Voloci NiMH User Manual - page 9
Copyright 2002, Nova Cruz Products, Inc. All rights reserved.
Revision of July 25, 2002
Nova Cruz and Voloci are trademarks of Nova Cruz Products, Inc.
down. The charger will show solid yellow when a chargeable temperature is reached
and will begin charging.
The battery charger supplied with your NiMH Voloci will recharge your battery
under a wide range of conditions, but the initial temperature of the battery and the
ambient temperature when charging will affect the level of charge delivered to your
NiMH battery. Near the end of a deep discharge, your NiMH battery may heat up
considerably. This is normal, and you may plug the charger in immediately. The
charger will flash yellow until the interior of the battery has cooled below 40 C (104
F), at which point it will initiate charge. However, due to the high internal
temperature, the battery will not fully charge under these conditions, providing only
70 to 80% of normal capacity.
The best charging method, both for battery life and capacity, is to allow a hot battery
to cool completely before initiating charge. You will get maximum battery capacity
and range by charging a cool battery at room temperature (15 to 25 C, 59 to 77 F).
Please note: under some circumstances (especially in very warm locales) it may take
as long as 6 hours for a NiMH battery to cool completely. In warm climates, we
recommend taking your battery into an air-conditioned climate for cool down and
charging whenever possible.
In some charging situations (for example if you charge at night after a commute
home), you may find it impossible to wait for your battery to cool before plugging in
your charger. In this situation you can apply an alternate charging method. Plug your
charger immediately into the hot battery after you finish your ride. The charger will
flash yellow until the battery cools internally and will eventually initiate charge. In
the morning, unplug the charger, wait for the green light to extinguish, and replug in
the charger. The yellow light will come back on and the charger will do a short "top-
up" charge to completely replenish the battery.
Finally, your NiMH battery charger may be operated at either 110 Volts or 220 Volts,
depending on the electricity standard in your country. However, you MUST select the
correct voltage using the switch on the end of the charger.
Temperature and Storage
All batteries deliver less performance at very low ambient temperatures. When you
use your motorbike in cold winter weather, you will get the best performance if you
store your motorbike indoors. Once underway, the internal heating of the batteries
allows them to perform very well even in cold weather. If NiMH batteries are stored
in the cold (less than 40 degrees F), the performance of the Voloci will be noticeably
reduced.
Battery Monitor and Protection Circuitry
The battery monitor for the NiMH pack is microprocessor controlled and employs a
state-of-charge algorithm that uses information about how much energy has been
consumed from the battery pack to infer how much energy remains. However, this
algorithm can be “fooled” into an inaccurate reading if you remove your battery pack
and then replace it without fully recharging the battery. For maximum accuracy, you
should either (1) fully charge your battery after it has been replaced on the motorbike
or (2) fully charge the battery before replacing it in the motorbike. The battery
indicator can also be fooled by hilly terrain that can temporarily drop the measured
voltage of NiMH batteries.
The Voloci motorbike is equipped with battery protection circuitry that will disable
the motorbike when the batteries are depleted so far that further use could
compromise the longevity of your battery pack. When you have reached this point,
you must either swap battery packs or recharge. WARNING: if you try to over-ride
the battery protection circuitry, you risk damaging your NiMH battery.
Break-In Period
New NiMH battery capacity increases significantly over the first few
charge/discharge cycles. You will not reach the maximum speed and range of your
new Voloci until about your tenth full charge/discharge cycle. Performance of the
battery indicator will also improve during this break-in period.
Charge Connectors
The Voloci NiMH batteries are chargeable in two ways: 1) through a charge
connector located on the motor cover on the left side of the motorbike or 2) through a
charge connector directly on the battery case. The charge connector on the battery is
designed to be used when the battery is removed from the Voloci.
Note that all charger connectors are “keyed” and must be attached in the correct
orientation. If oriented properly, the charger connectors should connect easily. DO
NOT FORCE the charge connectors into place.
Charge Connectors: On the Voloci chassis (left) and on the NiMH battery (right)