Battery charging with controller connected and accessories lights on

[LowkeeRider]

Hi ES,
Is it bad to charge battery while still connected to the bike (controller) and rear lights on? (hardwired)

 

[amberwolf]

Bad?

I guess it depends on what you mean by "bad".

Assuming everything on the bike is powered by the same battery, it'll take a bit longer to charge the battery while it's draining power at the same time as charging. Probably not enough to really notice.

If the charger is the type (rare) to not restart once voltage drops enough, then if you just left it like that, eventually the lights/etc would drain the battery. If the charger is like most, it'll just keep restarting as soon as voltage drops below it's HVC point, or as soon as current increases beyond it's cutoff point.

FWIW, if your lights are completely hardwired in with no way to turn them off, you might consider adding a switch, or even an automatic cutoff for when you get off the bike, just so that you don't ever accidentally leave them on and kill the battery.

 

[LowkeeRider]

Okay, I see. It doesn't harm the battery just takes longer to charge.

It's an em3ev battery, has on off switch and timer to turn off the power when inactive. The xt90 connectors are very tight I don't want to repeatedly unplugged it to cause the solder to came loose.

Thanks for reply.