Vado 5 charging question

[Art Deco]

So, top it off each time I ride regardless how low it gets is what I’m hearing you say? Does it harm battery if I leave it on over night even thought the light goes off?
many thanks from a newbie

I've only charge to full (green light on charger) twice, when planning a longer trip. Basically, keep it in the 10% to %90 range.

 

[Nxkharra]

So, top it off each time I ride regardless how low it gets is what I’m hearing you say? Does it harm battery if I leave it on over night even thought the light goes off?
many thanks from a newbie

Others might differ on this. I charge mine after every ride as I don’t know how long my next ride will be and would like to start with full charge.
the battery is smart enough not to count partial charge. I think you have over 300 full Cycle charge
the way I look at it the worst case is you purchase a new battery after two or three years of use. That should be a 300 cycle.
no reason to worry too much about it and enjoying your rides is more important.
having said that I don’t believe in abusing my lovely bike.
as for unplugging as you see the answers above it wouldn’t hurt the bike to leave the charger connected all night. It has a controller that turns it completely off.
I do have a concern for safety and fire prevention so I have connected a WiFi enabled timer between wall and charger and program it for four hours to turn off to ensure all is ok as my bike is in the garage downstairs and I don’t see it anymore.
enjoy your ride and don’t sweat small things.
welcome to forum

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I always charge to 100%.

 

[Nxkharra]

I always charge to 100%.

Do what @Stefan Mikes do. You can’t go wrong. WWSD!!

 

[Sierratim]

@Bo Catron I see you're in an area that can get some cool weather. I should have mentioned that you want to protect the battery against temps below ~40°F. I store ours in the house when it's cold. It is recommended to store them with the charge level at ~50%.

On our original DIY ebike conversions the batteries weren't removeable. I used a heater cord and an old blanket to protect them in the garage.

 

[Pete 6016]

The Specialized warranty is for 300 charges (or 2 years). The battery will gradually lose capacity. At 300 charge cycles Specialized is guaranteeing at least 75% capacity. After 16 months of riding my charge cycle counter is at 46 or about 8-1/2 years until the 75% capacity level.

According to Battery University you can extend this by not discharging the battery below ~20% and not charging above ~80% with occasional charges to 100% for cell balancing. At my age this is way too much trouble so I ride until the battery is low and then charge overnight.

 

[Pete 6016]

I’ve been wondering what it means when it’s suggested you should charge to 100% occasionally to balance the battery. I mean how often is occasional. Then I read your post. So I’m like 76. The battery might well outlast me whatever I do. I’ll still observe good battery maintenance practices. But not get too anal over battery lifespan.

 

[Sierratim]

I’ve been wondering what it means when it’s suggested you should charge to 100% occasionally to balance the battery. I mean how often is occasional. Then I read your post. So I’m like 76. The battery might well outlast me whatever I do. I’ll still observe good battery maintenance practices. But not get too anal over battery lifespan.

Kidda my attitude, too.

 

[Quadracer]

I always charge to 100%. I also have two batteries and rotate them. Coming up three years old still showing 100% health in MC. I can't be bothered with charging to 80%. Just charge and ride. These things like to be used. The worst thing you can do is store these batteries with a low charge.

Edit. I store the battery im not using at approx 60%

 

[MikeP]

Don't worry @Nxkharra, just ride on!
Of course the charger cuts the current off when the charging is done. The indication is the charger becomes cold (no current).

I just bought a Turbo Vado 5.0 SL and have a question I don't see anywhere, so I thought I would jump in here. Can you use an extension cord (12/3 rated) with the charger? The Specialized user manual says not to but I don't see why if the extension cord amperage capacity is high. Specialized support is non existent. One of the sales people at my dealer says it's OK but I want to be sure. Any opinion?

 

[Nxkharra]

I just bought a Turbo Vado 5.0 SL and have a question I don't see anywhere, so I thought I would jump in here. Can you use an extension cord (12/3 rated) with the charger? The Specialized user manual says not to but I don't see why if the extension cord amperage capacity is high. Specialized support is non existent. One of the sales people at my dealer says it's OK but I want to be sure. Any opinion?

I use extension cord but by all means I am not expert in this field.

 

[Sierratim]

I just bought a Turbo Vado 5.0 SL and have a question I don't see anywhere, so I thought I would jump in here. Can you use an extension cord (12/3 rated) with the charger? The Specialized user manual says not to but I don't see why if the extension cord amperage capacity is high. Specialized support is non existent. One of the sales people at my dealer says it's OK but I want to be sure. Any opinion?

The Specialized site lists the SL charger at 48V, but does not note the charging current. So, some assumptions;

1. With a 4A charger like the regular Vado 5, the theoretical input current to the charger would be (48V * 4A)/120V = 1.6A.

2. With a lighter weight 2A charger, the theoretical input current would be double half the 4A charger input or 3.2A 0.8A (sorry for the confusion).

