Where do you charge your battery?

[AshleyBrayson]

I keep my bike in the garage so do you think it's fine to charge it where it is ( obviously very cold at the moment ) or should I remove it and take in in the house? Does temperature make any difference?

 

[georgehenry]

My first electric bike had a battery behind the seat post and it was too much hassle to remove it so I charged it on the bike in the garage.

My second bike with Yamaha system has its battery inside the triangle and is easy to remove and I always do bringing it into the house.

There are some mixed messages about whether it is better to store these batteries in a cooler or warmer environment. It seems common sense to store my battery in the dry.

I actually leave my battery in a large cupboard which also houses our gas central heating boiler and the Yamaha battery is kept both warm and dry.

There is a greater consensus that it is better to store batteries with a partial charge, somewhere around 50% to 60% if you are not going to use them rather than 100% charged. I now charge my battery to 100% as close to when I am going to use my bike as possible.

The battery on my first bike was shot just after two years and my Yamaha battery is still in great shape and will be three years old at the beginning of March.

I use my bike to commute to work and back and have covered 8288 miles.

Another issue that I have seen mentioned on the site is that the terminals of the batteries/connecting prongs corrode quicker where batteries are taken o.ff the bike to charge,

However I have not experienced any problems with my Yamaha battery or its connections and I bring that battery into the house after every ride and charge it off the bike in the house.

Clear as mud.

 

[Flyingppg]

All batteries perform less well when cold but you should find that after a little riding it will warm up and then start to go better. You can safely store your battery in the cold (the manufacturers must have specified something in the manual about temperatures) and the cold also means you don't have to give it a bit of charge so often if in storage over a long period. You can charge it safely cold too. Personally I prefer my battery to be at room temperature, and so keep it in the house, so it performs better from the start but you aren't doing your battery any harm by keeping it in the garage so long as it is also dry.

 

[danielrlee]

You can charge it safely cold too.

Only up to a point. You should never charge a battery at less than 0 degrees C. Ideally, the charging temperature should be greater than 6 degrees C and the battery should be bought up to temperature first.

 

[Flyingppg]

You should never charge a battery at less than 0 degrees C. Ideally, the charging temperature should be greater than 6 degrees C and the battery should be bought up to temperature first.

Yes, point taken.
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_at_high_and_low_temperatures

 

[mike killay]

Yes, point taken.
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_at_high_and_low_temperatures

So, don't take your Tesla to Alaska.

 

[danielrlee]

So, don't take your Tesla to Alaska.

All battery packs made by Tesla feature both battery heating and cooling to deal with such issues. Interestingly, when operating in 'ludicrous mode', the battery is preheated to lower the pack's internal resistance, allowing it to dump as much power as possible.

 

[flecc]

So, don't take your Tesla to Alaska.

Or into space!

Seems Elon Musk has dropped a clanger sending his sports car there. No charging points either.
.

 

[anotherkiwi]

Or into space!

Seems Elon Musk has dropped a clanger sending his sports car there. No charging points either.
.

How long will it play Space Oddity with a fully charged battery is my question. And of course there is no sound because there is no air so the speakers are not experiencing very much resistance. In fact does that even count as "playing" when there is no medium to transmit the sound?

 

[flecc]

In fact does that even count as "playing" when there is no medium to transmit the sound?

With speakers I'd say no, there's only a conversion of electrical waveform to mechanical oscillation, with no purpose.

However, with a headphone feed to earphones inside a spaceman's helmet the system will work fine of course.
.

 

[anotherkiwi]

I guess they did inflate the space suit to make it look right. Or maybe Elon Musk put the body of one of his worst enemies in there

 

[Gubbins]

I charge in the garage and only bring them inside if its forecast bellow zero temps for more than a couple of days

 

[argoose]

I keep my bike in the garage so do you think it's fine to charge it where it is ( obviously very cold at the moment ) or should I remove it and take in in the house? Does temperature make any difference?

House defo