lithium charging question
 

i have x2s i keep them plugged into my solar system especially if a cold spell is coming. i keep a record of my charging too if it happens to be less than overnight. can anyone tell me if after i get solid greens-then the two green blinkeys does the speed of the two blinkey greens means anything and more to my question. does the charge=blinkeys ever stop on their own to indicate full charge and charge stop
is the blinkey pulse charge like an equalizing charge for lead acid wet cells?sorry for so many questions all at once. we should have a charge info section for this forum?

To my knowledge, the blinking never ends. The rate of the blink is significant. The initial blinking is an analysis mode, then the solid lights for charge, then a quick blink for balancing and top off charge, then a slow blink to do a final balance and maintenance. This final slow blink will remain as long as they have power.

At least the above has been my understanding.

Also, some years ago, I switched to a timer, so that the batteries are not on charge for extended periods of time. My timer is only active for about 8 hours a day, so even if not used, it will will go thru all those cycles daily.

I think I can back up what Karl said about the blinking never ending. I have had an I2 plugged in without moving it at all for well over a month and every time I went near it, the were blinking. I used to use a timer on the charging, the local segway dealer said they never bothered with that and just plugged them in and let them stay plugged in, so I adapted that routine instead. So far I have had no noticeable issues with that.

For situations where the charging may continue for a long time, a timer is advisable. The reason is not exactly obvious, but has to do with "The initial blinking is an analysis mode" that Karl mentioned.

Here is Segway's latest info about maintaining your PT over the winter. This includes some new info about whether to remove batteries for storage, how often to charge them, and at what temperatures.

In part, it says, "Keep your batteries charged.* If ambient temperature is below 32° F/0° C, do not charge your batteries. Instead, bring them into a warm (above 50° F/10° C) environment for charging. Doing so will ensure optimal battery life and performance".

I don't know what this means for people who keep their Segs in a cold place, but plugged in. So you can ride while it's cold, but you are supposed to bring your Seg into a nice warm place every day, so that you can charge for the next day? This seems like a very serious limitation.

Also, "If you get a safety alert soon after you begin gliding in cold weather (below 32° F/0° C), try warming your PT up by bringing it into a warm environment for at least 30 minutes".

http://www.segway.com/segway-resourc...inter-Tips.pdf

Thank you for posting that "Tips" sheet. I am limited this year to storing in cold, transporting in cold, and gliding somewhat in cold also unfortunately. I had posted what my experiences were and if something new appears, I will add it to the brain-dump. I haven't (to my knowledge at least) charged below 32 F, I hope it didn't get that cold. But it's certainly 50 or lower where I have to keep the segs currently. So far, they seem to have weathered resonably well. I have experienced the safety shutdown in very cold, and also get a ! on the infokey. Limiting the speed makes it go away. So far, within a half-hour or so of warming up, they perform normally as that tip sheet suggests. Can't wait for Spring !

Correct, the slow blinking lights will not ever end.

The reasoning behind our recommendation for a timer is as follows. The Segway charging system does not reset if an error occurs during charging which causes a red light. This can occur from a "brown out", from a brief power outage, or from a high voltage condition. In any of these cases your Seg may show a red light and will not recover from the red light unless you unplug the power cord for a few seconds and then plug it back in. Additionally, keeping batteries at max charge level all the time increases the speed at which they degrade. A lithium battery kept at 50% charge for a year will have better health than a battery that was kept at full charge for a year. Given the cost of these batteries it seems to me that a cheap timer can pay for itself very quickly.

Segway is well aware of this and has used a timer to try and overcome the charging hardware issue that they had on nearly 5,000 new SE models. If anyone here has an SE model you should contact your Segway dealer to see if your machine is impacted by the problem as it should not be ignored and I have seen batteries that were made inoperable because of it. If you get in one of these situations we can economically assist you with correcting the battery issues if Segway is not willing to help you under warranty.

One or two posters have made oblique references to these problems, but no one has posted any real information.

What are the symptoms with these new Segs? What changed from I2/X2 to SE that caused the problems?

I remember reading somewhere that over-use of a timer can be detrimental as well; something about the beginning of the charge cycle being full power or something.. it's been a while. Does this sound familiar at all?

Thank you, Jason. I will go back to using a timer. I still have them. How long a day should I charge for then ? I have 2 I2s. I rotate them weekly, so one is used daily and gets plugged in basically overnight and when not gliding at work, and the other sits against the wall plugged in. Every Sunday, I swap them, with the wall-sitter being used for the upcoming week, and the other one relegated to the wall. What's my best course of action here ?