Ten Tips For Making Sure Your E-Bike Battery Is Safe

I want to make one thing clear from the off here and say that in all my years of e-biking I have NEVER heard of anyone being injured by their e-bikes battery. I have heard of people saying it started to smoke while they charged it and I have heard of people saying it was leaking and damaged their e-bikes, but no-one as far as I know has been injured directly by it. OK, now the personal rant is out of the way let’s talk about some of the following rules to ensure the safety of your lithium batteries in your home and while out on your e-bike…

Don’t Swap Chargers

Use the e-bike battery charger that came with your lithium battery product. The maximum voltage is 4.2V. We have already learned that there are some pretty dangerous e-bike chargers out there, so stick with the company you know and if you need to replace it or get a spare one you should try and get it from the same site you got your e-bike from.

Charging Temperatures

The batteries should only be charged at temperatures between 0 and 42 degrees Celsius or 32 and 107.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Any colder and it could burn out trying to charge and any hotter and it might catch fire in a number of different ways, so do try to be careful.

E-bike Batteries Are For E-Bikes

While it is fun sometimes to play about and mod your e-bike you really should discharge the battery only using the e-bike controller that came with the battery system. In short, don’t try and run a toaster off it as it could easily overheat and catch fire. OK, so not a toaster, but in short anything that isn’t your e-bike

Riding Temperature

You really should try and discharge your e-bike battery at temperatures between -10 and 42 degrees Celsius or 14 and 107.6 degrees Fahrenheit. This is much the same reasons as the charging temperature, only it means watching that temp gauge while out on a ride.

Storage

If possible you really should try and store your e-bike batteries at room temperature 21 degrees Celsius or 70 degrees Fahrenheit. If you leave your e-bike outside maybe consider covering it over in most wethers, or even better keeping it inside a shed, but again do remember to try and keep an eye on the temperature of any place it is stored.

Away From All Heat

It doesn’t matter what it is do try to ensure your e-bike’s battery pack is positioned away from heat sources. Radiators, outdoor heat lamps, hot water pipes, in fact just about anything that might heat up.

Replace if Damaged

Properly dispose of batteries if they are dropped or damaged in any way. There are some rather hazardous materials inside every battery that you really don’t want going onto your skin in any way and also onto any surface and this can also start a fire if left unattended for long enough.

Keep It Charged Half-Way

Store batteries at 30 – 50% capacity at least every ninety days if storing them for long periods of time. This allows for the least amount of age-related capacity loss as well as the least about of fire risk should something happen to it.

Leave it be

Do not disassemble or modify the battery system in any way. This might sound like a silly thing to say, but there are a number of people who will play around and modify their e-bikes battery to get more power and more range out of it. Not only will any change to the battery void any warranty, but it will also put the battery more at risk of damage and potential fire risks.

Water

While most e-bikes are largely water-resistant there are still times when you might get stuck in a large puddle or small stream, in these moments you should not be touching, removing or doing anything near the battery as it could damage it, or worse give you a small shock.

While lithium batteries can be potentially dangerous, most people who buy and own an e-bike will never experience any issues at all. In fact, in my own 5 years of riding e-bikes, the only issue I ever had is a battery not charging at all, but the issue was soon fixed by the shop I bought it from. But these safety tips are still worth knowing, even if most of it is pretty basic advice.