Sparking when I plug the battery in to charge.

[Turkeylegs]

Hi guys
Every time I plug the little plug into my cyclotricity battery to charge it sparks. The charger isn't switched on at the plug.
Is this normal ?

 

[Steve UKLSRA]

Yes...power the charger up before connecting to your battery

 

[Turkeylegs]

Ok ill give that a try next time , thanks .
Just curious but iv never had to switch the charger on before plugging into something before, is there a reason why this is needed on these batteries?

 

[Danidl]

It's not the battery it's the charger. There is a capacitor built into the output of the charger. When you connect it in, there is 36 v in the battery and 0v on the capacitor so there is a blast of current out of the battery to charge up the capacitor.
If the charger is on, it will be at 42 v and the battery at 36 , for the difference is little and anyway the charger cannot supply much current, so no spark!.

 

[Turkeylegs]

Ok ťhanks for that, you've put my mind at rest. I was thinking faulty battery possibly as it's my first conversion kit and am very new to the electric scene.

 

[Turkeylegs]

I tried it tonight and worked a treat. And with work and weather I've been unable to use it, so wondered if just leaving it on charge will help equalise it? Or does it have to be depleted too?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Just use your battery when you ride your bike and charge it when you get home. It doesn't make a lot of difference whether you do lots of small charges or one deep one. The only things to avoid are leaving you battery too long before charging when it's empty, and leaving on the charger too long after it's charged

 

[Turkeylegs]

Thanks for that, so the first 12 hour charges three times are not needed?

 

[Turkeylegs]

And iv I read cyclotricity instructions saying switch on the battery when charging, why would this be? Iv been charging with it off and seems to charge normally?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

And iv I read cyclotricity instructions saying switch on the battery when charging, why would this be? Iv been charging with it off and seems to charge normally?

That's probably a carry over from some batteries that had the switch between the charger and the battery, so you couldn't charge with it switched off. You can ignore that.

If batteries are poorly made, they sometimes need to be balanced. The balancing happens when it gets fully-charged, so leaving it on charge for a long time will help to balance it. The best is to measure the voltage as soon as you take off the charger. 42.0v is fully balanced, so no need to leave it on any longer. Anythying down to 41.6v is nothing to worry about. It'll sort itself out in time. For 41.5v and lower, try a single 12 hour charge and see if the voltage increases. Make sure that your voltmeter is reading correctly. The charger jack, should read 42.0v

 

[Turkeylegs]

Thanks that's great. I do have a meter so do i put the red prong on the centre pin of the mains jack?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Thanks that's great. I do have a meter so do i put the red prong on the centre pin of the mains jack?

Yes.

 

[Turkeylegs]

Sorry to be a pain but what setting do i put the meter on? I never did learn how to use it. And do I just touch the little pin inside the small charging plug and do i need to switch the battery on while doing this ?

 

[Benjahmin]

Set it to D.C. 50v.

 

[Turkeylegs]

If I knew how to? Iv tried all settings and touched the tiny pin in the socket the charger plugs into and getting no change to all zeros on the multi meter.

 

[wheeliepete]

You need to put the black prong on the outer edge of the jack at the same time to measure the voltage-this can be quite tricky as there is not a lot of room and you don't want the prongs to touch each other. It would prob. be much easier to measure the voltage on the outlet side of the battery.

 

[Turkeylegs]

The out let being the plug on the bottom?
Do I put one prong in each end slot?

 

[wheeliepete]

Without seeing a photo of the plug/socket I can't be sure which slot you are referring to. If you have 2 contacts marked + and - then yes put the prongs on them.

 

[Turkeylegs]

I had it on charge for 10 hours a few days ago and its showing 41.7 now and 41.8 on a second meter i also have.

 

[wheeliepete]

That's fine, nothing to worry about. You may find after a few charge/discharge cycles that the voltage rises to 42v.