Upgraded Battery Choices? / Lithium ? / Feedback?

[blue er]

for what it's worth I changed out the yuasa battery last year just because it was getting old(right now it's in a seadoo workin fine) I replaced it with a deka brand 14 series battery it is rated at 220cca and it worked great so far this battery is priced around the 120 mark in canada bo sure what there worth south of the border, just as the wiring gets older in these sleds gonna need stronger batterys

 

[cmharcou]

I replaced my 07 batter yuasa last year with another yuasa from yamaha and this year the sled would not crank. Took battery out and the battery was cracked on the bottom. I have no idea what would cause this. We live in a warmer climate. It sat all summer with the trickle charge on it. I'm looking for something other than yamaha yuasa battery as well.

 

[bigdog_mike]

LI-BATTERY

INSTALLED ONE ON MY 06 APEX, THE LI-BATTERY NEEDS TO BE WARMED UP TO GET IT UP TO FULL CRACKING SPEED, AT FIRST I WOULD TURN IT OVER FOR 5 SECONDS THEN REPEAT TILL THE ENGINE WOULD CRANK FASTER, EACH TIME IT WOULD CRANK FASTER, BUT IT WORRIED ME THAT I WOULD BE KILLING THE STARTER MOTOR BECAUSE OF THE EXTRA TIMES THAT I NEEDED TO DO THIS, SO AFTER RESEARCHING LI-BATTERIES I FOUND THAT THEY NEED TO BE PUT UNDER LOAD FIRST THEN CRACK IT OVER, BUT NOTHING DRAWS CURRENT ON THE APEX UNTIL IT STARTS...IE THE LIGHTS SO I HAD TO COME UP WITH ANOTHER LOAD, SO I WIRED AN OUTLET DIRECT TO BATTERY AND POWERED UP A SPOT LIGHT, THIS THEN CREATED THE LOAD ON THE BATTERY TO PRE-WARM THE LI-BATTERY FOR A COUPLE MINUTES, IT WOULD THEN CRANK THE ENGINE FAST THE FIRST TIME SO I DIDN'T NEED TO WEAR OUT THE STARTER. LI-BATTERIES GET STRONGER THE MORE YOU DEMAND FROM THEM WHICH IS THE OPPOSITE OF NORMAL BATTERIES WHICH GET WEAKER THE MORE YOU LOAD THEM. LAST THING IS YOU NEED A SPECIAL CHARGER FOR LI-BATTERIES THAT THE BATTERY MANUFACTURE MAKES SO THAT JACKS UP THE ALREADY HIGH COST OF THIS BATTERY CONVERSION...SOMETHING MORE TO CONSIDER

 

[Sled Dog]

Lithium batteries die all of a sudden as well its either all or nothing with lithium. I would stay with an AGM lead acid battery. If its not broke dont fix it!

 

[Blue Dave]

Re: LI-BATTERY

INSTALLED ONE ON MY 06 APEX, THE LI-BATTERY NEEDS TO BE WARMED UP TO GET IT UP TO FULL CRACKING SPEED, AT FIRST I WOULD TURN IT OVER FOR 5 SECONDS THEN REPEAT TILL THE ENGINE WOULD CRANK FASTER, EACH TIME IT WOULD CRANK FASTER, BUT IT WORRIED ME THAT I WOULD BE KILLING THE STARTER MOTOR BECAUSE OF THE EXTRA TIMES THAT I NEEDED TO DO THIS, SO AFTER RESEARCHING LI-BATTERIES I FOUND THAT THEY NEED TO BE PUT UNDER LOAD FIRST THEN CRACK IT OVER, BUT NOTHING DRAWS CURRENT ON THE APEX UNTIL IT STARTS...IE THE LIGHTS SO I HAD TO COME UP WITH ANOTHER LOAD, SO I WIRED AN OUTLET DIRECT TO BATTERY AND POWERED UP A SPOT LIGHT, THIS THEN CREATED THE LOAD ON THE BATTERY TO PRE-WARM THE LI-BATTERY FOR A COUPLE MINUTES, IT WOULD THEN CRANK THE ENGINE FAST THE FIRST TIME SO I DIDN'T NEED TO WEAR OUT THE STARTER. LI-BATTERIES GET STRONGER THE MORE YOU DEMAND FROM THEM WHICH IS THE OPPOSITE OF NORMAL BATTERIES WHICH GET WEAKER THE MORE YOU LOAD THEM. LAST THING IS YOU NEED A SPECIAL CHARGER FOR LI-BATTERIES THAT THE BATTERY MANUFACTURE MAKES SO THAT JACKS UP THE ALREADY HIGH COST OF THIS BATTERY CONVERSION...SOMETHING MORE TO CONSIDER

Wow, I can not believe that anyone would go to that extra effort and inconvenience. I want to be able to just turn the key (or push my Sled Start remote button) and have the sled fire right up. I will be purchasing the Odyssey PC545. http://www.odysseybatteries.com/battery/pc545.htm I can get one on Amazon.com for $110 with free shipping.

