PotatoInside Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 I made this charger timer calculator to help with ending the charge cycle at specific battery percentages (Copy the spreadsheet to your own drive) https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Zk1l2ra2pSFBd0h9q5P8Oz5m4ygCQ5X2-2IpR6JC7FY Paired with a digital charge timer with minute accuracy, you can have your wheel charge to any percentage you want and finish at any period over night. I usually charge to 88% and have it finish charging about 5 minutes before i leave for work, the purpose is to increase the usable battery life span. (leaving the battery at 100% will rapidly degrade your battery, this goes for smartphones and laptops too). If you want your battery to last forever and you don't have to travel more than 20 km for a daily commute you can try floating between 40-60%. The timer pictured is a GE myTouch smart timer, it will allow you to charge with a count down or a specified start and end time but i guess any timer will work. This specific model has 2 plugs so it powered the ghetto cooler i made (see other thread in mod section) and the wheel charger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esper Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Why not get a charge doctor? They stop charging at the designated percentage. And they charge your wheel faster than the standard charger in case you want to go out for a longer ride and need to top up along the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PotatoInside Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 3 minutes ago, Esper said: Why not get a charge doctor? They stop charging at the designated percentage. And they charge your wheel faster than the standard charger in case you want to go out for a longer ride and need to top up along the way. Mine was $15 lol (im cheap) but yeah the charge doctor works very well too from what ive read (also its far more accurate as its based on voltage and amperage to the second decimal place) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esper Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 3 minutes ago, PotatoInside said: Mine was $15 lol (im cheap) but yeah the charge doctor works very well too from what ive read (also its far more accurate as its based on voltage and amperage to the second decimal place) Well I'm with ya there. I would not buy a battery charger for 50 bucks unless I needed it. But thanks for the info about your work. I'm sure it will be useful to someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PotatoInside Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 also the charge doctor does not have the ability to start and stop at certain times of the day (like charge overnight and end just before you leave) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esper Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Why would that be something you need? I get home, I plug in, I unplug when I leave. If all I need it to do is prevent overcharging or to stop at 95%, then why would it matter when it started charging and when it stopped? Can you explain to me the circumstances you would need for that feature to be useful? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WARPed1701D Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 6 minutes ago, Esper said: Why would that be something you need? I get home, I plug in, I unplug when I leave. If all I need it to do is prevent overcharging or to stop at 95%, then why would it matter when it started charging and when it stopped? Can you explain to me the circumstances you would need for that feature to be useful? The less time the batteries sit at higher charge the better it is for them. Also it is a good idea to allow the batteries to relax a little after charging before use. I use a wall timer combined with a charge doctor. Charge starts at 5am and stops at either 7am (timer) or when 80% battery level (charge doctor) is reached. Either provide me with enough charge to get to work on most days. I leave home at 7:30 knowing I have allowed at least a 30 minute period for the cells to relax post charge but they have not sat at the high voltage for very long (overnight). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esper Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 39 minutes ago, WARPed1701D said: The less time the batteries sit at higher charge the better it is for them. Also it is a good idea to allow the batteries to relax a little after charging before use. I use a wall timer combined with a charge doctor. Charge starts at 5am and stops at either 7am (timer) or when 80% battery level (charge doctor) is reached. Either provide me with enough charge to get to work on most days. I leave home at 7:30 knowing I have allowed at least a 30 minute period for the cells to relax post charge but they have not sat at the high voltage for very long (overnight). Yes I understand that. But if I don't plug in the battery immediately after use, and after it has had time to cool off, and the charge doctor stops charging at 95% why would I need a timer? I suppose ease of mind knowing that I don't have to get up after I've been home for a few hours to start the charge. But I'm not lazy enough to warrant a $15+ purchase to save me less than a minute of time. I know for sure my charging session doesn't take the entire night up until the point of me leaving, so if the charge doctor stops me at 95% at let's say, 2 am. I don't need a timer to turn it off an hour