Storage of lights...

"Steve Rumsby" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

With the evenings getting lighter and BST just around the
corner my lights will soon be redundant (well, mostly -
I'm rarely out late on a bike). I bought some new SLA
powered front lights in the New Year sale and I'm not sure
what's the best way to store an SLA battery for long
periods of time. Charge it first? Discharge it first? Top
it up periodically? How often? etc...

Lumicycle recommend leaving their batteries on trickle
charge over the summer.

" Like NiCd batteries, NiMH batteries will slowly self-
discharge, which means that if you leave them sitting around
unused, some of the power leaks away. If stored at room
temperature (20°C) they will lose about 20% of their energy
over a month's time. This is very temperature dependent: if
the battery is stored in hot conditions (45°C), it will lose
75% of its energy after a month; if stored at 0°C, it will
lose less that 10% of its energy. Therefore it is important
that battery is fully charged before leaving for any length
of time exceeding one month. With the fast two stage charger
the battery can be left on trickle charge indefinately. So
it can be left charging over the summer. "

In message <[email hidden]>,
elyob <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

"Steve Rumsby" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

With the evenings getting lighter and BST just around the
corner my lights will soon be redundant (well, mostly -
I'm rarely out late on a bike). I bought some new SLA
powered front lights in the New Year sale and I'm not
sure what's the best way to store an SLA battery for long
periods of time. Charge it first? Discharge it first? Top
it up periodically? How often? etc...

Lumicycle recommend leaving their batteries on trickle
charge over the summer.

" Like NiCd batteries, NiMH batteries will slowly self-
discharge, which means that if you leave them sitting
around unused, some of the power leaks away. If stored at
room temperature (20°C) they will lose about 20% of their
energy over a month's time. This is very temperature
dependent: if the battery is stored in hot conditions
(45°C), it will lose 75% of its energy after a month; if
stored at 0°C, it will lose less that 10% of its energy.
Therefore it is important that battery is fully charged
before leaving for any length of time exceeding one month.
With the fast two stage charger the battery can be left on
trickle charge indefinately. So it can be left charging
over the summer. "

They can be left on trickle, but this really isn't the best
thing for NiMh/NiCd. Though of course it's most convenient,
as the battery is always ready for use.

According to this page (and I've read similar elsewhere)
NiMH and NiCd are best stored part charged (in the fridge):

<http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone-19.htm>

However, the OP was talking about SLA, these are a different
beast. These are should stored fully charged, and the charge
topped up every so often. The general recommendation is
every 6 months. If they have had no use i'd probably top up
after say 3 months mid summer.
--
Chris French, Leeds

chris French said:

According to this page (and I've read similar elsewhere)
NiMH and NiCd are best stored part charged (in the
fridge):

<http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone-19.htm>

They'll be popular with her indoors.

--
Andy Morris

AndyAtJinkasDotFreeserve.Co.UK

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