Tuesday, May 31, 2022

BATTERY TEST ON BATTERY #15

Watt hours = 642.70

Ah hours = 13.27

These figures are very good considering the battery's about 18 months old. When it was new I tested it and got about 660 Wh. So the loss is only 2% or 3%.

That said, this battery (and the four others purchased at the same time: batteries #s 11 through 15) have a lot more voltage sag than batteries #s 1 through 10.

So, when the battery has used up about 40% of its energy the voltage sag is sufficient to cause the bike to stall out when accelerating from a standing start. To avoid stalling one must accelerate from a standing start very gingerly.

Odometer reading 10835 km

Update:

These batteries (#s 11 - 15) are poor performers when used singly but are very good when used in tandem.

When one battery is reduced to 60% of its charge it results in problems with stalling on full acceleration. Using two batteries in parallel gives us 200% of power. We can use 140% before we get down to the 60% of power before problems begin. 

This means that the second battery can utilise 100% of its power. It gets even better when you use three batteries in parallel (which is what I use when I pull a trailer).

Monday, May 30, 2022

SELLING THE BIKE. IMPORTANT STUFF #1: THE BATTERIES

click on image to enlarge

I have 15 batteries. 

There are ten 52 v x 16 amp and five 52 v x 13 amp.

The first thing a buyer will want to know is: What condition are these batteries in?

The answer lies in the amount of usable power in each battery. Usable power is defined as how many Watt hours (Wh) will the battery deliver.

Toward this end I will be testing each battery. The test will be:

1st: Fully charge the battery.

2nd: Fully deplete the battery and record the Wh used.

Naturally, these tests will require that I only use one battery at a time instead of my normal multiple battery setup.

Simple as pie.

Wash and repeat 15 times.


Sunday, May 29, 2022

BIKE DIARY MAY 29/22

 Guangzhou, China

Today was my 51st wedding anniversary. Marrying my sweetheart was the best thing I have ever done - by far!

I'm old and starting to get very tired. I have decided to retire from biking when I get to 13,000 km. Why that number? It is the distance from Lyon, France to Guangzhou, China. In 2018 they had an e bike race between these two cities starting in Lyon. The distance? 13,000 km. So, in my own mind, I will have completed the race - at least, metaphorically.

Start time 9:00 pm 

Temp 16.1 C

Start Voltage                                 57.8
Finish Voltage                               50.7
Ah                                                 15.50
Trip Distance                                41.80 km
Distance                                      10801 km                                
Time                                             76:49
Av. Speed                                     32.6
Trip Wh/km                                   19.0
Trip Wh                                       790.37

Saturday, May 28, 2022

BIKE DIARY MAY 28/22

I must say that it seems very cool for this time of year. And wet. And the forecast for the next two weeks is for more of the same.

Start time 8:30 pm 

Temp 15.1 C

Start Voltage                                 57.5
Finish Voltage                               53.5
Ah                                                 10.95
Trip Distance                                28.11 km
Distance                                      10759 km                                
Time                                             48.22
Av. Speed                                     34.7
Trip Wh/km                                   20.4
Trip Wh                                       570.52

Friday, May 27, 2022

BIKE DIARY MAY 27/22 (Battery Test) (Updated)

Tonight's run was to test my oldest battery. I did that by running it until it was depleted. The battery ran out of juice after using 715 Wh. When the battery was new it had 800+ Wh of usable power. This represents about a 10% loss. Not bad considering the battery is almost 5 years old.

The battery was originally rated for 16 Ah but tonight it only delivered 14.8 Ah. This reduction in Ah is consistent with the reduction in Wh.

Data for tonight is incomplete because of the test.

Start time 8:45 pm

Temp 13.1 C

Start Voltage                                 58.0
Finish Voltage                               40.1
Ah                                                 14.8
Trip Distance                                ? km
Distance                                      10731 km                                
Time                                               n/a
Av. Speed                                     27.7
Trip Wh/km                                   19.6
Trip Wh                                        715.0

UPDATE:
I also measured the number of Wh used per Ah.

