LiFePo4 Batteries Issues and Diagnosis

[Heath]

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This begs the question Howie recently put to me; should we run such batteries without an on board balancing/maintenance system and expect a bikes charging system to balance all the cells?

This is one of the reasons I quit running the Shorai until at least there is some balancing built in.

I ran my Shorai and only over discharged it once. I was able to bring it back with advice from Shoari. I was having other electrical gremlins though so to please my mechanic I went back to a Yurasa and put it on a tender religiously.
Once the technology improves I think I'll switch back. I like the earthx for the balancing board built it.

[Speeddog]

I've been running a Shorai on my M750 (3-phase) for ~2 1/2 years and 12k miles.
Flattened it a couple times with a headlight switch pilot error.
Recharged with an ordinary charger those times, and otherwise it's been charged by the bike.
No battery tender, but the bike does get ridden at least 3 hours a week.
It's not missed a beat.

Have one that I got brand new, ran it on my S4 for a little while, since then it's been sitting, for 5 years.
Currently it's occasionally used as a 'shop' battery, waiting to be reinstalled on my S4.
Still works fine.

Rick's has a new "Lithium Friendly" VR:

https://ricksmotorsportelectrics.com/OEM-Style-Lithium-Ion-Battery-Compatible-Rec-Reg-14_008

[koko64]

I note that when new and barring no episodes (say under 3  years old), the Shorai can rest at 14+ V, but after 4 or 5 years and especially after a few episodes of being over discharged, they will sit at 13.2-13.4V if they survive. They still crank well at this more nominal level and although it's disconcerting, they are 80-90% charged and still operate well. That last Volt in resting charge is 10-20% off absolutely fully charged whereas 12.9V is getting dangerously low, so it's not a linear scale by any means. It was reassuring to check the Shorai pamphlet after losing 1V.
I have a battery that will always settle at 13.3V no matter what I do to it since it's been badly over discharged by a bad regulator. It starts well every time but is scarred so appears to have lost it's peak capcity.