Alternative battery for Powacyle Windsor/Salisbury - will this work?

[bambi23]

I recently got a used Powacycle Windsor. The battery suddenly gave up the ghost and won't charge anymore. I can't quite seem to to find a replacement anywhere, so wondered if I can use another Lion battery rated at 24v 10.6 AH? Any one with experience of doing this?

My thoughts are to get one like the one in the attached image (i will construct some mount for it), and connect the positive and negative terminals to the appropriate pin on the base of the Windsor (probably using a spade connector).Can you guys think of a reason why this won't work?

 

[Andy-Mat]

I recently got a used Powacycle Windsor. The battery suddenly gave up the ghost and won't charge anymore. I can't quite seem to to find a replacement anywhere, so wondered if I can use another Lion battery rated at 24v 10.6 AH? Any one with experience of doing this?

My thoughts are to get one like the one in the attached image (i will construct some mount for it), and connect the positive and negative terminals to the appropriate pin on the base of the Windsor (probably using a spade connector).Can you guys think of a reason why this won't work?

View attachment 30787

Re-celling by a good company, with top quality new cells is usually the best way to go, I myself like Panasonic cells, but there are several good makes....
If you are electrically trained/knowledgeable, you can do it yourself, but never forget that such cells can be dangerous if badly treated. There are some good DIY videos on the IoT.
The reasons are many for a battery losing power, but the most common is that the charge level went below the minimum....you cannot simply leave a bike battery on a low charge level for weeks....It needs to be at around 40 to 50 % charged.
Never leave it on charge either, no matter what anyone says, once the LED goes green, remove mains power....
You really need a cheap but accurate digital multimeter, and how to use and understand it.....
Check the voltage at the terminals now and let us know what it is....
If you have any further questions, simply ask here, we will all try and help you further...
regards
Andy

 

[vfr400]

You can use any battery of the same voltage as your original as long as you can find a way to mount it securely. Those batteries that go behind the seat post need to be held down to stop them from disconnecting every time you go over a bump. They use the lock strip for that, so make sure that you have enough room for the battery and the lock strip in the slot. You can can get a narrow version of that battery if it's too wide.

Did you check the charge fuse?

 

[bambi23]

Thank you both for the quick and really helpful suggestions.

vfr400 - That's really good to know thank you. I was actually wondering if it will be better to mount that on the rear rack instead, and run a cable to the terminals? That way I don't have to worry about the fitting.

Yeah both fuses inside the battery are fine. The battery had originally been sitting (uncharged) for about a year as i understand when i got it. I changed the 10amp fuse, and was able to charge the battery to full. Used it a few miles (about 4 miles) after fully charging it, and then it dropped and now won't charge again

Andy-mat - Isn't re-celling more expensive? The new one's am thinking about are about £100.

Many thanks again guys - much appreciated

 

[vfr400]

A proper rack battery would be a much neater solution if the proposed battery doesn't fit.. You can get rack batteries that come with the attachment plate, which you bolt to the rack, then the battery slides on and locks in place.

Also, what about buying a new cell-pack. you just need to check that it fits in the case.

Battery Pack 24V10.4Ah (269Wh)Electric Bike Lithium-ion Battery LG cell BMS | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Battery Pack 24V10.4Ah (269Wh)Electric Bike Lithium-ion Battery LG cell BMS at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

24V10.4Ah E-bike Lithium-ion battery pack-1 NEW(262Wh）LG cells battery | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 24V10.4Ah E-bike Lithium-ion battery pack-1 NEW(262Wh）LG cells battery at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[bambi23]

I am going to check the measurements and see if I can get one of the silverfish type ones to fit, otherwise might go for the rack type as you suggested. Regarding using a new cell pack, am not too sure an keen on fiddling to get the connections right, tight fitting in there. I guess it looks more complex because it originally has two blocks.

On this point, do you know if a 24v 20ah cell will work, or would the bike controller cut it out?

 

[Nealh]

Capacity Ah/Wh doesn't matter as will just improve range and hold voltage higher for longer, most important is to make sure nominal voltage is correct.

 

[vfr400]

I am going to check the measurements and see if I can get one of the silverfish type ones to fit, otherwise might go for the rack type as you suggested. Regarding using a new cell pack, am not too sure an keen on fiddling to get the connections right, tight fitting in there. I guess it looks more complex because it originally has two blocks.

On this point, do you know if a 24v 20ah cell will work, or would the bike controller cut it out?View attachment 30797

It's very straight forward. You hoick out the old cell-pack and all the wires, then you put in the new cell pack and solder the two power wires to the output terminals, and two wires to the charge socket. You just have to put them the same way round that they were before. The fuses are optional. If you want to include them, you cut the wires on the cell-pack side and join the new wires where you cut them.

 

[bambi23]

Thank you all very much, this really does give me good options!

 

[Michael Price]

I got my Powacycle battery recelled a couple of months ago by this company
https://bga-reworking.co.uk/product-category/all-products/e-bike-batteries/

They seem very good and efficient - I also got the Ah increased to 17 while I was at it - it only cost a bit more - and used Panasonic cells

More expensive that £100 - but a good option - and I knew it would be safe as my DIY skills are a bit dodgy and lithium cells can be dangerous!

Oh - and I didn;t want to change from the powacycle battery compartment below the saddle to a rear carrier - more weight over back wheel and looks wrong to me

 

[vfr400]

Why doesn't anyone tell us the actual price they paid for their re-cell and what they got for the money (which cells and how much capacity)so that we would be able to advise others on the options when they need a new battery?

 

[Nealh]

2 or 3 years ago now my brother paid £280 for a Bosch Gen 1 recell, Jimmy upped the ah from 10.4 to 13.8 using Panny GA's.

I had a soft pack made for £250 24v 7s/15.9ah using Boston 5300mah cells.

 

[bambi23]

2 or 3 years ago now my brother paid £280 for a Bosch Gen 1 recell, Jimmy upped the ah from 10.4 to 13.8 using Panny GA's.

I had a soft pack made for £250 24v 7s/15.9ah using Boston 5300mah cells.

Thank you ( and also to Michael Price), seems the recell is cheaper than the OEM battery (which seems as rare as a hens teeth). Although I wonder if it's really worth twice the price of going down the other options as vfr400 has rightly suggested.

 

[Michael Price]

Why doesn't anyone tell us the actual price they paid for their re-cell and what they got for the money (which cells and how much capacity)so that we would be able to advise others on the options when they need a new battery?

I paid about £230 to recell Powacycle Salisbury - much less than the price of a new battery - which was unavailable at the time and still seems to be. This included using better cells and increasing the Ah to 17

The range is much greater than it was when the old battery was new - it was a replacement that I got about 5 years ago

 

[Michael Price]

Thank you ( and also to Michael Price), seems the recell is cheaper than the OEM battery (which seems as rare as a hens teeth). Although I wonder if it's really worth twice the price of going down the other options as vfr400 has rightly suggested.

well - from my point of view - it fits into the existing battery container properly and looks good. I saw options to mount a different generic battery on the rear rack but this moves the centre of gravity backwards.
Maybe I'm naive - but when I spoke to Jimmy at BGA I was convinced that recelling would result in a better battery - better cells and probably better workmanship/testing. Looking at the costs of the parts the cheaper options (around £100 ish) must use far cheaper cells.

 

[Nealh]

The cheaper batteries will use China cells, fakes or genuine branded cells but not the best ones.
Current share will not be the best and possibly plated steel used for interconnectors rather then pure nickel.

Jimmy uses a range of the best cells available and copper interconnectors and all at a great price.