Newbie father/son ask: how to measure condition of a battery?

4 posts / 0 new
Last post
PPPPaul
Offline
Last seen: 16 years 1 month ago
Joined: Saturday, July 5, 2008 - 17:55
Points: 2
Newbie father/son ask: how to measure condition of a battery?

My son just purchased a Go-Ped ESR750EX on eBay. It was advertised as "Almost New (ridden 3 times)" but when we charge it (8 hours) the handlebar meters show "Empty" and nothing is noticeable when pushing the throttle.

I'm not yet knowledgeable enough to know what to test on the batteries, to tell whether this is REALLY "almost new".

We've got a "Digital Multimeter" (DCV/DCA/ohms) -- can someone help me with one or more diagnostics we can perform to tell whether this is a lemon? Or, do we need to buy another piece of equipment to do so?

Thanks in advance,
Paul and Gabriel

Dave-s
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 2 months ago
Joined: Monday, March 10, 2008 - 03:22
Points: 58
Re: Newbie father/son ask: howasure condition of a battery?

I think the GoPed is a 24v system. When the batteries are fully charged they should read 28.8v.
A new battery will remain at 28.8v after the charger is disconnected. As the batteries grow old the top voltage drops.

dogman
dogman's picture
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 12 months ago
Joined: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 - 15:41
Points: 830
Re: Newbie father/son ask: howasure condition of a battery?

While you are at it, check to see if the charger works at all. Many of the cheaper scooter and bike chargers will show power when checked with the voltmeter. A few brands of expensive ones will need to be connected to a battery to show voltage If no volts show on yours, get another on ebay, or charge the batteries separately with a 12 v charger. It can take several tries with the chargers to get a keeper.

Be the pack leader.
36 volt sla schwinn beach cruiser
36 volt lifepo4 mongoose mtb
24 volt sla + nicad EV Global

LinkOfHyrule
LinkOfHyrule's picture
Offline
Last seen: 15 years 5 months ago
Joined: Wednesday, October 17, 2007 - 14:54
Points: 730
La da tee ta...

It could be "almost new", but if the batteries weren't taken care of (charged up every so often), they can die on their own.

As was previously stated, the hot-off-the-charger voltage should be around 28V. After a couple hours it should settle to about 26V (13V/battery).

Another way to tell is to check how much their voltage drops under load, but you'd have to find something else to load them down since they won't start the Go-Ped. The fully-charged voltage should be pretty telling, anyway.

The author of this post isn't responsible for any injury, disability or dismemberment, death, financial loss, illness, addiction, hereditary disease, or any other undesirable consequence or general misfortune resulting from use of the "information" contai

Log in or register to post comments


Who's online

There are currently 0 users online.

Who's new

  • eric01
  • Norberto
  • sarim
  • Edd
  • OlaOst

Support V is for Voltage