MG4 balancing/equalisation charge

[JimmyTwotimes]

Hey everyone

Saw a vid on YouTube on battery balancing for the MG4 so wondered how important it is.

I've never done it nor was I advised by the dealer to do it (had the car about 4 months from new). Did a search on here but only found info related to the ZS.

So:

1. Should I do it for my MG4 Trophy?
2. How often?
3. I use intelligent octopus Go and a Zappi charger. The charging will stop when it hits whatever percentage I've set it for, so how do I force the charge to keep going past the set amount for charge, to achieve the balancing?

Any info appreciated or links to a thread if one already exists.

Thank you.

 

[Martinonline]

Corindikev, have you seen the battery balancing message? If so could you please attach a picture.

Are you saying that if the app is showing the current time as the end time at the set level (ie. 100% in your case) and, presumably that the end time is increasing, then that is the app indication that the battery is balancing?

 

[MSvirus]

Another thing, when the app just about reaches 100% displayed, and the current changes but not falls very low, it is probably still charging. I found several SoC indicators with a OBD tool on my car, which has some discrepancy. It could be that SoC-displayed is 100% and SoC-2 is 98%. This could complicate these findings further.

 

[tsedge]

Hey everyone

Saw a vid on YouTube on battery balancing for the MG4 so wondered how important it is.

I've never done it nor was I advised by the dealer to do it (had the car about 4 months from new). Did a search on here but only found info related to the ZS.

So:

1. Should I do it for my MG4 Trophy?
2. How often?
3. I use intelligent octopus Go and a Zappi charger. The charging will stop when it hits whatever percentage I've set it for, so how do I force the charge to keep going past the set amount for charge, to achieve the balancing?

Any info appreciated or links to a thread if one already exists.

Thank you.

1. Yes
2. Monthly is MG's recommended minimum
3. I don't know - others will

 

[Corindikev]

Corindikev, have you seen the battery balancing message? If so could you please attach a picture.

Are you saying that if the app is showing the current time as the end time at the set level (ie. 100% in your case) and, presumably that the end time is increasing, then that is the app indication that the battery is balancing?

I don't think the App has any software written to monitor balancing at all. It knows that there is still charge going in to the battery but as it has already reached 100% it cannot display any future time for the balance process to terminate so just displays the current time. This time will not advance if the screen is just left on. Exit and check again and it will continue to show charging, the kW processed by the onboard charger and the current time.

I can't show a picture as I never took a photo at the time. If I remember and it happens when I am awake, I'll do this next month.

 

[Rolfe]

Are you saying that if the app is showing the current time as the end time at the set level (ie. 100% in your case) and, presumably that the end time is increasing, then that is the app indication that the battery is balancing?

YES!

Someone had to explain this to me a couple of days after I got the car. The car gets to 100%, but the app shows it as still charging. At this point the finish time and the current time are the same. If you just sit there refreshing the app every few minutes, the finish time updates to the current time on each refresh. This is the balancing stage. In my SE SR it usually lasts 30-35 min. Before they took away the second figure after the decimal point in the new app version, I could see that it was generally drawing about 20 watts with occasional spikes up to 100 watts or so.

Finally, on a refresh, the app shows that the car is not charging and no finish time is given. This is when it's done balancing.

 

[Lovemyev]

YES!

Someone had to explain this to me a couple of days after I got the car. The car gets to 100%, but the app shows it as still charging. At this point the finish time and the current time are the same. If you just sit there refreshing the app every few minutes, the finish time updates to the current time on each refresh. This is the balancing stage. In my SE SR it usually lasts 30-35 min. Before they took away the second figure after the decimal point in the new app version, I could see that it was generally drawing about 20 watts with occasional spikes up to 100 watts or so.

Finally, on a refresh, the app shows that the car is not charging and no finish time is given. This is when it's done balancing.

If you have a home energy meter you can also witness the fluctuation in power being drawn in this way.
Having my App on my phone open, next to the energy meter, you can see the home energy meter mimicking the figures in the App with just a small delay.

 

[Martinonline]

So, we have a conundrum: at the meta level, how do you tell if the battery is balancing?

