Hey everyone. I have been following this site for awhile and this my first post, yay!! Anyway. I just acquired an XB-700Li. I love it. I do have a question regarding the life of the battery. The specs say that it will last 7-10 years but the real issue of concern to me is the number of charge cycles. The manual said it had a life span of 500 charge cycles or so. I guess that doesn't seem that great to me since that isn't that much higher than an SLA battery. So here are my questions.
1. What exactly constitutes a charge cycle? If I drain the battery 15% and then charge to full, does that equal a charge cycle?
2. Is 500-700 charge cycle life span accurate. I have read reports that these batteries can be recharged thousands of times.
3. Realistically speaking. How long should the battery last with daily use of 1 to 2 charge toppers.
Thanks for your help.
When they talk generally about "life" of a battery it is general. But a 500 to 700 charge cycle means "generally" that the battery will keep about an 80% of its "new" charge rate for at least 500 to 700 cycles. and yes, it does matter if you just charge alittle or charge your battery from it's lowest limit. I think you should read up on this because it's all really dependant on; rate of charge, temperature, how it's constructed, etc etc. the biggest is how well it's built for if the internal compounds gets exposed to oxygen and it oxidizes and oxidation greatly reduces the life of the battery. Quality, Quality, Quality, $ , $ , $. ya know what I mean. GET A QUALITY BATTERY FROM A QUALITY COMPANY.
Answer to #3; small "toppers" as you call them is as I have read better for the battery because it stresses the battery less and the battery has not been drained to it's limits. But again, it's all dependant on it's Quality.
Sorry, but its not an exact science from the user end of the story.
Dave C. Stout
Dave C. Stout
STOUT PRODUCTIONS
Low Carbon Products
Yes, as you have noticed, the "cycle life" numbers that are quoted are more "creative writing" than engineering fact. There are uncounted variables: the voltage profile produced by your charger, your depth of usage, battery imbalances, and many other things. Even with SLA, life ranges from 1/10 predicted cycles to 100%.
On top of that, there is just not enough of an installed base to support real world hard data.
Mark
I've had my XB-700Li for about a year and top off the batteries after my daily 12 mile ride to the post office and market. So far the power meter stays in the full zone for the whole ride. I forgot to charge it one day and the meter went toward the 3/4 mark on hills but it still did a great job. So far it's been fine to charge it after each ride.
All the best,
Roger McGuinn
http://mcguinn.com