gossend

gossend

Well Known Member
Patron
Considering the Shorai battery line for weight reduction. Shorai cautions against charge rates greater than two amps. How do you protect against that? For example, after extensive discharge due to a failed hot start, lets say the battery is showing a little below its normal resting voltage (meaning it is waaay discharged). On the next crank, your balky Lyc fires up, the alternator comes on line and hoses the battery with 10 or 20 amps for a (short) while. Are you hosed, too? Will there be smoke? Do you bail out?
I dont get it.
:confused:
 
This has been my question, with no answer from Shorai after three inquiries: Since I have a 45 amp alternator on my plane, what happens when I charge 45 amps into a battery that the maker wants no more than 18 amps? Does it shorten its life? Does it catch fire? Should I have a different regulator?
If you notice Shorai recommends lots of motorcycle and small alternator equipped applications, but does not even suggest its use for autos or applications with larger alternators, etc. Shorai does seem to have a bad reputation when searching the internet (besides refusing to answer consumer questions)

humptybump said:
I'm not sure where the 2A charge rate is listed. I just double checked the Shorai documentation on their website and my smaller battery is listed to have an 18A max charge rate and my larger one is 27A max charge rate.

The Shorai charger only puts out 2A.

http://shoraipower.com/battery-specifications
Click to expand...
 
gossend said:
Considering the Shorai battery line for weight reduction. Shorai cautions against charge rates greater than two amps. How do you protect against that? For example, after extensive discharge due to a failed hot start, lets say the battery is showing a little below its normal resting voltage (meaning it is waaay discharged). On the next crank, your balky Lyc fires up, the alternator comes on line and hoses the battery with 10 or 20 amps for a (short) while. Are you hosed, too? Will there be smoke? Do you bail out?
I dont get it.
:confused:
Click to expand...

It protects itself with its internal charging circuitry.
 
Dick,

If you have not done it yet, search the forums for LiFePO4. You will find a couple different threads and some first had test results from both rocketbob and me.

Everyone needs to decide for themselves. For me, the LiFePO4 has been a good choice. I've run several intentional tests (and a few unintentional ones). The battery technology has been solid.

If you choose the Odessey 680 you will have a lot more historical data.
 
As in all things in life, I find myself weighing benefit versus potential loss here. Benefit, I save enough weight to offset the weight of my boots, or an extra gallon of fuel. The potential loss.... my life, my passengers life, my aircraft, etc.

There seem to be plenty of people willing to do the experimenting in this field, not the least of which is Boeing. They haven't had the greatest luck despite a much larger budget than mine to play with. I'll stick with the Odyssey for now. With that said, I hope the tech evolves and it can only do so if people buy in. On a motorcycle, sure...even a car, why not....but climbing out on a hot day where my engine fought me on startup and the alternator is dumping into the battery....man, that's just not the time to wonder if your battery is going to burst into flames. Not in an RV8 where the battery is sitting behind my wife anyway. Max charge rate? If the manufacturer tells you it's incompatible with your use....and the result of failure is a fire....what is the question exactly? To save a few pounds?
 
Bravo !

Bravo to our experimenters. I love to tinker and experiment and learn, as far back as I can remember. One can not tinker with everything at once, and my natural skills don't lend themselves to electronic kind of things.

Simply changing one thing for another without some understanding entails risks. We learn and improve. Occasionally, maybe even often, we fail, but a proper approach means we learn. Aerodynamics, shrinking the cooling exit, LiXX batteries, name your topic.

I choose not to experiment with this technology as completing my project is now more important, but to those who are, thanks, and keep the information coming. This is what is really exciting about EAA, and people who are willing to share their education.

YMMV
 
i use these batteries in my race bikes. they suck when cold. so if you live in a cold region or fly a lot when its cold, be prepared to to think your battery is dead. trying to crank it, will naturally warm the battery up, however I found using a heat gun worked quicker. granted i'm using a 8 cell. not sure how many are in these larger batteries.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.