Here it is ladies and gentlemen: the final Shorai test. The temp outside is about 28. This is a pic of my heat pump, about 20 feet from where the FJR is parked. You'll notice the bands of ice. It's designed to defrost itself a little so it can function (hence the bands). MMMM cold !!
BELOW: Just behind the thermometer you'll see where I've plugged in my charger attachment. I made it out of an old 12v. accessory charger I had... I cut the plug off the other end to expose the wires, to which I hooked up the pos/neg clamps from my battery charger.
Anyway, I parked the bike outside and you'll notice my little thermometer tells me the humidity is 16 and the current temp is 30. It was 28 when I first walked out, but the temps rise in a hurry after sunrise. Since the Shorai is inside the cowl, the battery itself is still 28 degrees. This is the coldest I've ever tested it. As I said, it's rare when it gets really cold around here, and it only happens in the mornings. This is important to me because...
I can always throw the charger on it overnight on these cold nights. Keep in mind, the bike will always be in the garage, which is something like 8-10 degrees warmer than it is outside. I tested the bike outside today to be able to post up the results on this forum. Below, you can see the charger holding voltage at 13.5; the difference between the voltage on charger and on the bike's voltage meter (13.8) is because the charger cycles on and off every minute or two, and it was cycled off at the time the pic was taken.
The test:
First attempt: no go. Clock reset to 0 due to voltage dropping below 8 while cranking.
Crank duration: 4 seconds
Results: no start
Note: charger disconnected for test
2nd attempt: waited 20 seconds before trying. Voltage recovered to 12.7
Crank duration: 4 seconds
Results: no start
3rd attempt: waited 20 seconds before trying. Voltage recovered to 12.6
Crank duration: 6 seconds
Results: no start
4th attempt: waited 20 seconds before trying. Voltage recovered to 12.7
Crank duration: 4 seconds
Results: no start
5th attempt: waited 20 seconds before trying. Voltage recovered to 12.8
Crank duration: 3 seconds
Results: started
Oh yeah. Victory at 28 degrees!!!!!
What I've learned today:
The Shorai starts considerably better when it's hooked up to the charger overnight on these cold nights, just as we all suspected. However, with the battery hooked up to the charger, I would like to see the bike start on the first attempt. This test in no way made me happy.
Some final thoughts: The bike has started on first attempt, without the charger, at around 40 degrees. I've reserved my opinion of this battery on purpose. It was not my intent to give my opinion. I'll just let the facts I have presented speak for themselves.
I won't be doing any more testing with the Shorai. It seems that the company has already come out with a new formulation that is reputed to have significantly more grunt than the one I have. Whether or not this is true... we'll have to leave it up to someone else to test. This new battery seems to have come out in mid December of 2012. I'll stick with the Shorai for now, and probably won't have any issues until next winter.
SOMETHING I NEVER DID TRY:
I never got to try the grip warmer pad idea. I think it would have worked, but due to the amount of time it takes to get them, the money involved, and the fact that our weather is warming up already, I didn't try it. Oh well.
And as old Porky used to say, be-da bad-eea, bud-ee-uh... THAT'S ALL FOLKS.
All Done.
Gary
Crownomore #44