Is it only when the info screen shows the message 'battery balancing' at 100% as found in a EU video?

Or

Is it when the charging characteristics after reaching a set level mimic those that occur when charging reaches 100%, preferable when the info message is displayed?

More observations required. Those with SR MG4s should be able to see if the UK info system displays the balancing message. (Car needs to be powered up before reaching 100%.) And the charging characteristics afterwards. They may not translate to NMC batteries but it is a starting point.

 

[Rolfe]

I know it's balancing when the app indicates that charging is still in progress but the finish time is the same as the current time and the power draw is negligible.

 

[PeteC]

I know it's balancing when the app indicates that charging is still in progress but the finish time is the same as the current time and the power draw is negligible.

Ditto with my Trophy. And I know when it's finished when it stops charging.

 

[Rolfe]

Zactly.

 

[Martinonline]

I have seen the 'Battery Balancing' message at 100% when charging with my Granny Charger. See the attached photos.

After the Message appeared the power drawn dropped and then varied. An hour and a bit afterwards the app showed a charge rate of 0.1kW; 10 minutes later charging finished. (Note: This behaviour is the same as that I and others have seen for the 80% charge level for the MG NMC battery.)

Why the message is displayed on the Info screen is confusing because in order to see it the car has to be powered up and, I suspect, very few people will do that just to see the message. Much better if it were relayed to the App.

I powered up the car when the charge-level reached 96% and then monitored progress. I had to do it regularly because when I was delayed and went to the car without the key the car declared the charging and discharging options were only available when the car is powered up. When I returned with the key and sat in the driver's seat the warning message disappeared.

 

[Rolfe]

Yeah, the app is ambiguous and you have to know how to interpret what it's saying.

 

[JonnyG]

I have seen the 'Battery Balancing' message at 100% when charging with my Granny Charger. See the attached photos.

After the Message appeared the power drawn dropped and then varied. An hour and a bit afterwards the app showed a charge rate of 0.1kW; 10 minutes later charging finished. (Note: This behaviour is the same as that I and others have seen for the 80% charge level for the MG NMC battery.)...........

Just to clarify for my own benefit ....are you saying the Battery Charging message lasted 1 hour and a bit ?

 

[tsedge]

Just to clarify for my own benefit ....are you saying the Battery Charging message lasted 1 hour and a bit ?

It can certainly take that long, if the battery hasn't been balanced in a while.

 

[Lovemyev]

(Note: This behaviour is the same as that I and others have seen for the 80% charge level for the MG NMC battery.)

I have not not been able to verify this on the test I conducted on my ZS EV LR with the NMC battery though, when charging to 80% SOC.
Maybe just a MG4 thing .

 

[Ian Key]

It can certainly take that long, if the battery hasn't been balanced in a while.

I took mine down to 9% last week but only charged it to 80% as taking it to 100% would have taken longer than my cheap rate was active.
Yesterday I charged it from 67% to 100% and the balance charge took nearly 2 hours.

 

[Tuareg]

Best to own the car rather than let the car own you.

 

[fnegroni]

I took mine down to 9% last week but only charged it to 80% as taking it to 100% would have taken longer than my cheap rate was active.
Yesterday I charged it from 67% to 100% and the balance charge took nearly 2 hours.

That should be sufficient

 

[Mickser]

As mentioned in an earlier post my 7kW single phase charger dropped from over 6kW to 4 - 4.4kW at the time the car and app stated it would reach 100%. The only way to check if it is balancing is to look at the battery functions option in the car infotainment screen and if it is balancing it states this there. The app does not indicate the battery is balancing. It just states charging with the end time being the current time.

Personally I don't think any balancing is done when the battery reaches 80% as this is how I charge 1 to 3 times a week. When I charge to 100% each month that is when the balancing takes place for about half an hour. If using a granny charger it will be much longer

Last week my mg4 reached the 80% I had the car set for,when I opened the car while still plugged there was a message on screen stating balance charging

 

[Martinonline]

Whilst it may not be important:

Is your Trophy a Mk1 or Mk2? and

What is the version number of your infotainment system?