When to charge the battery

[Waggy]

I have just purchased a Jetson Pro ebike with a 36V 6 amp battery. I checked the battery when I first got it and it was 100%, so I went for a ride. I am not sure if I made 3 miles! I then charged it and just used it. I then planned on a 6 mile trip and charged it fully. Now it says 25% - 50%. Does it harm the battery to recharge when it is not fully discharged?

I am planning on taking the bike camping and not have 120 V power. Any ideas on recharging it. I thought of solar panel to 120 converter to battery charger.

It should be interesting to see if I live through this ebike! I have gone on two long trips and crashed both times! The last crash was into some soft bushs.

[73Eldo]

Here is a thread I just started about trying to use a 'solar charge controller' for charging E bike batteries on the go. Still in the early stages now but it looks promising. Sounds like another member also got his but hasn't yet had time to play with it. I did some initial testing with tool batteries but have not yet had time to come back and start testing on the bike packs.

https://electricbike.com/forum/forum/batteries/diy-packs/127985-mpt-7210a-solar-charge-controller-for-charging-bike-packs-from-12v

NiCads were the ones that liked to be fully discharged before charging. Most E bike batteries these days are some sort of Lithium and they don't especially care about being partially discharged. Pretty similar stuff to what is in a laptop or phone these days. They do say that if you can keep them between 80% and 20% you should be able to get longer than their rated number of charge cycles with less degradation. They also say you should not leave them a 100% if they are going to sit for a while.

3 miles seems pretty short unless you and your bike are extra demanding. Lots of variables, a 300 pound dude on a 3000w bike going 30 mph throttle only may only get 5 miles out of a 20 amp hour pack. A 100 pound dude on a 250w bike going 11 mph on pedal assist may get 20 miles on a 5 amp hour pack. Your mileage may vary as they say.......

Its also possible that you just need a few cycles to balance your pack. A nice easy steady discharge followed by a full 100% charge should help all the individual cells in the pack balanced out. Its possible that it sat on the shelf a long time so some cells were lower than others which then drags the whole pack down. Once they get balanced you should get a little more range. If you don't you will have to tell us a little more about you, the bike, and how you are riding and we can guess if your range sounds reasonable or if you maybe got a fake or dud battery.

[Waggy]

I am 220 pounds, 350 watt motor, max speed 15 mph, battery 36V, 6.0 lithium-ion

[73Eldo]

I don't have any experience with 350w and 36v but 3 miles seems pretty low range for only 15 mph. Hopefully a few charge and discharge cycles will improve things. I would guess they would advertise that bike to be maybe 20 mile range.

[Dshue]

A 36v 6ah pack is only 216wh.
While that is small it should have gotten you more than 3 miles. Closer to 9 miles at full throttle with no pedaling, thats IF the motor peak is actually 350w, most motors peak higher than their rated wattage, some ebike brands advertise using peak watts.

[BlackWhite]

Each one of the battery types can easily be removed for indoor charging. Charging works exactly the identical way as when you charge your cell phone or notebook. Each bicycle is supplied with a charger and a level battery is completely charged in 4 to 6 hours. In addition, the batteries can be charged on or off the bikes.
The electrical motorcycle battery doesn't have to be completely discharged before it's recharged. A Lithium battery has no "memory" and can be charged at any time. It is perfectly okay to recharge the battery after a brief ride so the battery is fully charged prior to another ride.

[Waggy]

The bike is lasting longer every time I use it. I am still thinking a bigger battery would be nice. I see on ebay the 30V 6 amh batteries are far more expensive than the 30V 20amh battery.. I am wondering if I could use the bigger one as it would last longer and cost less!