Discharged Ballistic Lithium 4 cell Battery

So I tried cranking the bike after it sat for (gasp) six months. Battery was dead. Pulled the battery and put a volt meter and it read 5.59 volts. Reading the product data it said the battery is considered trash if it drops below 6 volts. Since I can't accept the fact that my only used one weekend battery is trash, I put it on a trickle charge (1.5 amps) for 40 minutes. Now the bike starts fine.

Scenario....... Track day this weekend. Is this battery going to crap out on me.

What is the appropriate way to charge these batteries.

 

http://www.ballisticparts.com/tech/charging.php

but I'm sure Chip will be along shortly... 6 months? looks like whatever the battery is in has some parasitic drain going on...

 

instructions are to charge no more than 15 min Sean .. and with such little diff in weight of the 4 and 8 cell, i went with 8 cells for my bikes. Lil' late for that now, but if you get one later go with 8 on a 600. interesting about the 6vt or lower thing , check the vts again tomorrow ?

 

can we get a definate answer on wether or not we can use a battery tender (name brand) to charge these? Ski

 

When my 4 cell bit the dust I contacted Ballistic, then received a call from the president of the company, who quickly had a free 8 cell replacement sent out. Very good company to deal with.

 

no, you can't use a battery tender. This has come up multiple times.
15 minutes on a charger. Da'ts IT ..
i suppose you could use a battery tender.. for 15 minutes !

 

Thanks everyone.

 

Ballistic's customer service is exceptional - they'll take care of you.

 

Does the ballistic battery have balancing ports?

The issue is that each individual cell may sit higher or lower than each other...so even though your overall voltage is XX, some maybe higher, some lower....if you keep it charged you're gonna be over charging some cells and they hate that as much as discharging too much.

If it does have a balancing port, attach your volt meter to adjacent pins and read the voltage then move one over and read them all down the line.

Also, you may have revived it, but you took a big chuck out of the life expectancy

 

sp, I don't know jack about the ballistic batteries so I can't help with that. BUT, you might want to go to cycle gear and get the most low budget battery they have that will fit your bike. Charge it and take it with you as a back up. That's what I do.

I take a spare VR too. Those two things tend to die at track days.

 

Chip and crew are fantastic to deal with. Both batteries I have had (4 and 6 cell) I took out of the bike during the winter storage and kept inside. Never had a problem.

 

I use a Batt Tender Jr on mine at the track between sessions. Once the day is done it only stays plugged in till it shows green, then unplugged over night.

 

I had a similar experience with the Alien Motion in my bike. I didn't measure the voltage but it was barely enough to get the nuetral light to illuminate. I figured I had killed it completely. I charged it at 2 amps for maybe an hour and it fired the bike like it was brand new. This was probably 2 years ago and the battery is still going strong. Maybe I got really lucky.

 

I'm hoping this is my luck.

 

i have the jr too, that is why i was asking. it doesnt have the desulfication mode. it is just a red light/green light charger.

the ballistic website shows "no special charger needed" but, then there is the "suggestion" to buy their charger. i just want to be sure i can do this or not.

i like to "maintain" the battery for long term useage as a track bike, it's one of those ocd things... Ski

 

If they are protected li-ion cells, they have a "sleep" mode when they're drained too far. Some are designed to be brought back to life after being charged. Li-ion batteries are significantly different than lead acid batteries. I'm not sure how they even work on battery tenders...

http://www.batteryuniversity.com

 

Unless you are using the balance charger. In that case there are several options for charging.

 

Hey Bud,

Give me a call at 920-545-4956 or email me at [email protected]

It sounds like you may have saved it. If you have any problems with it I will get you sorted.

 

and Boom, there ya go...Ballistic is good peeps

 

So you can only ride for 15 minutes at a time, or do you have to disconnect the charging system?

What exactly is the upside to these batteries, other than a pound or two in weight savings?