OF
Well-Known Member
OF, I checked into it, and it appears that you dont want to keep a li-ion battery STORED for an extended duration at 100% charge. I'm glad I know that now, but assuming one is going to be using the Solo the very next morning, I feel topping off is the way to go for a daily user.
Yup. The general advice is to store at about 2/3 charge (my backup Solo is on step 5 IIRC as it waits silently for the call we hope never comes.....).
There are about 8 sessions from top to bottom. Most guys get two on the top light (if they hammer the charge) since it is ".2 Volts wide". The rest are .1 Volt each (on the 2 Solos I've measured) down to 7.2 Volts when the last LED goes out. Remember, this is unloaded voltage, its going to take a serious hit when that 2.5 Amp heater demand hits.
It's also worth noting that that 7.2 Volts doesn't mean that we have two 3.6 Volt batteries in series. We could also have a 3.9 Volt one with a 3.3 brother? There's still some charge left, but how much is not known. The protection board monitors each battery individually and shuts the show down when the weakest battery of the pair gets into trouble (meaning it's now all the weaker.....).
Anyway, back to the question, if you need all 8 of those sessions, you need them. But if you, instead, charge to .2 Volts per cell lower you loose 20% of 8 or one and a half sessions. If you can live with 7 or 8 sessions instead of 8 or 9 you can more than double your battery life in terms of months of service and still enjoy a 'normal' number of sessions per day/charge.
Your call, of course, but if you're really serious about this OCD thing you might want to rethink how you're managing your battery. You're up against the guys who tank up first thing on a cold morning hoping for the densest fuel possible......
Regards.
While I don't ever let the battery run down to zero, I do let it charge to 100% only because I leave it and forget it. What's a guilt-ridden forgetful Solo babysitter to do?
Try to do it less often? It can't be undone. It won't live forever anyway.......
But don't expect to be taken very seriously in some circles?
OF