Equalising the Battery

[Muffin]

Have no need of a charger at home as I’m doing less than 50 miles a day on average
Is it best to carry on topping up at home 80 to 90 percent when needed.
I was told that to run the battery down to 20% after 6 to 8 weeks go to a station give it a charge up to 80 to 90%
This equalises the battery. Is this correct or do I just carry on using the grannny

 

[N2STY]

Have no need of a charger at home as I’m doing less than 50 miles a day on average
Is it best to carry on topping up at home 80 to 90 percent when needed.
I was told that to run the battery down to 20% after 6 to 8 weeks go to a station give it a charge up to 80 to 90%
This equalises the battery. Is this correct or do I just carry on using the grannny

If it's a long range top up to 80% or 90% when ever you want and convenient to you I top up every day you don't need to run the battery down as for equalisation\balance charging ever now and then just let it charge to 100% but keep it plugged in I do this every 2 to 3 months
You can do all this with your granny if you prefer I personally would be happier with a home charger but that's my preference

 

[Gadget Geek]

I run my long range down to 50% and charge back up to 80% at the weekend (unless there's some free solar going spare in the week ).

 

[fatboyfat1981]

Morning Muffin,

I top up to 80% almost every day, partially because my commute is 75 miles & partially because I can.

Equalising the battery IIRC only happens when you charge to 100% & leave it. Depending on your mileage that might be worth doing between once a fortnight & once a month (or, in my case, when I remember…)

Personally I’d look into getting a home charger fitted as I see the granny just as a backup, however appreciate they aren’t cheap!

 

[Gadget Geek]

Personally I’d look into getting a home charger fitted as I see the granny just as a backup, however appreciate they aren’t cheap!

I use my variable current granny charger to syphon off the excess solar (which I'm doing right now ).

 

[Kithmo]

TBH, I'd say 50 miles a day warrants having a home 7kW charger.

 

[fatboyfat1981]

I use my variable current granny charger to syphon off the excess solar (which I'm doing right now ).

Richey Rich over here with his solar panels.


Not that I’m jealous like

 

[Gadget Geek]

TBH, I'd say 50 miles a day warrants having a home 7kW charger.

I suppose if your cheap tarrif was only 4 hours, then yes, I would agree as 50 miles is about 14kWh, which would take around 5 hours on a granny.

 

[Gadget Geek]

Richey Rich over here with his solar panels.


Not that I’m jealous like

I actually played a blinder when I had the panels fitted 10 years ago. The company did a solar loan which they unbelievably allowed to be paid off without penalty. I let them set it all up and then got another loan at half the interest rate!
System paid for itself in just under 4 years . . . Result.

 

[Kithmo]

I suppose if your cheap tarrif was only 4 hours, then yes, I would agree as 50 miles is about 14kWh, which would take around 5 hours on a granny.

I was thinking more about wear and tear on the granny, although having said that, if it did wear out/break, they are cheaper to replace than a 7kW.

 

[Anf800]

Does anyone know, does the app indicate is balancing is happening or is there any way to know when it’s finished using the app?

 

[fatboyfat1981]

Does anyone know, does the app indicate is balancing is happening or is there any way to know when it’s finished using the app?

There is no specific message shown, however you’ll be able to tell from the charge rate- it’ll drop from 6-7kW down to 3-3.5 for a bit, then down to 1kW, then stop.

There doesn’t appear to be a set timeframe, it’ll depend on how far out of kilter the voltages are (unsure if this is per bank of cells or individual ones). With Moby it takes about 30 minutes-ish when I remember to look at it when I’m on nights, however YMMV.

 

[Anf800]

Ah, thanks. So this morning the charge went to 100%. After a while when I checked on the app and the charging power was at 0. I’m guessing it was done by that point.

 

[N2STY]

Does anyone know, does the app indicate is balancing is happening or is there any way to know when it’s finished using the app?

The app says 100% but it still says charging when it says not charging it's done it will sometimes put the battery heater on as well to assist with balancing

 

[fatboyfat1981]

The app says 100% but it still says charging when it says not charging it's done it will sometimes put the battery heater on as well to assist with balancing

Sounds about right mate. We can probably assume that it showing 100% but still charging is the BMS sorting it’s life out. Once it shows “Not Charging” then you’re good.

 

[apzs]

I did a full charge to 100% last weekend and when it reached 100% the app said Finished and that was it. Does that mean it's done balancing as well? I did balancing after about 7 or 8 months. Don't have access to home charging and nearby AC chargers are always busy except in the middle of the night which I don't think I would want to do. I only use DC charging. I'm sure it's taking a hit on the battery but it's the best I can do for now. Would you guys say the cells are balanced? I saw an indicated range of 289miles on 100% though.

 

[Jomarkh]

If you are doing that much rapid DC charging then you really need to battery balance monthly.
Can you take it to 90% on a rapid then finish it on a fast AC EVSE or 'granny' unit

 

[apzs]

If you are doing that much rapid DC charging then you really need to battery balance monthly.
Can you take it to 90% on a rapid then finish it on a fast AC EVSE or 'granny' unit

I stay in a flat and it doesn't have access to put a granny charger. There are a few AC's around me but mostly occupied pretty much all the time. I'll try make a bit more of an effort to AC charge once a month

 

[N2STY]

I did a full charge to 100% last weekend and when it reached 100% the app said Finished and that was it. Does that mean it's done balancing as well? I did balancing after about 7 or 8 months. Don't have access to home charging and nearby AC chargers are always busy except in the middle of the night which I don't think I would want to do. I only use DC charging. I'm sure it's taking a hit on the battery but it's the best I can do for now. Would you guys say the cells are balanced? I saw an indicated range of 289miles on 100% though.

Did you take it to 100% on DC not balanced or AC balanced

 

[apzs]

Did you take it to 100% on DC not balanced or AC balanced

100% on AC. Took it to the AC post with 30% charge and later in the afternoon it was at 100%. Saw it hit 99% and then 5 mins later 100% and the app said Finished. So not sure if that means it's balanced the cells