🚀 go-pugleaf

In <1993Jan5.145618.8600@oclc.org> fhn@oclc.org (James Feehan) writes:

>I am in the process of making a rechargeable bicycle light and wanted to know 
>which type of battery would be better Gell Cell or a Lead Acid. What are the 
>pros and cons of each? I have heard that it's not a good idea to fully 
>discharge a Lead Acid is this true?  Also how would the cold effect each of 
>these types of batteries?

A gel cell is really a lead-acid gel cell -- the difference is
whether the battery acid can spill all over your hands when you
tip over the battery :-0

The battery will last longest if kept fully charged, but not
overcharged.  Deep discharge will damage batteries not designed
for it.

Cold reduces the speed of chemical reactions in the battery, so
you should de-rate its capacity & maximum current in the cold.
This isn't a big problem in most bicycle applications.  My
headlight battery is in a neoprene-insulated nylon bag, and the
battery stays above ambient temperature from the heat generated
during charge/discharge.  It works fine in the mid-teens, but I
haven't tried riding with it in weather colder than that.

There are numerous articles discussing homebrew bikelights in the
rec.bicycles.* archives, including a discussion of batteries, I
believe.
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