FAQ - Batteries (Wiki)

Lots of questions come up about batteries, this deserves its own FAQ:
This is not a how-to / tutorial though

Q: Can I reuse my existing stock/Chi/JW/etc battery?
A: Yes, any battery will work

Q: Can I see cell voltage from my FM BMS?
A: No, use a OWIE instead

Q: Which batteries are compatible with VESC?
A: In theory any battery you can fit, in practice it should be one designed for Onewheels or else it will probably be too weak. Higher voltage batteries allow higher top speeds. Different VESCs have different voltage limits though.

Q: Can I use a HyperCharger / or other fast charger for my CBCSO?
A: No, charger voltage must match the battery voltage! CBCSO needs an 20s (72V nominal, 84V max) charger

Q: Can I use the stock charger?
A: Yes. You can use it for stock battery, cbxr, cbsp, jwxr or any other 63V battery.

Q: Do I need to unplug the charger as soon as it is fully chargerd?
A: No. The stock charger will light up green as usual and stop charging your battery.
Sidenote: a battery charger puts out a certain target voltage, it is incapable of producing a higher voltage than that. So a working charger can not overcharge your battery.
BUT: if you plug in the wrong charger you can get yourself in trouble!

Q: How do I setup the controller/motor for my battery?
A: The motor isn’t affected by the battery specs. You can put in the respective numbers of cells and Ah when running the Motor Setup wizard or later in Additional Info. But Voltage and Max battery amps is more important (see how-to sections / tutorials / videos)

Stock XR Battery = 15 cells, 6 Ah
CBXR = 15 cells, 10.5 Ah
CBSP = 15 cells, 4.2 Ah
JWXR = 15 cells, 10.5 Ah
TORque Pack = 19 cells, 8.4 Ah
CBCSO = 20 cells, 5.6 Ah (p28a) or 6Ah (30Q)

CB+ = 14 cells, 6Ah
CB+XR = 14 cells, 9Ah

Q: Are active cell balancers a suitable alternative to a BMS?
A: No ( Active cell balancers - Discussion on pev.dev )

Q: Which settings do I need to adjust when switching to a battery pack with a different voltage?
A: Use VESC tool to adjust the following settings:

  • App Config → Balance → Tiltback → High/Low Voltage Tailback
  • Motor Config → Additional Info → Battery Cells Series and Battery Capacity
  • Motor Config → General → Battery Voltage Cutoff Start and Battery Voltage Cutoff End

Q: What are the recommended values?
A: Use this:

  • Motor Cutoff Start = 2.7V x #cells
  • Motor Cutoff End = 2.5V x #cells
  • LV Tiltback = 3.0V x #cells (3.2V if it’s a very saggy battery)
  • HV Tiltback = 4.3V x #cells
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Thanks for the FAQ! The last Q, can you clarify that it’ll be ok the leave it on charger even without a BMS?

lol going BMS-less may need its own Wiki page… but yes, if you trust that your charger is good (that it really delivers the voltage that it says it does) then you don’t need a BMS to stop the charging. Charging just stops naturally once the battery pack reaches the same voltage that the charger puts out. The first time charging check the VESC app to monitor live voltage.

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For anybody running the CB+ battery.
CB+ = 14 cells, 6Ah

No idea what the CB+XR version is.

Is there a way to get more accurate readings on the battery %? Or just have to keep looking at the voltage?

Not possible at the moment

What kind of mileage are other riders getting out of their Cbcso?
I am using maxis 6.5 BTW