Astroflight charger for D/C lithium

[docnjoj]

Hey folks! I just bit the bullet and ordered a 36V 10ah duck tape battery from Ping! It will be for my wife's Bike-e with brushed motor. She averages about 3 amps of drawdown from her Nicads now per hour ride. She pedals like crazy and tries to avoid the throttle! My question is: Can I use the discharge mode of my Astro112deluxe charger to check for total amps in the Lithium? It loads at 1.25 amps and shuts off at 30 volts or 1.0 volt per cell. That should equate to about 3 volts per cell Lithium? I ask because it has the equivalent of a Whatameter on its panel to read total volts, amps etc.
Thanks
David

 

[docnjoj]

Oh well! Not only did no one from this group respond, but even hizonner Bob Boucher didnt e-mail me! Makes one wonder, but I believe it would work! A load is a load, even 1.25 amps, and the LVC of the battery should shut it down before damage occurs. Is that right?
David

 

[Link]

So, you're wanting to test your batts with the discharge test mode on your charger?

Methinks that should work :wink:. You might want to keep an eye on it, though. I think 1V/cell is a little low for LiFePO4.

 

[docnjoj]

Thanks Link! Astroflight apparently is going for the electric bike market. They have 3 new products for E-bikes, namely throttles, on their website for Apr 22 start. They seem to be for brushed motors only! Astro makes good quality American and at a good price, and has been for 40 something years. I do my best to support them when I can!
David

 

[docnjoj]

Bob boucher did get back to me and said: "Yes, U can use the D/C side of a 112Deluxe charger to check for Amps in LiFEPo4. It pulls only 1.25 amps but will shut off at 3 volts/cell. So, 2-3 more 10 milers and we will see if Ping Batts are near 10 am0/hrs. Obviously, her bike pulls more amps than the test, but it will give some indication of Capacity.
David

 

[patrick_mahoney]

I've used my Astroflight 109 in discharge mode to discharge my 12s8p lithium ion pack by reconfiguring it as a 6s16p pack and then discharging it down to 3V/cell. I've only done it twice, but both times it worked fine - it took a really long time, but it worked fine. And it was a good way to find the true capacity of the pack.