10 best tips for charging your ebike battery - avoid fires and prolong battery life
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- čas přidán 20. 10. 2023
- Top 10 ebike battery charging tips for safety and battery life. Prevent lithium battery fires, ebike, scooter, emoto battery fires.
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Two additional tips one for batterylife and one for safety. For batterylife if your bike came with a so called rapid charger, but your battery and motor manufacturer makes a non rapid charger get the slower charger and it will prolong your battery life (shimano makes a 2A and a 4A charger). For safety if you happen to have a garage charge your bike in your garage or car port. Most building codes require fire safety provisions for garage and carports to be built into the structure to stand engine fires so if you charge in your garage especially unsupervised it is the safest place to do so.
Very good advice! Thank you
Very true. However I don't think most of these chargers draw much current. My Fazua charger draws 145w or 1.2 amps. About the same as a couple (incandescent) lamps. But you raise a very good point about extension cords, timers, etc...
Great video. I would suggest always make sure you hear the fan turn on in your battery charger. Mine came disconnected and it overheated. I connected it 2 years ago and it still works well. I believe many good batteries come with cheap chargers
One tip that is implicit in your routine is to give the battery chemistry time to settle before charging - even 30 minutes makes a difference. I also charge just under 100% wherever I can (it’s a game now 😊). My rides use 25-35% and I often nearly top them off just to avoid range anxiety or to be setup for a bonus ride💪 After 2.5yrs I’m at 120 full cycle charges on 700w Specialized turbo Levo and battery continues to read 100% health with Ride app (potentially less as apparently bike/app rounds up, shop app might report exact health %).
Good advice not to charge to 100% if one never uses 100% anyway.
A caveat with the 'battery health' data though is I'm hearing it's not very relevant or insightful. I have a 700wh Levo too and charge to 100% immediately after riding. My battery health shows 100% as well using the Specialize app.
Thank you 🙏
Thank you for the tips
You bet!
Very helpful information. Thank you, E-MTBR.
Ha, ha! For sure my good man!
the bluetooth/wifi smart plug is a good idea THANK YOU
You’re welcome
Nice work sir ,I'm getting my first ebike soon
You are most welcome.
It would be nice if manufacturers build smarter chargers with a bluetooth connection that would allow us to set a countdown timer or max. % of charge for automatic cutoff. Great video by the way. Loved tip no. 1 ;)
Huh? Chargers and BMS do that already
I just purchased a smart plug for $10. Problem solved. Just set it to turn off a little bit before the typical full charge depending on a predetermined start percentage.
If you have a charger where you can set the charge voltage (such as the Grin Satiator), you can set the charge voltage to 80% of max rather than the default 100%.
What are those devices you use to hang your bikes on the wall?
Good tips. I’d also suggest being very sure that any extension cords or timers you use are rated for the amount of power your charger draws. Also keep in mind that typical $1.50 household outlets aren’t meant for multiple hours of use at peak current, and they can really heat up. Consider replacing your outlet with an industrial/commercial grade unit.
Most chargers are low wattage. According to specs my charger is 2 amps in and 2 amps out. My outlet is rated for 20 amps so I'm only at 10% capacity.
4:30 The text guy was a little tipsy when he wrote that.
I generally charge my eMTB battery just before the ride to 100%. After the ride it remains generally to 10-40% with state of charge for few days or weeks till next ride. I also keep 20-25% state of charge over the winter for 3 months. I rarely discharge the battery to 0% on a ride. This happened 4 or 5 times in 2 years of use. Now the battery have 45 charging cycles and I do not feel a drop of autonomy. I store my bike with battery installed in a shady place on the balcony where the temperature is maxim 40 C degrees in the midday of summer and minimum 10 C degrees in winter.
When is the lowest battety i should charge
Is there a battery tester we can get to show what % is left in our battery . Like the one for my RC trucks .
No there is not. The % left in the battery can be determined by voltage. Problem is a lot of ebike batteries have different voltage capacities.
The other bigger issue is most batteries connectors let you see the live voltage, for safety reasons. The Rosenberger plug for example, used in Specialized ebikes only reveals the power if you put power on an activator lead. That makes it very hard to short-circuit these batteries.
I live in the rocky mountains of Colorado. My storage shed gets way below freezing at night. I way too many e-bikes to store inside my small house. So I came up with a solution that work's pretty good. I wrap the downtube with powered dog beds (never fold the dog bed when heated) and put Thinsulate insulation over that. Worked flawlessly last year.
I would say do this at your own risk, as doing it incorrectly could start a fire. But it keeps the battery warm and ready to use in the morning and protects against critical charging problems if the battery gets below freezing.
As Francis says, keeping the bike inside is best. Never charge your bike if the battery gets well below freezing. That could destroy the battery for good.
Great share!!! Yes, when the battery is below freezing, the voltage of the battery drops 20-30%. So when the charger charges the battery to the proper voltage, it can overcharge the battery. And when the battery comes back to room temperature and gets its normal voltage back, bad juju can happen.
Just remove the batteries that are removable? Even if not charging indoors? It's best to be kept at room temperature if at all possible, within reason.
Put the left crank arm down when charging because it can fall down and hit the charger port of the bike and the cable of the charger and make a bad connection between bike and charger and could provoke a short circuit
Great advice. I know many battery doors and charging plugs broken when the bike is moved or backed up.
I usually ride only 5-10 miles at a time. So I only charge @ every 3 or 4 days of riding. Lithium batteries like to be charged fully when they are used down to 25-30% left in them.
Good on you! You're using the bike and the charging routine to fit your style and prolonging the life of the battery.
