I bought a replacement pack and installed it. Now I have the old cells available.
There was only 1 (very) bad cell in the old pack. (Wish I had analyzed the problem before I bought a new pack.)
I will be happy to send you a single cell or a pack of 8 or 9 cells for you to repair your faulty pack.
Heck, I'll send you all of them if you want to pay the shipping.
The old pack had about 7700 miles on it.
I am in the Philadelphia area.
NiMH cells FREE except shipping
Fri, 10/31/2014 - 18:24
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NiMH cells FREE except shipping
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Hi Kevin,
Do you have the cells still in the plastic case, or did you take them out of the case. Both of my vectrix bikes went under water during sandy and both my my packs went under water and were destroyed. If you want to get rid of the front and rear packs I would drive up to pa and pick them up, I live in NJ.
Take Care,
Louie
I gave my rear pack to Kocho, but if anyone wants the front pack it's free to collect in NoVA.
Yes, unfortunately, one bad cell is all it takes to reduce range significantly and cause heating. That was the case with my pack too - replaced that cell and it is back to where it was before that.
Do you mind sharing how you identified that one bad cell? Mine was easy - it had bulged badly and caused melting of the plastic spacers on it (not to mention 0V). But all others were at the voltage I expect them to be, so they only differ in capacity. An measuring capacity of 102 cells (or 12 packs) is a long and tedious process... I did measure the capacity of the replaced cell in the 8-cell pack though: charged the pack fully (top balance-charged with a laboratory power supply so all cells were full), then hooked a 12V 30W bulb and let it stay to discharge for hours. It took a full day of burning the light to discharge: all cells were at least 24Ah was my calculation at the time and only then some started to get a bit lower voltage. That is and OK test for the low A (2-3A or so) that one bulb draws, but ideally a higher current draw would be needed, as I expect the weak cells will have lower Ah capacity at higher current draws...
Hey Kevin,
Do you have any cells left? My pack was replaced in 2010, now experiencing short range. I live in AZ, but would make sure you get paid enough for time & trouble to pack and ship.
Glen O'Hara
(dvdaudio)
I have promised the packs to ElectricLou. If he loses interest, I will post back here again to let you know.
As for how I diagnosed the problem - The battery light cam on while riding. The bad cell was not terribly bad I guess, because with a full charge everything seemed normal. Once I got below about 3/4 charge, when accelerating, the battery light would come on. If I kept going for a little while, the temp light would come on also.
Once I took apart the packs I measured the voltage of each cell and one was at 0V. It was also badly bulged. Interestingly it was not the one in the bundle with the temp sensor attached, but it was next to the one with the temp sensor. Therefore I assume it was getting hot enough to heat the adjacent cell to the danger point. So it must have been getting pretty hot.
I saw that Mik wrote that in his (considerable) experience, cell bulging was about the best indicator of cell health. I found that several cells are very slightly bulged. I don't know how much bulging is normal. - Do they vary somewhat even when new? Some cells from the pack have very flat sides and others are slightly bowed. But none are even close to the amount of bulging that the bad cell has.
2007 VX-1
I have promised the packs to ElectricLou. If he loses interest, I will post back here again to let you know.
As for how I diagnosed the problem - The battery light cam on while riding. The bad cell was not terribly bad I guess, because with a full charge everything seemed normal. Once I got below about 3/4 charge, when accelerating, the battery light would come on. If I kept going for a little while, the temp light would come on also.
Once I took apart the packs I measured the voltage of each cell and one was at 0V. It was also badly bulged. Interestingly it was not the one in the bundle with the temp sensor attached, but it was next to the one with the temp sensor. Therefore I assume it was getting hot enough to heat the adjacent cell to the danger point. So it must have been getting pretty hot.
I saw that Mik wrote that in his (considerable) experience, cell bulging was about the best indicator of cell health. I found that several cells are very slightly bulged. I don't know how much bulging is normal. - Do they vary somewhat even when new? Some cells from the pack have very flat sides and others are slightly bowed. But none are even close to the amount of bulging that the bad cell has.
2007 VX-1
My packs are again available. ElectricLou couldn't use them. If you need one cell or several, let me know.
I have all the cells except one that was bad. I have the cases and cables and the rear temp sensor assembly.
2007 VX-1
Hey Kevin:
I sent email just awhile ago stating I was interested in at least a pack or two. i.e. 17-18 cells. I know to ship all of them would require motor freight. I assume a pack of 8 or 9 can go UPS or FedEx ground. You have my info in email; trust it went through to you.
Glen O'Hara - Arizona (dvdaudio)