Ok, here's a query that applies to me and that I was thinking, with winter approaching, of making on this forum. I have a Ping LiFePO battery and, with the marginal weather we've been having these last few weeks, we're doing less and less outdoor riding. Soon we'll stop riding outdoors altogether and will switch to riding indors on stationary bikes. The battery will be sitting idle for 4-5 months, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to store it.
So, is draining the battery to about 50% the right way to store it for that period of time? There seem to be varying opinions about this. And, by the way, how do I know what 50% (of this 36 volt, 20 Ah battery) is? I've got a CA v 3 that tells me how many amp hours I've used. Do put a full charge in the battery, then run it down about 10 Ah?
On a somewhat related note, there is talk in this thread--and I've seen similar statements in other forum threads--about "balancing cells." Not being terribly well informed about electricity and electronics, I presume this means bringing all cells that make up the battery to roughly the same voltage level: is that correct? If so, how does one go about balancing a battery like the Ping LiFePO? After all, it's got a circuit board (the BMS, I assume) taped to the top and the whole thing is shrink-wrapped. Would the balancing being spoken of require gaining access to individual cells? Or is there some other way of doing it?
LATER EDIT: I see over at http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15784 that the BMS should be disconnected for long-term storage so that it doesn't drain down too far the cell it uses to power itself (note to self)