KaptinAmerika
Guru
So I have watched now for several months and felt it was time to speak up.
I am not an authority on the subject only an informed consumer who is in communication with, IMO, the best power sports lithium battery maker in the market today. All AntiGravity batteries are made to order here in the US. Utilizing only the best LifePO4 cells available today and quality materials such as brass mounting posts and not lead.
Antigravity Batteries
This thread is not an effort to convince only inform and educate, so please, if you aren't going to intelligently contribute then stay on the side and watch.
I have tested the Antigravity 20 and 24 cell batteries. No one should be installing anything smaller in their Big Dogs. Anything smaller will overload the battery. Just like anything else if you look for the cheapest then you are likely to get just that. Both batteries were more than capable of starting a 124 with no delay in 40 degree temps. I took voltage readings at the start and end of each test phase. I disconnected my ignition deliberately so the bike would not start. I then turned the motor over for 10 seconds, yes I know you should only go for 5-6 seconds but this is an abuse test, waited 45 seconds and then turned the motor over again for 10 seconds. I did this for 10 minutes on each battery. Neither battery failed this test. Both batteries showed 13-14 volts at the start and both batteries showed 12.5 - 13.5 volts at the end. Neither battery was more than mildly warm to the touch, much like a lead acid battery and both batteries recovered to +13volts within minutes.
If you look through the forum you will find countless posts and threads about battery life. Battery life is relatively simple. Abuse it equals short life. Take care of it equals long life. I am not going to go into a long drawn out discussion about how to do that. Your electrical system must be maintained to provide long life for your battery.
This means:
1) Verifying that the wire gauges are correct, all wires and connections are good/clean/tight.
2) If your charging system is having problems stop the motor and don't run it again until those problems are resolved.
Let's look at 1) first
Your battery cables must be a minimum of 4ga and short as possible.
Make sure you have a ground cable going to the front starter mount bolt
Make sure you have a ground cable going to a good chassis ground
Yes I am saying have 2 ground cables
Your solenoid actuator wire must be a minimum of 10ga
Go through all your wiring harness and make sure all your connections are good, clean, and tight.
Put a small amount of dielectric grease in all your connectors to displace moisture.
Now let's look at 2):
Lithium or lead acid it doesn't matter. Poor charging system poor battery life. Its not that the Big Dog charging system is not compatible with Lithium batteries. The issue is how fast or slow the charging system charges the battery. Lithium wants it fast and hard. Lead acid not so fast and hard but lead acid still wants it relatively quickly. Let's face it Big Dog was mass producing and trying to make profit so the charging system they used, while the VR is a series and not shunt, is definitely not high end. If they had done it right and used a 3 phase 40amp system it wouldn't be an issue. I am not saying it is not compatible with Lithium, its not compatible with Lithium or lead acid if its malfunctioning, I am just saying it is not the best system for lithium. Lithium soaks up energy like a dry sponge and delivers it like a Tasmanian Devil on crack. So it needs and wants a fast recharge. These features are what allow the manufacturers to make them so small. A standard charging system doesn't deliver these requirements. A quality 3 phase 40amp system does. The next issue you have is making sure the battery and charging system are functioning correctly. Lithium does not like being overcharged or over discharged. Big Dog did not give us anything to monitor for these situations. So what is the solution? You buy and install a Heads Up monitoring system. With the LED placed in the proper location you will know at a glance if your system is good and, if you study the color patterns and memorize them, have a general idea of where to start troubleshooting immediately.
I am not going to lie and say this is how my Big Dog is setup. It will be over the next month though. This is all information I have gathered from true industry experts with many years experience in the custom industry.
So I have given you allot of information to process. But I have also given you a complete approach to solving many of your electrical woes including having done the necessary research to provide you with, IMO, the best available products to accomplish this task. WSW does not carry allot of different brands because we are focused on doing 1 thing and doing it well. Bring the best products available to the Big Dog riding public.
