City Commuter
Active Member
I see it is recommended to fully charge the battery for "cell balancing", but I've never heard of a break in period as some suggest.
Has anyone ever heard of new "battery break in" ?
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harryS
Well-Known Member
Heard of it. Urban myth, in my opinion.
I wonder how they test batteries when they're made. I've never received one that has been fully charged. They always arrive showing 3.6 volts per cell, which is how the cells come from the factory.
In my opinion, new battery should be fully charged to make sure all the cells equalize. After that point, I diverge and charge to full unless I expect not to use the battery for extended time, like a week or more. Then I'll leave it at partial charge. I'll never get 500 cycles on a single battery, so I'm not concerned about that.
I wonder how they test batteries when they're made. I've never received one that has been fully charged. They always arrive showing 3.6 volts per cell, which is how the cells come from the factory.
In my opinion, new battery should be fully charged to make sure all the cells equalize. After that point, I diverge and charge to full unless I expect not to use the battery for extended time, like a week or more. Then I'll leave it at partial charge. I'll never get 500 cycles on a single battery, so I'm not concerned about that.
City Commuter
Active Member
That's another good point, I haven't charged mine yet because the weather has turned bad again for several days. I didn't want to charge it all the way up and let it sit.
They are repeating (without much thinking) what used to be a standard requirement in NiCd and led acid batteries of early ebikes. Not the case with Li-ion.
New battery - charge 100%.
Subsequent use: charge 80-90% every time, cheap timer will do the job. Charge 100% once in a while for balancing.
Discharge no deeper than to 20-30%.
In storage 2 months or longer: charge to 60-70%. Top up to 70% every 2 months or when charge drops below 50%, they self-discharge with time.
After long storage: charge 100%, and then to 80-90% again.
New battery - charge 100%.
Subsequent use: charge 80-90% every time, cheap timer will do the job. Charge 100% once in a while for balancing.
Discharge no deeper than to 20-30%.
In storage 2 months or longer: charge to 60-70%. Top up to 70% every 2 months or when charge drops below 50%, they self-discharge with time.
After long storage: charge 100%, and then to 80-90% again.
joshuaho96
Member
"Ideal" storage charge percentage for Li-ion is about 40%. You can charge to 50% without big longevity loss. Everything else is spot on.
Question on this - my commute is 12 miles round trip - should I be charging after ever my commute? I run down to about 60% on a commute, depending, and could make 2 commutes before hitting 20%. Does it matter if I charge at 50/60% up to 80 or wait till I’m down to 20% to charge up to 80%?
City Commuter
Active Member
My original battery (5 years old) still works fine and hammers out 25 mph without a problem, but it has lost a substantial amount of capacity. I charged it all they way up every time I came home, even from a 20 min ride, yet never took it down below 20% to 30%. In the winter months I kept it fully charged, and all it was doing was sitting for five months.
With my new larger capacity battery, I won't charge it so often or as full, and maintain it around 50% in the winter. As far as charging it to 100%, I have read that that is not so harmful if you're going to be using it shortly after it's done charging.
With my new larger capacity battery, I won't charge it so often or as full, and maintain it around 50% in the winter. As far as charging it to 100%, I have read that that is not so harmful if you're going to be using it shortly after it's done charging.
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