Battery related issues thread

[Karinshi]

What a luck... 3 months waiting for my bike to came with the rear tire punctured, bad battery, no handguard screws, the front inside mirrors for the light rebound came very uptilt so i blind people at night and there is no way to fix it other than a new entire light... and i think thats it, nice.

 

[Theo]

I've contacted Stark, and so far they've recommended a 48-hour extended charge, but they haven't specified how to do it other than that I can't do it because my bike shuts off. So, what they told me isn't useful. I'm exchanging messages with them at the moment, lets see what happens.

I don't know exactly what they've told you, but, from what you have written, if I were in your shoes I would personally do this:
1) see what is the lowest charging power that you can choose: I think 0.1 kw
2) calculate how much energy is recharged in 48 h at the aformentioned charging power: 0.1 kW • 48 h = 4.8 kWh
3) calculate the percentage of the battery which needs to be added to increase by the number calculated at point n°2: 4.8 kWh is 67% of 7.2 kWh
4) since 100% - 67% = 33%, discharge the bike to 33%
5) start charging it at 0.1 kw; if everything works as expected, it will hopefully reach 100% in 48 h

Maybe they want it to charge very slowly because currently the cells in the battery are not balanced enough to be recharged faster.

 

[Karinshi]

I don't know exactly what they've told you, but, from what you have written, if I were in your shoes I would personally do this:
1) see what is the lowest charging power that you can choose: I think 0.1 kw
2) calculate how much energy is recharged in 48 h at the aformentioned charging power: 0.1 kW • 48 h = 4.8 kWh
3) calculate the percentage of the battery which needs to be added to increase by the number calculated at point n°2: 4.8 kWh is 67% of 7.2 kWh
4) since 100% - 67% = 33%, discharge the bike to 33%
5) start charging it at 0.1 kw; if everything works as expected, it will hopefully reach 100% in 48 h

Maybe they want it to charge very slowly because currently the cells in the battery are not balanced enough to be recharged faster.

Yes man, thats what im going to do tomorrow. But i dont know if its going to be possible to do a full charge because when it reaches about 85/90% It shuts down automaticaly even with slow charge on low power, i try 0.8kw and It shuts down, thats the lower i went.
I think the slowest you can go is 0.3kw so i will try that. If It shuts down i will lose a lot of time trying to turn It on again not to mention that i need to stay near the bike to respond faster. I Will watch movies all day near the bike i think jajaja


Thank you very much for your time

 

[Karinshi]

I don't know exactly what they've told you, but, from what you have written, if I were in your shoes I would personally do this:
1) see what is the lowest charging power that you can choose: I think 0.1 kw
2) calculate how much energy is recharged in 48 h at the aformentioned charging power: 0.1 kW • 48 h = 4.8 kWh
3) calculate the percentage of the battery which needs to be added to increase by the number calculated at point n°2: 4.8 kWh is 67% of 7.2 kWh
4) since 100% - 67% = 33%, discharge the bike to 33%
5) start charging it at 0.1 kw; if everything works as expected, it will hopefully reach 100% in 48 h

Maybe they want it to charge very slowly because currently the cells in the battery are not balanced enough to be recharged faster.

What concerns me too is that thr bike doesnt automaticaly turn off when complete charge Its reached, its stay on until you unplug the charger, thats weird, It needs to have some form of limit, a switch on the charger or something

 

[Theo]

What concerns me too is that thr bike doesnt automaticaly turn off when complete charge Its reached, its stay on until you unplug the charger, thats weird, It needs to have some form of limit, a switch on the charger or something

My Gen 1 MX keeps a blue LED light on even when fully charged and it turns off to standby mode, i. e. with flashing red LED, only when I disconnect the charger; when it turns off I can also hear a clicking noise which I suppose is the main contactor closing.
Does your bike turn off when you disconnect the charger?

 

[Karinshi]

My Gen 1 MX keeps a blue LED light on even when fully charged and it turns off to standby mode, i. e. with flashing red LED, only when I disconnect the charger; when it turns off I can also hear a clicking noise which I suppose is the main contactor closing.
Does your bike turn off when you disconnect the charger?

yes if i disconnect the charger it turn off (idle with red blinking every 3 seconds) but if not it stays on forever doing a 0.1KW charging

 

[AL_V]

yes if i disconnect the charger it turn off (idle with red blinking every 3 seconds) but if not it stays on forever doing a 0.1KW charging

It's probably balancing cells, that can take a very long time, and it will seem like nothing is happening.

