A way to fix 36v 14ah Lithium battery?

[Deleted member 4366]

You're doing something very wrong. If it's 32.6v, you don't want to run it down, you need to charge it until it's 42v, or thereabouts. Switch the damn thing on and don't switch it off until it's working properly. Charge it up with it switched on. Don't stop charging until you get the green light on your charger.

 

[marc.knuckle]

You're doing something very wrong. If it's 32.6v, you don't want to run it down, you need to charge it until it's 42v, or thereabouts. Switch the damn thing on and don't switch it off until it's working properly. Charge it up with it switched on. Don't stop charging until you get the green light on your charger.

Thanks dave but as i stated at the very beginning of the thread the green light comes on immediately, as soon as i connect the charger. The other day i left it on the charger for about 5 hours, all the time the green light was on, after this time it still only showed 2 of the 5 lights on the bike.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Yes, but you didn't have the battery switched on, did you?

 

[marc.knuckle]

Yes, but you didn't have the battery switched on, did you?

sorry d8veh but as my post clearly stated i did turn it on. as mentioned earlier, without it turned on it was reading 0.1v and as soon as i took people's advice and turned it to on to test it, it read 32.6v.

in clarification,
1) i have attempted to charge the battery for many hours and it still never shows more than 2 of the 5 leds on the bike's read out.
2) as soon as i put it on the charger and switch the charger on the light on the charger is green from the off as opposed to yellow/orange
3) when i first took peoples advice to measure the volts i was doing it with the battery switch off. i then this evening charged it back up for 4 hours (again the light was green even though it was nearly depleted from last night) and then i turned the battery on and tested with the metre and the reading was different than before. instead of the 0.1v as before it read 32.6v.

 

[Alan Quay]

You need to test the charger.......

 

[Cyclezee]

As he has owned the kit for few years Marc must know how to charge the battery.
The battery should be switched off when charging, but to test the voltage on the output side it needs to be switched on. To test at the input side it can either be on or off.
32.6v is not good, based on the age and provided that it has been looked after it should be between 41 and 42v.
The output from the charger should be 42v.
There are two blade type fuses inside the battery which might be worth checking, but I advise against this, if you don't know what you are doing it can be dangerous.
Lithium Ion batteries need to have a top up charge every three months if not being used for an extended period of time.
I would be happy to check both the battery and charger free of charge.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

According to what you've written above, you charged it with the battery switched off, because you said you turned it on after charging. Switch on the battery first, and then charge it.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

If it still doesn't charge when the battery is switched on, the next step is to measure the voltage between the two pins on the battery's charge socket that are furthest apart from each other. 0v means that the charging fuse in the battery is blown.

If you get the same voltage as the output terminals (32v), you then need to check the voltage between the outer two pins on the charger (with it switched on). It should show 42v. Be careful to only touch the pins your probes. Don't short them both to the outer shroud. You need a steady hand. It's spmetimes easier to unscrew the connector and measure inside at the ends of the wires.

 

[marc.knuckle]

Thanks guys.

Firstly, yes i have always charged the battery while switched off which i presumed was correct, including while doing these checks.

Secondly, even after last night's 4 hours charge, just now there was only 1 LED lit and after riding for 5 seconds it completely died so last night's charge actually didn't do anything.

Third, see picture for proof of me testing the battery while on. Again it shows 32.7. I then used the probes to check the charging socket with the battery on and it shows 0v. For completeness i then checked the charger while switched on and it read 41.5v.

Just to clarify something as well, there has been a couple of times over the last couple of years that it may have been more than a few months without use but i always charged it before putting it away. Also I'm not sure if it was as long as 3 months in between uses. It was always stored in a dry shed on a shelf so wasn't at risk of damp or heat.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I told you that if you get 0v on the charge socket, the charging fuse in the battery is blown. That's why it won't charge.

You shouldn't try and run your bike with only 32v. You can damage the battery like that. Fix the fuse, charge the battery and then ride it.

 

[marc.knuckle]

I told you that if you get 0v on the charge socket, the charging fuse in the battery is blown. That's why it won't charge.