So the fully charged battery has 15 Ah it also has 715 Wh of usable energy.

Using the above numbers one would expect the battery to deplete at the rate of 48 Wh per Ah. But this expectation would be wrong.

This is because the battery voltage is also going down as it depletes.

Starting voltage with no load is about 58 volts and final voltage with no load is about 43 volts - a drop 15 volts.

Remember: volts x amps equals watts (or volt/amps).
So 
1st amp x 58 volts =  58 volt/amps
2nd amp x 57 volts = 57 volt/amps
3rd amp x 56 volts = 56 volt/ams
14th amp x 44 volts = 44 volt/amps
15th amp x 43 volts = 43 volt/amps.
(NOTE: it is just coincidental that the total voltage drop and the number of Ah have the same number)

You can see that the 1st two Ah have (58 + 57)115 volt/amps or Wh of usable energy while the last two Ah would have (44+43) 87 Wh of usable energy. 

Conclusion: when you only partially charge your battery the missing Ah have the highest Wh per Ah. So a 90% charge does not mean that you actually have 90% of your energy potential.

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

BIKE DIARY MAY 25/22

 Start time 8:30 pm 

Temp 17.0 C

Start Voltage                                 58.0
Finish Voltage                               48.6
Ah                                                 25.73
Trip Distance                                60.53 km
Distance                                      10696 km                                
Time                                            103:09
Av. Speed                                     35.2
Trip Wh/km                                   21.6
Trip Wh                                      1307.30

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

BATTERY CHARGING TIMES

Below is are charts about charging amounts and the time required for 52v 16A Hailong batteries using a Grin Technologies Satiator charger.

I am able to charge 3 batteries simultaneously by using a 3-headed connector between the charger and the batteries.

Charging 3 batteries at a time and using the same charger setting results in a much slower charging rate (trickle charge).

I use the 3-headed charger for convenience because I don't have to connect a new battery to the charger every 3 hours or so.

If you examine the charging times you should notice two things:

1. A slower charging rate results in more Ah stored in the battery. (this is important when long distance biking)

2. These batteries receive about 90% of their charge in the only 70% of the time it takes to get a full charge.

Note: This is not strictly true (but still close for reasons I will explain in a later post)

Also, I want you to examine my diary numbers. A thoughtful analysis will reveal much insight.


            1 Battery                          3 Batteries  simultaneously

 

  Time            Charge amount       Time      Charge  amount    

  60 minutes =  6.85 Ah                 180 min = 20.24 Ah

  90 minutes =  9.61 Ah                 270 min = 29.70 Ah

120 minutes = 12.49 Ah                360 min = 38.53 Ah   

150 minutes = 14.41 Ah                450 min = 46.80 Ah

180 minutes = 15.49 Ah                540 min = 48.54 Ah     

206 minutes = 15.61 Ah                570 min = 48.69 Ah                                                                              

Charge Completed                       Charge Completed

Monday, May 23, 2022

BIKE DIARY MAY 23/22

click on image to enlarge

Start time 8:00 pm 

Temp 20.0 C

Start Voltage                                 58.0
Finish Voltage                               51.6
Ah                                                 12.96
Trip Distance                                30.37 km
Distance                                      10635 km                                
Time                                             51:08
Av. Speed                                     35.6
Trip Wh/km                                   21.7
Trip Wh                                       655.39

Sunday, May 22, 2022

BIKE DIARY MAY 22/22 (with update)

I forgot to mention that I did a 0 to 50 km/h acceleration test last night. Time: 11 secs. 

Not bad, I would say, for a 100 lb bike and a 250 lb rider.

