KS16X battery life / health check

[Crooznfbroozn]

I have been reading up on battery discussions and playing around with a smart charger.

I understand charging to 85% greatly increases the total lifespan of the battery. Wondering, is this the "trickle" phase that's to be avoided?

Am I right in thinking the last 15% isn't the linear charge so it's not "15% less distance available"?

Also, for a 85kg (with gear), hard mode, 10°C weather, off road trip - is the attached distance normal for a new battery? (55-58km @ avg 21km/h bringing it down to 21%. 24% after heating up)

Lastly, does KS have any self diagnosing tools like Inmotion?

[.....]

Its not linear as far as mileage vs/voltage. Don't overthink it, as a lot of us have and it didnt help anything much. The last 15% isnt trickle. I could be wrong, but I think its relative to how many amps you are putting into it at once. Again, don't overthink it. Also, Ive noticed batteries dont get full distance until you cycle and charge it a few times. Maybe I'm wrong, but that is also of no consequence. CHarge it slowly when time permits. Charge it to 100% unless you plan on storing it for weeks. Every now and then, charge it until full and leave it on for a while to 'trickle' balance. Charge it up when its been cooled. Ride it after it cools from a charge. Be mindful of flammables and ride baby ride!  fwiw, I think your mileage sounds in the ballpark. I get 30 miles or so on a charge at 130lbs on my 1kw 18L at roadway speeds on a low psi tire. If you keep moving and you store your wheel indoors, I wouldnt think the batteries stay cold during operation, helping mitigate any losses. Electronics do pretty good at cool temps.

Edited November 9, 2020 by ShanesPlanet

[Chriull]

32 minutes ago, Crooznfbroozn said:

I understand charging to 85% greatly increases the total lifespan of the battery.

Yes - for single cells. But for the EUC batteries with many cells in series balancing is needed. And this balancing happen during the last (~10?) percents.

So here were already some reports of young dead batteries from people who did the 85% lifespan increasing charges.

32 minutes ago, Crooznfbroozn said:

Wondering, is this the "trickle" phase that's to be avoided?

I assume you mean the constant voltage phase? Were the app (wrongly) already shows 100%. This is the phase were balancing happens.

"Trickle charge" starts some 1/2 to 2 hours after the charger led turns green. This guessed time depends on the calibration of the charger (threshild once light turns green) and the battery size.

Normally it's said li ion cells are full once the charging current drops below 1-3% of the capacity. Charging current below this threshold is trickle charging and not to be done regularly.

[meepmeepmayer]

Not keeping the battery at 100% (or very low) for weeks and weeks on end is supposed to be good. A lot of people do it anyways and nothing too bad happens.

Just charging to 100% isn't a problem. And you need to do it once in a while anyways (and then keep the charger in for a few hours), to balance the cells. Unbalanced cells do pose a risk for the battery and you.

Don't stress too much about battery care. Just don't clearly abuse it. Use it and enjoy the wheel, nothing worse than not being at 100% when you would like to use your full range.

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55km range sounds about right for a 1600Wh type wheel in colder weather.

Edited November 9, 2020 by meepmeepmayer

[Crooznfbroozn]

Thanks all!

Does balancing cells on the KS16X equate to the 5 (5?) slow beeps? Just wondering as the smart charger cuts off at a certain % so not sure if it would still do anything with the battery. I left the wheel to slow charge, when done, I checked and saw 83V. (I usually fast charge and it goes to 84.xV np) So let it slow charge again, left it in, and after some time it beeped several times - first time I had heard that.