eBike charging - 100% then condition?

[LittleGreyCat]

I have noticed when charging my Specialized Vado SL that the phone App shows 100% charge, but the charger stays active (lights on etc.) for some time after.

I now don't know if the App is mis-reporting the state of charge or if the charger keeps going for a period after 100% charge is achieved.

If so, is there a reason for this?

[531colin]

Did once read the instructions for mine.
Something like in 10 charges it charges to 9/10 ths 9 times, 10th time it charges 10/10 ths.
Unless I dreamed it all.
Not really looked at the app, except to change from the “usual” power settings to the “eco” settings: the usual settings were a bit fierce for me.

[bikes4two]

• I've no experience with your particular setup but only in the world of generic e-bike batteries and chargers

• It could well be that the battery is indeed fully charged as indicated by the app but the EDIT charger battery pack is going into some form of cell balancing phase whereby the battery's charging program spends some time ensuring that the cell groups are at the same voltage (aka charge balancing)

• This balancing program could take some time - maybe an hour but that's a guess.

[Nearholmer]

It could be a balancing charge, aka “cell volts equalisation”, which amounts to a deliberate slight over-charge. But, such a charge is usually only applied occasionally. How often it is needed depends on the duty cycle of the cells, and TBH I don’t know how often that might be for a typical e-bike duty cycle.

[Cowsham]

The balancing is done by the circuit built into the battery housing not the charger as it's just a single DC plug voltage in. When fully charged The green light on charger will however remain green cos it's not delivering current since the balancing circuit in the battery housing is not calling for current. (like when it's not plugged into the battery pack ie it's red when delivering current or shades of red if it's smart enough to show how much current) this can also mean the battery is slowly discharging even when plugged in.

Also balancing is done by the onboard circuit from the start of the charging cycle and stops current to the highest voltage cells till the others catch up or applies a small resistance across higher voltage cells to bring them into line with the rest ( as is done with my model aircraft battery balancer -- a separate unit between charger and battery )

If any cell ( or group of cells if every cell is not individually monitored ) in the battery goes out of it's safety tolerance limits the circuit stops calling for current from the DC input and won't allow the battery to charge again so you'll need a new battery when that happens.