JennyB
1 kW
My sister has offered to look after Mum for a couple of weeks at the end of June, so it looks like I will finally be able to take that long trip!
I 'm planning to take a loop round the North of Ireland, visiting a few friends and relations and staying in bed&breakfast or hostels in between. I have plenty of experience on the cycling side, but would appreciate any help and advice to ensure that the electrics are reliable.
My 36v 15ah Ping can manage an average of 45-50 miles on a charge over 4-5 hours, including camera stops and natural breaks. I don't plan on going any faster than that, but I would like to go further, which means either more battery and/or opportunity charging. At most 75-100 miles on some days, which is, at all, as far as a Pony Express rider would do in a day at full gallop with ten changes of mount.
Recharging is enticing because it means I won't have to carry an extra 12 lbs of battery on those days when I'm not going so far, but on the current battery (assuming that I am recharging on the middle two-thirds) it means 10 amp hours of charging for 75 miles, or 20 for 100 miles. My little 2.5 amp charger won't be fast enough, and 5 amps seems marginal.
I know that some of you charge Pings at 10 amps by bypassing the BMS, but is there a charger that is light and reliable enough to do that on the road and also do overnight balance charging? Alternatively, I am very tempted by the 20 ah BMSBattery LiNiCoMn, which is about the same size and weight. It comes with a 4 amp charger, which would be the equivalent of charging the Ping at 8 amps for 75 miles range (5 ah) or 5.3 amps for 100 miles (15 ah).
I 'm planning to take a loop round the North of Ireland, visiting a few friends and relations and staying in bed&breakfast or hostels in between. I have plenty of experience on the cycling side, but would appreciate any help and advice to ensure that the electrics are reliable.
My 36v 15ah Ping can manage an average of 45-50 miles on a charge over 4-5 hours, including camera stops and natural breaks. I don't plan on going any faster than that, but I would like to go further, which means either more battery and/or opportunity charging. At most 75-100 miles on some days, which is, at all, as far as a Pony Express rider would do in a day at full gallop with ten changes of mount.
Recharging is enticing because it means I won't have to carry an extra 12 lbs of battery on those days when I'm not going so far, but on the current battery (assuming that I am recharging on the middle two-thirds) it means 10 amp hours of charging for 75 miles, or 20 for 100 miles. My little 2.5 amp charger won't be fast enough, and 5 amps seems marginal.
I know that some of you charge Pings at 10 amps by bypassing the BMS, but is there a charger that is light and reliable enough to do that on the road and also do overnight balance charging? Alternatively, I am very tempted by the 20 ah BMSBattery LiNiCoMn, which is about the same size and weight. It comes with a 4 amp charger, which would be the equivalent of charging the Ping at 8 amps for 75 miles range (5 ah) or 5.3 amps for 100 miles (15 ah).