Jump to content

Will infrequent use cause battery to die?


Ray Luo

Recommended Posts

Hi there, I'm new to EUC, and the closest-to-EUC thing I own is a ... (drum rolls) ... Roomba Vacuum machine, in terms of the shape. LOL

After reading some topics in this "which EUC to get" forum, I noticed that, experienced EUCers tend to say "it doesn't really matter, because you will own more than one EUC anyway". So, this scenario pops into my mind. Let's say you own 3 EUCs, so, on average each of them is only used 1/3 of the EUC-able time. Wouldn't such infrequent usage pattern have some negative impact to your battery's longevity? As a comparison, in second-hand market for electric-bicycles, it is not unusual to see listings saying something like "the e-bike is otherwise in good shape, just the battery dies due to not being used for months...". Would that also be a factor in EUC world, when an experienced EUCer maintains his/her EUC fleet, or when a new comer considering going to the used-market for his/her first wheel (which might be inactive for a while with its previous owner)?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Ray Luo said:

Roomba Vacuum machine

Do they already use li ion or are they still on NiCd? Sorry, I'm not up to date with them.

Anyhow - with Li Ion there is no real time problem if one rests the battery in some medium charge state at not too high or low temperatures.

Much fun riding your Roomba! ;)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Frequent or infrequent use doesn't matter. (If anything, infrequent is better because that's less charge cycles, and battery life is usually measured in charge cycles. But you buy the wheel to use it, after all;))

Charge to 100% regularly (and keep the charger in a few hours after the green light) to keep the cells balanced. Don't let the battery get too hot (keep in parked car in summer) or too cold (so it freezes). Don't store (~months) at very full or very empty state. That's all.

And by all means, always charge when you think you might need it. Nothing worse than an uncharged wheel when you want a charged one.

-

"Battery dead for not being used for months" usually refers to batteries that have fallen below the minimum voltage and are therefore "dead" (because recharging them is no longer safe and they won't allow it). Our Li-Ion battery packs keep their voltage extremely well (like not a single percent loss over a few months). So a dead battery usually only happens if you have a vampire drain of some sorts (very few wheel models might have that) or do not charge/tend to it for years (if you were to buy a "new" Ninebot One S2 nowadays).

Otherwise, batteries just age in that they have a little less capacity. Everything still works, you'll just have a bit less range. And that takes a looooooooooong time, so long that I never heard of anyone ever noticing a range loss on their wheel.

 

-

With a used wheel, just check that it charges to the full voltage. If it does that, the battery is good. An app screenshot from the seller is all you need to check that.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...