My house was burned out a couple of years ago by a fault dishwasher that wasn't even running a cycle! The timer controller was arcing across the contacts. £53,000 pounds worth of damages. Give me an e bike battery every time!
Battery Charging - Opinions Please
- Thread starter falmouthtony
- Start date
Really? I suppose that makes a good excuse for Boeing.
I've seen a few swollen lithium cells at only a few feet above sea level, the last one having to be forced out of it's housing where the swelling had locked it in.
I go out or sleep soundly with my fridge and freezer running continuously, but I won't charge an e-bike battery while I'm out or sleeping.
The crucial difference between the safety of appliances and the safety of batteries is that malfunctioning appliances can blow a fuse, in most cases stopping the malfunction from developing further.
Battery cells malfunction chemically, and a chemical reaction has no fuse to stop it. The reverse in fact, many chemical reactions are self developing in intensity. Worse still, a cell chemically burning to destruction can transfer the heat and failure to the next cell, setting up a chain reaction involving all the cells in the battery casing.
If I remember correctly, it took Boeing a long time to figure out the reasons, then they just modified the battery to vent to the outside. Not very convincing for a company with huge resources and expertise.
I think that was just an admission of the limits of lithium battery technology and safety. They can't be made absolutely safe at all times and under any conditions, so the cop-out of venting is expedient.
I've currently being loaned a Raleigh Motus e-bike with the 2014 Bosch system. As it is on loan I didn't get any of the bikes manuals just had a 2 minute walk through. In fact I've only just released there's a charging port on the bike itself so you don't have to remove the battery to charge the bike. I currently do a 15 miles round trip commute to work and two of the 5 lights have gone out when I get home. I put the bike in the garage and put it on charge and don't come back to it until the morning. The Bosch charger and battery appear to have completely shutdown with no lights showing in the morning. Is this the case or is it in some trickle charge mode can it be left in this state all weekend. Do I need to be concerned as the garage is integrated into the house and my daughter bedroom is directly above. Do I need to buy one of those 3 hour count down timers to be on the safe side and or should I be removing the battery every time and charging it in the house under supervision.
D
Deleted member 4366
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You don't have to worry about your house burning down, The Bosch battery has every level of protection. There's no reason not to leave your bike on charge overnight, bit if it worries you, by all means get a timer socket. They don't cost much.
The reason to leave the battery on charge over night is that I usually can't be bothered or forget to go back out and turn it off. Its a question does the charger actually turn itself off completely when the battery is fully charged. Also does the charger still take a small bit of power in this mode like a TV in say standby so a timer may be a good idea for this for.
I have a couple of these for charging bike and drill batteries etc,
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005C9S0I8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
great if you are apt to forget till the day after!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005C9S0I8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
great if you are apt to forget till the day after!
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