batteries and arizona heat.....

[vincent]

my new easy motion street is coming next week and am starting to think about it sitting on my rack all day in 100-115 degree heat....

dont remember exactly when i got the first bike but know i did not ride much last summer, was out of town some etc

what i have been doing riding this winter and spring is i take the bike to work with me and ride somewhere on the way home that evening, either right before dark or after

we had a really nice spring here temp wise but next week it is going to get HOT, like 110 hot

so it occurred to me it is probably not good to have the bike sitting on the rack all day in the sun/heat
and since i work in and out of the car all day keeping the battery in the car will be hotter

not even sure how it will affect it if i try to ride at the end of the day and the temp is still 90 or more...

i handle the heat pretty well but not sure how well i will do trying to ride in this either....
certain i wont be riding as much as i have been


will be working some up north a little and will take the bike with me then


but guessing it is an absolute no no to leave the bike on a rack all day in the az heat?

 

[George S.]

Ice packs in a cooler, in the car?

 

[vincent]

since i dont have the bike yet not sure how big it is, but the cooler might be an option

 

[Donny]

My friend has owned his bike for over a year and uses it in our Texas heat and has not had any real problems that I know of. As far as I know, he doesn't do anything special storage wise with his. As it is now, I simply take my battery off of my bike when I'm done and keep it inside to try and negate the temperature issue while stored. Your case is a bit different given the car situation - I think George S. may be on to something, but extreme cold is also usually advised against with the batteries. If you don't go crazy with the ice, that may work. However, in my experience, ice still melts even when stored inside a cooler and then you have water/moisture/condensation. You'd have to do some creative water proofing to keep the battery from getting wet and at the end of the day, I'm not sure if it would be worth all that effort for what you're talking about doing. Even wrapping it up in something and storing it in the trunk may be a better option than that or maybe hook up a solar powered fan to blow over the battery or something.

 

[George S.]

I'd use the sealed ice packs, usually blue. Maybe towels between the ice and the packs. If you put the pack in a sealed plastic bag, it would keep some of the humidity out. You don't want cold and damp. There is some interesting stuff at Battery University

Here's a quote from the comments there:

You do not need to store the battery in the refrigerator and it may be harmful to store the battery in the freezer. Your battery is happy at the same temperature you are comfortable. The most important thing you can do for the battery is do not leave it in the car on a hot day. Same goes for your dog or your kids. STORE THE BATTERY AT ROOM TEMPERATURE.

Storing in high heat is better if the battery is half discharged.

 

[David1]

I use a large ziplock plastic bag used for clothing when traveling , to store the battery. I found mine at The Container store . I also put some of those absorbent packets ( like you find in pill jars and food like jurkey) inside the bag . Container store has these too. Good idea on cooler George . For cooler ice freeze 1 or 2 large water bottles like Fiji or Evian. Ice will last quite awhile in a chunk like that. And then put plenty of towels. I ride in Texas heat , not like Arizona, and been pretty impressed how St2 motor and battery handles it. Better than I do that's for sure.

 

[Teresa]

Interesting. I'm in NM and we have some high heat during summer as well. I had lost the key to my lock so I took it in and they brought the controller up on the computer. It was interesting to see what was recorded (I have a Bosch 36 v battery). I had one heat 'fault' on mine. I asked him to delete it and so next time I went in, I could see if it happened again. My best guess is it happened while bikepacking. I used the bike a lot for that last year and have two batteries. The one on the bike was probably fine but the one in the pack on the handlebars likely got really hot.

 

[vincent]

the best solution would be head north for the summer! lol

luckily i get to travel north a little for work during the summers and i plan to take the bike with me an try to extend those trips a day or 2 for riding

have a couple of those dometic electric coolers, not sure if they build up much moisture but thinking they dont
the easy motion is not here yet and i dont know how long that battery is or if it will fit in one of those ......

for the trips up north wont be a big deal because i drive direct and the battery wont sit in a hot car in tucson/phoenix

unreal weather here the past few days 110, and it was 90 a week ago
we had nice long, cool spring here, which is a lot of the reason i got to ride a lot the past few months

but reality is setting in now lol

teresa definitely post back if you get any more heat faults, will interesting to follow that and see what happens