Is it better to fully charge and almost fully discharge a battery and MAYBE? preserve charging cycles and your time, OR better to only charge to the frequently recommended 80% and discharge to 20%? Using the 80% to 20% would mean many more charging cycles and more frequency, time and effort to charge the battery. Would the number of charging cycles seemingly be reduced by fully charging and almost fully discharging battery? Does one method of charging outweigh the other? Or just don't worry about it and ride!
Batteries: Less charging cycles or using less battery capacity?
- Thread starter gregorb
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Greg ...
My battery has a claimed life of at least 1000 charges. I charge it about twice per week; therefore, ten years lifespan which certainly exceeds the lifespan of the bike if not its owner. My vote is for "Or just don't worry about it and ride".
... David
My battery has a claimed life of at least 1000 charges. I charge it about twice per week; therefore, ten years lifespan which certainly exceeds the lifespan of the bike if not its owner. My vote is for "Or just don't worry about it and ride".
... David
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Good point. Plus battery technology seems to be expanding leaps and bounds each year. Planned obsolescence. Thanks. Greg
mrgold35
Well-Known Member
I have 3 batteries with my two Radrovers with +4500 miles between them. I usually charge everyday at work and put around 50-75 miles per week. I'm not 100% sure; but, it doesn't count as one charging cycle every-time you plug in your ebike. I haven't got a clear answer on this. Even if I charge 4-5 times a week for 50 miles range (usually no less than 60%-80% when I charge); it might only count as 1-2 charge cycles for the week. I think I've read the charge cycle has to equal close to 90%-100% before counting as one charge cycle.
1-2 charges per week between 3 batteries with +700 charge cycles each puts me into +10 years if I don't have electrical or battery cell failure with the battery case.
I'll say charge and go!
1-2 charges per week between 3 batteries with +700 charge cycles each puts me into +10 years if I don't have electrical or battery cell failure with the battery case.
I'll say charge and go!
spmckinnon
Member
The biggest tip I can give you is to not leave your battery fully charged for longer than a week if you can prevent it. When fully charged your battery cells will degrade faster than if they weren't fully charged. Ideally you charge it the night before you need it. If you're not going to be riding for a while (bad weather, vacation, injury) be sure to store it about 50% charged.
More info here:
More info here:
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Another vote for don't spend too much time worrying about it. I think the "best practices" jury is still out, or it should be. This stuff is all still pretty new in the grand scheme of things. Many "expert" opinions are based on what should happen on paper, not actual real world usage.
Batteries are like a lot of things. You can geek out with stressing 80/20 and the charts and graphs, or charge it and ride. I charge the 18650’s in my ecigs to 100% and drain them often till the auto shut off. I do this daily. They last years. I use Samsung 18650’s, just like the ones on my bike.
I bought my bike to ride, so I charge and go. I do however store my battery indoors, as heat and cold do effect the lifespan.
I bought my bike to ride, so I charge and go. I do however store my battery indoors, as heat and cold do effect the lifespan.
larry-new
Active Member
Blog from Rad...How to maximize battery life.
https://blog.radpowerbikes.com/how-to-maximize-battery-life
https://blog.radpowerbikes.com/how-to-maximize-battery-life
larry-new
Active Member
Here's some recent experience on depowering a battery. As winter sets in, and my snowplow is the equipment I'm focusing on, I need to take some charge out of one of my batteries, currently measured at 87%.
Elsewhere was a suggestion to drain via the usb port, with a fan or uncharged tablet, but here's what I did. I put it on the stand, turned it on, bungied the throttle, and let it run, at no load. I stopped about ten minutes in to check battery and motor for heat, but all was ok.
The rear wheel ran at one speed...the throttle or pas setting made no difference. I also turned the headlight on. After one hour, the battery voltage dropped from 87 to 80%...not much, as I want to hit 50%.
Anyway, it works, and I will try the usb port next. I know, people..."Just ride it, Larry!" ?
Elsewhere was a suggestion to drain via the usb port, with a fan or uncharged tablet, but here's what I did. I put it on the stand, turned it on, bungied the throttle, and let it run, at no load. I stopped about ten minutes in to check battery and motor for heat, but all was ok.
The rear wheel ran at one speed...the throttle or pas setting made no difference. I also turned the headlight on. After one hour, the battery voltage dropped from 87 to 80%...not much, as I want to hit 50%.
Anyway, it works, and I will try the usb port next. I know, people..."Just ride it, Larry!" ?
