Capacity measurement of bosch batteries 2017

soundwave

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Available from spring 2017.
With the CapacityTester you can measure the capacity of Bosch batteries of generation 1 and 2. The duration of the measurement depends on the type of battery and the battery status between 1.5h and 3h. Finally, you will receive a test report that documents the battery parameters and the measurement result.
 

anotherkiwi

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marwigan

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I'll say before anyone else; how useful is this, do we really want to know and who is to say what's 'good and bad'?
I'll part answer , a seller and buyer second hand may benefit, but y'll need a baseline of what the normal variation from the mean....yadda, yadda

[this is not theory; i've had to persuade a seller recently that a 10 yr old NiMh battery really may be stuffed; irrespective of no. lights that light up and indeed normal voltage reading]
On second thoughts; great idea, when and where can we be tested?
 

flecc

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Oct 25, 2006
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On the Panasonic crank drive systems the capacity tester is built into the batteries and has been since 2007, which cost no more than the Bosch batteries and often less.
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anotherkiwi

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cwah does, a bit rich for my budget and how do you connect it to lipo in parallel?

It connects without problem to Li-Ion. I just use the HK battery medic, religiously, and after a while you get to know which cells need to be watched and what their weaknesses are by experience.
 

awol

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I just use the HK battery medic, religiously, and after a while you get to know which cells need to be watched and what their weaknesses are by experience.
That's exactly what I've been doing but was interested in something which can record lowest cell voltages under load/ during my commute to see how low the weakest ones go.
 

cyclebuddy

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I just use 3 x 12v 50w MR16 lamps wired in series on my 36v li-ion battery to present a known load (some I know use older filament-type car headlamps instead). 150w is a fair/middling sort of load for a 250w e-bike motor system.

With a 36v e-bike battery charged to its' max 42v, and with a multimeter in parallel to monitor voltage, it's a simple case of timing how long it takes for that battery to drop to the minimum (the maker specifies 31v for my 36v battery). On my 10Ah battery, 150w/36v=4A load, so for me it should take roughly 2.5 hours.

At least measuring capacity in this way lets me know that my battery is (or is not) still delivering something near the makers full quoted capacity of 10Ah. Obviously if that total capacity starts to diminish by any notable degree, I know one or more cells are fading/failing and a new pack is likely on the cards. Otherwise, given all the variables of battery performance (bike/rider weight, use of power etc), it's just guessing as to whether your battery is still performing as it should.

This Bosch device doesn't appear to be doing much more than this either - present a load and measure over time.

Unless you can take out and test/balance each cell individually (or tap into each group of cells via the BMS), that's about all you can test, isn't it?
 
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anotherkiwi

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The LCD-3/5 has a real time voltage reading on screen 3. I ride with that screen on when I have the lipo on board, for me it is more interesting than knowing how many Watts the motor is pulling. You can see the sag and as soon as I get near 36.5 V I start reducing assistance levels/listening for the lipo alarm. The weakest cell(s) will drag the global pack voltage down from what I have read. I only have the alarm on the weakest pack now that I have identified which one it is. It goes off as soon as any individual cell reaches 3.65 V.
 
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cyclebuddy

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The LCD-3/5 has a real time voltage reading on screen 3. I ride with that screen on... You can see the sag...The weakest cell(s) will drag the global pack voltage down...
Yes, I have the same LCD, and do the same... as you say, it's very useful when the battery is beginning to sag/is near drained.

I had a friend buy a replacement 36-volt 10Ah bottle battery off ebay... so it claimed. Yes, it was cheap (£149 inc p&p), so nobody was expecting premium Samsung or Panasonic cells for that money.

But using the above test, it seemed pretty clear that with the fixed 150-watt 4-amp load running for just 1hr 50 minutes to empty, the 10s4p pack was, in fact, more likely to be 2000mAh cells (i.e. an 8Ah bottle) rather than the 2500mAh cells they would need to be to meet the claimed 10Ah capacity. Granted, the pack was new and hadn't been fully exercised/cycled yet, but it confirmed his suspicions that the pack wasn't quite as advertised.

For the sake of 3 cheap lamps and lamp-holders for under £6 from B&Q (and a multi-meter of course), it's a useful test I use on my Li and NiMh work/tool packs all the time.
 

J. de Vries

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Available from spring 2017.
With the CapacityTester you can measure the capacity of Bosch batteries of generation 1 and 2. The duration of the measurement depends on the type of battery and the battery status between 1.5h and 3h. Finally, you will receive a test report that documents the battery parameters and the measurement result.
I think it is better to purchase a universal Battery tester. If I need to buy a capacity tester for each battery brand it gets far too expensive. We make use of the brand Batterytester (www.batterytester.nl). This tester can test most of the e-bike batteries and they are continuously develop new cable parts to test different battery brands. We an test Bosch, Yamaha, Panasonic, giant, Gazelle etc. The product is really easy to use.
 

soundwave

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I think it is better to purchase a universal Battery tester. If I need to buy a capacity tester for each battery brand it gets far too expensive. We make use of the brand Batterytester (www.batterytester.nl). This tester can test most of the e-bike batteries and they are continuously develop new cable parts to test different battery brands. We an test Bosch, Yamaha, Panasonic, giant, Gazelle etc. The product is really easy to use.
so how much is it as looks expensive.
 

footpump

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not sure if its the same bosch tester.
a local dealer attending bosch technition training course mentioned
the battery tester unit which gives capacity/charge cycles etc was £300