before I leave, 6 am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lutalo Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 1 hour ago, Esper said: Yes, I understand that. But if I don't plug in the battery immediately after use, and after it has had time to cool off, and the charge doctor stops charging at 95% why would I need a timer? I suppose ease of mind knowing that I don't have to get up after I've been home for a few hours to start the charge. But I'm not lazy enough to warrant a $15+ purchase to save me less than a minute of time. I know for sure my charging session doesn't take the entire night up until the point of me leaving, so if the charge doctor stops me at 95% at let's say, 2 am. I don't need a timer to turn it off an hour before I leave, 6 am. Ok cool. Then it doesn't work for you. Perhaps others will find it a fitting support. Personally, I don't pamper my battery the way others seem to; a bad habit that may eventually necessitate the premature purchase of a new battery pack. However, "premature" that theoretical purchase may be, it remains no time soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PotatoInside Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 19 hours ago, Lutalo said: Ok cool. Then it doesn't work for you. Perhaps others will find it a fitting support. Personally, I don't pamper my battery the way others seem to; a bad habit that may eventually necessitate the premature purchase of a new battery pack. However, "premature" that theoretical purchase may be, it remains no time soon. yeah, before i didnt care either, but i started caring after i bought an electric vehicle, after 5 years of driving it and 76,000km i have not lost a single km of range on the EV because ive kept the battery floating at 40-60%. i started doing that with my laptops as well, just look at this graph, when plugged in all the time sitting at 100% you can see the battery rapidly degrade but after limiting to 50% charge it more or less stopped degrading. when i got my new smartphone i started doing the same thing, after 6 months i still have the exact same battery life as if it was brand new i guess this battery thing is just OCD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrelwood Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 2 hours ago, PotatoInside said: i guess this battery thing is just OCD. No, it's not, as you very nicely show with your own tests! But as it is an inconvenience, people will want to write it off as such rather than admit that they made the decision of doing the worse thing. My dad's face was a bit priceless when I explained this to him when getting his current laptop, "You really say I should be plugging and unplugging the charger every single day?! The technology surely must've been bettered by now!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lutalo Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 7 hours ago, PotatoInside said: yeah, before i didnt care either, but i started caring after i bought an electric vehicle, after 5 years of driving it and 76,000km i have not lost a single km of range on the EV because ive kept the battery floating at 40-60%. Perhaps I would also be more vigilant about battery care if I owned an electric vehicle (car). At that point I imagine that I would consider myself fully vested in the alternative energy lifestyle; complete with a Tesla S model car, solar powered home, and small garden nourished with recycled rain water. Battery Preservation OCD would nicely complement my toney new sustainable energy lifestyle. Habitually, I charge my wheel fully before each ride because my charge brick goes from red to green. When I see green I stop charging. I return from my various EUC excursions with 30-50% battery life. I tend to store the wheel with whatever charge is left in the battery until the next planned ride excursion. I will usually initiate a battery charge first thing in the morning and take off about an hour or so after the wheel has completely charged. I am primarily a recreational rider so I can usually plan my EUC trips and routes in advance. When I mentioned bad habit, I was thinking of the fact that I tend to charge my wheel to 100% before a ride. There has been a great deal of conversation deriding that particular habit. Overall, I think that my ride and storage habits provide decent passive care of my EUCs' batteries. I am just not very gung-ho about proactively monitoring and measuring charge and discharge metrics to optimize battery life. My approach is just a bit more organic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esper Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 On 7/24/2018 at 5:23 PM, mrelwood said: No, it's not, as you very nicely show with your own tests! But as it is an inconvenience, people will want to write it off as such rather than admit that they made the decision of doing the worse thing. My dad's face was a bit priceless when I explained this to him when getting his current laptop, "You really say I should be plugging and unplugging the charger every single day?! The technology surely must've been bettered by now!" This is something I see many many many people do. Why have a laptop, if it is just going to be plugged in all the time and sit in one location. The essence of it is so that you can take it elsewhere. If you are going to leave your laptop plugged in all the time, remove the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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