[mga60tw]

My battery died(( Where is the best place to buy one? and do they have a gel battery for our TW's?

 

[JS5owner]

My battery died(( Where is the best place to buy one? and do they have a gel battery for our TW's?

Like several others here on the board, I put in an Odyssey PC310. Google it to learn more.

 

[jbfla]

I posted this on the old forum about four years ago. There was some discussion that it was not a genuine Yuasa battery, and apparently it is not.



However, it is an AGM type battery, and after 4 years it is still going strong. I believe I bought it from a eBay vendor, but am not sure.



jb

Added foam around the new battery:

 

[Rohnsman]

I note from your second photo that the regulator/rectifier is showing in your shot and is of the aluminum "finned" variety. My old '93 has a non-finned version. (See photo below) I'm thinking this newer design should run cooler. Anyone know if the new one can be used in place of the old one on older TWs?

 

[Kev250R]

+1 What Jeff said. I'm really partial to Odyssey products because of the good luck I've had with them in my TW's and in my dunebuggy. Honestly though the Odyssey is fairly expensive (but it comes with a cool decal!) so if someone didn't want to spend the extra coin just going with a cheaper AGM battery would be better than going with an OEM-style wet battery (IMHO). Unless you never plan on venturing off-road or falling over. But when you're laying on your side on a trail feeling your house keys digging into your left thigh, wondering how you're going to get your left foot out from under your now horizontal MC, you look-up to see your friend snapping pictures, knowing they're destined for the Internet before the sun goes down, it's nice to not have to worry about your wet battery dripping all over you or your TW.



--Kevin

 

[qwerty]

+1 What Jeff said. I'm really partial to Odyssey products because of the good luck I've had with them in my TW's and in my dunebuggy. Honestly though the Odyssey is fairly expensive (but it comes with a cool decal!) so if someone didn't want to spend the extra coin just going with a cheaper AGM battery would be better than going with an OEM-style wet battery (IMHO). Unless you never plan on venturing off-road or falling over. But when you're laying on your side on a trail feeling your house keys digging into your left thigh, wondering how you're going to get your left foot out from under your now horizontal MC, you look-up to see your friend snapping pictures, knowing they're destined for the Internet before the sun goes down, it's nice to not have to worry about your wet battery dripping all over you or your TW.



--Kevin

Been there. Done that. Got the dings.

 

[JerryT]

truelight, If your regulator has been working since 1993 I wouldn't change it now, but it would be good to know if the newer one would work. I don't know the answer, but someone on here probably will let us know.

 

[betopimienta]

The best deal i found on an Odyssey PC310 is at this site. the price was even cheaper after you added it to your shopping cart. $120.00 instead of $167.50. Total with shipping was $134.03



http://www.portablepower.com/odyssey_pc310-p-265.html



The cheapest Yuasa YTZ7S was $59.00 free shipping at this site:



http://www.bikebatts.com/product_info.php?products_id=71&osCsid=9201b3e2faef5499c3591db548e15987



I went with the Odyssey Tank battery for my Tdub.

 

[srs713]

Sheesh! I just went to the local battery refurbisher place & got one for just under $38.



I figure I'll either keep the battery going by riding the bike a lot more, or kill the battery again by letting the bike sit. Depends on what happens in the rest of my life.



For less than $40 I can get another one next year... I'm not paying $100 or more for a battery I might trash!

 

[betopimienta]

Sheesh! I just went to the local battery refurbisher place & got one for just under $38.



I figure I'll either keep the battery going by riding the bike a lot more, or kill the battery again by letting the bike sit. Depends on what happens in the rest of my life.



For less than $40 I can get another one next year... I'm not paying $100 or more for a battery I might trash!

The Odyssey batteries are made to last a decade, and they can sit on a shelf or in your bike for a year without loosing a charge.they are vibration proof. they wont leak acid and drip on your exhaust and frame. And if you keep and ride your Tw for 10 years you will spend more than $100 on cheap leaky batteries over that lifespan.

If you plan on trashing the bike in one year then yes go the cheap route and spend 40 bucks. but if you plan on keeping the bike then 40 bucks a year for ten years is 400 bucks.

 

[betopimienta]

This is an interesting History channel documentary featuring the Odyssey battery.





[media]http://www.enersysreservepower.com/flashFiles/Modern/ModernMarv.html[/media]

 

[Camelrider]

My son wants to use 4 of those little battery's to start his 750 cc bike.

http://www.a123systems.com/a123/products

He is too busy to rig that up, so maybe I will get hold of his battery's and try them out in my TW.

 

[Island Jimmy]

I'm running an A123 pack in my TW now. The work great. It has bee in the bike for 2 months with out a problem. I'm running 2, 4 cell packs in parallel. Fully charged 14.4 volts 4.6 amp hours. The stock battery is 7 amp hour if I remember correctly. It cranks the motor faster the the stock battery did too. The only thing that might be a problem is A123's don't perform as well at cold temps.



This is a link to a guy that is making packs, has a lot of good info.



http://www.customfighters.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31183

 

[qwerty]

The lithium iron batteries in my models need a different charger from the lead acid battery that runs the starter system. I'd be very careful about simply replacing a lead acid with a lithium ion without the proper electronic adaptation to charge properly.

 

[Island Jimmy]

I too have used lithium batteries in rc models. Both lithium polymer and A123. Lithium polymer will burn if charged wrong, too high of charge rate or over charged. They can also burn if the cell is damaged, like a hole or some thing. A123 will not burn if over charged or damaged.



If the voltage regulator is working right in your bike (not over charging) than you shouldn't have any problem with A123 batteries.

 

[northcountry]

The lithium iron batteries in my models need a different charger from the lead acid battery that runs the starter system. I'd be very careful about simply replacing a lead acid with a lithium ion without the proper electronic adaptation to charge properly.

The Turntech lithium ion has served me well on my tri bonne, and the optimate charger-tender worked fine over the winter to keep it top off.

 

[qwerty]

Looks like I have some catching up to do on battery technologies.

 

[Gene Bond]

The A123's are a great idea

They are tough enough for Dewalt's top of the line tools, and I haven't been able to kill them in my model airplanes, so I may go this route when I need to replace the battery in the 'Dub.



I use 4 cell packs in a couple of planes anyway

 

[Island Jimmy]

That's what I did, took one I made for an airplane, made a connector so I could hook it to the tw. Ran it that way for a week and it worked fine so I made two packs for the tw. One pack would start it just fine, but I thought the extra capacity would be a good thing. Two packs is probably unnecessary because I kick start my '94 most of the time.

 

[qwerty]

There is enough room for 24 A123 26650 cells in a 4S6P configuration, but not enough room for the wiring unless the battery box is lengthened 5mm or so. Probably overkill with 24 cells, but you'd never strain that battery. 720 amps for 10 seconds. That might start the bike.

I may do it.



Maviryk wants $150 for 8 cells, $225 for 12 cells, $300 for 16 cells. I expect he'd charge $375 for 24 cells, and I'm not going to pay that. The new green cells are $188 on eBay for 24 cells. I have some soft copper sheet to make strips from.



Realisticaly, 8 cells is adequate, 12 is plenty, and 16 is insurance. 16 cells on eBay are $140 and will fit in the battery box with room to spare. 15 cells wired 4S4P in a square or nested square pack would be easy to build and allow plenty of room for foam to absorb vibration.



Supposedly these cells don't need the balancing harness and electronics like lithium polymer. Anyone know for sure? I suppose it really doesn't matter since I can't find a balancer for these cells.



Got some more studying to do.