Three things need to match up for a charger to be compatible with a battery:
- Voltage
- Current (More on this later)
- Connector Type
Voltage
Charger Voltage > Battery Voltage
If the voltage of the charger is higher than the voltage of the device's battery it's charging, there could be catastrophic failure due to overcharging the cells in the device.
Battery Voltage > Charger Voltage
If the voltage of the device's battery is higher than the charger, the battery will never truly charge to 100% and may not charge at all. This normally will not end in any sort of equipment failure. We offer variable chargers that allow the user set lower charge levels for maximizing cycle life.
The charger voltage needs to be less than or equal to the battery voltage. If the charger voltage is less, the battery will never fully charge/will not charge at all.
Current (A)
If the current of the charger doesn't match up with the current of the device it's charging, there are two different things that can happen:
- Charging too fast (Can cause premature equipment failure/potentially hazardous)
- Charging too slow (Not ideal for cycle life)
Charging too fast
Many device (PEV) manufacturers depend on the user to only charge it within their specifications, or within a safe range depending on the device's specific build. Therefore, if a device charges at 3 Amps of current and the charger can charge at triple that, this can cause the device to fail and significantly degrade the battery prematurely.
Charging too slow
If the charger current is lower than the battery's max current, your device will just charge slower than you might want it to. For example, the Onewheel Pint and Onewheel XR both operate at up to 63VDC, but the XR can charge at a much higher rate than the Pint can. Therefore, if you want to adapt a charger to handle both an XR and Pint, they would both charge at the Pint's 3.5 Amp limit -- Which is fast for a Pint, but about the stock charge rate for an XR.
The charger must only supply up to the maximum current that the device's battery can handle.
Connector Type
Type and Gender
Connector types must match in type but have opposing gender for a charger and device to be compatible. The Onewheel XR uses an XLR Male connector on the device end, so the charger end must be an XLR Female
Polarity
Individual pins on the connectors must also be wired correctly for a charger and device to be compatible. There are 3 pins on the Onewheel XR XLR Male connector. Pin 1 is Negative, while Pin 2,3 are Positive. It is crucial that the XLR Female Pinout is exactly the same.