Trust a Shorai that has been sitting for four years?

[danaid]

  The original battery in my 09' 1100 is starting to show signs that it is starting to wear out. Time to replace it before my bike leaves me stranded!

I purchased the very first batch of Shorai batteries for my 09' 696, a lower spec battery was originally rated for the bike, I had trouble with the battery. Not trusting it, I removed it and installed an original style.

Shorai was good enough to replace my out out of warranty battery with a new higher spec battery. I still did not trust the battery so I put it on my shelf and it sat there till today when I put it on the Shorai charger, of course it was totally dead. I have not called Shorai CS yet, but do you think I should use this battery or get a fresh one?

Thanks in advance!

[koko64]

What do you mean by totally dead? Less than 12.5V?

Without the right test gear the only way to find out is charge it and see if it takes and/or holds charge and will crank your motor or send it to Shorai for a check up.

[oldndumb]

The proprietary Shorai charger will do a test before charging.

If you do not have their charger, you can use a VOM and see what it reads and then compare the reading using their LFX SOC chart.

http://shoraipower.com/lfxcheck

However, most likely from your description, it is toast.

[EEL]

It's dead. They are not supposed to go below a certain voltage.

You are supposed to refrigerate them for long term storage after a full charge.

They are great batteries. Mine has been running for 4 years now. I too had an original batch but I opted for the larger one from the get go.

[danaid]

 Thanks for the replies fellas!

I connected the battery to a proprietary Shorai charger which flashed below 50% light pattern, I  tried to charge it overnight but it will not hold a charge, like you wrote EEL, it is below 50% and the charger does not know what to do. It flashes low charge, when I press the charge button, it will charge for a few seconds and return to the low charge mode, stuck in the same loop.

Well, my local cycle gear  is starting to sell Shorai batteries, I'll pick one up today. My bike has flashed the low volt error screen the last two times I started it up. It is on a battery tender and had no issues till now.

[EEL]

what part of california do you live in? Bay Area?

I only ask because if you did, Shorai HQ would only be a few miles from you. Easier to get a fresh one from the source by spending a few minutes driving down.

[danaid]

 I'm in a Fresno. I ordered from Shorai directly before and the shipping is fast. I have Revzilla credit and public service discounts from local shops , but I'm thinking of a fresh battery from Shorai might be the best choice!

[EEL]

Yeah, that might be a bit of a drive. They are in Morgan Hill

[danaid]

 I went into my local cycle gear, I haven't had much interest in the store as of lately since they have been mostly selling their crappy store brands, but they now sell Shorai batteries. I spoke to a manager about Shorai's warranty not covering batteries deeply discharged, he said they will cover the battery completely, discharged or not, within the two year warranty period! Sold!

Shorai was good enough to replace my first battery no questions asked with a larger, correct battery even though I believe my voltage regulator/ rectifier was probably the culprit that killed the battery. I have learned that Shorai will not replace a battery that has been discharged to 50% no matter what the circumstance unless it is a manufacturing defect.