Start time 8:45 pm 

Temp 19.1 C

Start Voltage                                 57.8
Finish Voltage                               50.1
Ah                                                 20.13
Trip Distance                                53.95 km
Distance                                      10605 km                                
Time                                            104:07
Av. Speed                                     31.0
Trip Wh/km                                   19.0
Trip Wh                                      1022.0

Friday, May 20, 2022

Bike Diary May 20/22

From the May 16 post:

I'm going to put the bike in the shop tomorrow. I'm going to have them remove the derailleur and I will go with the smallest sprocket. The end result will be a 48 x 13 gear set. This will allow me to pedal along with mild effort at 35 km/h.

Bike is back from the shop. Kept the derailleur because the chain ended up banging against the frame and retaining the derailleur gave me more chain clearance. 

Everything went well with my pedaling contributing about 50 watts of power. Over the 1.5 hours of pedaling that amounts to about 75 Wh. In time I hope be able to contribute more - maybe 100 watts of power. If that actually pans out it would extend my usable range by about 20%.

Start time 9:05 pm 

Temp 19.6 C

Start Voltage                                 57.8
Finish Voltage                               50.6
Ah                                                 19.62
Trip Distance                                50.41 km
Distance                                      10551 km                                
Time                                             93:27
Av. Speed                                     32.3
Trip Wh/km                                   19.8
Trip Wh                                       995.54

Friday, May 13, 2022

BIKE DIARY MAY 13/22

Sheik Zayed Mosque: Abu Dhabi

Click on image to enlarge


Start time 6:30 pm 

Temp 14.1 C

Start Voltage                                 58.0
Finish Voltage                               49.7
Ah                                                 21.5
Trip Distance                                40.31 km
Distance                                      10445 km                                
Time                                             62:52
Av. Speed                                     38.4
Trip Wh/km                                   25.9
Trip Wh                                     1043.9

Monday, May 9, 2022

BIKE DIARY MAY 09/22

 click on image to enlarge

Start time 8:50 pm 

Temp 12.6 C

Start Voltage                                 58.0
Finish Voltage                               52.7
Ah                                                 11.99
Trip Distance                                27.73 km
Distance                                      10405 km                                
Time                                             50:50
Av. Speed                                     32.70
Trip Wh/km                                   22.3
Trip Wh                                      618.29

Sunday, May 8, 2022

BIKE DIARY MAY 08/22

       click on image to enlarge                              

                                                               My Place


Cool again tonight especially down by the river. 

I bought a pair of windproof pants made of the same material as my reflective jacket (commonly used by construction workers) and the lessened windchill on my legs is certainly a benefit. My legs are not chilled to the bone like they normally are and I sleep much better.


Start time 8:49 pm 

Temp 11.6 C

Start Voltage                                 58.0
Finish Voltage                               49.8
Ah                                                 20.36
Trip Distance                                42.30 km
Distance                                      10377 km                                
Time                                             67:14
Av. Speed                                     37.7
Trip Wh/km                                   24.9
Trip Wh                                     1047.80

Friday, May 6, 2022

BIKE DIARY MAY 06/22


Cool again tonight especially down by the river. 

Only 4 weeks until the end of May. The trip through Manning Park is on my mind. The forecast for the end of the month is: night time temps around 3 C. Too cold to ride!! I need the night time temp to be at least 10 C. Perhaps the middle of June.


Start time 8:34 pm 

Temp 11.3 C

Start Voltage                                 58.0
Finish Voltage                               51.6
Ah                                                 16.88
Trip Distance                                34.94 km
Distance                                      10335 km                                
Time                                             55:25
Av. Speed                                     37.8
Wh/km                                          24.3
Trip Wh                                       846.96

Monday, May 2, 2022

BIKE DIARY MAY 02/22

 A little cool tonight. Storm clouds gathering.


Start time 8:10 pm 

Temp 13.5 C

Start Voltage                                 58.0
Finish Voltage                               52.3
Ah                                                 14.73
Trip Distance                                30.46 km
Distance                                      10300 km                                
Time                                             47:49
Av. Speed                                     38.2
Wh/km                                          24.4
Trip Wh                                       737.88

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