There’s so many things wrong on this post. You don’t list the battery’s model number. You don’t understand that a lithium battery will self warm once a draw is put on it. Turn on your headlight is one option. That’ll help the cells wake increasing heat and power simultaneously. You can also hit the start button just to click it, wait 30 seconds try to start or repeat it a few times to warm it up. Lithiums provide more startling voltage too. It’s not that they are just lighter. They also have a much longer lifecycle than lead acid. Their ETX series has a full bms and the lighter duty units, ETZ are only overcharge. It’s very important on nice bikes like yours to get as many cca’s and ahs as you can fit in your battery compartment. This applies to lead acid and lithium. On bikes with additional electronics, there is a higher chance that you’ll have a parasitic draw. That can lead to severe undercharge on lithium or lead acid. On bikes with aftermarket electronics. It’s a very good idea to get the Optimate Tecmate lithium charger. It’s not a trickle charger, it’s a specialized charger that can restore a dead lithium and maintain it year round. It will not overcharge either. Once fully charged, it waits 24hrs and checks the voltage and charges if necessary.
So I have the ETX battery in my sled. The issue is that it doesn’t work well under -15C for starting the sled. Doesn’t matter how much I put a draw on it, it just doesn’t work as well as an SLA. On a bike that is not run in the winter, I would agree with everything you said - but at -15 and lower, that’s not the case. The ETZ may actually work better for me as it has less BMS protections but would degrade faster due to the stresses I would put on it - cold weather charging, high current draw, etc. I work with lithium LIFEPO4 batteries every day and build large units for solar power storage - I’m well aware of their benefits and limitations.
Unless they recently updated their BMS, EarthX does not have low temperature lock-out on their LiFePO4 batteries. The cells are progressively damaged when used in freezing temperatures. There's a destroyed EarthX battery sitting in my garage right now for this reason.
Hi Joel! Well, that is just stupid engineering. I’m going to swap back to a SLA battery this week. The EarthX is useless and the performance (lack of) I’m seeing would seem to support what you say. That was a 360$ failed experiment.
@@jasonblier I'm pretty sore about the whole ordeal. To add insult to injury, they refused to honor my warranty even though I was only halfway through my warranty period. Just a garbage company. Lithium Ion, Iron Phosphate, and even Titanate are very promising battery chemistries. Just don't buy one from EarthX.
@@joels7605 I just checked - mine is the ETX36 series, which is rated for snowmobile use with a full-featured BMS, but I’m still pissed. I almost want to tear it open and see what the BMS looks like and if it does have a low temp sensor on it. But yeah, Im going back to SLA for a starting battery.
Great video
Thanks, Scott!
I actually found it very helpful - good comparison to a shot start system
There’s so many things wrong on this post.
You don’t list the battery’s model number.
You don’t understand that a lithium battery will self warm once a draw is put on it. Turn on your headlight is one option. That’ll help the cells wake increasing heat and power simultaneously. You can also hit the start button just to click it, wait 30 seconds try to start or repeat it a few times to warm it up.
Lithiums provide more startling voltage too. It’s not that they are just lighter. They also have a much longer lifecycle than lead acid.
Their ETX series has a full bms and the lighter duty units, ETZ are only overcharge.
It’s very important on nice bikes like yours to get as many cca’s and ahs as you can fit in your battery compartment.
This applies to lead acid and lithium.
On bikes with additional electronics, there is a higher chance that you’ll have a parasitic draw. That can lead to severe undercharge on lithium or lead acid.
On bikes with aftermarket electronics. It’s a very good idea to get the Optimate Tecmate lithium charger.
It’s not a trickle charger, it’s a specialized charger that can restore a dead lithium and maintain it year round. It will not overcharge either. Once fully charged, it waits 24hrs and checks the voltage and charges if necessary.
So I have the ETX battery in my sled. The issue is that it doesn’t work well under -15C for starting the sled. Doesn’t matter how much I put a draw on it, it just doesn’t work as well as an SLA. On a bike that is not run in the winter, I would agree with everything you said - but at -15 and lower, that’s not the case. The ETZ may actually work better for me as it has less BMS protections but would degrade faster due to the stresses I would put on it - cold weather charging, high current draw, etc.
I work with lithium LIFEPO4 batteries every day and build large units for solar power storage - I’m well aware of their benefits and limitations.
Unless they recently updated their BMS, EarthX does not have low temperature lock-out on their LiFePO4 batteries. The cells are progressively damaged when used in freezing temperatures. There's a destroyed EarthX battery sitting in my garage right now for this reason.
Hi Joel!
Well, that is just stupid engineering. I’m going to swap back to a SLA battery this week. The EarthX is useless and the performance (lack of) I’m seeing would seem to support what you say. That was a 360$ failed experiment.
@@jasonblier I'm pretty sore about the whole ordeal. To add insult to injury, they refused to honor my warranty even though I was only halfway through my warranty period. Just a garbage company.
Lithium Ion, Iron Phosphate, and even Titanate are very promising battery chemistries. Just don't buy one from EarthX.
@@joels7605 I just checked - mine is the ETX36 series, which is rated for snowmobile use with a full-featured BMS, but I’m still pissed. I almost want to tear it open and see what the BMS looks like and if it does have a low temp sensor on it.
But yeah, Im going back to SLA for a starting battery.
The ETX models do. The ETZ don’t.