Upgraded Battery Choices? / Lithium ? / Feedback?

[rxengineer]

I'm pretty bad when it comes to battery maintenance. I don't do any kind of charging in the summer and there's nothing anyone can ever say to change my mind on this. Original battery in the RX1 was a YTX20L-BS. Replaced it once with an off-brand (i.e., non-YUASA), and it didn't survive the summer storage. Couldn't charge it back to life, it was just dead. Currently have a YUASA YTX20HL-BS (H is for high capacity, its the 310 amp), left it sitting all summer and turned the key first time this winter after it was several degrees below freezing. Cranked the thing like it just got back from a 100 mile ride. That is a nice battery.

I understand that the wires are reversed for 06+, so that would convert to YTX20H-BS.

 

[TBay Sledhead]

The terminals are reversed but the cover will still go on. To fit the 20 series battery you have to leave out the foam spacers. I've run the reversed terminal batteries for my last 2 batteries, I have no luck with them. Right now I am trying the Odessy PC680. Hope this one holds up.

 

[Pykie]

Thanks Blue

 

[Blue Dave]

I run a 2 lb. Shorai Battery in my 1200 but down at 0 deg. F it gets a little sketchy. You are supposed to put a load on them first. Ideally it'd be best to put a switch somewhere and a set of grip warmers on the battery to load it prior to a cold start. Which I intended to do but for the most part my machine comes out of a 45 degree garage anyway and as of yet I haven't had an issue starting. When I go to the UP and the machine sits overnight, I always have the stock battery ready to go back in. it's not a quick easy thing to do on an Apex if it does'nt start, so you'd have to decide if the lightweight battery is worth the risk.

http://www.dootalk.com/forums/topic/437 ... _%20shorai

I know that some people are obsessed about weight. If I was concerned about sled weight I certainly would not be riding an Apex! My fat #*$&@ is the heaviest thing on my sled so in my case this would be the best place for me to start dropping some pounds! LOL!

Seriously, I would rather have a 16 pound battery that will not leave me stranded in below zero temps than a 2 pound battery that I can not trust to not ruin a weekend.

For a race only sled I understand. But for my weekend ride that sits outside overnight when I am at my cabin I will trade the extra weight for sub zero starting reliability.

 

[Crewchief47]

Now you guys have me rattled, there's been a lot of 2-smoke bashing this summer with my viper buddies...I'd hate my stocker to let me down this season I'd never hear the end of it.

Anybody think there'd be any problems with putting that carquest ETX14 in an early 90's waverunner?

I pulled an ETX14 out of a 91 seadoo XP this summer that had lots of life and was working great.

The ETX14 was reverse post for my Nytro but there was enough room to turn the batt 180 and not 'short' to anything. Just need to scrounge up a spacer as it's a little shorter than the stocker.

 

[CaptCaper]

The terminals are reversed but the cover will still go on. To fit the 20 series battery you have to leave out the foam spacers. I've run the reversed terminal batteries for my last 2 batteries, I have no luck with them. Right now I am trying the Odessy PC680. Hope this one holds up.

Thanks to you I got the 20 series in my Attak. You can get them with terminals to line up with Yamis cables fine. the cover didn't fit good but I heated it with a hot air gun and it formed around the new battery fine.
I installed a larger battery then OEM because I made a portable Warn 3500lb winch and wanted the extra amps.

 

[Blue Dave]

The terminals are reversed but the cover will still go on. To fit the 20 series battery you have to leave out the foam spacers. I've run the reversed terminal batteries for my last 2 batteries, I have no luck with them. Right now I am trying the Odessy PC680. Hope this one holds up.

Thanks to you I got the 20 series in my Attak. You can get them with terminals to line up with Yamis cables fine. the cover didn't fit good but I heated it with a hot air gun and it formed around the new battery fine.
I installed a larger battery then OEM because I made a portable Warn 3500lb winch and wanted the extra amps.

You can get a 20 series with the correct polarity orientation.

 

[Grimm]

I killed my stock battery already on my 2011 Apex. Word of warning...don't leave it on a trickle charger all summer long.

I ended up getting a YUASA YTX20H-BS for $100...310 cold cranking amps, yeah baby! Cover was a little tight, but just a little force will slip it on.

