Battery

[mike l]

Does anyone run a lithium ion battery?

If so, what is your setup - how is it hooked up?

Do you recharge it from the alternator - or is it only hooked up to start the car?

I've seen varying commentary on how to hook them up properly, so they don't overcharge, or burn, etc.

This guy says he just hooks it straight up, and recharges from the alternator - and never had any problems:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/ ... 030/page1/

Any input would be welcome.

[RENEGADE]

I and many other people run the Shorai batteries.

http://www.baautox.com/forum/index.php? ... 59&start=0

[mike l]

Is the Shorai battery plug and play - do you connect and recharge it via the alternator, or do you recharge with a separate charger?

[RENEGADE]

Sorry, have not been back in a while, yes, Shorai charger via the Alternator.

[mike l]

so then to follow this path of logic, that article above in grassroots sounds like it is correct - we can use those RC batteries at 1/2 pound and $40.

[Dave_Darling]

Unknown how long they'll last, and you won't be able to sit in the car running the stereo with the engine off for very long. (Plus in very cold weather, there may be issues with starting the car. Maybe?)

A few caveats: I believe Li-Ion batteries are not very compatible with water; they don't like getting very wet. And if you overcharge them badly enough, they can have some "interesting" problems. (As in, swelling up and exploding!)

--DD

[mike l]

I'm not concerned about running accessories without the engine running. I generally don't do that anyway. And I'm not looking for a full-time replacement, so cold weather isn't a concern either. Really what I am looking for - is a temporary use, super lightweight battery for racing. If safe and reliable, I'll keep my 12# atv battery in the car for daily driving, and then swap in the .5# battery on raceday; drive it to the track, race it, drive it home, then swap back to the 12#er.

I've already gone from the 30# oem battery, down to a AGM 12# battery . . . but why not get really lean on the battery on race-day, especially if you can do it for a relatively low cost - like $40?

My main primary concern; is the small RC l-ion battery safe to use with the car recharge system (no fires, explosions, etc)? From a safety standpoint, if the alternator isn't made to charge these batteries and overcharges it (and there is no safety), then you are looking at the potential of an underhood fire or explosion. Not good alternatives.

It could be as simple as knowing if the Shorai battery has some sort of fusable link or electronic controlling device to prevent overcharging - and whether or not the RC batteries have that same safety . . . but I can't find that information anywhere.

From a reliability standpoint - I'm assuming starting the car once or twice will basically completely drain the battery - so if the recharge system won't recharge it, then i'll be dead-in-the-water and need jumped at the track. This also sounds like an operational/composition comparison with a Shorai battery could give us the answers . . . if I could find that information (which I can't).

As far as water - they use l-ion batteries in radio control boats. So a water-tight battery box from one of those *should keep a battery completely dry (I would hope).

[signalpuke]

Any updates on user experience with these small batteries in the CRX?
Assuming it is a stock compression B-series, has anyone used one of these in a daily driver?

[Dave_Darling]

The small-capacity ones are very definitely not suitable for a daily driver. At least, not yet.

Could be fine for a race car with limited duty and frequent inspections.

--DD

[kevbo82]

A little late, but I have some experience with them.

I use the battery tender brand in my 89 Si autocross car. Small light yadda yadda. I keep the car in the garage with battery tenders lithium Jr charger on it all the time to maintain, i'm happy with it. I've had this battery in the car for about two years and before that had the same battery in the car before making a charging mistake and killing it. I had two Noco genius chargers, one was older and wasn't for use with lithium ion's and I accidentally hooked the wrong one up and fried the battery. After talking to battery tender about it, I decided to avoid any mistakes and potential warranty arguments and just purchased their charger to use exclusively on this battery. The charger has a quick disconnect and comes with a few different ends, I wired the ring terminal one to the battery and when I park the car I just plug right in and keep it charged. In the winter weather it doesn't take long for the battery to not have enough umph to start the car if left sitting without a charger. Maybe a few days tops. In warmer weather I've left it unplugged for as long as a week and still started. That being said, when I go to multi-day events where I stay overnight I keep in mind who I know thats around and where the jumper cables are etc. I think an autocross car is a pretty decent test, because at event's it gets started only run for a few minutes, turned off, then started again. With co-drivers that can happen 8-12 times in a couple hours, I've never had it not start for me. To keep weight down and keep it simple I use the big reusable date rape zip tie straps and just crank it down real tight. You can move the car before the battery will move. It's never failed a tech inspection (though many tech guys have failed to find it...) I used the supplied screws with the battery to screw the stock cables to the battery.