[Nige]

So, my bike tipped over last night and as a consequence killed the 12V battery because the CAN was activated all night.

There is unlikely to be stock in Australia so I’m figuring maybe just find a non HD replacement.

As long as it’s lithium and 12V 2A I can’t see any reason why it won’t work.

right?

 

[Phaedrus]

How full was the RESS? The BCM should monitor the 12vdc battery and recharge from the RESS as needed.

You might want to charge the lithium if it will come up, and read your DTCs to see what current trouble codes exist before you replace the lithium battery. Could be you have another problem in the background.

 

[Wavshrdr]

Sorry to hear about your bike. I hope there wasn't any damage.

Make sure you use an appropriate charger for the lithium 12V battery. Don't use one for a lead acid battery unless it has a mode for lithium.

 

[Nige]

How full was the RESS? The BCM should monitor the 12vdc battery and recharge from the RESS as needed.

You might want to charge the lithium if it will come up, and read your DTCs to see what current trouble codes exist before you replace the lithium battery. Could be you have another problem in the background.

the ress was bout 80% full. My local LW specialist told me that because it tipped it would have triggered the CAN system (and flashers) and doesn’t turn off until the bike is upright and reset

 

[Phaedrus]

That shouldnt matter. The RESS should have been able to supply 12vdc to recharge the Lithium.

And, the alarm has a timeout for the flashers after about 90 sec, I think. Though if the TCU was working you should have gotten alerts through the app.

 

[Phaedrus]

That shouldnt matter. The RESS should have been able to supply 12vdc to recharge the Lithium.

And, the alarm has a timeout for the flashers after about 90 sec, I think. Though if the TCU was working you should have gotten alerts through the app.

 

[Nige]

That shouldnt matter. The RESS should have been able to supply 12vdc to recharge the Lithium.

And, the alarm has a timeout for the flashers after about 90 sec, I think. Though if the TCU was working you should have gotten alerts through the app.

the app doesn’t work here in Australia unfortunately. The time out doesn’t work in the case if a tip over according to the HD guy I spoke to

 

[Phaedrus]

the app doesn’t work here in Australia unfortunately. The time out doesn’t work in the case if a tip over according to the HD guy I spoke to

And, belay my last. I stand corrected. I talked with Livewire LLC tech and tipover mode changes everything. Like when a gas bike shuts down the fuel pump on tipover, the Livewire disconnects the RESS on tIpover. And it doesnt take long for the flashers to drain the 12v Lithium. So hopefully you can just get a new battery if yours went flat, and get back on the road. Like you think, it just needs to match the form factor and output specs.

 

[Menoche]

If the drain is recent, just connect it to a trickle charger and be patient, it should revive the battery and you’ll be okay to go. And no, the RESS does not charge the 12V when a tip over happens as the RESS circuit is not on :-(
trickle charge the small 12V and you should be just fine.

 

[Menoche]

Double checked and the stock 12V should have a controler in it preventing total discharge. So charging it slowly should bring it back from 7V to 12V

 

[Nige]

And, belay my last. I stand corrected. I talked with Livewire LLC tech and tipover mode changes everything. Like when a gas bike shuts down the fuel pump on tipover, the Livewire disconnects the RESS on tIpover. And it doesnt take long for the flashers to drain the 12v Lithium. So hopefully you can just get a new battery if yours went flat, and get back on the road. Like you think, it just needs to match the form factor and output specs.

Yep, that's what I was told too, good to hear it verified from a second source. Luckily HD have batteries in stock so Ill have a new one in a few days. While I'm waiting I did carefully try to recover the old one and was very pleasantly surprised to get it back up! It's undoubtedly damaged so I will replace it, but after some gentle charging it came back to correct terminal voltage and held up to a load test without misbehaving. I reinstalled and the bike is operational again, fault free.

 

[Wavshrdr]

If it was not dead for a long time, it probably will recover fairly well and may yet last for a long time. I wouldn't be in a rush to replace it.

 

[Nige]

If it was not dead for a long time, it probably will recover fairly well and may yet last for a long time. I wouldn't be in a rush to replace it.

Im hopeful! All the battery people I have spoken to suggested that because it drained to a very low 2V, it is likely to be damaged but like you I am hopeful and will happily keep it as a spare in case of emergencies. Bit disappointing that it doesn't have a LV cutoff to protect itself imho

 

[Phaedrus]

Yep, that's what I was told too, good to hear it verified from a second source. Luckily HD have batteries in stock so Ill have a new one in a few days. While I'm waiting I did carefully try to recover the old one and was very pleasantly surprised to get it back up! It's undoubtedly damaged so I will replace it, but after some gentle charging it came back to correct terminal voltage and held up to a load test without misbehaving. I reinstalled and the bike is operational again, fault free.

It would be nice if you got lucky with it!

Generally though they are essentially fully discharged by 10v. And if they get drawn down below 6, a cell can get scorched and they need to be replaced. But it sounds like your testing is showing it good, and that would be great.

Now, keep that bike upright! 🙂

 

[NoRemorse]

I didn't do this specifically, but I did kill the 12v. I just jumped it from my car, turned on the bike to connect the RESS, and took it for a short ride (not too far from the house) to let it charge off the RESS, worked fine. My battery was only at a couple volts. That was almost 2000 miles ago

 

[Nige]

Oh wow, that’s promising! Thanks for sharing. I have a theory that the battery is really only there as a tiny buffer and to add a bit of surge capability, so it makes sense to me. The DCtoDC can deliver 450W (32A) so there’s plenty of grunt. My RESS is keeping it charged nicely now too (measured some current flow into it since it’s been back in the bike) and it’s holding its voltage nicely. Having said all this, I’ll happily keep it as a spare for me or my Livewire friends just in case, and will probably crack it open to understand what’s inside. New one is in its way.