Understanding the Break-In Period

You may or may not know that the battery inside your mobility device requires an initial break-in period. During this time, the functionality of the battery may be limited, but you should not worry. After the break in period, your battery’s capacity and performance will improve significantly. Here’s why:

What is the Break In Period?

For sealed batteries, the initial break in period is about 15-20 discharges and recharges. During this time, you might notice that your battery has less range than what was advertised or promised. This is completely normal. Due to the unique construction and design of your battery, the break-in period slowly activates unused portions of the battery to unlock the true potential of the battery design,

What Happens During the Break In Period?

During the break in period, your battery is exposed to the normal stresses of use by your mobility device. With each charge and discharge, the battery’s internal structures are altered slightly so that each successive cycle unleashes a little bit more power. This break in period is usually complete by the 20th full cycle of the battery. This initial break in period is designed to protect the battery from extreme stress for the first few cycles in order to ensure that it is capable of handling deep discharging for a longer period of time. Essentially, you are sacrificing a small amount of power up front in exchange for a lifetime of 1000-1500 total cycles instead. Without the break-in period, you would expect far fewer lifetime cycles from your battery.

Now that you understand why the break in period is so important, you will know that you should not panic if it seems like your brand new battery is not performing exactly the way you expected out of the box. Give it a couple weeks to get broken in and you should find that the battery has opened up the rest of the way. If you have questions about this process, be sure to contact MK Battery and speak with one of our experts right away.