Battery life??

[dabaracus]

I have owned the Ipro now for 6 months and have had to replace the batteries nearly every ride, in the head unit and wireless unit. i have used "name" brand batteries and have checked with multi meter, and they are running at ~3.05V when i put them in, but when i go to turn on the unit the next ride, i get bad battery. I have removed the unit from the wireless unit in between rides with the same results, and i have tried checking the voltage straight after the ride, and after a 35km (01:10:15 ) ride i am down to ~2.64 on the battery in the units. This is getting very expensive, as i normally ride 5-6 days in the week. On a 4+ hour ride i got low battery warning after ~3 hours.

Any thoughts?

Dave

[Velocomp]

What are the outdoor temperatures where you ride? In colder weather the batteries will go low after 3-4 hours.

If you're doing cold weather riding then save the batteries for spring; they will revive then.

[lorduintah]

Are you using 1 sec or 5 sec record intervals? You could save a little by going to 5 sec, if you are not.

Tom

[rstrom]

Are you using 1 sec or 5 sec record intervals? You could save a little by going to 5 sec, if you are not.

How much are you talking about being able to save? Any quantitative amount of time?

Thanks,

Robert

[lorduintah]

Robert -

John or Fernando could answer how much more you gain with a 5 sec recording interval - it does seem that you should be doing better than you are.

What does your battery reading look like when it is mounted on the bike, when it is stand alone and not on the bike - maybe do this with a new battery, take the before ride readings and then record the readings after your ride - how long did you ride, what kind of temperature were you riding in?

You might as well do this with the 1 sec intervals for recording as the 5 sec would only be better for this.

Also note that a new battery will drop voltage down to 2.8-2.9 range and level off for some time. If you have old batteries, but never used them (they could have shortened lives) or if they are an off brand, some of these have quality issues with respect to brand names.

I don't recall if you said you had used an eraser on the contacts inside the battery compartment (careful not to bend them!), but this might help some too - you can lose voltage and thus mA-hrs on life (milliamp-hours). This prevents getting enough current out of the battery.

Tom

[racerfern]

I don't think you gain anything by using 5 second recording; at least nothing measurable. IIRC in 5s mode the iBike still captures data ever second, averages it then writes to the file. File size is smaller but more math is done and the screen still refreshes at the same rate. If you're doing jumps or short intervals 1s makes sense, other than that 5s is the way to go IMO.

That said, if you're sending a data stream to some ANT+ device like a Garmin or if you're merging your iBike data with some other source for GPS, then 1s recording will yield better results. YMMV.

@dabaracus
Next time you check batteries, double check the one in the wireless head. That battery doesn't have nearly as much work to do and shouldn't drop as quickly. How long have you had your iBike with wireless head?

[dabaracus]

- Temps range from 15 degC to 28 degC
- i bought the unit in June 2010
- 1 sec recording

I will replace the batteries, check both voltages, wireless and head, and see what they are at the end of the ride, and then again when i ride again.

What i am seeing is that they are usually fine for one ride but when i try a second ride on the same batteries i either get bad battery when i turn it on, or by about 1/2 way through next ride

Dave

[Bike4Him]

I have a suggestion.
I don't carry coins...I carry batteries, so I think the slot on the battery cover should be enlarged to accomodate the battery for ease of installation.

[lorduintah]

That screw cover is the standard battery cover for this type. To change this would add cost to the raw materials used.


Do you carry a bike tool? If not why not?


Tom

[Bike4Him]

That screw cover is the standard battery cover for this type. To change this would add cost to the raw materials used.
Do you carry a bike tool? If not why not?

The tool, tube, and couple bucks are in a small transit bag under the saddle. The batteries are in a pocket, along with a nickel, but with a little tweak the battery now fits the slot.

[racerfern]

I have a suggestion.
I don't carry coins...I carry batteries, so I think the slot on the battery cover should be enlarged to accomodate the battery for ease of installation.

You are 100% correct. However, for years and years battery covers were designed to be removed with coins, not batteries. A sharp knife widens the cover ever so slightly so the battery will do the trick. Note that the battery cover slot is the same size even if you take smaller or larger batteries.

[Bike4Him]

Sorry to hijack this thread and I'll post new if necessary.
I used 2 new batteries in 51 minutes today.
58 degrees and new batteries.

Installed a new battery and did a coast down test 4 times.
Wanted to do a few 20 minute intervals so I went to "fit train" and "user" and started the interval.
Within 3 minutes the watts reading went to 0. I messed with the wired magnet receiver and started again.
Very quickly the watts went to 0 again. The battery strength read 180. So I reset and tried again. Same problem.
I did a trip reset and installed a new battery.
I started a user interval and the same thing happened. Kept messing around trying to get my ride in.
The battery went down to 173 or so.
I put the iSport in my pocket and rode home.

I put the batteries on a tester and they register 2.97v and in the iSport they register 275.

Any thoughts?

[Velocomp]

There is a critical typo in your post. A battery voltage of 173 would render the iBike useless; the screen would be blank.

So, the reading had to be 273.

Please email Aaron Timmer at atimmer@velocomp.com and he will help you.

[Bike4Him]

There is a critical typo in your post. A battery voltage of 173 would render the iBike useless; the screen would be blank.

So, the reading had to be 273.

Please email Aaron Timmer at atimmer@velocomp.com and he will help you.

You are right. The reading was 273.
I will e-mail Aaron for help.
Thanks

[gerrard]

Let me bump this one with my experience:

Have been riding iAero in 15C - 20C for about 30 hours with the same battery. Every time I start the ride voltage is 2.89 - 2.9. By the time I finish the ride it is always down around 2.75 but no aparent problems while riding.

Swapped the batteries (mount and ibike) to be safe. Started 1st ride at 2.95 and was 2.71 at end of ride. Again, no aparent problems. However these were brand new batteries used for the first time and there's no way I want to put in new ones for every ride!

Are there other signs / indicators to look for too?

Gerrard

[racerfern]

The iBike reads voltage under load, so 2.71 or thereabouts is perfectly acceptable. My unit holds at 2.72 for weeks on end with my homemade external battery. So don't worry about changing batteries until the day you get a BAD BATT message when first turning it on.

[gerrard]

Great - thanks

[Ali]

Its great, really informative regarding battery timing.