Lohja
07-22-2003, 12:23 AM
On Sunday 20 July 2003 I depleted my HT batteries (per the HT’s charge indicator) to one full bar and one blinking bar. While recharging the HT to full charge I attached a wattmeter, a voltmeter, an ampere meter, a duty cycle meter, a power factor meter and a digital clock (actually, they are all included into one meter housing). The following data was collected. Notice that until
0.59 hr (35.4 minutes) into the charge there was actually no battery recharging taking place. However, at 7.3 watts there was probably some “trickle” charging.
Time..Watts..PF..Duty-Cycle..Amps..Volts
3 min..... 7.4.....NR.....5.....NR.....119
12 min..... 7.3.....NR..... 1..... NR.....119
0.29 hr.....7.4.....NR.....0..... NR..... 119
0.47 hr.....7.3.....NR.....0.....NR.....118
0.58 hr---I noticed major changes taking place in ampere readings.
0.59 hr.....55.6.....1.....0.....0.33.....118
1.21 hr.....104.8.....1.....18.....0.85.....117
1.47 hr.....106.9.....1.....37.....0.87.....118
2.32 hr.....108.5.....1.....56.....0.88.....117
3.26 hr.....109.7.....1......67.....0.88.....118
4.01 hr.....110.2.....1.....72.....0.9.....117
7.19 hr.....7.3.....NR.....46.....NR.....120
Total watt-hours recorded as being used during this charge = 424.
Total cost to charge at 10-cents/kwh = 4.24-cents (will vary with local rate/kwh).
Notes:
1. NR = No reading indicated on meter.
2. Duty Cycle = the percent of total charging time the wattage input was more than 100-watts (the threshold I chose).
3. PF = Power Factor.
During the first 35-minutes of the charge, the wattmeter was very erratic. It peaked (instantaniously) at 186 watts when the 120 vac was first plugged into the HT. For the 1st 35-minutes the wattage varied all over the map up to 70+ instantaneous watts; but the predominate number was 7.3 watts. So, that’s what I recorded. The peak amperes were 2.3 again at the initial plug-in and had no other reading until the 0.47 hr when it flickered between 0 and 0.4. I continued to record it at zero during this period as the higher numbers were instantaneous and not constant readings. At a PF = 1, the wattage should equal the amps times the volts. It’s close but not exact. Why? I do not know!
The bottom line is it appears there will be no helpful charging of the HT batteries until it has been plugged in for at least
30-minutes. So forget the quick charge at Starbucks. It appears the HT is preparing its batteries for charging during this initial 35-minute period. Then, after this initial preparation, the charging gets serious. Based on the duty cycle readings, I’d estimate my full charge took approximately 5.5-hours.
Only one test--- but it’s a start.
Visit my Segway Blog page at http://galsegway01.blogspot.com
0.59 hr (35.4 minutes) into the charge there was actually no battery recharging taking place. However, at 7.3 watts there was probably some “trickle” charging.
Time..Watts..PF..Duty-Cycle..Amps..Volts
3 min..... 7.4.....NR.....5.....NR.....119
12 min..... 7.3.....NR..... 1..... NR.....119
0.29 hr.....7.4.....NR.....0..... NR..... 119
0.47 hr.....7.3.....NR.....0.....NR.....118
0.58 hr---I noticed major changes taking place in ampere readings.
0.59 hr.....55.6.....1.....0.....0.33.....118
1.21 hr.....104.8.....1.....18.....0.85.....117
1.47 hr.....106.9.....1.....37.....0.87.....118
2.32 hr.....108.5.....1.....56.....0.88.....117
3.26 hr.....109.7.....1......67.....0.88.....118
4.01 hr.....110.2.....1.....72.....0.9.....117
7.19 hr.....7.3.....NR.....46.....NR.....120
Total watt-hours recorded as being used during this charge = 424.
Total cost to charge at 10-cents/kwh = 4.24-cents (will vary with local rate/kwh).
Notes:
1. NR = No reading indicated on meter.
2. Duty Cycle = the percent of total charging time the wattage input was more than 100-watts (the threshold I chose).
3. PF = Power Factor.
During the first 35-minutes of the charge, the wattmeter was very erratic. It peaked (instantaniously) at 186 watts when the 120 vac was first plugged into the HT. For the 1st 35-minutes the wattage varied all over the map up to 70+ instantaneous watts; but the predominate number was 7.3 watts. So, that’s what I recorded. The peak amperes were 2.3 again at the initial plug-in and had no other reading until the 0.47 hr when it flickered between 0 and 0.4. I continued to record it at zero during this period as the higher numbers were instantaneous and not constant readings. At a PF = 1, the wattage should equal the amps times the volts. It’s close but not exact. Why? I do not know!
The bottom line is it appears there will be no helpful charging of the HT batteries until it has been plugged in for at least
30-minutes. So forget the quick charge at Starbucks. It appears the HT is preparing its batteries for charging during this initial 35-minute period. Then, after this initial preparation, the charging gets serious. Based on the duty cycle readings, I’d estimate my full charge took approximately 5.5-hours.
Only one test--- but it’s a start.
Visit my Segway Blog page at http://galsegway01.blogspot.com