I had a year old used battery pack with three 12 volt 12ah battery packs and while in a hurry I dropped the bag :( It cracked one of the batteries which no longer works. So I got a replaced it with another one. Is there a trick to breaking in or conditioning the new battery or just keep using it?
I tried charging each battery independently with a 12v smart car charger and then put the 36v charger back on the set. After riding and recharging then riding again, the new battery reads .1V less then the other two which are only off each other by 0-.01V.
The people I got the kit from said they thought it was getting faster as the batteries conditioned, is that true? I know the range would suffer if one is weaker. Don't really understand why they don't charge all completely though.
There is a post floating around V regarding how to condition the battery. Briefly, lead acid batteries don't provide their peak range until broken in. This method involved 5 or 6 slow discharges, with it getting closer and closer to 11.4V (or something close to that) open circuit voltage each discharge. Look at your battery specs, it should tell you what the operating range is. It's a little different from battery to battery.
While these directions I believe work, I don't think it's necessary. You can achieve an approximate effect by just going easy on your throttle the first few weeks of using it. This is what the big EV users do all the time.
When mixing old batteries with new, you have to be mindful of each battery voltage. Your range is limited to your weakest battery, and you can only know that by taking a reading on each battery, not by reading your fuel gauge. If your weakest battery becomes too discharged you could do permanent damage to it.
XM-3000...
-DC-DC converter replaced with a Dell D220P-01 power supply.
-72V mod
-Expensive bank charger until I come up with something better... Still trying.
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I agree, just try not to ride the pack too flat for a week or so. And keep mild on the trottle too. One nice thing about small ev's is that the price of doing it the easy way is not so high as when a $5000 battery pack is involved.
Be the pack leader.
36 volt sla schwinn beach cruiser
36 volt lifepo4 mongoose mtb
24 volt sla + nicad EV Global
Thanks, I tried searching but didn't pick the right keywords I guess. I just hope it wasn't a used battery. It was almost fully charged from the store, the first one I got was dead and had to go back. They were Pegg-preggo kiddie car batteries. I overpaid at $48 but it is a 12v 12Ah SLA and I got it at my local Walmart, so no waiting.
Anyway, thanks for the tips. I just wondered if charging in parallel instead of series would be of any benefit (would be a 2A charge instead of 1A though.) So far I haven't gotten the weakest one below 12.1V but I have been heavy on the throttle. Today was the first day I didn't pedal the whole time though just to see how it went, otherwise I leave it in last gear and always pedal, plus get rolling before I use the motor.
Dogman: Thanks for all the knowledge too. When I was trying to decide if I wanted the ebike kit I most of the posts I found had info from you and I'm glad I went for it. Just thought I would be "cheating" and can go an average speed of 19mph with a full backpack on the road bike for at least my commute to work which is not quite 7 miles. Of course trying to pull 60lbs of dog on a 30lb trailer changes things alot.... I had already dreamed of putting an electric motor in my convertible but don't have the cash for that project. Was interested in trying a fork truck motor sometime.