leehop71

Being in SW Florida, from June through most of October it’s brutally hot and humid. I keep my bike in my garage and after research and talking to experienced riders, I finally settled on a routine for my battery, charger, and charging procedure ESPECIALLY during this time of year.

First off let me say that ‘arcing’ is not an issue for me taking the battery on and off my bike and while charging the battery.

I disconnect my battery and bring the battery inside between rides. I also keep my charger inside.

When it needs charging I plug the charger into the battery FIRST, then into the wall socket.

i charge it with both the battery and charger sitting on top of a laptop cooler.

Anyone care to weigh in, especially in the heat/humidity?

soyabean

You seem to really want to take care of the battery, you may want to look into the Grin Satiator, where you can optimize the battery for long life, done by giving it a target of 80% charge, and even if you want to fully charge it (ideal when you want to use the battery right away), the charger throttles down as the battery is filling up, so the battery is always cool up to a full charge.

leehop71

Thanks bean, I’ll check it out!

Pop N Wood

Heat isn't a huge problem with batteries. Cold is. You are not hurting anything with what you are doing but it probably isn't extending the battery life to charge it inside.

Common wisdom for max service life says to keep the battery charge between 30% to 80%, to not charge them too fast and if storing a battery have it at 50% charge. Luna also said to "occasionally" charge their batteries to 100% to allow the BMS to equalize all the cells.

leehop71

Thats what I’m on the fence about Pop! Some say what you are, no issue keeping the battery in the bike while storing it in your garage, just charge it inside, and some say store it inside between rides!?!? 🤔

cat0020

Batteries are usually fine with heat, imagine the engine compartment of a car and how hot it gets under the hood.
It's the cold that most likely cause problems.
Fully charged battery at room temperature that moved into sub-freezing temp may bulge and have cell failure.
Store battery in room temperature, don't over charge, don't keep charge below 20%; all that would prolong the battery lifespan.

Pop N Wood

Tesla made news in their early days for refusing a warranty claim from some guy who, running late, parked his car with a depleted battery at an airport. The battery froze and had to be replaced. Of course Tesla collects all this data remotely so had digital proof.

I live in Maryland and bring my battery in the house during the freezing months. Store it at half charge in a metal ammo can. In the summer it stays on the bike in the garage. I do charge it in the same ammo can out in the garage, charger has 80%, 90% and 100% auto shut off selection.

Do whatever you have the patience for.

mpetry912 

soyabean do you have one of these units ? I have been thinking about getting one. Would like to know your experience

/markp

2old

Before purchasing I would ensure that the connector on the Satiator is compatible with your unit or that they can replace the stock item with something that is compatible or, I'm afraid, you won't be "satiated".

mpetry912 

yes, they have an XLR connector and pigtails that adapt to a wide range of battery charging connectors

/markp

Pop N Wood

Does that satiator really do anything beyond what a Luna smart charger does?

I see those mentioned all the time and wonder what the advantages are for the price.

2old

I think you can vary the voltage, that is use to charge 36V, 52V etc and the rate of charge. I'm sure ebikesca has the details.

Pop N Wood

The Satiator, Programmable Battery Charger (ebikes.ca)

Huh. Sort of the Swiss army knife of chargers, should work with any battery.

Nice that it is waterproof and small, would make it useful for taking on tour.

2old

WOW! Compatibility (Li, NiMH etc, programmability and universal compatibility (120V, 240V), even more than I remembered.

Pop N Wood

Yeah, just pricy. I was thinking it might be nice to have something like that in case I ever end up with different batteries. But at the same time might need to charge multiple batteries at the same time, at which point might as well get one specific to each battery.

The Luna smart charger does everything my single battery needs.

Pop N Wood

This guide gives pretty good advice

Complete E-Bike Battery Care Guide | eBikes

I would add buy a charger that automatically turns off at an adjustable charge level. Mine has settings for 80-90-100%. The charger must be matched to the rated battery voltage

Interesting the link above says avoid temps above 105°. Like trunk of a car or in the Arizona sun.

2old

A couple of things they didn't say (in my cursory reading of the advice) was to either charge your battery where you can respond to a problem or where you don't mind having a fire (and not while you're sleeping IMO) and you can use a voltmeter to determine SOC (state of charge) if you don't have a charger that will regulate it.

Pop N Wood

Good catch

IMO it would be tough monitoring a charge with a voltmeter. The auto shut off seems like a must have to me.

The thing that concerned me with the satiator would be forgetting to properly adjust the controls when hooking it up to a battery.

At some point I need to research when most battery fires occur. The ones that make the news are typically random fires while just out riding or somebody doing something stupid while building their own battery.

2old

You don't monitor it with a voltmeter, you charge for a certain amount of time, then check with one (I've been doing it for years, and it doesn't need to be an exact science since anything between 30% - 70% is OK; most times I don't need to charge because it's between those parameters after my ride). Also, the worst fires are when an individual isn't aware; just check on ES for an example of what can happen if you're asleep when the fire starts; fortunately in this case his dogs awakened them and only the house and garage were lost. How about the fire in NY in which four individuals perished? You think maybe they should have been charging during the day?

Pop N Wood

Was that NY fire attributed to an unattended charger?

Lots of angst on this site, don't think I saw a definitive reason for the fire other than "e bike battery"

2old

Other than the power (volts) and capacity (amps), which are determined by your requirements, the only suppliers that I've never heard a bad word about are em3ev and ebikesca (Grin). I've had good luck with a US supplier,but others have complained about them.

fooferdoggie 

the luna charger has a record of failures I have seen many complaints about it.

rgconner

Fortunately not to many people will ride in temps that bother a battery. Degradation starts around 0C, or freezing. And even then that is the whole battery. Assuming you start from inside the house, and then added heat from discharge... probably fine. Unless you are "go in the snow" kinda rider.

2old

You might consider the number they sell which seems large considering bikes , kits etc. My 52V one is in its seventh or eighth year and my son's 52V (variable - 80%, 90%, 100%) in its fifth year and still operating perfectly.

Rick_D

My battery maker (TQ) gives the following criteria:

Have ridden it at or near the stated max operating temp and I'm certain the summer sun heats the office bike locker well above that, but as the battery is not removeable, there it is.

​​​​​​​Rest of the time the bike resides in the garage, with the charger.