Is it worth the cost to buy a spare battery?

[Ebiker01]

Whatever your display is telling you, I see no way of exceeding the 360W limit of the charger. They would not be selling it as a 360W charger if it could do 600W or more, and very likely if they could their high-voltage model would not have a current limit lower than their standard one. I doubt even great cooling would allow their device to reach 600W output. (ps. I have their high voltage one).

The example you show is only doing 342W, so that does not exceed the specs of the charger and does not invalidate anything Grin or Stefan has said about their Charger. It just disproves your statement of 180Wh in 18min.

At least you also have it and know how to use it. I know how to use it a little better

The 360 watts stays the same , it's just the ah remaining constant at a higher battery voltage b/c as you know it can do 24/36/48/52v. And if it's set at higher voltage with the necessary precautions, it will pull higher amps....if that's not simple for you to understand then i can't help.


Ps- It does 160watts in xactly 31minutes at 6.2ah. That was a small error from one of my internal drives .
And that 6.2amp rate stays constant up to 95%. A large coffee, croissant, post something on ebr and 30min. go fast.. on a 2nd break i can have lunch. On the 3rd break get another drink...That way can do a 50-70mile ride. For over 70miles , both are needed.



But i'm upping up my amps in the battery soon with higher capacity cells to 16.8ah and then can charge as high as 8ah , the max. that the satiator allows it. Is possible it can do 10-14amps if i change a few parts inside of it.
The ideal would be a 10-12amps charging rate. With that , there's no need for a spare pack.

Still for now, it is better using this one ,then lugging around a 12lb battery. Probably riding 25miles with an xtra 25lb(pack+backpack+protector foam+rear rack) consumes significant wattage , maybe 100-200wh ??
I can easily take the rear rack off when i do long ride and slide the Grin in the front handlebar bag.

 

[Explorer-1]

Yes, exactly. It can do 180W in 31minutes, that is the maximum power it can deliver. Yes you can use any amperage you want at any voltage as long as it does not exceed the total power rating. Upgrading the components would be good, but I think the cooling would need to be improved. I'm not sure why the power is actually limited as I would have expected that it could output more power at the higher voltages, but it could be the power limit is imposed by the shunts they use for monitoring. I've not looked inside, but maybe their design has other elements that put a hard cap on the power, but usually the amperage is the difficult thing to manage in a power supply which then imposes a power limit.

 

[harryS]

A word of caution when carrying batteries in a pannier. They can be vulnerable to damage during a spill. I met a guy on the trail a while back who cracked a battery case when riding between two vehicle barrier pylons. As a result, I now use padded protective cases when carrying batteries in my panniers.

I had my low cost saddlebags rip last year in Florida on the West Orange Trail, Dropped both sets of spare batteries onto the asphalt and grass, less than 1/2 mile from Crazy Lenny's shop in Winter Garden. I secured them with my jacket and bungee cords.Too cheap to pay $150 for good bags, I spent an evening in the condo sewing them up.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I had my low cost saddlebags rip last year in Florida on the West Orange Trail,

That's why the Ortlieb E-mate pannier has a reinforced compartment for the spare battery. The problem with this pannier is long batteries wouldn't fit.

 

[opimax]

Part of my battery strategy is based on 2 bikes being used for long distance when in reality it is 1 rider riding 95% or more by myself so I have 4 batteries of various age and 2 different capacity.

in my life style the reality is if I need a battery I just go buy it so I charge 100% and ride whenever I can. i follow best practices when it is convenient, don’t charge when hot cold or leave discharged. I will run batteries down to pretty low when on a long trips and not worry about it , cost of riding a bike .

I am no longer a Stromer fan but they make a quality battery and believe in larger batteries so I don’t run them down real low very often.

I carry in my “ expensive ” Orlieb bags with a 5 year warranty but end up replacing the bags every 2 years or so since the bottom starts ripping. I have put extra padding in the bottoms which helps to get me to the 2
years.

I am in the market for another battery for my Bh nitro, thinking of buying amother bike from Lenny’s on special for the 1880 instead of buying a battery for 700, basically get the bike for 1200, biggest issue is I don’t have the time to run to WI before someone else will buy it I bet.

 

[Ebiker01]

Upgrading the components would be good, but I think the cooling would need to be improved.

-i may write to Justin and see if they can upgrade it ?
At what rate do you charge when you are on the road ?

 

[Scott Adams]

Yes you can use any amperage you want at any voltage as long as it does not exceed the total power rating.

It does have separate limits for voltage and amperage which the firmware enforces independent of the power rating of 360 W.

For example, the 4808 model will never charge a large capacity 24 V nominal battery above 8 amps even though it is in an ostensibly ~200 W regime.

Likewise, the 4808 model will never charge above 63 V regardless of how low the current and wattage might be.

It is an excellent charger, I own and extensively use one of the first of them and support Grin whenever possible. These are just realities.

You're a passionate guy Ebiker01, it would be fun to ride with you, though you might have to forgive me if I'm on a Specialized bike.

 

[Scott Adams]

-i may write to Justin and see if they can upgrade it ?
At what rate do you charge when you are on the road ?

It would be great to have a 600 W version of the Satiator.

Justin is a talented and visionary guy, I've supported him in small ways since before he had a business. As I'm sure you agree, it isn't any lack of skill holding Grin Tech back.

In large part, the decision to make it waterproof for use in real world touring conditions makes it difficult to dissipate the heat generated internally at those power levels.

I would consider buying a 600W version if it were rugged and small but not waterproof in order to leave my second battery at home.

 

[Explorer-1]

It does have separate limits for voltage and amperage which the firmware enforces independent of the power rating of 360 W.

For example, the 4808 model will never charge a large capacity 24 V nominal battery above 8 amps even though it is in an ostensibly ~200 W regime.

Likewise, the 4808 model will never charge above 63 V regardless of how low the current and wattage might be.

It is an excellent charger, I own and extensively use one of the first of them and support Grin whenever possible. These are just realities.

You're a passionate guy Ebiker01, it would be fun to ride with you, though you might have to forgive me if I'm on a Specialized bike.

Yes, sorry that is understood. I should have said you can use and Amperage or voltage within the range of the Charger.... as long as you don't exceed the total power rating. This is what Stefan was saying I believe, you have to consider, voltage, amperage, and total power. This supply has all three independent limits.

 

[Explorer-1]

-i may write to Justin and see if they can upgrade it ?
At what rate do you charge when you are on the road ?

I've never charged on the road, which is why I keep multiple batteries. I don't seem to be in a position to stop for long enough to waste time charging as the sun is only out so long. However, I may do it at some time for a really long trip that is more than a day. All I can say is I would charge at the fastest rate possible. after giving my battery at least a 30min rest period.

 

[Ebiker01]

You're a passionate guy Ebiker01, it would be fun to ride with you, though you might have to forgive me if I'm on a Specialized bike.

Thank you , that would be cool !

 

[Ebiker01]

but not waterproof in order to leave my second battery at home.

I guess that they were desgining it with the idea that people would permanently strap it to their bike's downtube for easy of usage
It does have that hole (small rubber covers it) that can dissipate xtra generated heat if needed.
It takes me 10-15secomds to take it out of the backpack and is safer to carry it only when i need it.