 

[Blue Dave]

I killed my stock battery already on my 2011 Apex. Word of warning...don't leave it on a trickle charger all summer long.

I ended up getting a YUASA YTX20H-BS for $100...310 cold cranking amps, yeah baby! Cover was a little tight, but just a little force will slip it on.

It depends upon the charger. My Optimate 4 can be left on a battery indefinitely and it will not harm the battery. Some trickle chargers that are not "smart" can damage a battery if left connected for long periods of time.

The 20 series battery is the way to go if you are willing to trade about 6 pounds of extra weight for an additional 110 CCA.

 

[bigdog_mike]

LI-BATTERY

Well after installing the Li-battery and adding an outlet to put a load on the battery to pre-warm it before starting I have given up on the Li-battery. The manufacture said to load it for 3-4 minutes then start it...no go, the load didn't help and then the load killed the Li-battery. Contacted Shorai and they warranty the battery and the charger which also failed too. But i decided to replace the Li-battery with a lead-acid sealed one. When the Li-battery is replaced I will use it on my Honda Rincon 4x4 which needs a battery replacement and it will be used during the warm months and not have any issues of having to be warmed-up before starting. Lessons learned...DON'T USE LI-BATTERY FOR WINTER SPORTS MACHINE. It's one expensive lesson too. The upside is I have a extra power outlet that's wired hot for any light or other power that maybe needed.

 

[CaptCaper]

I put in a 20 Yusa and it fit fine. Just removed the foam. Only because I want the juice for a winch I carry in case I get buried.

 

[Phatboyc]

Comparing specs for the oem 14 series and the 20 series shows a 4.3lbs difference. Even less than Blue Dave measured! I'm thinking of going in the middle and use the none H version of the 20. Less led plates so a bit less cranking amps. But my experience show that they last longer than same size higher cranking amps. Still better than stock and 20$ cheaper than the H model.

YTX14-BS
Weight 8.1 lbs
Dimensions 6 × 3.43 × 5.75 in

YTX20H-BS
Weight 12.4 lbs
Dimensions 6.875 × 3.43 × 6.125 in

YTX20-BS
Weight 11.2 lbs
Dimensions 6.875 × 3.43 × 6.125 in

 

[nate007]

Re: LI-BATTERY

Well after installing the Li-battery and adding an outlet to put a load on the battery to pre-warm it before starting I have given up on the Li-battery. The manufacture said to load it for 3-4 minutes then start it...no go, the load didn't help and then the load killed the Li-battery. Contacted Shorai and they warranty the battery and the charger which also failed too. But i decided to replace the Li-battery with a lead-acid sealed one. When the Li-battery is replaced I will use it on my Honda Rincon 4x4 which needs a battery replacement and it will be used during the warm months and not have any issues of having to be warmed-up before starting. Lessons learned...DON'T USE LI-BATTERY FOR WINTER SPORTS MACHINE. It's one expensive lesson too. The upside is I have a extra power outlet that's wired hot for any light or other power that maybe needed.

They said 3-4 minutes, not 3-4 seconds? I messed around with a WPS Li-ion battery (2.4lbs) last year and only once was it slow to crank. as soon as I heard it was slow to crank I let it finish that revolution, waited about 10-15 seconds and it cranked it right over after that as good as the original? Granted, it was late season, and was in a trailer, but they typically only need a few seconds of load to get them excited enough to start working. I might even run 2 of them in parallel this year, and with the super small size (I've eaten bigger cheeseburgers than these things), they'll both fit inside the front bulkhead near the ecu.

 

[Blue Dave]

As I said earlier:

I know that some people are obsessed about weight. If I was concerned about sled weight I certainly would not be riding an Apex! My fat #*$&@ is the heaviest thing on my sled so in my case this would be the best place for me to start dropping some pounds! LOL!

Seriously, I would rather have a 16 pound battery that will not leave me stranded in below zero temps than a 2 pound battery that I can not trust to not ruin a weekend.

For a race only sled I understand. But for my weekend ride that sits outside overnight when I am at my cabin I will trade the extra weight for sub zero starting reliability.

 

[Sled Dog]

Well the odyssey battery I had is finished, 5 years is all I got out of it not worth the extra money in my opinion.