Lithium Polymer Safety

marc.knuckle

Pedelecer
Sep 9, 2012
100
0
i will soon be ordering a kit that includes a lithium polymer battery.

i have read some articles about there risk of fire but i dont know if the technology has moved on to be safer or whether the battery itself and/or charger has safety precautions built in anyway.

any opinions on this?
 
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Deleted member 4366

Guest
It's probably just a normal safe ebike battery, but that's what they call it. Why don't you give us a link to what you ordered, and then we can see?
 
D

Deleted member 4366

Guest
That's perfectly safe. You don't have to worry about anything. Plug and play.
 

amigafan2003

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 12, 2011
1,389
139
Well, not perfectly safe ;-)

But safe enough to not have to take any special precautions :)

To make my point - do you have a mobile phone or a tablet? They have lithium polymer batteries in them. Do you take any special precautions with those items? Also, 95% of laptop batteries are made up of 18650 cells.........................
 

marc.knuckle

Pedelecer
Sep 9, 2012
100
0
cheers guys.

the main worry i had is that it wont be feasible to charge while on the bike - ie outside (in small bike shed of course). if i make sure i always charge fully and switch off before bed, is it okay to charge in the house?
 

muckymits

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 31, 2011
419
2
Try using a plug in timer set for about 8 hours, then you dont need to worry about going out/bed. Yes if you leave it like that it will drain back and flatten the battery again, but not overnight and much safer.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,819
30,381
cheers guys.

the main worry i had is that it wont be feasible to charge while on the bike - ie outside (in small bike shed of course). if i make sure i always charge fully and switch off before bed, is it okay to charge in the house?
Yes. I've been doing exactly that for over 6 years with eZee batteries, NiMh, Li-ion manganese and Li-polymer.
 

themutiny

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 26, 2009
354
0
Likewise, never any issues. Got the 20ah Phylion now. Awesome battery and highly recommended.
 

marc.knuckle

Pedelecer
Sep 9, 2012
100
0
thanks guys.

i think if i put it on charge as soon as i get home each evening, it should charge before bed. about 5-6 hours i think.
 

marc.knuckle

Pedelecer
Sep 9, 2012
100
0
got this now, still a little worried about charging and storing indoors.

i have been instructed to fully disharge it 2 times in the instructions. i just did the first discharge and the full charge took 4 and half hours. i have now turned it off, it never got hot at all, and i will now leave it in the kitchen until tomorrow.

again, is there anything i need to worry about if i turn it off charging before bed? i have read so many things on the internet about preventing housefires etc it just worries me.
 

Scimitar

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 31, 2010
1,772
40
Ireland
It's fine - it would be a different story if you'd hacked together a battery pack from old laptop cells or even new lipos - then you'd be better to take precautions. However, a consumer battery that's designed to be charged by someone with no technical knowledge will be ok.
OK, if you really want something to worry about, think of the cheap and nasty corner-cutting electronics and pared-to-the-bone design of the charger that many people use, blithely unaware.
Now THAT could burn your house down.
 
Apr 19, 2011
211
27
Yes. I've been doing exactly that for over 6 years with eZee batteries, NiMh, Li-ion manganese and Li-polymer.
Watch out, dont unplug a Sparta or Koga NiMh battery at night. Sparta and Koga e-bikes fitted with NiMh batteries are clever: the reason they last 5-7 years in a great many cases is because they automatically drop a resistor in to the charge circuit about every 7th charge. This drops the voltage the charger reads, thus fooling the charger into thinking the battery is not yet fully charged, so the charger keeps forcing power in. The good people in Appeldoorn call it a stabilisation charge.

Most e-bike batteries are made up of lots of small cells, one of which will age and fail before the others. Un-checked, this weak cell will 'cap' the capacity of all the other fit cells and the E-bike range will drop off at about two years old. The Sparta/Koga stabilisation system gives the failing cell a fizz and passion for life again.

Some Sparta and Koga owners forget this and unplug ther charger at night. Over the years their range drops off. They come to us for a new battery. Here's the lovely thing: we plug their e-bike into the Ebike Service Centre computer terminal and run the Dutch manufacturer's diagnostics program. It reports say 40% of original capacity. It also reports that the time the battery has been connected to a charger is say 12% of its life. The unexpected (by Accell too I think) thing is that the battery in question can recover if its owner changes their habit and keeps the charger plugged in when they're not using the bike. As you might imagine they are very pleased that they dont need to buy a new battery.

In our experience batteries that have been connected to their charger for about 30% of their life (or more) last 5-7 years, and show over 90% of original capacity right up to their dieing day.
 
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