KymcoForum.com
General => Technical | How To => Topic started by: frogseatflies on March 20, 2017, 02:37:33 PM
-
I've got a 20007 Kymco People 150. About two years ago I replaced my dead Lead battery with a Deltran BatteryTender Lithium BTL09A120C. I figured newer technology and a lighter battery would be awesome.
Basically, I can ride the scooter around town for about 3 rides and then the battery will be too low to start. To prevent a too-low battery while I'm out, I put the recommended BatteryTender trickle charger on it. I must have a pretty high tolerance for inconvenience... because only now, 2 years later, am I ready to get to the bottom of the issue.
Does this battery not work with the Kymco charging system? Should I go back to a lead battery? Any thoughts?
The battery specs are below. I've also attached images.
Specifications: Voltage: 12 Volt; Cold Cranking Amps: 120; Lead-Acid Replacement Range: 7-9(Ah); Operating temperature: 40 - 140 Degree (Fahrenheit); Max Charge Rate: 10 Ampere
-
My first thought is the bike isn't charging it. Would think maybe it's more likely a issue with the rectifier/regulator or stator. What is the battery voltage with the bike idling and rev'd up?
-
First of all, I wouldn´t "bridge" the plus- and minus-pole in that battery cage. Neither with a piece of foam. We want to keep these two points strictly apart and divided. ;D
You should get a Voltmeter or a Multimeter and measure the Voltage under various different conditions. Off, idle, reved up, after reloading, after 3 days when being low. You need to find out if your rectifier/regulator is doing its job properly. From time to time they go bad.
And then you should check and make sure that the ground cables (green) are not corroded and have blank and clean and good contact to the frame, the engine and the battery. Your scooter seems to show some signs of corrosion on the picture.
Maybe you have a leakage current somewhere in the system. That´s probably the toughest thing to find.
You might also want to grease all electrical wire harness connectors (on the inside!) with saltwaterresistant marine grease generously.
And last but not least you should be aware of not overstressing your electrical system on that tiny little scooter with extra lights, extra strong headlight lamps, heated grips, and so on and so forth.
This now has nothing to do with electrics, but is intended to be a safety advice: Check your tires for fissures on the sidewall. On your second picture I thought that I have seen some fissures. But not sure. If the tires are as old as the scooter, you better replace them soon.
-
There does seem to be problems with using lithium batteries in vehicles, probably due to the charging systems used by those vehicles. I race rc trucks here using multi-cell lithium batteries. They require a special charger that is able to monitor and balance charge each cell. If I charge not in the balance mode, the capacity of the battery is much lower each time it charges. This may be the problem with your charging system on the scooter as it will not be a balance charger. The only solution I can see is to go back to a quality lead-acid battery. Our Kymco (and probably others) do not like a low battery voltage for running and especially starting. Just a suggestion as to the cause.
-
I don´t know enough about these "battery tender" products, but I think these vehicle batteries all have a built in cell balancer already. At least that would make sense. My Shido battery does have a built in cell balancer and has been working like a charme for almost 2 years now. 3-years warranty.
-
Do you leave the key in the scooter while parked at the house with the key in the on position? Are all battery cable contacts clean? Do you run electrical accessories? Did you take the battery to local auto parts store for free testing? Do you make very short trips? I would start there as a diagnosis chain. If those are eliminated, then your scooter is not charging enough. I suspect you have a bad battery or a bad connection. Please let us know what you find out.
-
I do not leave the key in. The terminals look good but I'll check. I just replaced the rear tire and the headlamp. Still having the electrical drainage issue. Fully charged I'm reading about 13.35v. After one trip across town and back with a few electric starts, I was down to 13. 20v. Took a few a couple more trips and I was down to 12.85v. I'm going to replace the rectifier/regulater.... and also check my battery and ground electrical connections and clean them. I'll report back in.
-
Measure the voltage across the battery with the engine running at ~1/8 throttle (~3,000RPM). You should read 14-16 VDC. If not, you have a charging system problem. If you do read voltage in this range, contact the battery manufacturer (I'm assuming that you've read the manual that came with the battery) and let them help you.
I have Shorai batteries in seven vehicles with NO issues.
-
Frog, it is better to test and try to determine what is wrong, THEN replace the faulty part. You could do like the dealer techs and start throwing parts at the problem......
Karl
-
See if you can pull the battery and take it to the auto parts store to have it tested. Chances are, its the battery. If you need a replacement I recommend the AGM gel type, preferably a YUASA brand.
-
Unlike lead-acid batteries, LiIon batteries can discharge many times without damage.
Unless your local parts shop is very familiar with LiIon batteries, I wouldn't let them touch it.
-
SOLUTION: Replace the voltage regulator / rectifier. They're about $20. I replaced mine. The hardest part was figuring out it's location. It's in the front.
I charged my battery to 13.22volts.
Then replaced the voltage regulator.
Returned home and checked the battery and it was at 13.35v. (It used to drop about .25v every time I used the scooter. So on this particular test drive, it would have, in its defective state, dropped from 13.22v to 13v... but instead it came back higher! If I keep driving, maybe it'll get it up to 120v and I can power the house.)
Yay! I can put away the battery charger.
Here's a video to show the location of the voltage regulator:
https://youtu.be/af_fuHsAyOc (https://youtu.be/af_fuHsAyOc)
-
The problem with powering the house with your 120v scooter battery is that home appliances prefer alternating current.
-
The problem with powering the house with your 120v scooter battery is that home appliances prefer alternating current.
Ah but if you could take it directly from the stator or how about a inverter.
Had a feeling it was a charging issue, glad you got her fixed up.
-
Eureka !
The dawn of the scooter powered domicile !
Elon Musk ain't got nuthin on this group !
redk
-
Elon Musk ain't got nuthin on this group !
I'd love to see one of my Burgman 650's converted to electric.