New ride pattern - wisper charging suggestions?

[Alex728]

My 2009 905SE City has now had 4888 miles on it since I got it in September 2009, and is still performing well with just basic maintenance/replacement of drivetrain components.

I normally ride 14 miles to work and back every day and charge the battery every evening when I get home, after studying advice here where the consensus was not to charge after really short journeys but neither to run down the battery completely unless it was necessary.

I haven't been on a really long ride (20+ miles) recently due to weather

My employers are expanding despite the economic depression and there is another site I may occasionally have to work at 3 miles away. I would not always be there, but would be called up for ad-hoc IT support purposes and/or spend a couple of half days there each week. I would then return to my main office so that would be another 6 miles.

Should I now start charging the Wisper at my main office either before or after I go to the remote one? Especially given that the battery is now approaching 2 years old. However this might mean if I get a support call I have to stop a charge before the 4 hours to charge the battery has elapsed.

Is it a good idea to "top up" charges like this on an ebike (like you might do with a mobile communications device or a laptop) or is one long charge less harsh on the battery? even the advice here and from manufacturers seems a bit unclear TBH...

 

[z0mb13e]

I have to pop off site from time to time when I can't provide remote support to our sister site. If I'm not carrying anything heavy and the weather is nice I will take the Whisper. It is only 2 miles or so and I don't think twice about it. The Whisper gets charged in the evening as normal.

If you have the 14ah battery then I would just carry on as normal.

 

[NRG]

Agreed, don't see any reason to change unless you are using the 8Ah....

 

[flecc]

Also agreed, shouldn't be necessary to top u your 14 Ah battery. For future reference though, a top-up charge, partial of full, does no harm to a lithium battery. Like lead-acid (SLA), they are happy with that kind of cyclic use.
.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

No problems with top up charges Alex, great to her of a business expanding.

All the best

David

 

[theskip1]

i would say its beter to do it than to leave it if you have the choice because its a good habit to get into. lithium are not as effected as other types , but all batteries ( no mater what type ) last longer if kept topped up.

 

[flecc]

all batteries ( no mater what type ) last longer if kept topped up.

Forgive the correction, but this is not entirely true for NiCad or NiMh batteries, NiCads have mostly disappeared now, but NiMh are still around and on some latest bikes as well, like the GoCycle. Some partial charging is acceptable on NiMh but doing that all the time can lead to problems of loss of some of the capacity, the amount of loss depending on the charge point.

It's generally accepted that they should be emptied occasionally, once in every 10 to 20 charges often being mentioned. For that reason some NiMh chargers supplied with e-bikes have a discharge function to help with emptying the last part of a charge after riding, ready for a full recharge to follow.
.

 

[theskip1]

Forgive the correction, but this is not entirely true for NiCad or NiMh batteries, NiCads have mostly disappeared now, but NiMh are still around and on some latest bikes as well, like the GoCycle. Some partial charging is acceptable on NiMh but doing that all the time can lead to problems of loss of some of the capacity, the amount of loss depending on the charge point.

It's generally accepted that they should be emptied occasionally, once in every 10 to 20 charges often being mentioned. For that reason some NiMh chargers supplied with e-bikes have a discharge function to help with emptying the last part of a charge after riding, ready for a full recharge to follow.
.

i stand corrected i was dismising these as they are all but defunked on bikes

 

[flecc]

Yes, as you say they've all but vanished. The stubborn ones sticking to NiMh are mainly Cytronex and GoCycle now, but I believe a new Swiss e-bike just announced has also adopted them. Seems they just won't go away completely!
.