Desert Battery Health Check
The Playa awaits, but as we all know adequate preparation is key so you can maximise your festival experience. Even with the most effective care for your Desert Battery, all lithium-ion cells have an operational life, typically between 2 and 3 years or 500-1,000 charging cycles. While your Desert Battery will often operate for longer when cared for properly, the Battery Performance will decline and cells can become unstable and so are best replaced at the end of their operational life.
Battery Health Checks allow you to diagnose your battery's current performance level, and where necessary, identify when your battery needs replacing. The good news is that you can easily conduct the Battery Health Check yourself with a few simple tools.
What You'll Need
- A digital voltmeter or multimeter
- Your Desert Electric Battery
- Safety Gloves (recommended for handling electrical components)
Step 1: Battery Charging and Removal
Before you test your Desert Battery, first complete a full charging cycle, until your charger shows the green indication light. This is an important step, given all comparison metrics reflect the battery voltage when fully charged. Once the Desert Battery is fully charged, remove it from the bike for ease of access with the Voltmeter.
Step 2: Access the Desert Battery Output Terminal
After you remove your Desert Battery from your bike, identify the output terminal on the battery, it is the port which plugs into the main battery on the base. For the majority of batteries you can also use the charging ports where there are multiple ports.
Step 3: Set Up Your Meter
Power up your voltmeter or multimeter, setting it to measure voltage. Joulvert playa bikes operate within the 36V to 52V range, so adjust your voltmeter to the 200 setting, unless it automatically selects the voltage range.
Step 4: Connect the Voltmeter
Carefully attach the voltmeter probes to the output terminal, ensure the probes have a solid contact with the terminals to avoid fluctuating readings and ensure your safety by avoiding direct contact between the two probes.
Step 5: Measure the Voltage
Once connected, the voltmeter will display the current voltage of your battery. The voltage will display as a negative number if the voltmeter probes are connected the wrong way around.
Step 6: Analyse the Results
|
Battery Operational Health
|
Desert Battery Voltage
|
||
|
%
|
36V
|
48V
|
52V
|
|
100%
|
42.0
|
54.6
|
58.8
|
|
90%
|
38.5
|
53.0
|
57.1
|
|
80%
|
37.5
|
51.5
|
55.4
|
|
70%
|
36.9
|
49.9
|
53.8
|
|
60%
|
36.5
|
48.4
|
52.1
|
|
50%
|
36.2
|
46.8
|
50.4
|
|
40%
|
35.9
|
45.2
|
48.7
|
|
30%
|
35.4
|
43.7
|
47.0
|
|
20%
|
35.0
|
42.1
|
45.4
|
|
10%
|
34.5
|
40.6
|
43.7
|
|
0%
|
31.5
|
39.0
|
42.0
|
Step 7: Keep It Routine
Incorporate this quick check into your regular maintenance schedule. Consistently monitoring your battery’s health helps predict potential issues and extends the overall lifespan of your playa bike. Please don't hesitate to reach out to our team at support@joulvert.com with any questions, if you need to replace your battery use "BURN15" at checkout for 15% off a brand new battery so you can enjoy all the playa has to offer.