Equalising the Battery

apzs said:
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
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If the app no longer says charging then sounds like the BMS is happy with the balance of the cells 👍
 
N2STY said:
If the app no longer says charging then sounds like the BMS is happy with the balance of the cells 👍
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Very interesting. I've read everyone here say it takes about 30 mins. So I was surprised to see it done so soon. But thanks for confirming that it's all good. I'll try charge on AC at some point next month again.
 
apzs said:
Very interesting. I've read everyone here say it takes about 30 mins. So I was surprised to see it done so soon. But thanks for confirming that it's all good. I'll try charge on AC at some point next month again.
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Because you started nice and low down 30% it wasn't needed to go past 100% for long
 
Slipstream said:
I do less then that and wouldn't be without my home charger. And cheap night rate on octopus Go.
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I barely do 50 miles a week and probably would have just used the granny and not have bought a home charger if it wasn't for the fact that it came free with the car as part of MG's "Peace of mind" deal in July 2020.
I am glad I have it though, it's much more convenient and more waterproof than the granny.
 
Kithmo said:
I barely do 50 miles a week and probably would have just used the granny and not have bought a home charger if it wasn't for the fact that it came free with the car as part of MG's "Peace of mind" deal in July 2020.
I am glad I have it though, it's much more convenient and more waterproof than the granny.
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Less likely to burn your house down too 🤞
 
Hi. I have an MG5 SR
I don't usually use rapid chargers if I can avoid it, but recently I had to use them a fair bit over 3 days as I was traveling around and clocked up 700 miles in 3 days. Nearly all my charging was done with Rapid Chargers.
When I got back and plugged it into my home wall charger (Sync EV) I was at 35%. I'm on Octopus go, so I just let the charging kick in as normal. It usually charges at 6.25 to 6.8 kwh until either at 100% or 04:30 which is the end of the cheap rate on Octopus Go. What I noticed this time was that it started at 6.8 kwh but then dropped to 4.25 kwh for the duration of the charge. It was at 70% when it finished at 04:30.
Would this be balancing as I had used a lot of Rapid Chargers, usually to 80% but once to 95%?
 
Gadget Geek said:
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. :)
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👍did the same thing and added battery storage last year, should have done that sooner methinks😀
 
ElectricBenSolar said:
Whats your setup for this to use excess solar? Looking to do the same. Thanks!
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Hi there. At the moment I just set the granny to 6 Amps and split the excess between the car and the house battery. However, I am looking at wiring a 12 volt solar switch into the Communication Pilot lead so that the granny starts the charge when the sun shines and pauses the charge when the clouds drift over. I've ordered the parts off Amazon so I'll do some experiments and post the results.
 
Gadget Geek said:
Hi there. At the moment I just set the granny to 6 Amps and split the excess between the car and the house battery. However, I am looking at wiring a 12 volt solar switch into the Communication Pilot lead so that the granny starts the charge when the sun shines and pauses the charge when the clouds drift over. I've ordered the parts off Amazon so I'll do some experiments and post the results.
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So, I did a proof of concept this morning to see if a relay could remote switch the CP (Communication Pilot) signal.

I took the back off my variable current granny charger, and all the leads were conveniently labelled, and the CP lead was bolted to the PCB rather than soldered, which made it easy.

I connected some test leads from the output of the relay to the CP lead and the CP terminal on the PCB. I then used a variable voltage power supply to apply 5 volts to the input of the relay..

I connected the charger to the car and switched it on . . . no blue lights at the charge port (that's because there was no pilot signal). I switched on my power supply and put 5 volts on the trigger. Blue lights came on, relays clicked and the car started charging. Took the 5 volts off the trigger, relays clicked and the lights went from green to blue. Result!

Now I know it will work, I will put together a light sensitive switch to apply the 5 volt trigger for when the sun comes out. I'll post the project in a new thread for any hobbyists out there who want to make their own. :)
 
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Gadget Geek said:
So, I did a proof of concept this morning to see if a relay could remote switch the CP (Communication Pilot) signal.

I took the back off my variable current granny charger, and all the leads were conveniently labelled, and the CP lead was bolted to the PCB rather than soldered, which made it easy.

I connected some test leads from the output of the relay to the CP lead and the CP terminal on the PCB. I then used a variable voltage power supply to apply 5 volts to the input of the relay..

I connected the charger to the car and switched it on . . . no blue lights at the charge port (that's because there was no pilot signal). I switched on my power supply and put 5 volts on the trigger. Blue lights came on, relays clicked and the car started charging. Took the 5 volts off the trigger, relays clicked and the lights went from green to blue. Result!

Now I know it will work, I will put together a light sensitive switch to apply the 5 volt trigger for when the sun comes out. I'll post the project in a new thread for any hobbyists out there who want to make their own. :)
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Most of the parts came this week and this morning the forecast was for sunny intervals, so I jury rigged the solar switch into the portable EVSE (granny charger). Success! I put 10 miles of range into the battery off and on through the morning. :)

I'll do a seperate post in the general forum of parts list and assembly for anyone who hasn't got a Zappi or equivalent and doesn't want to spend hundreds of pounds replacing their dumb charger.
 
I've put together a PDF on how I made the solar switch. It was fairly straightforward, with no soldering, and anyone with a basic knowledge of electronics should be able to have a go.

If you do decide to have a go, you do so at your own risk of damaging your equipment.

Can't afford a Zappi? Turn your granny charger into a solar charger.

Hi everyone, As the title suggests, I already have a home charger, a Pod-Point which came free with my first EV. I have solar panels on the roof and a variable current granny charger which I use to syphon off any excess generation. For this, I have to keep an eye on the weather and use the...
www.mgevs.com www.mgevs.com
 
Muffin said:
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
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In the case I assume you have the normal range with LFP batteries. I suppose it has a BMS for LFP build in and cells are always equalized by the BMS. LFP can be charged/discharged 10%-100% without problem.
 
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