When to charge battery

[Begodecrashtestdummy]

New rider here .I’ve ran my battery down to about 78% when should I plug it in to charge it ?Should I run the battery down to like 25% before charging or can I just charge it back up now ?

[Esash]

16 minutes ago, Dosingpsychedelics said:

New rider here .I’ve ran my battery down to about 78% when should I plug it in to charge it ?Should I run the battery down to like 25% before charging or can I just charge it back up now ?

Only charge it now if you're going on a max range ride first thing in the morning.

Edit: also good practice to wait 15 minutes after riding to charge, and wait 15 minutes after charging to turn on. I think I heard that.

 

Edited May 7, 2022 by Esash

[meepmeepmayer]

In doubt, always charge A higher charge state offers a higher safety margin, so it is preferrable. And charging right away makes no difference in regards to battery life etc.

-

General battery guide

Things not to do:

• Keeping the battery at or close to 100% for weeks/months without using it.
• Abusing the battery, e.g. freezing temps or a crazy hot car trunk.
• Worrying about battery health, and babying the battery. Not remotely worth it.

Things to do:

• Charge whenever you might need it. Nothing worse than wanting to go for a ride but the wheel isn't charged as much as you want it to be.
• Charge to 100% + keep charger in for a few hours regularly, to balance the cells.

[Begodecrashtestdummy]

14 minutes ago, Esash said:

Only charge it now if you're going on a max range ride first thing in the morning.

Edit: also good practice to wait 15 minutes after riding to charge, and wait 15 minutes after charging to turn on. I think I heard that.

 

Unfortunately it’s been raining nonstop today and I think it’s supposed to rain all day tomorrow too So I won’t be riding .I just decided to check the battery and seen it was at 78% 

[alcatraz]

If you're lazy and don't ride often, maybe get one of those wifi sockets and have a habit of connecting the charger (that's off) when you arrive home.

Then as needed turn charging on/off from your phone, before a ride.

It helps to have a fast charger for those quick top-ups. By fast I mean like 3-4A, instead of the supplied 1.5A. 4A won't exceed the standard charge for most packs so it's hardly "fast".

Every few months you do want to keep it at 100% on the charger for a while and note the pack voltage in euc world. If you see a change in that value it could be a warning sign of poor pack health.

Edited May 7, 2022 by alcatraz

[LanghamP]

Apple's website on batteries is informative.

All rechargeable batteries are consumables and have a limited lifespan—eventually their capacity and performance decline such that they need to be replaced.

 

Avoid extreme ambient temperatures.

Your device is designed to perform well in a wide range of ambient temperatures, with 62° to 72° F (16° to 22° C) as the ideal comfort zone. It’s especially important to avoid exposing your device to ambient temperatures higher than 95° F (35° C), which can permanently damage battery capacity. That is, your battery won’t power your device as long on a given charge. Charging the device in high ambient temperatures can damage it further. Software may limit charging above 80% when the recommended battery temperatures are exceeded. Even storing a battery in a hot environment can damage it irreversibly. When using your device in a very cold environment, you may notice a decrease in battery life, but this condition is temporary. Once the battery’s temperature returns to its normal operating range, its performance will return to normal as well.

Store it half-charged when you store it long term.

If you want to store your device long term, two key factors will affect the overall health of your battery: the environmental temperature and the percentage of charge on the battery when it’s powered down for storage. Therefore, we recommend the following:

• Do not fully charge or fully discharge your device’s battery — charge it to around 50%. If you store a device when its battery is fully discharged, the battery could fall into a deep discharge state, which renders it incapable of holding a charge. Conversely, if you store it fully charged for an extended period of time, the battery may lose some capacity, leading to shorter battery life.
• Power down the device to avoid additional battery use.
• Place your device in a cool, moisture-free environment that’s less than 90° F (32° C).
• If you plan to store your device for longer than six months, charge it to 50% every six months.

[Paradox]

3 minutes ago, LanghamP said:

It’s especially important to avoid exposing your device to ambient temperatures higher than 95° F (35° C), which can permanently damage battery capacity.

How do riders in desert climates address this issue?  Las Vegas routinely sees daytime temps over 100.  Do riders in hot climates continue to ride in these temperatures?

[meepmeepmayer]

I think they talk about their Laptop batteries. The spec sheets for our cells all have much higher allowed temperatures.

[Tawpie]

1 hour ago, LanghamP said:

Apple's website on batteries is informative.

It is very important to know that Apple's advice, and most of the advice you find on the internet, is in fact true (there is a 'but', stay tuned). You do want to avoid temperature extremes, and this is why we're starting to see temperature sensors included in our batteries. Li Ion is very much like you in pants and a light long sleeve shirt... if you're comfortable, they're comfortable. If you feel the need to go indoors, so do they.

But our batteries are built into packs in a way that makes one piece of the general-all-Li-Ion-batteries advice absolutely and 100% wrong. If you do stop charging short of "green light on charger + 1 or 2 hours", there is real risk that due to the way the individual battery cells are connected and managed in our battery packs, you will dramatically shorten the lifespan of the pack as a whole. Far more than the penalty for spending time at 100%. There's a video and many long threads in here if you're into the gory details, but this charge pattern allows the battery management system to care for the pack... skipping this step is unwise.

My regime is: ride. put the wheel away. before I ride next, charge to green light and leave on the charger for another hour or two. Check the final voltage. ride.

It adds a tiny bit of planning and arithmetic to figure out when the timer/automation will turn the charger on the next day but this way I always have full range for every ride and my BMS can care for my pack. If I can't ride on a particular day, I don't sweat that my wheel is sitting at 100%. I know I'll be on it in less than a week... if I am going on vacation or something, I'll just skip the last after-ride charge and know it's good for months (but I would check it monthly just to be sure... so far I haven't had any month long stretches where I don't ride)

 

Edited May 7, 2022 by Tawpie

[Rawnei]

Don't make it complicated, just charge when you are done riding, one and done.

[Funky]

I charge mine day before ride. And normally when battery is lower than 50%

No need to charge 100% after every single ride. (If you don't need the range.) I normally use ~15% job/home trip.

[Begodecrashtestdummy]

35 minutes ago, Funky said:

I charge mine day before ride. And normally when battery is lower than 50%

No need to charge 100% after every single ride. (If you don't need the range.) I normally use ~15% job/home trip.

Do you know why the rs19 has two charge ports and the charger only comes with one port ?can you hook up two chargers at once or something ?

[Funky]

15 minutes ago, Dosingpsychedelics said:

Do you know why the rs19 has two charge ports and the charger only comes with one port ?can you hook up two chargers at once or something ?

Buy 1 more charger = 2x charging speed.(Don't know about different euc doh..) Or simply buy 1 "fast" charger. - Doh slow charging is "better" for battery.. 

Most euc have 2x charging plugs. My case i could charge my ks18xl with two chargers.

Also having 2 plugs helps, if one stops working..  

Edited May 7, 2022 by Funky

[meepmeepmayer]

You can plug in multiple chargers. 5A max per port recommended, or it might get too hot.

[Tawpie]

2 hours ago, meepmeepmayer said:

might get too hot.

and melt the insulation on the charge port wires.

[Begodecrashtestdummy]

10 minutes ago, Tawpie said:

and melt the insulation on the charge port wires.

Yeah I’m cool just using one charger I don’t plan on riding more than 50 miles in a day .i did like 25 miles today and my calves were on fire 🤣

[Hellkitten]

44 minutes ago, Dosingpsychedelics said:

Yeah I’m cool just using one charger I don’t plan on riding more than 50 miles in a day .i did like 25 miles today and my calves were on fire 🤣

You’ll do more......🙃