We have 3 Specialized ebikes and always time them , always charge them to full and haven't ever had any problems
Yes, that's the most hassle-free way to do it. It works well and is not an issue. The battery doesn't last as long but we don't hang on to these ebikes over 7 years anyway. :)
Mine caught fire at my brothers house, his homeowners insurance covered it. The house was a total loss. Since then ive come to know that ebikes are just expensive toys that do not last. A small gas powered Honda is cheaper in the long run.
Wow, thank you. What a ridiculous disaster.
What brand/model of bike and how much?
Should the battery be switched off or on when charging?
Either way is fine. The charging mechanism switches it off if it's and issue for that particular bike
@@EMTBReview Thank you very much.
if the bike is charged all the way...how long can I drive it?...I do Doordash and would like to get a bike. I drive all day for about 8 hours. Would this last me the 8 hours.? and where can I charge it instead of my home?
The best opton is to get a bike like an Aventon and get an extra battery. Very easy to swap. Each battery should last 4-5 hours with heavy use. This is a very good option: alnk.to/cHM8V5U
@@EMTBReview And to add on to this - Aventon especially as they utilize torque sensors in their bikes thereby giving the rider more control over battery consumption and more efficient power delivery which means more range.
As far as I know Specialized bikes aren’t UL certified, I’m not sure about the Brose components.
Yes, I have three chargers from then and one has the UL label and the other two do not.
@@EMTBReviewI have a Tero X 5 and its charger is not UL certified. It's really surprising that a company like Specialized is not yet certified.
I'm really surprised by this. Thanks for the info.
It is fairly easy to just use a multi-meter and see if the charger is doing the right thing. The algorithm isn't rocket science or magic. It's basically just current limited until it reaches a target voltage, and then voltage limited until the end of charging, then it shuts off. A kill-a-watt can be used to measure watts, divide by the battery voltage to get amps. And a multi-meter to measure the battery voltage.
I think the most common error with incompatible chargers is that the charger over-volts the battery, or doesn't shut-off at the end. Very easy to test if you know the battery specs.
I keep my ebike in my living room, and never leave it charging overnight, or unattended. A timer in my phone reminds me to unplug the charger at about 80-90%, since I've never come close to using the whole charge in a simple ride.
Great advice. Even better is have a timer plug that will cut all power after a specified time. No need to be reminded or to unplug.
You forgot about the no extension cords rule.
Purposedly ignored. These chargers are only draw 200 watts of power
Be careful with safety labels. There's $ involved!
If you don't understand what I'm saying, it's best that you do your thorough research on the safety label's background.
I have to drive 6 hours to do any good riding. I've got an overland rig that have 320 watts of solar and 600 amps of batteries. I can charge 3 batteries and keep the fridge running.
Thanks for sharing. That is a dream setup for ebike adventuring around the country.
They're all a fire hazard
That's why it's key to buy quality, UL tested stuff, and learn about them. There are many electrical and lithium battery devices in each household these days.
Ultimately I think there is so much variability in lithium batteries, BMSs, chargers, and e-bike parts and brands, that I don't think buying a brand-name really buys a whole lot of safety. Safer, yes. "Safe" ? I dunno. So many UL listings are fake these days, having a UL symbol doesn't mean a thing any more.
Even your comment "the charger must shutdown" should not make a difference... the BMS built into the battery is supposed to protect the battery, is it not doing its job? Sure, the charger must shut-down, but the BMS should also disconnect the battery when it hits its charge target. Also, these lithium polymer chemistries (NMC, NCA) don't seem to have the robustness to deal with the constant physical abuse that bikes take. Just road vibration alone, for example.
IMHO, the only thing that really, really improves safety is going with LiFePO4 rather than NMC or NCA lithium chemistries. That means taking a range hit, LiFePO4 batteries aren't as energy dense. But man oh man they are a hundred times safer. You can charge them up to 100% every time, and you don't have to worry about leaving the bike unused with the battery charged to 100% causing any damage (LiFePO4 doesn't, not really). And as an added bonus, the LiFePO4 battery packs can handle thousands of charge cycles.
It seems the industry is focused on marketing range, though, and I don't see anywhere near as many LiFePO4 solutions as I do standard lithium solutions. With enough people demanding it, the industry would catch up, just like it did for power stations.
Great comments!!!
I also test a lot of Battery power stations and it seems that category has moved to LiFePO4 batteries because they are more fire resistant. Definitely heavier and bigger for the same capacity as Lithium Ion. Soo, I don't think that's going to catch in emtbs, where most of the weight culprit is already in the batteries. Weight and range are the biggest downers in emtbs and any bike that is 5 lbs. heavier without increasing range will lose in consumer demand.
But new technologies and chemistries are right around the corner I'm sure.
"Fake UL labels" where is the proof of that? A manufacturer would be taking a really big chance selling that.
@@bradsanders6954 Manufacturers fake UL two ways.
The first is simply by putting a fake label on... you can lookup the actual UL number to see if it matches the product.
The second is more insidious. UL only tests equipment sent to it by the vendor. Vendors often send items with premium parts for UL testing, but the actual volume production run uses lower quality parts, and vendors will make engineering changes without having the designs re-tested.
In terms of the risk to their reputations... it is fairly low. There is a reason why you see so many brands available and tend to not recognize the brands even just 6 months later. Its because most of those brands, even the successful ones, get into trouble or lose their reputation, exit stage-left, and then come right back a month later selling the same stuff under a new name.
Very few brands actually become successful enough to want to keep their name and actually make the effort to get a real certification.
We're not talking about Apple or Microsoft or Johnson-and-Johnson here. They don't play these games. But we are talking about a majority of e-bike parts, batteries, BMSs, chargers, and many other related gadgets. The UL sticker is virtually meaningless, and the "brand" you buy from is more or less nothing more than a reseller.
Don't listen to this guy. He's just trying to sell overpriced bikes
Get a good charger lol
Ok, get a bad one :)