 

[Theo]

yes if i disconnect the charger it turn off (idle with red blinking every 3 seconds) but if not it stays on forever doing a 0.1KW charging

As far as I know it's normal that it behaves like that when it reaches the maximum state of charge set in the app (of course it's not normal that it does that before having reached the state of charge like in your case). So in my opinion your only problem is that it stops charging before due time but I wouldn't worry about the fact that it doesn't turn off.
You could also just set a state of charge like 50% and leave it always plugged; in that case, the charger would keep supplying a little bit of current just to compensate for the self discharge. I personally don't do that because I dislike the idea to go to bed or leave the house with the bike under charge and unattended.

It's probably balancing cells, that can take a very long time, and it will seem like nothing is happening.

That's a possible theory, too.

 

[Karinshi]

It's probably balancing cells, that can take a very long time, and it will seem like nothing is happening.

Mine was balancing cells from 99 to 100 for 2 hours and doesnt end. I have to disconnect It because i needed to leave my house, they claim 2 hours charging time

 

[AL_V]

Mine was balancing cells from 99 to 100 for 2 hours and doesnt end. I have to disconnect It because i needed to leave my house, they claim 2 hours charging time

2 Hours for a regular charge, but if (and this is only a theory) your battery cells never got fully properly balanced, it could potentially take a couple days.
I built a DIY ebike years ago with cells from laptop batteries, and the first balance took a few days.

 

[rayivers]

It's probably balancing cells, that can take a very long time, and it will seem like nothing is happening.

+1, on my Alta and Zeros at least. My Kill-a-Watt shows the Alta charger pulling small current bursts for hours after bulk charge is done (I always go at least 2h more, sometimes overnight). Like Stark, Alta did not mention this in their manual - I had to learn about it here. My Zero batteries had balancing-charge indicators.

 

[Karinshi]

2 Hours for a regular charge, but if (and this is only a theory) your battery cells never got fully properly balanced, it could potentially take a couple days.
I built a DIY ebike years ago with cells from laptop batteries, and the first balance took a few days.

Okey. I managed to do a full charge on the first day, It reached 100% and when i disconnected and drive It says MAX. For my understanding thats balancing the cells, it should be balanced after that. But after that charge it will never reach 100 again, just 85/90%

Thank you for your knowledge

 

[AL_V]

Okey. I managed to do a full charge on the first day, It reached 100% and when i disconnected and drive It says MAX. For my understanding thats balancing the cells, it should be balanced after that. But after that charge it will never reach 100 again, just 85/90%

Thank you for your knowledge

I would ride it and run it as low as reasonable without having to push it home.
Then put it on the charger overnight, and check it in the morning, and if necessary, perhaps leave it on the charger for a couple days without touching any buttons.

 

[Karinshi]

Y

I would ride it and run it as low as reasonable without having to push it home.
Then put it on the charger overnight, and check it in the morning, and if necessary, perhaps leave it on the charger for a couple days without touching any buttons

Yes man i already try that and It just charge to 85% or 90% and then It turns off by itself, no charging, phone off and red blinking led

 

[AL_V]

Yes man i already try that and It just charge to 85% or 90% and then It turns off by itself, no charging, phone off and red blinking led

I assume you have contacted Stark support, but in the meantime, I would try this:
Start charging (from below 70%) then set the charge limit to 75% to see if it stops at the limit you set.

 

[Karinshi]

I assume you have contacted Stark support, but in the meantime, I would try this:
Start charging (from below 70%) then set the charge limit to 75% to see if it stops at the limit you set.

Thank you for the response, i already do that too, it stops at the percentage i set, i think i select literally 75% but never stops giving electricity, it seems that even if It reach that limit its still charging on low power current, between 0.1kw and 0.3kw, i think i let It for 3 hours and then i unplug the charger, i dont know If its good to let the charger plug in while the limit is reached...

The manual said that once the charging is done, disconnect the charger immediatly

 

[AL_V]

Well, yes, the manual says that because the manual was written before we had the option to set a limit.
Now that you can set a limit, Stark has suggested to leave it plugged in with the limit set at 50% for long term storage.
Regardless, it sounds like you need support from Stark.
They used to respond in one business day, but since the EX deliveries started, their response time has increased.
I would keep contacting them at least twice a week, but at least you can still ride your bike.
Good luck, hope they get you sorted out.