Hi all I have just bought my first e-bike, as arthritis is making it harder for me to manage hills or headwinds! I cycle easy stuff to and from work and for pleasure, so the Pendleton works for me (I have a traditional somerby, so it felt familiar). Due to lockdown I didn't get much of an intro from the bike shop and am finding the instructions I have downloaded don't seem to be for quite the same model. Mine is the Electric Blue non deluxe Somerby. So here is the question... Do I have to remove the battery to charge it? At the moment I can't seem to get it off the bike. I have a key, but can't work out which is locked and which is open, battery seems solidly fixed in either position and I'm scared to force it in case I do damage. Also I have an extra on/off button on the side of my battery which doesn't seem to be mentioned in any manual - what is this?
Battery question - Pendleton Somerby
- Thread starter Dafi
- Start date
I'm not sure on that particular bikes, but most batteries you can charge on or off the bike. (If the bike is kept in a garage or other cold place it is important not to charge it below about freezing, so may need to charge indoors in winter.) Eventually you will want to remove the battery so best to make sure you can now; but I'm afraid I haven't any advice on how.
Are you sure its an on/off button? Quite a few batteries have a button to press and the leds's will then light up to indicate charge.
Are you sure its an on/off button? Quite a few batteries have a button to press and the leds's will then light up to indicate charge.
Hi i have a pendleton somerby that I bought from Halfords back in January but have only used it sparing during the first part of lockdown so have not needed to charge much and it did not come with a manual, i have had problems with the battery charging. When i put the charger in it was just 'charging on green and the battery was not charging, if that makes sense. I went for a cycle with a friend of mine yesterday which was great as its the first time i have been cycling rather than short local trips, we cycled about 15 miles and the charge was flashing low when i returned home. I mentioned to my friend about the issues with charging and she asked me where the on/off button was on the bike and i said i dont this it has one. Luckily i came across pedelecs last night and read a post about holding the button on the battery itself for 10 secs and after this i tried to successfully the bike again, the charger had a red light on it and bingo this morning this morning the charger has a green light on it and it has charged 70 percent, i think ! Thats a great relief as i thought that the battery was gone yesterday. So i suppose what i am asking is is the button on the battery the on/off button for the bike? Also what is the best indication of the battery charge, the indicator on the battery itself or the panel on the handlebars as sometimes they differ.
Also in response to the lady who said about getting the battery out, there is a knack, it took me a while to confidently slide the battery out just keep trying.
I am very grateful for the forum on this site. thank you
Also in response to the lady who said about getting the battery out, there is a knack, it took me a while to confidently slide the battery out just keep trying.
I am very grateful for the forum on this site. thank you
The batteries are/were made by Phylion, but that may have changed recently. The Phylion protocol was:
A quick press shows the state of charge: how much energy is in the battery
A 10 sec press showed the state of health: how aged/capable the cells were holding charge
A 30 second press put the battery to sleep, to stop the battery self-discharging when not used for a lengthy period; it did this itself after some extended period of time.
The LEDs - on battery or display - are a fairly crude indication. The best way to check actual charge is with a voltmeter/multi-meter. A healthy 36v battery should measure 41.5-42 volts when fully charged.
Whatever bike you have, it's always better to charge it on the bike to avoid wear on the connector pins, though it's nothing to panic about.
You should always charge until the red light goes green, but if occasionally you don't have time to charge it all the way up, again, its nothing to worry about.
Battery charge level indicators are notoriously inaccurate, though their behaviours are normally consistent. It's best to use a voltmeter to measure the actual voltage, then you can compare that with what the indicator lights are showing so that you know what their behaviour means.
You should always charge until the red light goes green, but if occasionally you don't have time to charge it all the way up, again, its nothing to worry about.
Battery charge level indicators are notoriously inaccurate, though their behaviours are normally consistent. It's best to use a voltmeter to measure the actual voltage, then you can compare that with what the indicator lights are showing so that you know what their behaviour means.
thank you both for your prompt replies, when i press it for it just shows one bar but 70 percent on the pad and when i press it for 10 secs it shows all bars on the battery. I will invest in a volt meter so i have an idea of how its charging, the battery has already been replaced once and all i have been advised it is charge it at 70% however this means i cannot go for a long ride unless there is somewhere to charge in the meantime.
