New hybrid battery for Tiger Sport - hopefully the bees' knees

[Paul2bikes]

Originally Posted by ZuluTiger

Hey Paul, what do you mean 'you give them a boost' every couple of weeks? You boost from a high-current charger? I religiously keep my bikes on a tender when not in use and I still can't get more than 4 years from a battery. Mine do sit for many months with no use which may be the key.

Nah, I just give them a few hours or an overnight on my old Accumate. Green light within 10 mins.

[ZuluTiger]

Hmm. I've had my suspicions about leaving a battery on a 'conditioning' charger for long periods, having had failures on both Battery Tender and Optimate. My opinion (based on lead-acid experience, and quite a bit of exposure to power-system batteries and charging regimes) is that they need cycling beyond a mere trickle charge. I wonder if gel batteries are suffering from insufficient mixing? In the old days, a boost charge (2.4V per 2V cell) caused gassing and mixing of the electrolyte. Fancy high-end chargers (think 500kV substations, with DC tripping) in critical environments have a programmed boost charge cycle. This equalized the specific gravity of the cell. How does a gel battery avoid this problem? Using them hard seems to be the best maintenance option.

I'm not on board with LiOn or LiFePo yet. They have serious charging issues including embedded charging circuitry that does not allow series connection. And, Interstate Battery, my local battery guys, carry no LiOn batteries simply due to the fire risk. A couple of them are volunteer fire-fighters and freak out when they are called to an electric vehicle fire involving lithium stuff. They just can't put it out.

The series issue? In South Africa, which now has daily 6-hour blackouts, I gave up replacing lead-acid batteries for my garage door and alarm circuits. The alarms got LioN 12VDC units but the ET-Blue garage operator was 24VDC. Asking around, I was told categorically that I could series up Lion 12VDC units to give me 24VDC. Not true. They interrupt charging when one unit is charged. Just FYI, look at the disclaimer on the side of the battery.

My problem disappeared because I put in a monster solar/inverter/battery system (15KW) so it all became moot. Yep, in SA, we are now all off-grid and not by choice!

[ZuluTiger]

Originally Posted by Paul2bikes

My Yuasa YTX14 has been on from new, over 9 years old now & still holding 12.8v for 2-3 weeks. When that starts to drop, I'll fit a new Yuasa YTX14H.

 https://www.tayna.co.uk/motorcycle-batteries/yuasa/ytx14h-bs/

Sorry if this has been asked and answered but will that battery fit in the older 1050? I see from the dimensions that it is about 35mm taller than a YTZ14S so maybe the seat will touch?

YTZ14S - 150x87x110
YTX14H - 150x87x145

I'm guessing Paul or Paullie know the answer off the bat...

[Paul2bikes]

Nah m8, the pre-sport needs the YTZ14S upgrade.

The YTX14H is the upgrade for Sport model only.

[Paullie]

Well after 3 months I have to say I'm happy with this Motobatt MHTX16 hybrid AGM/Lithium battery. The bike still discharges over time (because I've never solved the parasitic draw issue). But the greater capacity means it takes much longer to run down, which is ideal for me as I don't always get the chance to charge it up (bike lives outside now).

Anyway after a couple of months of neglect I charged it with my usual CTEK AGM charger and we're back on the green. It does take longer to charge up, but I'm guessing that's because of greater capacity. But my charger seems happy with it, and it certainly spins the motor faster than anything I've had before, so I guess I am too!

So green light on this battery, I think. Worth the extra cost, IMHO. 

[ZuluTiger]

Thanks for the feedback. Interesting. That parasitic draw would irritate me no-end, as I am sure it does you too. Hope you can nail it down sometime. 

[Paul2bikes]

Is the parasitic draw down to the sat-nav docking station (or something else), being wired to battery? I had that & re-wired to a switched live, problem gone.