Interesting, the Effect of Cold Temps on Batteries

[Brooster]

Due to the cold weather here in Chicago and long hours at work, I really haven't been out riding the Seg much lately. But I always keep in mind what our friend Doug said about the batteries being "like muscles," and that they need to be "exercised" once in a while.

So, I bundled up and ran a couple of errands with the Seg today, since there's no snow here ... just the occasional frozen puddle to steer around. Hit the local dry cleaners to drop off some clothes, and went to the currency exchange to get a money order for one of LadyBroo's eBay purchases. I even had a nice lady stop me on the sidewalk, fascinated by actually seeing her first Segway, wanting to ask questions ... just like the "good old days." It was nice!

I then headed off for Belmont Harbor and the lakefront to give the batteries a good run-down. It was great to be out on the HT, but with temperatures in the 20s and with a stiff breeze, it sure didn't take long to run those batteries down. I intentionally kept my speeds down, so I'd be sure to have enough juice to get home. Got home on the bottom bar solid, thinking, "well, that's probably good enough." Brought the machine inside and did my usual cleaning of the tires and mat before bringing it into our high-rise condo. The Seg had a pretty good chance to warm up during this process.

Well, I figured that since I was down to the bottom bar and I haven't done a complete run-down since late summer, I'd put it on the parking block and leave it in balance mode to run out that last bar before letting the batteries fully cool and bringing them back up.

To my astonishment, upon startup, I was showing three full bars! This was at least an hour and a half ago. "Surface charge," I thought to myself. LadyBroo and I walked over to the grocery store and just got back, and it's still at 50%! It's gonna be a long time before the Seg shuts itself down, but I think I'll just go ahead and let it run down tonight.

I'm just amazed at what an effect temperature has, and how warming up the batteries to room temperature "revived" the charge that I thought was lost due to cold weather operation.

And ... as I write this it's just starting to get toward dusk, and guess what I see as I look out over Lake Michigan? SNOW! I'm glad I got my GLIDE in today. It may be my last for a while.

And I'm still showing two full bars.

Happy Holidays from Chicago everybody, from LadyBroo and me.

Broo

[:P][8]







Brooster

[mzokc]

With our first major snow fall of the season, I enjoyed a lengthy glide in the snow today. Today's 12/13/03 blog has the details about the snow glide at http://www.segwaychat.com/photos/mzokc

Broo, you are right. I am letting the HT warm up before charging after being outside in 33 degree temps for the past 3 hours. I was down to the red screen and one flashing bar when returning home 45 minutes ago. I just powered up and see two bars on the display. In the summer that same glide would never have given me a red screen. Extreme cold really reduces the range while the batteries are cold.

Most interesting is how the neutral face and slow down are occuring in the cold on small hills. This never occurred in the warmer temperatures here in Oklahoma City. I have the 11.0 software and certainly don't mind the Segway HT slowing down to force me to conserve when down to one or two bars in extreme cold.

Enjoy the snow glides this holiday season with LadyBroo!

Mark

[ElectraGlide]

quote:Originally posted by Brooster



And ... as I write this it's just starting to get toward dusk, and guess what I see as I look out over Lake Michigan? SNOW! I'm glad I got my GLIDE in today. It may be my last for a while.

Do what I did.......move south .......the temperature here hit about 80 degrees today.......sunny as can be......took a nice ride along A1A next to the ocean today and over the Intracoastalbridges to check out our new beach facilities that just opened. A couple days ago it was in the low 60's and I noticed the battery did not perform as well as it does in the high 70's low 80's. Happy Holidays...stay warm , and stay plugged in !

Steve

[Brooster]

Don't forget Steve, that I'm married to a flight attendant. If you keep teasing me like that, I may just show up at your door!

Brrr, it's frickin' cold, man!

[:P][8]

Brooster

[Brooster]

Mark, great blog posts! Thanks bud!

Brooster

[ElectraGlide]

quote:Originally posted by Brooster


Brrr, it's frickin' cold, man!

I'm on vacation for most of December.....with this great weather I plan to put a lot of miles on my machine! If you want to head down this way I will put a few extra beers in the fridge.

Steve

[Brooster]

That sounds like an offer always worthy of consideration! Thanks Steve! The HT finally just shut down, BTW. :)

Brooster

[Zorba9]

