Drop 20-30 pounds with a battery?, Anyone running Lithium-Ion? Options

[worn]

Can you wire two bike batteries together. Still cheap but more power and reserves. Maybe

Many OEM manufacturers do this. I see no issue with it, and most Lithiums are just smaller cells put together. Probably a good idea for a street car.

If you got a couple of small 300cca batterys at less than 2lbs each thats still only 4lbs in battery, plus another lb for a holder and wire to link them..

You could wire a couple up like they do for boats and rvs where the engine battery is isolated from the cabin batteries. They do that so even though you run down the battery using the lights the motor will still charge. They both charge off of the alternator. That way you would always have one in reserve, like if you forget to turn something off, or run through the first one cranking.

[seanery]

Reading through Jack's thread on the bird board, he has had great success with his battery, although he does live in one of the warmer climates.

I think I'd be willing to try one on my 914 or just about any toy car, but I don't think I'd do it on the Mercedes. I did just replace the battery on it, and searched for something in the Lithium family that might be suitable. Living in Indiana, -10F is always a possibility, so I don't think we're close on a daily driver.

Jack posted a quote from a guy who had been using his LifePo4 in colder areas on ways to have better success in cold weather, but I think it's still a stretch for a daily driver in colder climates.

One last thing I found interesting, the use of those micro jumpstart devices with warnings that they are for Lead Acid batteries only. I have 2 of these, and they work great! The one I have is no larger than one of those phone recharging batteries. I wonder why the incompatibility?

Anyone have any ideas or thoughts on that?

Oh, and Amazon lists Jack's battery as being In Stock on 9/20 if you want to order one.

[worn]

Reading through Jack's thread on the bird board, he has had great success with his battery, although he does live in one of the warmer climates.

I think I'd be willing to try one on my 914 or just about any toy car, but I don't think I'd do it on the Mercedes. I did just replace the battery on it, and searched for something in the Lithium family that might be suitable. Living in Indiana, -10F is always a possibility, so I don't think we're close on a daily driver.

Jack posted a quote from a guy who had been using his LifePo4 in colder areas on ways to have better success in cold weather, but I think it's still a stretch for a daily driver in colder climates.

One last thing I found interesting, the use of those micro jumpstart devices with warnings that they are for Lead Acid batteries only. I have 2 of these, and they work great! The one I have is no larger than one of those phone recharging batteries. I wonder why the incompatibility?

Anyone have any ideas or thoughts on that?

Oh, and Amazon lists Jack's battery as being In Stock on 9/20 if you want to order one.

I am not too awful far from you, and have cold weather to contend with as well. On the other hand, I have to assume that the play cars will be garage-bound about six months out of every year. Would you want to start your car at ten below? On the minus twenty days, my cars will get down to close to zero in the shop. So weathering storage conditions is what I would worry about.

[seanery]

I don't see storage conditions being an issue. I had my KTM 990 in my buddy's garage in LA. I went 16 months without it being started, turned on, etc...but it started right up on an early version Lithium Ion battery.

As long as you don't have anything sucking on the battery when its stored, I consider storage a non-issue.

And yes, the toys will be parked during our coldest days.
(But I long for the day I can put one in my daily driver) ;-)

[raynekat]

OK....I'll bite.
I did make the big leap of faith and purchased one of these.
Still getting the car finished, so no idea how she works.

Lightweight (about 11 lbs), fits in our battery tray (with a small mod to the battery base bracket they use), and some neat features, like the automatic turn-off so the battery doesn't drain too low to start the car.

Lithium ion are not the same as the cell phone batteries that catch fire...a whole different animal.
So no worries there.

If your car has a lot of amp usage like a gi-normous stereo or hydraulics, this is not your battery.
But for small electrical usage cars like most 914's are, they're perfect.

[mepstein]

OK....I'll bite.
I did make the big leap of faith and purchased one of these.
Still getting the car finished, so no idea how she works.

Lightweight (about 11 lbs), fits in our battery tray (with a small mod to the battery base bracket they use), and some neat features, like the automatic turn-off so the battery doesn't drain too low to start the car.

Lithium ion are not the same as the cell phone batteries that catch fire...a whole different animal.
So no worries there.

If your car has a lot of amp usage like a gi-normous stereo or hydraulics, this is not your battery.
But for small electrical usage cars like most 914's are, they're perfect.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) Sometimes it's better to go with a proven solution.