Charging your battery. (POV)

[Slaphappygamer]

Normally, I charge my battery after work and after a shower. I give the battery a rest (45 minutes) before charging. The battery isn’t hot, to the touch, after a ride, but I know that the cells probably generated some heat during my afternoon commute, since that what batteries do. When I got out of the shower, the power went out. I was told by family “just plug it in and when the power comes on, it’ll charge.”. I believe this is a potentially dangerous situation. When power comes back on, there CAN (most likely) be a surge of power. I have some experience with this scenario. I’ve seen surge protectors “trip” when power comes on. They are designed to do this. I didn’t want my charger to take this surge, since who knows what would happen and if my battery was connected, what would happen then? I probably could’ve used a surge protector on my charger, but that’s just hoping things work out right. I’m not one to charge my bike over night, when everyone is sleeping. So this was a suggestion for me to take seriously.

Needless to say, I drive my car to work today.

What would you have done?

 

[il Munduato]

I would have called Ghostbusters

 

[6zfshdb]

I have a backup generator for the frequent power outages we have. I would just plug the charger into the generator along with the other appliances.

 

[harryS]

My 7 year old LG fridge blew its compressor after a power went out earlier this year. LG's blow anyway, but we had a couple of hiccups when the power came back. On the other hand, my PC;s, TV etc are all plugged into outlet strips that probably have some minimal surge protection,

The main thing is the "Don't charge while sleepin" rule. I try not to break it.

 

[juggernaut]

I would have called Ghostbusters

They retired years ago……your on your own these days!

 

[m@Robertson]

The risk would be to the charger, not to the battery.

A halfway decent surge suppressor is inexpensive and will address this issue. A power strip rated for a 1000-joule surge can be had at Home Depot for about $15. If you want a cheap one you can pay half that. I'm sure many are available on Amazon as well.

 

[m@Robertson]

This thread reminded me I don't have my fridge protected (I inherited a bunch of UPS' when my office closed and everyone went to work at home, so all my electronics are completely good to go) so I sprang for one of these.

Amazon.com

1410 joules. It costs more, but I don't want a power strip and its UL 1449. Plus the space it has to fit in, a little box is better suited for me.

My ebike is hooked up to my off-grid solar so I don't have any of this surge stuff going on with that charger.

 

[Slaphappygamer]

Yea, you gotta watch for those power strips. Some are ONLY power strips and NOT surge protectors.

Tripp-Lite makes a great product. I would have more faith in those functioning properly as surge protection.