EBike Charging Timer

Summary of the problem: Consumer complacency in regards to rechargeable devices has created opportunities for mass market lithium-ion battery systems to overcharge when plugged overnight. Articles from Consumer Reports, The Washington Post and The New York Times suggest a potential cause of lithium-ion fires emerges from a plug in and forget society.

One solution to address this problem is to limit the amount of time an eBike system charges while not in use. By borrowing a wind-up electrical timer from a hot-tub system, time that an eBike charges is reduced from twelve plus hours to less than five (depending on the timer configuration.

These items can be obtained at virtually any home improvement store.

• Standard 120v household outlet (1)
• Six-hour windup 120v electrical timer (1)
• 3 wire electrical cord (with ground) (1)
• Ten inch long 14 gauge wire (1)
• Two gang electrical box (1)
• Two gang weatherproof cover (1)

Tools used:

• Electrical cutters
• #2 Phillips head screw drivers.
• One bratty child to pose as eye candy. (Star is actually a pretty good kid and the reason why I am writing this Instructable).

Strip the white wire on both ends. Set aside

Remove the 3-wire bundle from the package and run it through the two gang box bottom junction hole.

3a. Place the GREEN wire on the 3-wire chord to the left side of the GREEN screw

3b. Tighten the wire with the Phillips screwdriver.

4a. Place the BLACK wire on the right side of the outlet.

4b. Tighten the wire with the Phillips screwdriver.

5a. Using the stand alone WHITE wire, insert the wire to the top of the electrical timer.

5b. Tighten with the Phillips screwdriver.

6a. Using the WHITE wire from the timer, attach to the opposite side of the electrical outlet from the black and ground wire.

***Note: DO NOT attach the white wire to the same side as the black wire. Electrical breakers will blow and so will your temper for not following instructions.***

6b. Tighten with the Phillips screw driver.

7a. Attach the WHITE wire to the open port on the timer.

7b. Tighten with the Phillips screwdriver.

8a. Align and push both the timer and electrical outlet down into the 2-gang junction box.

8b. Align the exterior cover box over the 2-gang junction box.

8c. Attach outlet and timer covers.

8d. Tighten covers down with a Phillips screw driver.

*Authors note: This was not an easy step to get this right. Keep working until both the outlet and timer are aligned. Cuss in Klingon if small children are present*

Using a permanent marker, create marks indicating how much time is needed to charge. For this one, I marked in hours, but a better suggestion is to mark these in reverse to indicate the battery level. For example, if your battery level is at one, mark the 6th hour mark as a battery level 1. 5th hour as battery level 2, 4th hour as battery level 3 and so on.\

A bit of user instruction is needed.

1. Plug in your bike.
2. Wind to hour or battery level.
3. Close the lid
4. Walk away.

Thank you to my child for modeling in 106 degree heat. I am very grateful!