Charging The Equinox Battery

Martin_V3i

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After reading posts about the lithium battery inside the Equinox, I Googled proper charging of lithium batteries and it said it's best to stop charging at 85%. I have topped mine off more that once, a fetish maybe, but I'm thinking it really isn't smart to always top off these batteries. I'm not sure how you know where 85 percent really is, but it makes sense to not be always topping off these batteries.

Thoughts?
 
After reading posts about the lithium battery inside the Equinox, I Googled proper charging of lithium batteries and it said it's best to stop charging at 85%. I have topped mine off more that once, a fetish maybe, but I'm thinking it really isn't smart to always top off these batteries. I'm not sure how you know where 85 percent really is, but it makes sense to not be always topping off these batteries.

Thoughts?

Just charge it up and go use.
The batteries aren’t expensive.

Just think what 16aa akalines cost in Wally World.
Buy those about 20 times over p, gets expensive.

Run a pack under arm cuff if you want.
I have done.
 

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If it was simple, we'd not see so many questions about replacing an Equinox battery. Am I wrong?

Well, likely why folks ask the questions is because Nox doesn’t have a battery door one can lay their eyes on easily. Like most other detectors do.
 
I've seen that over time. Just getting that battery easily, isn't easy. It makes sense to simply not always top off and heat the factory battery, decreasing the cycle count.

Just where is this battery easily gotten? What cost?
 
I will buy and store the battery, even though mine are fine in the 600 and 800. Do you have a link to a battery supplier? Tia
 
I will buy and store the battery, even though mine are fine in the 600 and 800. Do you have a link to a battery supplier? Tia

Call M/L service center.
Or a dealer.

Not a show stopper though if your battery dies. You can use a pack like in pic above until you obtain battery
Having a spare around won’t hurt.

Let us know how you come out.
 
Have you ever priced this battery from Minelab? All I am saying is that proper charging, most people never will get a dead battery in their career. I seem to recall a supplier from France once carried these batteries. Minelab has to tack on a pricey cost for it. Everything is obtainable but costly. A third source on the batteries makes the argument about it being simple, hold up. Oh well, I'm fine today but won't top off batteries all the time. I frankly never have run the Nox down, even after several consecutive outings, but if the topping off reluctance helps, then I'll follow the advice to do 85% charges. I always pack a charge cable and a power bank anyway. It seemed logical to post about having a fetish of topping off.

If it was easily, and economical price wise, I would stock up on a backup battery. Minelab has to be proud of their batteries.
 
After reading posts about the lithium battery inside the Equinox, I Googled proper charging of lithium batteries and it said it's best to stop charging at 85%. I have topped mine off more that once, a fetish maybe, but I'm thinking it really isn't smart to always top off these batteries. I'm not sure how you know where 85 percent really is, but it makes sense to not be always topping off these batteries.

Thoughts?

I've posted my thoughts on this at least once... I'll post again. The research I did some time ago said not to let charge dip below 20% (or was it 40%?) and not charge past 85-90%. This was from Tesla owners who want to eke out the most life from their uber-expensive batteries, which are essentially the same type we're using.

Additionally, several smaller charges wear the battery out *slightly* less than a couple big charges. I.e. charging from 60-80% 5 times reduces overall battery life less than charging from 30% to 80% 2 times. Notice both methods add up to "one full charge cycle."

The impact of jumping through these charging hoops may extend the overall life of the battery by 5-10%. It's going to slowly have less runtime the more "full charge cycles" it goes through and quite frankly you'll probably never notice the tiny improvement in overall battery life you're working so hard for. If I recall correctly it was 500-1000 full charge cycles until the battery is running about half as long on a "full charge." That's a lot of hours. And it doesn't just up and die -- it just runs less and less on a full charge until a decade later you decide it is annoyingly short and decide to replace it.

My philosophy is: use the machine. Charge it full when not in use, and try to minimize leaving it on the charger after it has reached 100%. Let the machine work for you, and be ready for you when you need it, don't stress over babying the battery for such a tiny return in additional runtime/life. Your philosophy may vary.
 
I've posted my thoughts on this at least once... I'll post again. The research I did some time ago said not to let charge dip below 20% (or was it 40%?) and not charge past 85-90%. This was from Tesla owners who want to eke out the most life from their uber-expensive batteries, which are essentially the same type we're using.

Additionally, several smaller charges wear the battery out *slightly* less than a couple big charges. I.e. charging from 60-80% 5 times reduces overall battery life less than charging from 30% to 80% 2 times. Notice both methods add up to "one full charge cycle."

