Long term storage of Lithium-ion cells
For those who don't have the chance of having hot weather all year long to ride your bike....You need to store your bike for the winter. Here are 3 simple tips:
- Don't store the pack fully charged!!! Store your pack at around 40-50% charge. What is 40-50% charge on a 36V/48V/52V....? Well it's about 3.5V-3.8V per cell so multiply this by the amount of cells you have on your pack (ex: 52V = 14s pack, 14x3.8V= 53.2V /////// and 48V = 13Sx3.8V= 49V//// and 36V is about 38V ). To test the voltage, wait an hour after use (or charge) before measuring with a proper DMM (digital multi meter)
- Leave it in a dry place
- Do not store in temperature extremes of hot or cold. If you must, then cold is better than hot.
- VERY important: Unplug your battery from the controller and the charger even if not plugged to the wall outlet.
- Check the state of charger every month or so.
- IF you leave the battery go empty for too long the battery will likely need to be replaced (and that is not covered under any warranty.)
- When you are ready to use it, make sure it's at room temperature and slowly charge it fully!
CLICK HERE FOR TEMPERATURE EFEECT ON LI-ION BATTERIES
When using the pack again, you will need to put it through the same sort of break-in you would do on a new pack: several cycles where you charge it to 100% so it can do balancing.
To know more I recommend reading this great article
How to make your lithium battery last