Melted my battery after driving ont he freeway 60MPH

hillhudson · Post by **hillhudson** » Sun Aug 19, 2012 1:42 am

took the cb77 camping and it went great!

i took it on the freeway at 60MPH for an hour and a half, then drove a round a bit more off the freeway, camped and drove back, same as before 60MPH for an hour and a half, then about a mile out from home the bike died, i thought i blew a fuse so i took a peak at the battery and it literally melted !

first i thought maybe the ground wire isn't strong enough ? its a custom mount because it a custom bike. the battery is under the cafe seat grounded to the fender which is grounded to the frame via the fender mounting bolts to the frame. (the fender isn't painted, just raw steel). then i thought maybe i wired the new rectifier wrong (its the new ones made out of oregon cycles)

any thought one how to figure exactly why my battery melted ? and why it didn't melt the first hour and a half but the last mile out from home ?

thanks !!

-hill

Goodysnap · Post by **Goodysnap** » Sun Aug 19, 2012 7:43 am

Is, was the battery full of water? I wouldn't be surprised if you find it over charging.

Were you running with lights on?

Proly wouldn't hurt to move that ground to the frame/engine but I don't think that caused your troubles.

Goody

hillhudson · Post by **hillhudson** » Sun Aug 19, 2012 4:18 pm

Thanks for the reply goody,

The battery is actually one of those new lithium ion ones, how would prevent over charging ?

Goodysnap · Post by **Goodysnap** » Sun Aug 19, 2012 6:36 pm

I would start by monitoring voltage to see where your at. Try the simulate the engine speed at which you were traveling at.

Make sure(especially during the daytime) that when your headlamps are on that your dimmer switch is not centered(off). This will be providing max output from the stator with no load from the headlamp. I had voltages as high as 17.5-18 Vollts.

Keep in mind that this system has no voltage regulator. The excess amperage has to go somewhere and that somewhere is the battery. I would assume that since the battery you have is sealed that meltdown would be the result of overcharge.

You have options though. There is a lower output rotor to keep the charge rate down.

Or you can increase loads on the lighting to help absorb some of the amperage. Such as headlamp upgrade to higher wattage.

Even with a 55/60 H4 headlamp I still have numbers around 14-15v while riding. I keep a close eye on the battery level and all has been well.

Get a new battery and hook up a meter and see what ya got.

OldStan · Post by **OldStan** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 3:04 pm

That's one of the reasons I didn't go with the Lithium Ferrous battery. One of the makers noted that voltages in excess of 14.4 volts would damage the battery. Charlies Place sells a rectifier with a built in regulator, but they don't state the max voltage.

hillhudson · Post by **hillhudson** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 3:11 am

Hey thanks for the input oldstan!