BALLISTIC BATTERY ON CB360, BUT WHY?

TheChild

TheChild

Been Around the Block
I read a couple of old threads on here about the ballistic batteries in place of stock. I see recommendations to upgrade the regulator/rectifier. I understand the concept, but not the science behind it. Why do I need to upgrade the reg/rec and what size do I get? Also, anyone had issues running electronic ignition with this setup?
 
I love ballistic batteries. I have one in my goldwing bobber, and my ironhead sportster. The sportster has an electronic ignition module. So it works fine. I personally swear by these batteries. Theyre champs. No problems at all.
 
For the cb360, you won't need a big one either. Which is nice. They're so small and light, you can put it anywhere.
 
The reason you want a better/solid state/reliable regulator/rectifier is these newfangled batteries are sensitive to over charging. You do NOT want high voltages running to the battery.

Also, if they're allowed to run too low in voltage, you can permanently damage the battery.

I have 2 Shorai and one Ballistic. I can't say enough good things about the people at Shorai in terms of their customer service. I haven't called Ballistic so can't say anything about them.
 
durp said:
I love ballistic batteries. I have one in my goldwing bobber, and my ironhead sportster. The sportster has an electronic ignition module. So it works fine. I personally swear by these batteries. Theyre champs. No problems at all.
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Props on the Gwing. I regret selling mine. Any help with the reg/rec? Are you running stock?
 
regulator and rectifier are stock. No problems at all. I've put over 20,000 miles on it since May as well. So its been tried.
 
All you need to worry about is getting the right battery for your bike, from them
 
4 cell looks to be the way to go. I've had problems with this bikes "fragile" electrical system before and it's got me worried. My knowledge of electrical is limited I'm afraid.
 
durp said:
Honestly you'll have nothing to worry about.
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That's not strictly true.

The changing systems on a lot of vintage bikes don't regulate the voltage well enough to prevent damage the a lithium ion battery. Many older Hondas don't even come with a voltage regulator; they were designed so that the battery would be large enough to handle the additional voltage and then boil off the electrolyte.

Modern bikes, you're not likely to have any issues with a straight swap. Vintage bikes are another story.

Test the voltage output of your bike using a multimeter. Warm up the engine, and then add some revs. With a stock regulator you'll likely be well past 14.5 volts by the time you're running at 6,000 RPM. At redline, I've seen some bikes get nearly to 17.

Anything above 14.5 will cause damage to many lithium ion batteries. How much damage depends on the battery and the voltage.

I highly recommend a new regulator (or combination regulator/rectifier) if you want to use LI-ION.
 
durp said:
I love ballistic batteries. I have one in my goldwing bobber, and my ironhead sportster. The sportster has an electronic ignition module. So it works fine. I personally swear by these batteries. Theyre champs. No problems at all.
Click to expand...

Goldwings have field excited alternators. They regulate how much the alternator puts out. CB360 has a permanent magnet alternator. It's output is not regulated. The regulator on a 360 dumps excess to ground, and the stock regulators are rated at 15.0 volts +/- 0.5 volts. I see many putting out over the 15.5 volts. My stock regulator put out 15.6 -15.7 volts ay high RPM. This would kill a lithium based battery.

Sonreir (SparckMoto) has an excellent regulator that limits the output to 13.7 volts or so at the same RPM. I use one depite having a lead acid battery. Excellent regulator/rectifier.

Also, my Lead acid Battery is 2 seasons old. In the stock location, Still has 12.7 volts sitting. I keep it on a Battery Tender Jr. which I purchased from Amazon for $24.00. The Battery was from Battery Plus for $29.00 plus a $5.00 charge because I didn;t have an old battery to turn in. The charger and the battery together are about 1/3 the price of a ballistic battery. Even if you add in sonreir's excellent regulator, it still is 1/2 the price.

I keep only distilled water in the battery, it's on the tender whenever home, and I expect a few more years from the battery.

The ballistic is small, can be finicky, and is expensive. Is space is the most important, by all means, go ballistic. But if you are cheap, using an otherwise stock bike, a well cared for conventional battery is a good deal.
 
My goal is to get the open frame. I had wanted to use a capacitor and just kick the bike, but I've been told this will not work on the CB360. The ballistic isn't much bigger than a capacitor. Sooo $34 for a reg/rec and $100 battery. I'm game.
 
I keep hearing about over charging and discharge issues. All The LI batteries I have been looking at have built in Over charge protection, built in Over discharge and over heating protection. Is there still concern about these issues. My only issue would be over discharge as I run a total loss system.
 
Get yourself a modern MOSFET or series regulator. Many shapes, sizes, and sources. Both better than stock, each much better for certain things. More info:

http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=412983
 
o1marc said:
I keep hearing about over charging and discharge issues. All The LI batteries I have been looking at have built in Over charge protection, built in Over discharge and over heating protection. Is there still concern about these issues. My only issue would be over discharge as I run a total loss system.
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Yep. You can still destroy the battery by overcharging.
 
Even the best regulator won't increase the charging capability if a cb360 at idle or below 3k rpm. The danger on a stock 360 is both over charging and running flat. The smaller batteries have great cca, but lower ah. They tend to run dead faster if you are say, stuck in traffic.

Just read each Mfg's website. They warn heavily against. Running them too low or overcharging them.


Sent from planet Earth using mysterious electronic devices and Tapatalk
 
Because I am total loss I wouldn't have to worry about over charging but over discharge would certainly be a concern. So it forces me to buy one with a bigger Ah rating which in turn drastically raises the price.
 
You would have just as much issue with overcharging - if the voltage regulator isn't keeping your charging "voltage" below the acceptable limit for the battery then you'll toast it.
 
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