Hello everyone,
Last week I bought an extra battery pack for my old transport bike. I did that because I needed some more engine power. And it succeed!
This let me to do a lot of reading about charging battery-packs. It bvecame clear to me that charging battery-pack to the max is not so good as charging to 90%.
I use LiFePO4 cells from headway (40152 15 Ampere per cell) Normally it will be charged until 3,55 volt to 3,65 volt. Because I didn't found a good
BMS at my headway seller. I ordered only the cells... and desided to charge this second pack manually. And It's a lot of work.... But you also learn a lot about your charging pack.
At the beginning the charge will go slow.... every 10th volt takes a longtime. But when you get to 3,4 or around that voltage things go quick... With other words after 3,4 the cels do not hold a lot of electrons.
That made me wonder why try to get the battery cells to the max? Charging to the maximum level of charge gives the cell and so the lifepo4 a lot of stress. Avoiding stress is the best way to preserve a battery pack. So why not stop charging at 3,40 volt. I think it will make your cells 40% more durable....
LiFePO4 has 2000 cycles until it really declines.... In time it could be 12 to 20 years.... What will happen if the cells don't charge to the max but to 90% I think/hope to get perhaps 15 years or perhaps 25 years.
When I ride my bike I see the voltage drop from full to 3,40 volt in the first kilometer of cycling. And when I come home I have still a lot of power... oft around 3,26 volt. So why fully charge and give battery-pack stress...
Does any one has experiance to change the charger to lower voltage and what will happen with the
BMS? Can I change vallues on that too? Or is it better to lose the
BMS?
Let me know what you all think!
Greatings,
Philip