Thank you for your time
I am not an authority on the subject only an informed consumer who is in communication with, IMO, the best power sports lithium battery maker in the market today. All AntiGravity batteries are made to order here in the US. Utilizing only the best LifePO4 cells available today and quality materials such as brass mounting posts and not lead.
Antigravity Batteries
This thread is not an effort to convince only inform and educate, so please, if you aren't going to intelligently contribute then stay on the side and watch.
I have tested the Antigravity 20 and 24 cell batteries. No one should be installing anything smaller in their Big Dogs. Anything smaller will overload the battery. Just like anything else if you look for the cheapest then you are likely to get just that. Both batteries were more than capable of starting a 124 with no delay in 40 degree temps. I took voltage readings at the start and end of each test phase. I disconnected my ignition deliberately so the bike would not start. I then turned the motor over for 10 seconds, yes I know you should only go for 5-6 seconds but this is an abuse test, waited 45 seconds and then turned the motor over again for 10 seconds. I did this for 10 minutes on each battery. Neither battery failed this test. Both batteries showed 13-14 volts at the start and both batteries showed 12.5 - 13.5 volts at the end. Neither battery was more than mildly warm to the touch, much like a lead acid battery and both batteries recovered to +13volts within minutes.
If you look through the forum you will find countless posts and threads about battery life. Battery life is relatively simple. Abuse it equals short life. Take care of it equals long life. I am not going to go into a long drawn out discussion about how to do that. Your electrical system must be maintained to provide long life for your battery.
This means:
1) Verifying that the wire gauges are correct, all wires and connections are good/clean/tight.
2) If your charging system is having problems stop the motor and don't run it again until those problems are resolved.
Let's look at 1) first
Your battery cables must be a minimum of 4ga and short as possible.
Make sure you have a ground cable going to the front starter mount bolt
Make sure you have a ground cable going to a good chassis ground
Yes I am saying have 2 ground cables
Your solenoid actuator wire must be a minimum of 10ga
Go through all your wiring harness and make sure all your connections are good, clean, and tight.
Put a small amount of dielectric grease in all your connectors to displace moisture.
Now let's look at 2):
Lithium or lead acid it doesn't matter. Poor charging system poor battery life. Its not that the Big Dog charging system is not compatible with Lithium batteries. The issue is how fast or slow the charging system charges the battery. Lithium wants it fast and hard. Lead acid not so fast and hard but lead acid still wants it relatively quickly. Let's face it Big Dog was mass producing and trying to make profit so the charging system they used, while the VR is a series and not shunt, is definitely not high end. If they had done it right and used a 3 phase 40amp system it wouldn't be an issue. I am not saying it is not compatible with Lithium, its not compatible with Lithium or lead acid if its malfunctioning, I am just saying it is not the best system for lithium. Lithium soaks up energy like a dry sponge and delivers it like a Tasmanian Devil on crack. So it needs and wants a fast recharge. These features are what allow the manufacturers to make them so small. A standard charging system doesn't deliver these requirements. A quality 3 phase 40amp system does. The next issue you have is making sure the battery and charging system are functioning correctly. Lithium does not like being overcharged or over discharged. Big Dog did not give us anything to monitor for these situations. So what is the solution? You buy and install a Heads Up monitoring system. With the LED placed in the proper location you will know at a glance if your system is good and, if you study the color patterns and memorize them, have a general idea of where to start troubleshooting immediately.
I am not going to lie and say this is how my Big Dog is setup. It will be over the next month though. This is all information I have gathered from true industry experts with many years experience in the custom industry.
So I have given you allot of information to process. But I have also given you a complete approach to solving many of your electrical woes including having done the necessary research to provide you with, IMO, the best available products to accomplish this task. WSW does not carry allot of different brands because we are focused on doing 1 thing and doing it well. Bring the best products available to the Big Dog riding public.
Thank you for your time
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