Hi,
I am based in France and my vectrix (Nimh) does not work anymore: 2kms and then throttle doesnot give a push...I am told that the batteries are dead and need to be replaced with a recomendation to swap towards Li 42 a pack at 5500€...
Looking at the various discussion of this forum i would like to know if this ise possible for someone to replace the pack on his own or if you need to have some serious electricity competences?
Thanks in advance...
If you are lucky, you only have a few dead cells
I would pull the battery out, and then dismantle
feel for any bulged cells
If you find less than 5, short them out with thick wire (25 mm^2 minimum)
after that, put the battery back together
remember to use a light bulb or similar to limit in rush current when re-connecting the Motor Controller
If you find more than 5, see if you can source some replacement cells.
Matt
Daily Ride:
2007 Vectrix, modified with 42 x Thundersky 60Ah in July 2010. Done 194'000km
@Antiscab, when you say short them out, do you mean connect the + and - terminals of the bad cell together, or do you mean remove the bad cell entirely from the circuit?
Thanks,
Jesse
Jesse in Atlanta
Either will work fine, although removing the cell entirely from the circuit works best from a resistance point of view
just make sure the wire you are using is 50 sq mm (multiple wires in parrallel is fine)
Matt
Daily Ride:
2007 Vectrix, modified with 42 x Thundersky 60Ah in July 2010. Done 194'000km
I had 3 bad cells in the lower tier of my Nimhd pack.
Basically to paraphrase, 2-3km range and no acceleration to speak of...
I jumped out the three bad cells - see pic - with an aluminum strap...
and now I have about 10-15miles of range. Not the best but I am
able to use the bike to commute 8 miles round trip. With the
runt battery I have put over 300 miles on the bike so far and
it seems to be holding fine - meaning my concerns for additional
bad cells have been mostly discounted by the performance.
With the 3 cells jumped out it is a MUST to watch the voltage
when charging and not let the battery overcharge.... (easily damaged).
In my case I never let the battery go above 142 volts.
regards.
mk