The impact of jumping through these charging hoops may extend the overall life of the battery by 5-10%. It's going to slowly have less runtime the more "full charge cycles" it goes through and quite frankly you'll probably never notice the tiny improvement in overall battery life you're working so hard for. If I recall correctly it was 500-1000 full charge cycles until the battery is running about half as long on a "full charge." That's a lot of hours. And it doesn't just up and die -- it just runs less and less on a full charge until a decade later you decide it is annoyingly short and decide to replace it.

My philosophy is: use the machine. Charge it full when not in use, and try to minimize leaving it on the charger after it has reached 100%. Let the machine work for you, and be ready for you when you need it, don't stress over babying the battery for such a tiny return in additional runtime/life. Your philosophy may vary.

I agree with this post, except for the bolded part...or at least I want to add a caveat to it.

If you're done with your Equinox and know you won't use it for just a few days, then yes, go ahead and store it with a 100% charge. But if you know you're done with the machine for a few weeks or months, then I would store it about 2/3 charged. This will give it enough juice to give you a few hours in a pinch, or save time when you need to top it off before a major hunt.
 
Have you ever priced this battery from Minelab? All I am saying is that proper charging, most people never will get a dead battery in their career. I seem to recall a supplier from France once carried these batteries. Minelab has to tack on a pricey cost for it. Everything is obtainable but costly. A third source on the batteries makes the argument about it being simple, hold up. Oh well, I'm fine today but won't top off batteries all the time. I frankly never have run the Nox down, even after several consecutive outings, but if the topping off reluctance helps, then I'll follow the advice to do 85% charges. I always pack a charge cable and a power bank anyway. It seemed logical to post about having a fetish of topping off.

If it was easily, and economical price wise, I would stock up on a backup battery. Minelab has to be proud of their batteries.

Don't do that. Even when stored under ideal conditions, lithium poly and ion cells will naturally deteriorate over time. It's probably a long time, but considering how well Equinox cells seem to hold up, I wouldn't have more than 1 extra cell on hand.
 
After reading posts about the lithium battery inside the Equinox, I Googled proper charging of lithium batteries and it said it's best to stop charging at 85%. I have topped mine off more that once, a fetish maybe, but I'm thinking it really isn't smart to always top off these batteries. I'm not sure how you know where 85 percent really is, but it makes sense to not be always topping off these batteries.

Thoughts?

Based on my research and experience with lithium batteries, you're right, it's not best to "top off" a lithium battery. But there are 2 questions that follow.

First, at what % is discharge to charge does topping off become counter productive? For example, topping off from 97% to 100% is probably far "worse" in terms of battery life than topping off from 90% to 100%. But using an extreme example, "topping off" from 20% to 100% is probably worse than topping off from 85% to 100%.

Second, will the "ideal topping off %" be detrimental to your the way you use the device? For example, let's say the ideal way to store your battery is as 50% and the ideal "topping off" % is 85% to 100%. But whenever you need to use your Equinox, it's on all day hunts that last for 6+ hours where you get almost no notice on. Is it really worse storing your battery under ideal conditions to improve it's life if it makes it more likely you'll run out of juice in the middle of a hunt or require you to have a battery pack attached to the bottom of the arm cuff? Only you can answer that question.
 
All good information folks. Thanks. I am not going to stress. I will enjoy finding another seller for these batteries though.
 
I seldom ever let my batteries on my equinox's get below 50%. I have consistently topped off the battery on my oldest unit since I got it. It's 2.5 years old now, and I have yet to notice a difference in run time. It's had far beyond average use. I also have a backup pack on my oldest unit. If either of my batteries die I have the backup power packs to get me by until I can replace them. Most packs are rated at least double the run time of the stock battery and if mounted under the cuff make the balance better.

I would not be concerned about the battery unless I had the unit in the water constantly where I couldn't use the power pack. I would probably go ahead and buy a new spare battery to have on hand if that was the case. I see no issue in changing out the battery myself if and when the time comes.
 
I seldom ever let my batteries on my equinox's get below 50%. I have consistently topped off the battery on my oldest unit since I got it. It's 2.5 years old now, and I have yet to notice a difference in run time. It's had far beyond average use. I also have a backup pack on my oldest unit. If either of my batteries die I have the backup power packs to get me by until I can replace them. Most packs are rated at least double the run time of the stock battery and if mounted under the cuff make the balance better.

I would not be concerned about the battery unless I had the unit in the water constantly where I couldn't use the power pack. I would probably go ahead and buy a new spare battery to have on hand if that was the case. I see no issue in changing out the battery myself if and when the time comes.
Same here. I got in line when the nox first came out and got one of the early runs. I top mine off every week and can detect for five hours and the battery meter is still at 3 bars. When it does bite the dust I’ll just order a new battery from minelab. I’m pretty anal about keeping my detector in good shape, but I’m not going to stress about a $30 battery and trying to get the absolute max run time out of it.
 
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