Always if possible charge to 100% before a ride, if not using the bike for a while, a week or longer then only charge to 70%. 70% is a good voltage for a storage/not in use charge but remember to fully charge before use again.
Self managing the battery will aid it for a more useful longer life, if storing for say over winter if not using the bike check the voltage once a month and if need be top it up for 20 or 30mins if need be.
Self managing the battery will aid it for a more useful longer life, if storing for say over winter if not using the bike check the voltage once a month and if need be top it up for 20 or 30mins if need be.
Occasional overcharge (leaving it on too long) should not matter; some people even recommend it once every month or so to balance the battery.
We generally charge ours fully once the change gets below about 50%. That may not be the best pattern for the battery, but suits our use of the bikes. Our usage is frequent but a somewhat unpredictable mix of short and longer rides. The 70% storage issue is not relevant. We get the balancing about once a month ... when I forget to turn the charger off on time.
We generally charge ours fully once the change gets below about 50%. That may not be the best pattern for the battery, but suits our use of the bikes. Our usage is frequent but a somewhat unpredictable mix of short and longer rides. The 70% storage issue is not relevant. We get the balancing about once a month ... when I forget to turn the charger off on time.
Going below 70% when in use isn't an issue as they can be used down to 0% which is approx. 32v for a 36v battery, I stop the discharge in use at about 20/25% or about 34v so as not to deep discharge the battery to much.
Think about the distance you are riding and use the last 20/25% as a get me home measure in low power assistance mode, I very rarely have to do so as I use two batteries for longer rides and very rarely discharge lower then 35v.
The usable range is 42v down to 32v, each 1v you can generalise as 10% of the battery voltage range though the discharge isn't linear. you will find most of the voltage/capacity is held between 34v - 38v.
So the figures for a new user.
Always charge fully before use on longer rides or 41.5v - 42v (95 - 100%).
If using locally for short trips no need to charge every day, monitor the voltage and charge when you get below 50%.
Out on a ride don't go lower then 32- 33v.
If not using the bike then try and leave the battery at 50 - 70% storage voltage.
Approx % Vs voltage figures.
100% full /41.5 - 42v.
90%/41v.
80%/40v.
70%/39v.
60%/38v.
50%/37v.
40%/36v.
30%/35v.
20%/34v.
10%/33v.
0/5% empty/ 32v.
Lastly buy a voltage meter to check the battery state of charge (SOC) at home.
On the bike if you don't have a display with a voltage read out buy a cheap £2/£3 two wire led/lcd voltage display that shows battery in % terms & V's. Wire the led to the controllers +/- wires and extend them so you can see the readout somewhere convenient.
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the charge on the pad dropped significantly the last 2 mies and my house on top of a hill so i put it on high to get up there and that is when the last charge on the pad was flashing but i will be mindful about this next time i use for longer distance, thank you
When you use full power, the voltage drops, so it's normal to see the battery indicator do that. If the bike cuts out because of that, you can often get several more miles out of it by switching back on and using a lower power setting.
Hi sorry to tag onto an old thread but....my daughter has just picked up a Pendleton from Halfords, we have the same issue as first poster the manual has a different battery pictured, we cant work out which way is open for the key and dont want to force battery out. I appreciate there is a knack ( have two other ebikes) but can find any "give" in it at all and dont want to break the mechanism. would anyone have a picture ( or clear explanation) of their key in the open position please, just so we know we are turning the thing the right way?? Many thanks
If you look from underneath, you can see the lock working. there's a round peg (approx 10mm dia) that goes into a round hole when locked.You can see it go up and down when you work the key. Obviously, when it's up (not in the hole), it's unlocked so you can remove the battery, which sometimes takes a bit of effort to shift.
You don't need to remove it for charging.
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