Balancing
- Thread starter cyclenut1952
- Start date
A lot of the guys on ES don't use a BMS and manually check there balancing or use a programmable smart BMS. Those who manually balance use a balance lead on the outside of the pack like a Lipo does.
Most batteries have a BMS fitted, the BMS only allow top balancing which happens above 4.15v per cell which is 29.05/24v , 41.5v/36v or 53.95v/48v.
To make charging simple stick to a regular regime always fully charge till green light to balance the battery several hours before a ride.
It isn't necessary to fully charge the battery after each ride, leave it at the standing voltage it ends the ride on and then charge it again as mentioned above.
Unlike Lead acid lithium doesn't like to be left sitting at full charge for weeks on end as it will induce aging and capacity loss.
To make charging simple stick to a regular regime always fully charge till green light to balance the battery several hours before a ride.
It isn't necessary to fully charge the battery after each ride, leave it at the standing voltage it ends the ride on and then charge it again as mentioned above.
Unlike Lead acid lithium doesn't like to be left sitting at full charge for weeks on end as it will induce aging and capacity loss.
Inside the battery there is a BMS (Battery management system) to monitor the cells discharge and charging, the BMS is an electronic PCB. It will monitor the cells discharging and charging , in the event of detecting an anomaly or fault it will shut the battery down preventing both charging and discharge until the fault is remedied.
The BMS balance's the cell groups inside the battery during charging but if the cell groups voltages vary widely then balancing can take a long time, so it is best to balance a battery fitted with a BMS every time to prevent issues occurring.
Not balancing can /will cause more issues then balancing over time.
Generally it is only diyer's who battery build that opt for self balancing for others it isn't practical to spend time monitoring each individual cell.
The BMS balance's the cell groups inside the battery during charging but if the cell groups voltages vary widely then balancing can take a long time, so it is best to balance a battery fitted with a BMS every time to prevent issues occurring.
Not balancing can /will cause more issues then balancing over time.
Generally it is only diyer's who battery build that opt for self balancing for others it isn't practical to spend time monitoring each individual cell.
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That works well if you have a regular or predictable riding pattern, but is not practicable for many of us. We recharge to the green light after a ride if the battery is below around 30 to 50%, or if we guess we have a longish (for us) ride coming up the next day . That does mean the battery may stay fully charged for a day or so but rarely more. It is certainly a lot more convenient, and I hope it isn't shortening our battery life too much.
I should have omitted the regular phrase and only have said regime.
The regime I speak of is simply only fully charge several hours before the next ride, regular daily use then fully charge and use it.
Leaving a battery to sit at less then 30 -50% isn't going to hurt if in regular use.
The leaving of a battery fully charged for longer periods will to an extent cause a build up of dendrites on the anodes and lead to aging over time, the dendrites will reduce the cell capacity and less range. Cell Internal resistance over time is likely to increase inducing more voltage sag under load (esp higher load/ PAS level).
The regime I speak of is simply only fully charge several hours before the next ride, regular daily use then fully charge and use it.
Leaving a battery to sit at less then 30 -50% isn't going to hurt if in regular use.
The leaving of a battery fully charged for longer periods will to an extent cause a build up of dendrites on the anodes and lead to aging over time, the dendrites will reduce the cell capacity and less range. Cell Internal resistance over time is likely to increase inducing more voltage sag under load (esp higher load/ PAS level).
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