Old 01-15-11 | 11:33 AM
  #52  
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colleen c
I am a caffine girl
 
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,815
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From: Bay Area

Bikes: 2012 Stumpjumper FSR Comp...2010 Scott CR1 CF...2007 Novara FS Float2.0...2009 Specialized Hardrock Disc...2009 Schwinn Le Tour GSr

Originally Posted by Richard Cranium
Colleen, nice work. Assuming the charger does indeed have sufficiently rated components then the lower charge rate is indeed a plus with respect to battery life.

However, if the charger "heats up" when charging a completely discharged battery - and if indeed it is NOT limiting the charge rate to nearly 1 amp - then the semi-conductors used in the chargers "gate circuitry" are insufficient in value or capacity. (hmmmm?)

I missed it - but did you measure the current at the very beginning of a charge of a completely drained battery?

Was it indeed down near 1 amp, or was it more like 1.6A?

In addition to the measuring you have performed -I used an Excel sheet in conjunction with a stop watch to to record and calculate watt/hours produced during discharge. Although it is necessary to "average" the values across x/minute periods - it is still reasonably accurate method of determining "true" battery/run time /watt hour capacity.

Thanks for getting "down to it" - the bike forums are a better place for people like you.

You get the:
Anti-Richard Cranium Award
for best post to the Lights Forum
Thank you Richard for the award. Wow, first time I've received a reward through a public forum

The battery was completely drain to the time when the Titan light automatic switched to Lo mode. At that time, it was ran for almost 4hrs minus a few minutes. I let the pack rested for a while to let the voltage bounce back to a stable state, then I plugged in the charger. The current remain 0.94 amps from the start and throughout the first half hour while I was monitoring it. It never got above the 0.94 reading which is a good thing as it show the charger has a stable limit clamp for what it is rated for. Somewhere between the 1 and 2nd hrs was when the charge current start to taper down to 0.78amps and so did the housing temperature.
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