I have a Giant Suede E that i purchased new for my father in Oct 2007. He didn't want it and it's been sitting in my climate controlled garage since then. I want to sell it, but was worried about the battery condition. I charged it up and the charger showed green and yellow LEDs. I rode the bike about 20 miles in power assist and the last 2 miles in full electric until all leds on the throttle blinked and the battery died. When I recharged for two days, the recharger led stays red. I tried to refresh, but nothing happened. When i put the battery pack in in the bike, I only get one led of power. My question is, are the batteries bad even though they have never been used? Could it be the charger? Man, I hate to spend another $300-$500 for batteries just to sell the thing. I'd appreciate any suggestions.
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I just purchased a year older (~2004) Giant LaFree Lite which I believe has the same pack and charging system. The pack I got with the bike hadn't been used much for a couple of years and was only holding 3 bars charge. After setting the charger to deep discharge twice, the pack is now reaching all 5 bars. I also had to clean the contacts gently with a pencil with eraser, rubbed pencil lead (graphite) on the contacts where there was something built up on them, both on battery and in the mating contacts on the bike. Then used the eraser to gently clean off the graphite on the contacts.
Result: the battery pack seems to be "good as new".
Anyone out there have any suggestions on best ways to keep these battery lasting longer. With SLAs, I regularly "top off" the charge after each ride. Should I do the same for this LaFree Lite pack and charge after every ride? Or should I let the NiMH pack draw down slowly and then charge every few days? I am working on an external pack using a Nilar 24V/10Ahr battery which will take over when this Giant battery pack finally gives up the ghost. Still, I'd like to prolong the life of the original battery pack.
Thanks for the feedback! Best, Mark
Mark Smith, LEVA Tech Instructor
2001 Currie eFolder, 2005 Giant LaFree, 2007 Currie eZip,
2007 Optibike 600,
2013 OT ELF, 2014 OT Naked ELF2, 2014 Optibike Helia, 2019 Segway Mecha, 2019 Trikke Pon-e 2WD, 2020 Lectric XP
Hi,
I'd say that the charger isn't detecting the battery at all ... with the battery disconected the normal mode for the charger is constant red led (ie, when you plug the battery in nothing changes led wise?).
This is what would happen if the internal 5A fuse (for the charging circuit) had blown so this would be the first thing to check. Of course you'd need to take the battery to bits to get to it!
There's also a 40A fuse inside the battery which must be ok as it's still supplying power to the bike.
Hope this helps!
Nick
Nick The Brick