jonnie_m

I was having the, well documented, problem of this charger cutting out before the battery was full. It is, as has been reported, possible to charge the battery by turning off the charger and turning it back on again each time it cuts out. I found that a bit inconvenient so decided to have a look inside to see if any components had failed ( I can post a pic if anyone is interested) - the circuit board is completely encapsulated in a clear, rubbery substance. I connected it up to see if any components are getting overheated and found that when operated without the casing lid on, the charger didn't cut out. At least this was so for charging both my batteries from empty. The heat sinks warm up a bit as does one of the coils. I suspect that there simply isn't enough cooling for the circuit when encased in its plastic box. I'm out on the bike today so I'll carry on using the charger exposed to see if it cuts out or not. A lot cheaper than buying a new charger! Cheers jonnie

I'm pretty sure it is a 44 cell battery - the voltage seems consistent with a charged 11S4P (I've learned a new designation today) and with that shown on the sticker. When the battery is charged and fitted to the bike (at 45.5V) the battery level gauge does show full, it's just that it seems to go straight to empty at some point. I need to do a little more riding - so far I've been trying it at full assistance most of the time ( which is where I think my daughter might need it initially) . I wonder if for some reason I'm causing too large a current draw leading to the controller switching into a safe mode? The bike is fitted with the 350W motor and the owner before me has changed some of the control parameters with a german aftermarket programming device. You'll notice that I'm still learning about the system at the moment - I'm in the process of dismantling a spare motor to study the pcb. Thanks for your continuing input - much appreciated - have you much experience of the bionx system? cheers jonnie

Hi again just pulled the battery casing apart - there are 3 wires come out of the battery pack red, black & yellow which are soldered into the smart connect 5.2 pcb. The battery pack itself has a BMZ (the battery experts) sticker on it stating Nominal/charge voltage: 39.6V/46.2V, Energy/Capacity: 253.4Wh/6.4Ah. It looks to be made up of 44 18650 cells so must be 4 parallel blocks of 11 in series. I suppose that means my voltage looks ok and maybe it's an electronics issue causing the voltage indicator to drop from full to empty? cheers jonnie

wow, thanks for the quick reply - it'll be next week before I get to take it apart again. Thanks for the pointer.

Hi I've just bought a trek ride plus and a scorpion recumbent trike (both from ebay) so that I can blend the two and make an assisted trike for my daughter. The trek ride plus is great in that it has a 350W motor, but when I ride it with full assist the battery indicator goes from full to empty in the first 5 minutes or so. Only recharging the battery restores the battery indicator. The battery looks like an R320 which as I understand it should be 48v, 6.6Ah, 320Wh and should contain 39 Li-Mn cells, mine showed 42.8V when empty the other day (after a shortish ride) and shows 45.5V, both on the bionx diagnostics tab, when fully charged. I've tried charging it, letting it rest and charging it again, but it only gets to 45.5V on the screen. Does anyone know whether this means my battery is knackered and if so could I replace the cells? I've had a look inside the battery casing and there are no glaring faults on the pcb. Thanks in advance for any help you might be able to contribute, cheers. jonnie