Yeah "just ride it Larry".LOL.. It was 35 degrees and snowing at my house today, I didn't go out riding. Knowing winter is fast approaching in N Michigan I've been leaving our batteries at 50% and charging just before going out for a ride or starting the ride at 50% and charging back up to that level when we return. Our rides are getting shorter and shorter due to the cold and now, snow. Good idea on using the USB port to discharge the battery but I think will be very time consuming as well. The headlight might drain 1% in an hour
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
80 or 90% capacity would be fine for me. I'm known to go riding on a whim as a rule, and with that much capacity wouldn't have to mess around waiting for the battery to charge prior to going for a ride. At that state of charge I could easily go for a 1-2 hour ride. That would be all I'd be interested in, at most(!), in the kind of temps you guys have this time of year.
Point being, I don't want to have an excuse not to go riding available to me (I can come up with plenty others!). If my battery doesn't live as long because of my impatience/desire to go riding on a whim, so be it! -Al
Point being, I don't want to have an excuse not to go riding available to me (I can come up with plenty others!). If my battery doesn't live as long because of my impatience/desire to go riding on a whim, so be it! -Al
JRA
Well-Known Member
Plenty of scientific evidence to support the fact that charging your battery to 85% and not fully discharging to the lvc is going to provide optimum battery life.
That said it could be as simple as having a battery that is a higher ah rating that will provide for your everyday ride needs based on that. A benefit is that when you want more range/power you can top it off. The detriment is that it will weigh more for every day use.
Smart chargers will also extend battery life but are an extra investment.
That said it could be as simple as having a battery that is a higher ah rating that will provide for your everyday ride needs based on that. A benefit is that when you want more range/power you can top it off. The detriment is that it will weigh more for every day use.
Smart chargers will also extend battery life but are an extra investment.
You guys make all good points. The article from Rad is a good one. The only thing they left out was extreme cold. Never let your pack get to freezing temperature as that will fracture the electrolyte. Optimum running temperature for lipos is 80 to 100 deg. F You will get best performance and range here. I bring my pack in the house after every run as that is a good temp for battery storage and for charging. Not charging to full and not discharging to empty will extend the life of your battery. But I wouldn't worry to much if you want to take advantage of a fully charged battery for an extended ride. And when you run your battery down all the way, make sure you charge it back up as soon as possible as damage is being done while it sits at this state.
Being an ex ecig user and also reading about all those skateboard thing a ma jigs that caught on fire, I have to ask, are ebike batteries safe to bring inside?
MarkF pointed out not wanting to let them freeze, so sounds like a smart idea to just get in the habit of bringing inside. I just thought I'd ask are there any stories of ebike batt packs starting fires? (I mean naturally, not stories where someone shorted them or something else causing an overheat).
MarkF pointed out not wanting to let them freeze, so sounds like a smart idea to just get in the habit of bringing inside. I just thought I'd ask are there any stories of ebike batt packs starting fires? (I mean naturally, not stories where someone shorted them or something else causing an overheat).
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Anything is possible, but fires I've seen/read about were started during a charge cycle or just afterward, and were the result of an overcharged condition (due to user error as a rule). The rest were due to shorts or some sort of abuse.
Thanks AHicks.
I am assuming then that they are probably a bit safer than some of the other packs I've read about. I seem to read a lot about ecigs, those weird balancing scooters and even some RC plane and car packs catching fire, but I can't recall reading anything about ebike batts catching fire on their own, yahoo to that
I am assuming then that they are probably a bit safer than some of the other packs I've read about. I seem to read a lot about ecigs, those weird balancing scooters and even some RC plane and car packs catching fire, but I can't recall reading anything about ebike batts catching fire on their own, yahoo to that
harryS
Well-Known Member
Vern60, with over a million ebikes out there, some have caught fire. Mainly off brand batteries. One past member of this forum mentioned that the rebuilt battery in her trike caught fire.
I've looked inside some of those those balance board (hover board) packs. The ones I saw lacked circuitry to keep the cells at equal voltages, and did not use protection against overcharging. No wonder they would catch fire if the charger happened to go over voltage. Proper ebike batteries do cover you here, but again circuits can fail.
I've looked inside some of those those balance board (hover board) packs. The ones I saw lacked circuitry to keep the cells at equal voltages, and did not use protection against overcharging. No wonder they would catch fire if the charger happened to go over voltage. Proper ebike batteries do cover you here, but again circuits can fail.
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