I think my battery got frozen because of the cold. It was kept in an unheated garage with temps in the 20sF for a month. Now it doesn't take a charge. I have a Trek Ride Plus. Does anyone have any suggestions? I really need help. I'm a senior on a limited budget and the bike is my main transportation around town.
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Support V is for Voltage
It doesn't charge even after having been warmed up to room temperature again?
My rides:
2017 Zero S ZF6.5 11kW, erider Thunder 5kW
Apparently not. The charger blinks red after a couple of hours.
Trek Ride Plus Power assisted bike
Apparently not. The charger blinks red after a couple of hours.
Trek Ride Plus Power assisted bike
Do you have the possiblitiy to check the current total voltage of your battery pack? It may be too low for the charger to recognize there is a battery attached... With another source of electric DC power you may be able to "wake up" your pack again to a voltage level that the charger will start charging again.
My rides:
2017 Zero S ZF6.5 11kW, erider Thunder 5kW
Also, the battery (assuming it is lead-acid) could not have frozen in 20's F temperatures unless it was already completely discharged to begin with. Lead-acid batteries should be maintained on a "float" (small trickle) charge when not in use. Most "smart" chargers do this by keeping the charger plugged in.
Some kind of voltmeter is mandatory equipment for any kind of electric bike when problems come up.
Thanks roller. I have a battery tester--voltmeter. What kind of DC source can I use?
Trek Ride Plus Power assisted bike
Thanks PJD. My battery is a lithium based battery. The last time one like it died was when I kept the charger plugged in.
Trek Ride Plus Power assisted bike
Don,
What is the pack voltage or number of cells? You will need to find a DC power supply like this:
http://www.mpja.com/0-30VDC-0-3A-Variable-Benchtop-Power-Supply/productinfo/9616%20PS/
Or, one thing you could try on a budget is to use some old wall-transformer DC power supplies like are used for computing equipment, laptops or cell-phone chargers. A couple of them connected in series if necessary, to obtain sufficient voltage.
Thanks PJD. I don't know if I have the skills to wire that up. I'll try to find someone who can do it. There is no measurable voltage in the battery. I think it's really bricked.
Trek Ride Plus Power assisted bike
Don, The Trek uses the Bionx system. The battery has a good warranty, at leat two years, maybe more now. You should take it back to the dealer where you got it and they can arrange warranty repair. If it is out of warranty, you can try using a bench power supply to charge it up, as someone mentioned. The original charger might have protection to prevent charging a dead battery. On the other hand, it could be the BMS preventing charging. First determine your battery:
There are four types of batteries for RIDE+ bicycles:
1 RIDE+ R250 37V Battery-pack, containing 30 Li-Mn (Lithium-Ion) cells, 4.8 Ah, 250 Wh.
2 RIDE+ R320 48v Battery-pack (2 editions), containing 39 Li-Mn (Lithium-Ion) cells, 6.6 Ah, 320 Wh.
3 RIDE+ C320 48v Battery-pack, containing 39 Li-Mn (Lithium-Ion) cells, 6.6 Ah, 320 Wh
4 RIDE+ C420 48v Battery-pack, containing 52 Li-Mn (Lithium-Ion) cells, 8.8 Ah, 420 Wh
They don't specify the configuration and I don't know how they spec the voltages (nominal or fully charged). Normally, a 36/37V pack has 10 cell banks in series and needs to be charged at 42V A 48V pack has 14 cell banks in series and charges at 59V (4.2V/cell for cobalt based). It would be best to check your charger and see if the voltage is specified and measure it. After determining that, you can set the bench supply for a low current to start (.5A) until you see the coltage rise to 15V or so, then you can gradually increase the current in steps, 1A, 2A, then 3A max.
If the BMS is blocking the charge, you need to open the battery and get to the individual cells. First, measure them and see which ones are low/dead. Then charge them individually, using the above method. 4.2V is the charging voltage. If you get them up to 3-3.5V, the BMS will allow regular charging. You can find cheap single cell chargers on ebay. Just be damn careful around the cells, don't attempt it if you are at all uncomfortable. Some cells can be brought back from the dead, others cannot.
You can also send it to Bionx for repair as a last resort, but that won't be cheap if out of warranty.
www.hightekbikes.com
Thanks very much Hightakbikes. This is exactly the kind of information I need. I don't feel comfortable working around the battery at all. But I can find people who will. I can't seem to locate Bionx on the internet at all. Did they go out of business? Also, Trek does not appear to sell the Ride Plus line any more.
Trek Ride Plus Power assisted bike
I did find the website for BionX and sent them a letter, by the way.
Trek Ride Plus Power assisted bike
Those packs with 39 cells are certainly odd. They obviously use parallel-connected cells in series (or series in parallel) so the number of cells cannot be a prime number like 39. Also, if these are not the Fe or Mn Phosphate-based lithium ions, then isn't attempting to charge a cell that is dead a fire hazard? I assume the BMS for such cells has safety logic that prevents charging permanently once it detects a dead cell condition (in the manner that laptop batteries do).
As Don suggested, can the Li pack/BMS assembly be simply replaced with four SLA batteries and a 48 volt charger (mounted in panniers to keep the CG low)? This could cheaply provide more than the AH capacity as the stock battery pack and keep the weight reasonable.
ebike with a 48v 35 ah lipo4 pack; all cells read 3.2 per bms tail. charger works (on other bike). Runs when charger attached, Power needle gauge 'bumps' when switched on without charger attached.Charger shows full but red light comes on with just the running lights on.Pos post to neg post reads 50.3v without any drain on battery. . Chargers (2 separate ones tried)58+ volts as advertised.as soon as I turn key, voltage drops to around 24v
mark c