Interesting article on lead-acid vs. lithium batteries

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Here

by Andrew Trevitt

 

[AndyHe_imp]

Hmm... wonder about possibility of a battery fire with lithium. Probably not an issue.

 

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Hmm... wonder about possibility of a battery fire with lithium. Probably not an issue.

Long as you are lithium-iron, instead of lithium ion. See how easy it is to get mixed up? They call the first one the "LiFe" battery. No issues with fires or 'splosions with that kind.

See this post.

Hmm... wonder about possibility of a battery fire with lithium. Probably not an issue.

Just thinking about the 787 being assembled up your way.

 

[AzBob_imp]

Hmm... wonder about possibility of a battery fire with lithium. Probably not an issue.

Long as you are lithium-iron, instead of lithium ion. See how easy it is to get mixed up? They call the first one the "LiFe" battery. No issues with fires or 'splosions with that kind.

See this post.

Hmm... wonder about possibility of a battery fire with lithium. Probably not an issue.

Just thinking about the 787 being assembled up your way.

That's not true. There are a couple of reports of fires (there's a video on YouTube of a guy, and a guy with a Ducati had two fires with the batteries in the same bike, the second of which burned down his garage). The batteries were all lithium iron phosphate batteries (an earthX in the second circumstance, IIRC). I believe, however, the fires were perhaps a result of the bike's charging system overcharging the battery rather than the battery itself (a number of Ducati's have caught fire, actually). That doesn't absolve the battery completely, though. That being said, I run Shorai batteries in all three of my bikes.

 

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Hmm... wonder about possibility of a battery fire with lithium. Probably not an issue.

Long as you are lithium-iron, instead of lithium ion. See how easy it is to get mixed up? They call the first one the "LiFe" battery. No issues with fires or 'splosions with that kind.

See this post.

Hmm... wonder about possibility of a battery fire with lithium. Probably not an issue.

Just thinking about the 787 being assembled up your way.

That's not true. There are a couple of reports of fires (there's a video on YouTube of a guy, and a guy with a Ducati had two fires with the batteries in the same bike, the second of which burned down his garage). The batteries were all lithium iron phosphate batteries (an earthX in the second circumstance, IIRC). I believe, however, the fires were perhaps a result of the bike's charging system overcharging the battery rather than the battery itself (a number of Ducati's have caught fire, actually). That doesn't absolve the battery completely, though. That being said, I run Shorai batteries in all three of my bikes.

That's not true. There are a couple of reports of fires (there's a video on YouTube of a guy, and a guy with a Ducati had two fires with the batteries in the same bike, the second of which burned down his garage). The batteries were all lithium iron phosphate batteries (an earthX in the second circumstance, IIRC). I believe, however, the fires were perhaps a result of the bike's charging system overcharging the battery rather than the battery itself (a number of Ducati's have caught fire, actually). That doesn't absolve the battery completely, though. That being said, I run Shorai batteries in all three of my bikes. Yeah, I can't absolutely confirm that claim. The one getting all the bad press is lithium ion. Always the odd conflagration, you know.

But to be clear, the LiFe batteries have no history of this kind of issue at all. Any kind of battery will blow up or catch fire if it's overcharged as you point out.

If going to LiFe batteries, one should check the alternator output first to make sure there is sufficient voltage at or near idle, and also to see if there's any fault with overcharging. Older motorcycles are not good candidates for LiFe batteries. When in doubt, use OEM and check the charging system.

 

[AzBob_imp]

It's worth it to note that Honda's newest iteration of its superbike, the CBR1000RR SP and SP2 both have OEM Lithium batteries (whether they're a LiFePO4 or LiPo battery I don't know at this time, as even the journalists mess this up calling them both "lithium ion" and the bike won't be in stores until March/April next year).

 

[the Ferret]

Over on MCD they are showing some of the new bikes from the EICMA show, and they list a Ducati ( I think it was) as having a Lithium-ion battery.