Now that the light has returned to my evening commute, I'll no longer be needing my big lights with the rechargeable battery until October. What's best for the health of the battery - storing it fully charged or fully discharged? Or does it not make any difference?
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Commuting
Laying up your rechargeables
(15 posts)-
Posted 12 years ago #
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What chemistry are they? NIMH or Lithium.
Posted 12 years ago # -
NiMh are fine, stuff them in drawer somewhere protected from extreme humidity and temperatures, unless they are low self discharge, they'll be flat with in a month what ever your do. When You come to use them again, charge them fully (maybe slowly) and if you have the function discharge with charger and recharge.
Lithium should be stored at about 50% charge, again away from any extremes. They shouldn't self discharge to a dangerous level in 6 months but it might be worth checking them with a multimeter if you have one to ensure the cell voltage doesn't drop below 3v. When you need them just charge them as usual.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Battery is a sealed lead-acid type.
Posted 12 years ago # -
In that case get one of the above and realise some weight benefit ;)
SLA should be charged to full and stored away from extremes. It is worth boosting the charge after a few months if possible as lead acid batteries don't like to be completely discharged but they self discharge more quickly than lithium. Fully charge them before use.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Ok, thanks for the advice. The battery is quite hefty. I view this as extra ballast to assist my downhill momentum.
My knowledge of batteries (and electricity in general) is so limited that I'm never sure if leaving them upside down will let the power dribble out all over the floor. Assuming that I could get a compatible connection, could I simply get a lighter battery pack of a different type (but presumably same voltage) and connect it up to my lights?
Posted 12 years ago # -
Probably. Would depend on what the light was expecting. Post up some details, light make model and battery capacity and voltage.
Posted 12 years ago # -
"My knowledge of batteries (and electricity in general) is so limited that I'm never sure if leaving them upside down will let the power dribble out all over the floor."
I LOL'd. Good stuff, sir.
Posted 12 years ago # -
"My knowledge of batteries (and electricity in general) is so limited that I'm never sure if leaving them upside down will let the power dribble out all over the floor."
On the contrary, although you do need to avoid leaving the tops off though lest the power evaporates! ;-)
Posted 12 years ago # -
If your lead/acid battery is, like mine, attached to a halogen bulb (as opposed to those new-fangled LED thingies) beware of the slippery upgrade slope!
Your SLA is a small part of your all-up weight, is cheap, robust, reliable and the light fades slowly as it discharges so you know it's happening!
Posted 12 years ago # -
Just keep using them. If they are D/C/AA/AAA etc.. pop them n something else. If they are proprietry them just charge them once a month.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Best to leave them on the bike in case you're delayed at the
pub... erm.. "office".You never know when you might have to ride home in the dusk/dark and if they're on the bike you can't lose them, you'll also see them daily to remind you to give them a charge now and again :-)
Posted 12 years ago # -
Probably. Would depend on what the light was expecting. Post up some details, light make model and battery capacity and voltage.
Light is one of these (Smart BL201):
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=1387
Don't think it's available any more but replacement batteries are 6V and 4.5Ah.
Bought it about 6 years ago and has served me well (apart from the two new batteries and the flickering connection I had to repair last winter.)
Posted 12 years ago # -
You can get lithium packs in the that size cheap enough, well actually more like 7.5v but the halogens can cope with a little over voltage.
The biggest problem is stopping the battery from being over discharged and ruining it. I'm sure you can buy a "thing" to do this but the easiest thing would be to just keep the battery charged. Based on a single 10w light you'd get about 2.5hrs run time just remember and charge after 2hrs.
Posted 12 years ago # -
OK, thanks for the advice.
Posted 12 years ago #
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