Still waiting for my ebikes

[Urban Coyote]

I am in Ontario. I ordered the Rover more than a month ago, and the Mission about 3 weeks ago from the Canadian website. I was hoping at least one of the bikes would arrive by early October so I would still have some nice riding weather. I saw last week on the website it said the Rover was in stock and would ship in 2-3 weeks. I emailed Rad and asked about a delivery date. They got back to me today and said it’s now looking like the end of October. Sigh... Maybe it will be a mild winter.

 

[legsofbeer]

Canadian customs fees are that high because of the storage costs.

 

[Urban Coyote]

My Rover arrived yesterday! What a nice surprise after just being advised it would be the end of October! I went out for its inaugural ride this morning, and it was great! Unfortunately, I ran out of power after 10 km, so now I have to charge it for 12 hours!

 

[Urban Coyote]

You are supposed to charge the battery for 12 hours after your first 3 rides in order to “balance” the battery, whatever that means!

 

[CynicalZombie]

I don't know how you could possibly charge the battery for 12 hours..

Rad batteries usually have 48V 14Ah battery.

If you charge it at 4A, that would only take you 3 to 4 hours assuming it's empty.
Or double if you charge it at 2A.

Maybe I'm missing something? I have never heard of charging 12 hours for first 3 rides..

Then you never read the instructions for a new Rad Power bike.

 

[Urban Coyote]

1. Charge the battery after the first three rides. After the first, second, and third ride, regardless of distance ridden or the amount of battery used, charge the battery and leave the charger attached to the battery and the outlet for as close to 12 hours as possible (but not longer than 12 hours). This may require leaving the charger attached to the battery and outlet even after the charger illuminates one green (and one red) light indicating the battery is full.

Battery Charging Guide

Follow this guide to learn how to charge, balance, and store your battery. Click the headings below for more information. How to Charge the Battery Charging Guidelines Always charge in a safe ar...

radpowerbikes.zendesk.com

 

[Explorer-1]

....

Maybe I'm missing something? I have never heard of charging 12 hours for first 3 rides..

Balancing...

 

[ExPatBrit]

Balancing...

Sounds like CYA.

I don't think that Rad supplied $20 charger is gonna do much balancing , once the green light comes on that's it. If it actually takes 12 hours that's a

If you want to balance you need an intelligent charger like the one Luna sells.

 

[Explorer-1]

Sounds like CYA.

I don't think that Rad supplied $20 charger is gonna do much balancing , once the green light comes on that's it. If it actually takes 12 hours that's a

If you want to balance you need an intelligent charger like the one Luna sells.

The Luna charger does not do any balancing (nor the Grin), they can't because they do not have any access to the individual cells, balancing is done internally by the BMS. A balancing charger requires access to each series bank of sells. e-bikes do not use balancing chargers, so they have simply balancing done by the BMS.

 

[ExPatBrit]

How does the Rad charger balance the cells in 12 hours . There is only a two pin barrel plug.

 

[legsofbeer]

I don't think that Rad supplied $20 charger is gonna do much balancing , once the green light comes on that's it.

It does make a difference. One is supposed to do a balancing charge once a month, assuming daily use. Measuring the battery voltage at charger shutoff, I see it drop just below 54.0 volts towards the end of the month; after balancing the voltage after charger shutoff is very close to the nominal 54.2 volts. Battery is one year old, 2700 miles.

 

[legsofbeer]

How does the Rad charger balance the cells in 12 hours

Presumably the BMS in the battery housing itself does so in the approximately six hours where it is receiving charging voltage that does not need to be applied to general charging.

 

[BKing]

It’s just in case a few cells bleed down or were slow to reach a peak. Then the charger is there to sense the overall drop in voltage and start charging again in an effort to get all cells close to the same voltage.

 

[BKing]

When measuring battery voltage you need to use a Low Z meter setting if it has one or place the same small load on it each time like a 1k resistor to get the most realistic voltage.