway and fire comsuming such a pretty bike. It seems Lithium Iron Phosphates typically last about 8-10 year life span (2000+ charge cycles at 80% load according to the website), no memory, fully usable capacity similar to lithium ion, minimal charge decay (doesn't need maintenance charge to curb sulfation like lead, gel or AGM). And it has a nifty control panel on the top that displays current capacity, charges, etc. I am intrigued about the possibility of going twice the time span between replacements for a measly $80. Time will tell.

While it fit into the space under the seat just fine, the posts have a plastic tab next to them that prevented a direct drop in replacement. Instead I had to use a utility knife (thereby likely voiding the warranty) in order to trim away the plastic a bit so the bike battery leads would fit. Only took about 5-10 minutes, but I don't feel one should have to do that if they are building the battery to be a direct replacement for a YTZ14S.

[The Gecko_imp]

At around $100 USD, my Honda Optimate 3 has been very helpful. I use it as a battery tender, but, if the battery goes bad, it lets you know before it is too late and you don't get stuck somewhere. Nice piece of equipment.

How does it tell you that the batt is about to go bad ?

[GoldOxide_imp]

My Optimate 3 will finish a charge of a poor conditioned battery with an LED that turns on indicating "Weak Battery".

[Gone in 60]

My Optimate 3 has a dizzying array of lights. I just look for two solid greens.

[Venteuri_imp]

It seems the optima 3 only works with lead acid batteries. The 5 is for several models of batteries

[Nachodaddy]

At around $100 USD, my Honda Optimate 3 has been very helpful. I use it as a battery tender, but, if the battery goes bad, it lets you know before it is too late and you don't get stuck somewhere. Nice piece of equipment.

How does it tell you that the batt is about to go bad ?

How does it tell you that the batt is about to go bad ? It has green lights if everything is good and yellow or orange if the battery won't hold a charge. On mine, it would never go to green, even though the battery would turn the engine over and it would start. I knew that battery was on it's death bed.