Hey Folks!
I am in the cold "northlands" of New Hampshire and am very glad I brought plenty of warm clothing, boots, etc. Derek and I were gliding yesterday at his parents place in the country, thru 5 inch snow and solid ice sheets (we never lost traction once and Derek was climbing snow mounds on his Seg) - will post pics when I get home next week (we shot some video Derek will post soon)- Derek's Seg ran down a little faster then mine (both "M" model and my "I")- his machine lives inside like everyone else's. Mine however, have been mounted in their cradle in the back of my truck for the last week on my drive up north. They are hooked up to a 700watt (1500watt peak) power-converter so they stay on charge while in the freezing temperatures on my drive. At night they are still outside and I run an extension cord to them to keep the charging up. I am convinced that maintaining the charge while at 15 degrees and much lower windchill factors, as long as there is some activity going on in the batteries, the cold is not much of a factor to my Segways! My charges definitely lasted longer then Derek's (who started out also with a full charge). It's still not anywhere near the equivalent of our warm weather gliding, but my Segs living "outdoors" full-time, have shown a remarkable resiliency to cold weather! --- an "aside" note here, My I model is now camoflaged also (a different color then the "M") and on my drive north I had placed my son's BB gun in the rifle scabbard of the M-167C (so other drivers on the interstates could "identify" these odd looking machines as some kind of military/or hunting vehicle). I didn't get much reaction from anyone until I got to Manchester - what a difference!!! These folks all know their Segways here and they have never seen the M-167C before! Every other car is now waving madly at me and everyone is excited to see these modified Segways!! What a pleasure to be in the land of Seg where everyone loves their home-town product!

KOG

Zorba9.....

[ElectraGlide]

quote:Originally posted by Zorba9

These folks all know their Segways here and they have never seen the M-167C before! Every other car is now waving madly at me and everyone is excited to see these modified Segways!! What a pleasure to be in the land of Seg where everyone loves their home-town product!


You can say that again ! What a difference to be in Seg loving country with friendly waves rather than a wave of the finger Segway seems to be getting from some western state cities !

Steve

[Brooster]

Hey Zorba, interesting story ... sounds like you're having a nice visit to the frozen north. So, maybe by storing and charging batteries in the cold, it's as if there's no real cold-weather effect?

Now, I wonder about this ... let's say you charged in the cold, had a full charge, then brought the Seg inside. Would it damage the batteries and cause them to be "overcharged?"

Brooster

[GlideMaster]

quote:Originally posted by Zorba9

Hey Folks!
I am in the cold "northlands" of New Hampshire and am very glad I brought plenty of warm clothing, boots, etc. Derek and I were gliding yesterday at his parents place in the country, thru 5 inch snow and solid ice sheets (we never lost traction once and Derek was climbing snow mounds on his Seg) - will post pics when I get home next week (we shot some video Derek will post soon)- Derek's Seg ran down a little faster then mine (both "M" model and my "I")- his machine lives inside like everyone else's. Mine however, have been mounted in their cradle in the back of my truck for the last week on my drive up north. They are hooked up to a 700watt (1500watt peak) power-converter so they stay on charge while in the freezing temperatures on my drive. At night they are still outside and I run an extension cord to them to keep the charging up. I am convinced that maintaining the charge while at 15 degrees and much lower windchill factors, as long as there is some activity going on in the batteries, the cold is not much of a factor to my Segways! My charges definitely lasted longer then Derek's (who started out also with a full charge). It's still not anywhere near the equivalent of our warm weather gliding, but my Segs living "outdoors" full-time, have shown a remarkable resiliency to cold weather! --- an "aside" note here, My I model is now camoflaged also (a different color then the "M") and on my drive north I had placed my son's BB gun in the rifle scabbard of the M-167C (so other drivers on the interstates could "identify" these odd looking machines as some kind of military/or hunting vehicle). I didn't get much reaction from anyone until I got to Manchester - what a difference!!! These folks all know their Segways here and they have never seen the M-167C before! Every other car is now waving madly at me and everyone is excited to see these modified Segways!! What a pleasure to be in the land of Seg where everyone loves their home-town product!

KOG

Zorba9.....


Might as well stop by and give The King of Balance a glide on your M167. I don't think he has one of his own. Do a little skiing while your up there also. Thats what I did on my visit. Enjoy your trip and Enjoy The Glide.

<center>http://www.segwaychat.com/forum/avatars/glidemaster.gif</center>

[Zorba9]

Brooster-I really don't think it will harm the batteries when they come back "inside" again. As long as they keep charging outside they are brought up to a "full" level on a regular basis. An interesting point of discovery - when plugged up outside in the extreme cold, I noticed that occasionally with one machine or the other, the solid green "charge" light will come on - without having run the Seg at all! Apparently the cold "saps" the charge down far enough that it needs full charging again, instead of just the "maintenance" charging that occurs when they are plugged up 24/7 inside at regular room temperatures.

Glidemaster-It would be really neat to meet the "Wizard" while I'm doing business at his offices! I've been told by his "minions" that they've been reading my postings and have seen all my pictures here on SC!! Among other things I plan on taking at least 15 pairs of extra-traction tires home with me. Last Friday I spent the day with Bruno Wessel's son Gary at their factory, studding 5 pairs of tires (that I had sent from LLC)with different types/lengths of studs for experimentation. There are some really fantastic new studs I'm trying out and our buddy Derek found out "first-hand" how good these studs work in the snow and ice. It was great fun! My new business I have started (with the Wessel's blessings) will be to provide the Segway public with off-road studded traction tires. All you "senior" members of SC will be given the opprotunity to try these tires free of charge if you want to pay the shipping. More on that to follow when I return home next week!

KOG


Zorba9.....