50Ah Battery on Motorcycle

[RogerD]

I'm going to buy a 50Ah battery (probably LiTime) to put on my motorcycle.

I found this 8A DC to DC charger, which I can run off my bike.

https://powerwerx.com/dcdc-charger-lifepo4-8a-adjustable

Do I need to buy anything else? I just need to run 12v devices.

 

[justinm001]

Is this just to run 12v devices when the motorcycle is off? If on then wonder if you can just get a bigger alternator if the issue.

If off then you can get a low voltage shutoff so at a certain voltage itll turn off the 12v loads while still giving you ability to start.

I ride sport bikes so adding a battery plus a DC converter seems horrible. Every gram matters

 

[pollenface]

I might suggest a voltage sensing relay if the dc-dc charger doesn't already have one built in

 

[Supervstech]

I'm going to buy a 50Ah battery (probably LiTime) to put on my motorcycle.

I found this 8A DC to DC charger, which I can run off my bike.

https://powerwerx.com/dcdc-charger-lifepo4-8a-adjustable

Do I need to buy anything else? I just need to run 12v devices.

Let’s discuss your plans first.

What are you adding this for? What kind of bike? I have a boost converter I tied to my car charging circuit. It turns on when I start the van. It outputs around 20 watts, I have the amps set at 10, and it keeps my onboard battery charged while I drive. I plan to add a solar panel to the roof, but haven’t gotten that far yet.

 

[RogerD]

Is this just to run 12v devices when the motorcycle is off? If on then wonder if you can just get a bigger alternator if the issue.

If off then you can get a low voltage shutoff so at a certain voltage itll turn off the 12v loads while still giving you ability to start.

I ride sport bikes so adding a battery plus a DC converter seems horrible. Every gram matters

Yes, just to run 12v devices when the motorcycle is off. Use when stealth camping.

I hear ya. Use to own a Ninja 600 / GSXR 750.

It's dual-sport, so it doesn't matter. A bigger alternator (stator) doesn't exist for it. Believe me, I've looked.

 

[RogerD]

Let’s discuss your plans first.

What are you adding this for? What kind of bike? I have a boost converter I tied to my car charging circuit. It turns on when I start the van. It outputs around 20 watts, I have the amps set at 10, and it keeps my onboard battery charged while I drive. I plan to add a solar panel to the roof, but haven’t gotten that far yet.

Run 12v devices when the motorcycle is off when stealth camping.

It's a dual-sport.

 

[RogerD]

I might suggest a voltage sensing relay if the dc-dc charger doesn't already have one built in

Are you talking about a switch to cut off the main battery from the alternate battery?

 

[pollenface]

Are you talking about a switch to cut off the main battery from the alternate battery?

More so to cut off the dc-dc charger from the main battery (unless it already has one built-in, some don't)

 

[RogerD]

Batteryhookup just came out with 30Ah battery. I'm going to buy 2 for $147 and hook up in parallel and have 60 Ah for the same weight as most 50 Ah batteries (11.5 pounds).

 

[RogerD]

More so to cut off the dc-dc charger from the main battery (unless it already has one built-in, some don't)

It says it stops charging once full. I'll probably add one just to be safe. I'll carry a jumper just to be safe as well.

 

[justinm001]

It says it stops charging once full. I'll probably add one just to be safe. I'll carry a jumper just to be safe as well.

The problem is you need a shutoff if the voltage gets low for the bike battery. I'm also concerned they don't make a small enough DC DC charger that won't overload the alt. I'm wondering if it's an actual alternator or some form of magneto as bikes have very little power needs and small engine so need all that power

 

[pollenface]

Really depends on the bike. 8a @ 14.4v is probably on the heavy side, just taking a stab in the dark. You can experiment though, and carry a little jump starter pack as backup.

 

[RogerD]

The problem is you need a shutoff if the voltage gets low for the bike battery. I'm also concerned they don't make a small enough DC DC charger that won't overload the alt. I'm wondering if it's an actual alternator or some form of magneto as bikes have very little power needs and small engine so need all that power

The charger has 2A, 4A, and 8A settings. I changed all my lights out to low-watt LED. Which reduced it 50+ watts.

 

[RogerD]

Really depends on the bike. 8a @ 14.4v is probably on the heavy side, just taking a stab in the dark. You can experiment though, and carry a little jump starter pack as backup.

Yeah, will be getting a jumper. The charger has 2A, 4A, and 8A settings. I changed all my lights out to low-watt LED. Which reduced consumption 50+ watts, so 4A shouldn't be an issue. I think it will work at 8A. Guess I'll find out. If 8A is too much, I could buy 2 of them and run one at 4A and the other at 2A for 6A. Doubt 6A would be a problem.