varosd 1,185 #1 Posted April 6, 2012 might be old news but I saw lithium tractor batteries on sleazebay. not sure if anyone has used these? rather pricey and doesnt seem "powerful" but might last longer and hold a charge better?, perhaps . just keep the H2O away from them!! Any input .....anyone? ......(Chuck (SOI) ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowtiebutler956 649 #2 Posted April 6, 2012 Wow, I had no idea they were making lithium batteries for our tractors. I'm going to have to check those out, thanks for the info. Matt :flags-texas: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
varosd 1,185 #3 Posted April 6, 2012 210 CCA and very light weight but $151 yikes. but it does seem like all old style batteries..car, tractor etc are "not what they used to be" I don't remember my Dad having to buy a new battery every 3-4 yrs like it seems the way it is today. the shape of the lithium battery is different too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smoreau 658 #4 Posted April 6, 2012 I have one in my lawn ranger under the seat. Here is a pic. I didn't have the room under the hood and I wanted a starter generator on this one with a Kohler k161 You can mount them in any direction and they were made for jet ski's, I got it from O'rieles for around $80 and it was around 200 cca. It holds up just fine and I have been happy with it. I needed to have it electric start as it is for my daughter could never be able to start it her self. I do plan on starting a thread on this tractor soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
varosd 1,185 #5 Posted April 7, 2012 $80 is more like it. I have seen them on motocycles. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smoreau 658 #6 Posted April 7, 2012 They have a lot of punch for there size, It's been in the tractor for about 15 months and never had any problems. 1/2 the size of a standard batt. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trouty56 565 #7 Posted April 9, 2012 Scott....charging system works too?? Nothing special?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Save Old Iron 1,565 #8 Posted May 1, 2012 Don, sorry for the late reply. Lithium is the way to go is you are looking for a great amount of energy in small - and sometimes oddly shaped - spaces. The reason you see Lithium batteries in small devices like Ipods, cameras and laptops is just what you said - lots of punch in a small space. The lithium paste is not restricted by the same need for physical support like the soft lead oxide paste in standard lead acid batteries. Battery packs can be made in "sheets" and wrapped around other devices and structures in cars as well as personal devices. On the down side, lithium cells do have a fairly predictable number of charge / discharge cycles before they "wear out". Each battery pack in a laptop incorporates a little memory chip that actually counts the charge / discharge cycles and the battery's charge characteristics and will disable the battery pack if it senses any funny business in process. Ever wonder why your 2 year old laptop battery was working in the morning and then "dead" in the afternoon? That's the battery monitor chip in the pack. The charger rate is important and also monitoring of the battery temperature is critical if catastrophic failure of the battery is to be prevented. I honestly have never considered using lithium on a car or tractor and have not done any research on charger issues. But if anyone doubts the dangers of incorrectly charging lithium batteries - just look up "Dell laptop battery failure" on the net and check out the recent issues thay have had with lithium packs. Looks like I have some research to do. Good topic. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
meadowfield 2,570 #9 Posted May 1, 2012 If you a looking for long term reliabilty, low cost, low maintenance then do not use Lithium Ion/Polymer. Cellphones/laptops are almost a throw away commodity and the small density, fast charge/discharge characteristics are perfect. Scaling this up to the energy density of a 33Ah 300+ CCA is cost prohibitive - you do save weight and space by a huge factor, but the charge circuit is more complex. On a slight plus, 4 cells in series give 14.4V so good enough for starting and close to the standard charge rate. I find it difficult to believe* without some research that they can be directly substituted - Lithium Ion is extremely sensitive to over charge/ over discharge, etc A new RR could be built to support this, but you could not use the battery as the main capacitor smoothing out the rail, so the electronics become more complex requiring full wave rectification, smoothing and then linear regulation of both voltage and current. That doesn't mean that you cannot connect it directly to an existing regulator charge circuit and it won't work, but I would not recommend it - way too easy to go outside the safety margins that Li-ion need... I'm intrigued though so happy to hear any good stories or experience !!! and for those interested yes look up Lithium Ion battery fires - lots of laptops, phones, ipods, models cars/planes.... mark * (I've been working on cell phones/mobile devices for the last 9 years) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
varosd 1,185 #10 Posted May 1, 2012 Late notes from from Chuck and Mark...but always WELCOME my expirence is stricty US Army and light weight and small was a big plus. but never get them wet or kaboom. of course regular batteries have multiple issues. I don't drive a low rider soooooo its old school battery for me! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sparky-(Admin) 21,075 #11 Posted May 1, 2012 I've finally given up on Wal-Mart batteries Don, I went with a battery from Auto-Zone last week. My Wal-Mart batteries only seemed to last about two years. I'll let you know after the two year mark how its doin ! Mike............ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
