Battery charging

[MarkB]

In the short time I have had my RR, I've charged the battery twice. Both times I removed the battery from the bike. I plugged the power connector into the battery first, and it sparked. Then I plugged the charger into the wall outlet as the instructions suggested. Have other people seen this happen? Is this a problem, or normal operation?

Mark -

 

[flymeaway]

Is this a problem, or normal operation?

That's an interesting question. I'd suggest the answer should be no (not normal), unless you accidentally short the positive lead to the negative. If the charger is unplugged and you haven't crossed leads it indicates there is a voltage potential present (or path to ground) on the charger cable. I have never had any "sparking" when plugging in a charger that was unplugged from the 110V outlet. But, maybe others have ???????

 

[J.P.]

That's an interesting question. I'd suggest the answer should be no (not normal), unless you accidentally short the positive lead to the negative. If the charger is unplugged and you haven't crossed leads it indicates there is a voltage potential present (or path to ground) on the charger cable. I have never had any "sparking" when plugging in a charger that was unplugged from the 110V outlet. But, maybe others have ???????

I've had the same issue... no operating issues though.

 

[Hellfish]

Same issue here. I've only charged the battery about 4 times and it sparked once. No noticeable problem otherwise.

 

[LimboJim]

My Sondors and my Radrover chargers both spark a bit when I connect them. I asked a friend who's building an Elf-type electric velomobile if that was normal, and he said it was.

 

[MarkB]

Thanks for the replies guys, the bike works fine, it's just that arcy sparky things make me nervous.

Mark -

 

[RavingRoo]

I don't see a spark, but I "sometimes" can hear an audible electrical "pop" sound when connecting my E-JOE Epik SE charger to the battery. I haven't experienced that with two other ebikes, but I have not considered it a problem. I agree it can be disconcerting.

 

[Christopher85083]

Mine does that, too. 800 miles now and it doesn't seem to be a big deal. Just a thing.

 

[JoePah]

Yours is a common problem for DIY battery packs.. I think sparking will wear the connectors out quicker. Here's one of several fixes: http://electric-fatbike.com/2015/10...ark-arrestors-why-you-should-make-the-switch/

 

[MarkB]

@JoePah, perhaps you missunderstood the question at hand. By DIY, do you mean to suggest that Radrover battery packs are Do It Yourself batteries? It is my understanding that they are commercial grade, not DIY. Also, if I understand the site you linked, they are talking about the connector where the battery pack attaches to the bike wiring. That isn't what I meant was the issue. I meant to suggest that when the battery pack is disconnected from the bike and I plug the battery charging brick into the battery pack (before plugging it into the wall) that it sparks. Apparently this isn't really a significant issue anyway...

Mark -

 

[JoePah]

Oh I'm just trying to point out that there are other examples of battery pack connections sparking, and that there are spark arrestors to solve the problem.

For whatever reason, the inexpensive ebikes seems to have this problem. I'm sure there is an explanation somewhere.

 

[MarkB]

Ok, thanks for the feedback...

 

[MRk chalmers]

I have recharged mine 8 times now and sparks every time with charger unplugged from the mains. My battery is never fully discharged when I do normally has had 2-3 bars still remaining after my commute for the day (23 miles round trip). I would run it down further but might wonder if I will get 11.5 miles out of 2 bars!

 

[LimboJim]

Someone posted the pic below on a Sondors ebike Facebook group wall. The poster said he'd charged 800+ times before this happened. The battery still works, but the charger is done.

A couple of folks seemed to think their batteries/chargers were also at risk because of the sparking they see when attaching the charger to the battery, but several others chimed in that pretty much ALL of the Sondors batteries spark when first plugging in the charger. I wouldn't be surprised if that were also the case with the RR chargers - I also own an IZIP Sumo and Prodeco Phantom, and neither of their chargers spark at all but they aren't inexpensively sourced crowdfund ebikes, either.

Several theories about what caused this emerged, including: the charger was plugged into the wall before attaching to the battery; the charger wasn't securely attached to the battery, cheap Chinese charger/battery... All I know is that I'm going to be extra careful plugging them in, never leave them unattended, and always have a fire extinguisher handy.

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

 

[MRk chalmers]

Emailed RPB and they suggested I plug into the mains first before connecting... No spark now.

 

[Metalusion]

that looks terrible. i have two batteries and knock on wood have never had a spark like you describe

 

[TenBlinkers]

I plug mine into the wall first, then the battery. Never seen a spark.

 

[LimboJim]

Not every ebike I have came with instructions for battery charging, but the three that did all said to plug into the battery first, then the wall. But the only two of mine that do spark were crowdfunded models. Those batteries have cheap, poorly fitting hole plugs versus the much nicer (read: more expensive) models' near-perfect plugs.