Leave the charger hooked up?

[llile]

I am using PING 36V batteries. They come with a handy little microphone jack, that plugs into the meanwell chargers he provides, and hools into the BMS for charging. I keep a charger in my battery case on the bike so I can get a quick refill en route, extending my range.

What if I just left the charger plugged into the microphone jack? Would it cause the battery to discharge, or some other problem, in normal battery-motor relations?

[el_walto]

This will cause the battery to discharge slowly. I'm not sure what rate, might be minimal. The motor and controller will not be effected.

[dogman]

I don't know. But it's damn likely you'll rattle that charger to pieces if you carry it everywhere. They simply are not built like controllers, with lots of vibration proofing.

[dnmun]

if there is no diode in the charger output then the drain down resistor across the output caps on the charger will allow current to flow out of the battery and into that resistor so it would drain the pack if left plugged in and turned off.

[llile]

I don't know. But it's damn likely you'll rattle that charger to pieces if you carry it everywhere. They simply are not built like controllers, with lots of vibration proofing.

Really? I have always carried a charger, sorta like carrying a spare tire. I've got about 1500-2000 miles on the bike now and carried a charger every mile of it. Until I got a second battery, using a charger was the only way to get home! I've also done some multi-day trips, hauling camping gear, and the charger is a necessary accessory in these cases.

My charger is in a foam padded case, same case as my battery, which probably absorbs a lot of shock. I don't charge with the charger in there, it would over heat, but I store a charger with each battery.

[dogman]

Sounds like it's protected some from vibration then. I used to carry a charger, till I got a spare to just keep at work. Went through two chargers in a a few months. Those were very cheap chargers though, with parts inside obviously not made to take any shocks at all. And I was riding a hardtail trike, on roads bad enough that the wheels were quickly bent all to hell.

I have carried the metal 5 amp ping charger quite a bit, with no problems so far. I don't recomend bolting a charger to the frame, where every bit of vibration will transfer into the case.( As I did with the trike) When I do carry a charger now, it's cushioned in the pannier, and the pannier is on a full suspension bike. So I don't carry chargers bolted to the rear rack of a hardtail bike, getting rattled to death.

[dnmun]

you don't really have a charger if it is a meanwell. that is a power supply and the output will have the draindown resistor across the output caps so the pack will drain down if you leave it connected imo. you can measure the draindown current by using the ammeter function on your multimeter and measuring the current when the power supply is turned off.

do you have pictures so we know what it is you are talking about? and if you open the power supply we may be able to show you where the draindown resistor is so you could remove it. if you wanna.

[dogman]

I bet it's not a meanwell. The metal kingpan 5 amp charger may be what it is. Nearly as much watts as a S 350 meanwell though.

Those have proven to be the most "carryable" charger for me. Cheaper plastic ones are the type I kept ruining by carrying. But I'd still unplug it when not charging, even if you used it like I did, charging 22 out of 24 hours nearly every day.