Charging

The default charger provided is 36 Volt 3 Amp and connects to the battery via the dedicated charging connector port.  The unit is marked with the voltage and current specification. The battery should be switched off and the charger should be connected to the mains and then to the battery, at which point charging will start automatically. The battery does not need to be fully discharged prior to charging (i.e. there is no 'memory effect' for Li batteries), and in fact battery life will be enhanced by avoiding discharging too deeply. Likewise, it is not necessary to completely charge the battery, and the charge process can be terminated at any point by disconnecting the charger from the mains or from the battery.

The charger has a red light displayed while the battery is charging (left hand photo below). When the charge process is complete this will turn green (right hand photo below) and the cooling fan will also stop running.

Note however that the light will also show green if the battery is not connected - green effectively means 'not charging'; not 'fully charged' Therefore, if the charger is disconnected before charging is complete, the light will turn green: this just shows that the charger is not connected, not that the battery is fully charged. If the green light does not turn red when connected, or keeps changing between red and green, then please contact Empowering E-Bikes for advice.

Battery lifetime can be affected by the charging process. Firstly, it is best not to use an excessively high charge rate for any Li battery. Where a battery and charger have been provided together the charger will be selected as being appropriate to the battery to optimise battery life and advice provided accordingly. However, no warranty is provided for the effect of i) charging other batteries with a charger provided by Empowering E-Bikes, or; ii) charging a battery from Empowering E-Bikes with any other charger.  Secondly, battery lifetime can be affected by the level of charge it is stored at. As noted, it is not necessary to fully charge, and in fact battery life is optimised by keeping the battery slightly less than fully charged. If the battery will not be used for a while then it is therefore best to keep it slightly less than fully charged (see the charge meter discussion for further details). Conversely, battery lifetime is also optimised by not fully discharging.