 

[Blue Dave]

My original battery worked fine last season but it was completely dead this fall and would not even register at all on my Optimate 4 charger. I guess that five seasons was about all I should have expected from the original battery.

For $110 with free shipping and no tax on Amazon.com I thought I would give the Odyssey PC545 a try. It is wider than the original so you do not use the foam spacers on either side but you do use the top foam spacer. The orientation of the positive and negative terminals is opposite the original battery requiring that it be mounted with the terminal side of the battery towards the engine. This is fine as the cables are long enough to reach.

Time will tell how it holds up but I have had excellent luck with the Odyssey battery in my Sea Doo which has six seasons on it and still registers good on my Optimate 4 charger..

 

[87gtNOS]

just replaced my original battery with an Interstate AGM FAYTX14BS. It has something like 200+ CCA.

IMO, I would stick with an ORIGINAL, that was my plan until I found this battery. The original battery from Yamaha is best IMO. I was prepared to pay for the price of the battery from Yamaha.

I have seen too many of those fancy batteries fail, on both sleds, and in the summertime in bikes!!

edit: Let me add, that an Apex, even if boosted to start, will not run with a totally dead battery!!!!! If your fancy battery, or a cheap replacement drops a cell, or screws up, your sled will not run without booster cables attached to it!!

 

[sleddog66]

While I agree that the OEM battery is pretty good, not really completly sold on standard lead acid batterys. Brothers 2011 apex xtx craped a OEM battery after 1 year due to internal plates shorting out. NO WARRENTY. I like AGM batteries. I have AGMs from batteries plus in my sled + 4 quads. All better than OEM IMO

 

[blue er]

for the canadians here, was at carquest the other day and the eatx14 deka battery was on sale for 89.99, that is the battery i put in and it's a agm as far as i know

 

[nate007]

http://www.ballisticparts.com/products/batteries/batteries.php

This is what im going with this year, just a little over 3 lbs.

I've tried the ballistic batteries on a couple choppers in my shop, and even the biggest one wouldn't start any of the bikes I tried it on, and have also had info from others who have tried them that said when they get the least bit cold, they quit. I switched to the 6lb Braille (made by Deka) and have had "0" issues even when not on a maintainer over the summer. Still fired my Apex up after sitting all summer. I'll stick with either this one, or the PC545 from Oddessey.

 

[TBay Sledhead]

Just replace my Yuasa 20 series that died after 2 years with a Odyssey PC680. Just have to re-bend the top aluminum hold down and leave out those foam pieces inside the cover. I'll give this one a try, I'm on my 4th battery. The Odyssey do not recommend charging their batteries during the off season, just make sure it is charged when you put u'r sled away.

 

[87gtNOS]

for the canadians here, was at carquest the other day and the eatx14 deka battery was on sale for 89.99, that is the battery i put in and it's a agm as far as i know

Yes, it's AGM, and a good battery!!

 

[Blue Dave]

Just replace my Yuasa 20 series that died after 2 years with a Odyssey PC680. Just have to re-bend the top aluminum hold down and leave out those foam pieces inside the cover. I'll give this one a try, I'm on my 4th battery. The Odyssey do not recommend charging their batteries during the off season, just make sure it is charged when you put u'r sled away.

Did the PC680 have the orientation of the positive and negative terminals reversed like the PC545 that I installed requiring the "front" of the battery to face the engine? It looks like the PC680 is slightly taller than the PC545 and has more CCA and capacity according to the attached spec sheet. Did you have to bend the aluminum hold down bracket upwards? If so, how much?

 

[TBay Sledhead]

Yes the terminals are the same way as the PC545. As for the upper aluminum bracket I just straightened it and then bent it in the appropriate location, approx. 1/4"

 

[Blue Dave]

Yes the terminals are the same way as the PC545. As for the upper aluminum bracket I just straightened it and then bent it in the appropriate location, approx. 1/4"

Thanks for the fast reply. Now I am second guessing my choice since the PC680 is more powerful and will fit with minimal effort. The PC545 was what was recommended by Odyssey to replace the OEM battery.

In addition to rotating the "front" of the battery to face the engine did you also rotate the OEM black plastic cover requiring the rubber mounting strap to be taken out of the slots and used on the other side of the cover to accommodate the cables which are now on the "back" side of the battery mounting location?