You shouldn't try and run your bike with only 32v. You can damage the battery like that. Fix the fuse, charge the battery and then ride it.

Cheers d8veh.

Any instructions i can read how to do this and is it a certain type of fuse?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Ask Cyclezee. He should be able to give precise instructions, since it's one of his batteries. I can only give general instructions, which would be to look round the outside of the battery for anything with a cross shape in it, otherwise, unscrew the case and follow the wires from the charge socket.

The problem could also be a wire off somewhere between the charge socket and the battery/BMS, so it's probably worth opening the case anyway.

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi Marc,

OK, so we have now established that the charger is working and the output voltage is correct.
The voltage of the battery has not risen so we can assume that a fuse has blown and/or for whatever reason the charging circuit is faulty.
As I said previously the eZee FP battery has two internal spade type fuses and the case needs to opened up to access them.
If you feel confident to do so open up the case by removing the four Philips head screws on the underside of the case and one of the screws on the input socket, you can then separate the two halves of the case and locate the fuses. I would suggest taking a photo at this stage and posting it on the forum or emailing to me.
If you are not happy about doing this yourself, I can do it for you if you send it to me.

 

[marc.knuckle]

Hi Marc,

OK, so we have now established that the charger is working and the output voltage is correct.
The voltage of the battery has not risen so we can assume that a fuse has blown and/or for whatever reason the charging circuit is faulty.
As I said previously the eZee FP battery has two internal spade type fuses and the case needs to opened up to access them.
If you feel confident to do so open up the case by removing the four Philips head screws on the underside of the case and one of the screws on the input socket, you can then separate the two halves of the case and locate the fuses. I would suggest taking a photo at this stage and posting it on the forum or emailing to me.
If you are not happy about doing this yourself, I can do it for you if you send it to me.

thanks guys, i will take a look tomorrow. i think i'll be okay opening it up. what are the fuses like then, a car type fuse? i think you mentioned there are 2, how will i know which one to replace?

thanks again.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

It'll be the one that's blown, and the one that's on the charger wire.

 

[Alan Quay]

thanks guys, i will take a look tomorrow. i think i'll be okay opening it up. what are the fuses like then, a car type fuse? i think you mentioned there are 2, how will i know which one to replace?

thanks again.

You should be able to see which one is blown. If in doubt, use your meter to test.

Select 200 ohm range (on yours, about 7-o-clock). First, observe display with test leads not connected (infinity). Then observe reading when test leads touched together. You should get close to 0 ohm.

Take the suspect fuse out, then repeat test across it. You will get close to 0 ohms if it's good, infinity if blown.

 

[marc.knuckle]

Right, here is the picture, i have took the fuses out.
Pick 1 is open case with fuses out roughly located where they are meant to be slotted.
Pick 2 is the tester with what i believe it's the correct setting but not connected to anything.

 

[marc.knuckle]

With that setting on the metre it shows as 1.
Connected to the green 30 fuse which isn't by the charging socket it shows 00.3 and made a noise.
Connected to the red 10 fuse that is by the charging socket it reads the 1. as if not attached at all and makes no noise

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The red 10A fuse is the charge fuse. You should be able to see if it's blown without the meter. There's a little "S" of wire that you can see inside. The 30A fuse will still have its one, so you can see what it's supposed to look like. There should be a spare fuse in your car fusebox. There's usually a couple of them away from the rest that you can see are not actually connected to anything. Borrow one for now. You can replace it later, otherwise you get one from anywhere that sells car parts.Get a couple in case it goes again.

 

[marc.knuckle]

The red 10A fuse is the charge fuse. You should be able to see if it's blown without the meter. There's a little "S" of wire that you can see inside. The 30A fuse will still have its one, so you can see what it's supposed to look like. There should be a spare fuse in your car fusebox. There's usually a couple of them away from the rest that you can see are not actually connected to anything. Borrow one for now. You can replace it later, otherwise you get one from anywhere that sells car parts.Get a couple in case it goes again.

Cheers mate. I've ordered a pack off ebay. Is it worth swapping out the 30 as well while I'm in there? Does it get very much wear?