The battery pack I got from Bionx had LiMn stamped on it. The battery charger has LI-ION on it. My dealer says that a LiMn battery is just a kind of lithium ion battery. He says I have the right charger. Trouble is, my controller never shows a battery charge of more than ~60%. Is there a way to use a multi-tester to probe the multi-pin female plug on the side of the battery pack to verify whether my charger is fully charging my battery? (Sorry for my glaring lack of techiness).
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That's interesting. Someone asked a question around here a month ago about Bionx going to LiMn. I did a lot of googling and didn't find anything to say they were.
Be this as it may. My Bionx took a bit of use before the battery ever read full. It took a few rides before the battery meter showed a full charge. Since then I have noticed some temperature sensitivity. Now that the garage is cooling off at night once again I never see the top bar filled in. If I bring the pack inside the top bar comes back. Also LiMn has less power density than older LiIon chemistry, but the advantage is they won't go a roman candle on you. Maybe the 60% is a combo of one or more of these things.
If the dealer isn't helpful, have you tried contacting Bionx directly?
"we must be the change we wish to see in the world"
I've had this battery since June '07 and recharged it many times.
Bionx has not responded to two e-mail attempts. Based on the info that LiMn batteries have "less power density" than LI-ION, I'm going to assume that Bionx just didn't upgrade their controller hardware to reflect the new electrical parameters. I'm also going to contact NYCEwheels to see whether they have any of the non-LiMn batteries in stock.
Well, NYCEWheels does have pre-LiMn lithium ion batteries. But they want around $1000 for a "battery without the whole kit." Feh.
Well my dealer - Amlings Cycle & Fitness - came through in spades:
Hi Mike,
According to the folks at Bionx they have never sold any batteries other than the LiMn. I put that question to them directly. If you have a source that says otherwise I'd sure like to see it.
As far as the battery reading goes, we had the same issue with our floor unit. There is a process to reset the controller to get an accurate reading. I can do that for you here if you want to stop by with a fully charged battery, or you can follow the steps below to reset it yourself.
Step 1) Charge the battery
Step 2) Let it cool down for 1 hour.
Ste 3) Check voltage with code 3772 (See console code from the attached)
Step 4) If the battery 36V LiMn is showing 41.0 and more, the battery is fully charge
Step 5) If the battery is fully charge push on mode for 20 sec, that will force the gauge to show full.
I did this with our floor unit and now it works fine. Kinda like resetting the microwave clock when the power goes out. Actually not like that at all, but I can't think of a good analogy.
Let me know what you'd like to do.
Have a great day!
Joe Reichert
Console Programming
Display
• Turn on the system ( “mode” button )
• Simultaneously press on the « chrono » and
« mode » buttons for 2 seconds
• Enter the desired console code.
N.B. To change a digit, use the “A+” and “G-
“buttons.
To accept a digit and go to the next one,
press the “mode” button.
• Once you are done with your
programming, simply press « mode » to
go to the original display, then turn
the system off to save the changes.
It works. Also glad to know you don't need a multitester to verify current battery charge.
Thank you for this helpful forum. I bought recently a BionX 250 LiOn and have the same issue. So far I have recharged the battery 3 times and never saw the battery icon fully charged on the console. I hope that the cold or the fact that the battery is new can explain this issue and that with few more recharges the level will get to 100%. I will also try the reset of the meter, as suggested in the forum.
Has anyone had a similar problem and in the end concluded that the battery was faulty and had to be changed?
Thank you
Giuseppe
Sorry, i forgot one last question. If I follow the procedure and use the code to verify if the battery is fully charged, what values indicate that for a PL 250 battery?
Thank you
Giuseppe
Giuseppe
I assume that my dealer could answer your question regarding the indicated reading of a fully-charged 250W (24V) battery. However, I offer to find out only as a last resort, since I don't have an ongoing commercial relationship with the guy. So, if you can't get the info from Bionx
salesinfo [at] bionx.ca
or your own dealer - or another forumite (horrible word) - then I'll make the effort.
Mike
I have had a Bionx with the 36 LiIon battery for 8 months. In that time I have put on 2500 miles. When I first got the system I was able to get between 30-40 miles with out much of a problem. As the winter came and the temp dropped, I was on getting 20miles. Now that the temp is back up to 60 I get just a little more than 20 miles. My question, is this normal or does anyone have any comments.
Thank you that battery level reset on the controller was very helpfull i'd buy ya a few beers for that one :)
Monkey see, monkey do, so get the monkey to do it.
Thank you that battery level reset on the controller was very helpfull i'd buy ya a few beers for that one :)
mind you at the same time i would have to kick someone responcible for bionx supply of info squarely in the vegtable patch ;D
Monkey see, monkey do, so get the monkey to do it.