3. Charger efficiency isn't published, but making a guesstimate based on the case temp of my Vado's 4A charger, I'd go with maybe 80% efficiency.

So, the max input current to the charger might be ( 3.2A 1.6A )/0.80 = 2A.

A 12AWG extension cord can handle up to 15A, with a max length of ~50 feet, though there would be a voltage drop at this current that could damage a charger that incorporates management circuitry. Note that household wiring is a minimum of 14AWG with a Code required 15A circuit breaker that is limited by Code to a max 12A load. 12A will cause less of a voltage drop. Even this current is 300 600% of the highest capacity charger's estimated input current.

I wouldn't think this would cause any issues. Smaller AWG cords could create problems. This may be why the manual takes the safe approach and prohibits them. YRMV depending on the quality of the extension cord (damaged connectors, etc), cord length, and any other loads you put on the cord or the circuit supplying the cord.

Edit - my apologies for the maths confusion.

 

[Brendon@OEB]

I just bought a Turbo Vado 5.0 SL and have a question I don't see anywhere, so I thought I would jump in here. Can you use an extension cord (12/3 rated) with the charger? The Specialized user manual says not to but I don't see why if the extension cord amperage capacity is high. Specialized support is non existent. One of the sales people at my dealer says it's OK but I want to be sure. Any opinion?

I use an extension cord on my Vado as well, no issues, nor can I see it creating a warranty problem either. I've got almost 3k miles on my bike over the past several months, battery has over 100 charge cycles and has 99% life left.

 

[rdowns]

The Specialized site lists the SL charger at 48V, but does not note the charging current. So, some assumptions;

1. With a 4A charger like the regular Vado 5, the theoretical input current to the charger would be (48V * 4A)/120V = 1.6A.

2. With a lighter weight 2A charger, the theoretical input current would be double the 4A charger input or 3.2A.

3. Charger efficiency isn't published, but making a guesstimate based on the case temp of my Vado's 4A charger, I'd go with maybe 80% efficiency.

So, the max input current to the charger might be (3.2A)/0.80 = 4A.

A 12AWG extension cord can handle up to 15A, with a max length of ~50 feet, though there would be a voltage drop at this current that could damage a charger that incorporates management circuitry. Note that household wiring is a minimum of 14AWG with a Code required 15A circuit breaker that is limited by Code to a max 12A load. 12A will cause less of a voltage drop. Even this current is 300% of the highest capacity charger's estimated input current.

I wouldn't think this would cause any issues. Smaller AWG cords could create problems. This may be why the manual takes the safe approach and prohibits them. YRMV depending on the quality of the extension cord (damaged connectors, etc), cord length, and any other loads you put on the cord or the circuit supplying the cord.

I just want to say that this response, while brilliant is so over my head it is crazy! Thank you for breaking it down so well. I just cannot wrap my head around electricity but I am so grateful for those of you that do and share the info with people like me.

 

[MikeP]

I just want to say that this response, while brilliant is so over my head it is crazy! Thank you for breaking it down so well. I just cannot wrap my head around electricity but I am so grateful for those of you that do and share the info with people like me.

Thanks very much for your reply. In the meantime Specialized support responded to my inquiry as well. Apparently many people have asked the same question and they say it's fine to use an extension cord. This begs the question as to why they don't correct/explain use of extension cords in their user manual.

 

[MikeP]

I just want to say that this response, while brilliant is so over my head it is crazy! Thank you for breaking it down so well. I just cannot wrap my head around electricity but I am so grateful for those of you that do and share the info with people like me.

Thanks for the detailed response. I did pose this question to Specialized support and they did respond that it's OK to use a cord and that many people have asked about this. As I said in my reply to Nxkharra, if it's OK to use a cord, why do they say it's not in their manual? It might be useful if they have concerns about using just any type of cord, they simply state what's acceptable.

 

[Art Deco]

Thanks very much for your reply. In the meantime Specialized support responded to my inquiry as well. Apparently many people have asked the same question and they say it's fine to use an extension cord. This begs the question as to why they don't correct/explain use of extension cords in their user manual.

Look at the manual and you can see that it hasn't been updated much over the years. Probably nobody's job to keep it current. As to why an expensive bike comes with a crap manual, that's another thread.

 

[Sierratim]

Look at the manual and you can see that it hasn't been updated much over the years. Probably nobody's job to keep it current. As to why an expensive bike comes with a crap manual, that's another thread.

Seems like most manuals these days are safety/toxic warnings to reduce liability, rather than helpful product info...

 

[TS25]

Seems like most manuals these days are safety/toxic warnings to reduce liability, rather than helpful product info...

... and I've heard that real men don't need/read manuals .
So why should they waste time filling them with helpful Infos.

 

[MikeP]

... and I've heard that real men don't need/read manuals .
So why should they waste time filling them with helpful Infos.

Real men read manuals after everything else they try fails.