Benelli e-Misano battery Qs.

[Shooby]

Hi all.

Please also see my introduction thread for more info - and Qs - on this bike https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/benelli-e-misano-project-will-need-help.47863/

The battery has been recently professionally refurbished by the previous owner, charges as it should, and outputs over 40V (no load), so I think it's ok, tho' not yet tried in anger (the bike needs fault-finding). My Qs are about the battery power display - how to activate it - and the weird thing on the end - please see photos. This was covered in duct tape, and when I removed this and cleaned off the residue, the below appears.

What is it, please?! Thanks.

 

[thelarkbox]

I suspect thats a blob of hot snot, aka hot glue possibly used to seal a void left by a misplaced plate/plug.

As for the battery display?? sorry cant help but if its providing power so what, the on battery indicator is only that a rough indicator - the voltage display on the bike is better but again not a precision measurement instrument for a reading worth attention use a dedicated volt meter or a multi meter


Charge the battery - test it with a meter for a reading to validate its state/health, and use the on bike meter as a rough indicator when out and about and forget about the on battery meter, its only there to give sales people something to talk about..

 

[Shooby]

Thank you.

It does output a solid (but no load) voltage, and has been refurb'ed, so I'm hoping/expectng it's good. I cannot try it on the bike yet, as the whole wiring needs sorting - and the bike was sold as non-functioning (I have another thread on this).

I think I may need to undo these screws and have a peek behind that blob

 

[Shooby]

Tee-hee - there's nothing behind that blob (yes, hot-glue). The switch, PCB and LED display have been removed, with the battery's output cables going straight to the output socket. I guess it must have gone faulty, and this was the easiest solution.

 

[matthewslack]

Tee-hee - there's nothing behind that blob (yes, hot-glue). The switch, PCB and LED display have been removed, with the battery's output cables going straight to the output socket. I guess it must have gone faulty, and this was the easiest solution.

When you say PCB removed do you mean there is no BMS? Is this battery now just the cells and the red and black cables? If so I strongly suggest at minimum you fit a fuse, otherwise short circuit means battery fire.

 

[Shooby]

When you say PCB removed do you mean there is no BMS? Is this battery now just the cells and the red and black cables? If so I strongly suggest at minimum you fit a fuse, otherwise short circuit means battery fire.

Hi, sorry - there is a further PCB sitting down on top of the battery, and I assume that's the BMS. And there are fuses on both the charging and output sides - the former being accessible from under a rubber lid, and the former being in-line inside the casing, of the wires to the output socket.
The PCB that's missing is the one the LED output display and wee switch would have been connected to, that's all. I've still no idea what that switch actually did?
Thanks for your reply.

 

[Nealh]

The switch would have been a BMS switch to shut off the voltage at the discharge. It sounds then that the BMS may have been replaced as one can buy BMS with or without switch oiption.
All it means is one will get a contact spark every time the battery is removed and connected to the bike.

It is good one has confirmed a BMS is in place as any battery withut one is a liability and one needs control of LVC and HVC during discharge and charging respectively, also should the battery develope a cell fault or wire fault the BMS will act as afail safe to prevent charge or discharge until the fault is repaired.

 

[saneagle]

Hi, sorry - there is a further PCB sitting down on top of the battery, and I assume that's the BMS. And there are fuses on both the charging and output sides - the former being accessible from under a rubber lid, and the former being in-line inside the casing, of the wires to the output socket.
The PCB that's missing is the one the LED output display and wee switch would have been connected to, that's all. I've still no idea what that switch actually did?
Thanks for your reply.

There was a panel with LED lights that show the state of charge. The switch next to it either just activated that panel for a few seconds to see the state of charge, or it was wired to the BMS to switch the battery on and off.

 

[Shooby]

Thank you again, both

From what I've seen on another post which showed a parts list for a similar Dorado battery, the switch was 'latching', so would likely have been as Nealh suggested - it was used to turn the battery output on and off, with the display presumably lighting up all the time it was on.

Yes, I can see it could now 'spark' if a load were on when the battery was fitted, or I guess the controller draws an initial burst when connected in any case. Not ideal, but not major either.

Thanks - my learning curve is near vertical

 

[saneagle]

Thank you again, both

From what I've seen on another post which showed a parts list for a similar Dorado battery, the switch was 'latching', so would likely have been as Nealh suggested - it was used to turn the battery output on and off, with the display presumably lighting up all the time it was on.

Yes, I can see it could now 'spark' if a load were on when the battery was fitted, or I guess the controller draws an initial burst when connected in any case. Not ideal, but not major either.

Thanks - my learning curve is near vertical

I'm not sure if I understand what you're saying. It seems to be the wrong way round. You need the switch to prevent the spark when connecting the battery to the controller, so if the switch has been removed, you should leave your battery in all the time, otherwise you'll burn the terminals. There doesn't have to be a load. The spark is caused by the inrush current when the capacitors in the controller instantly charge. You can't use an inline switch because the inrush will burn its contacts too. Batteries need a switch that switches off the BMS to solve that issue. I'm guessing that your battery got a new BMS without a switch.

 

[Shooby]

I'm not sure if I understand what you're saying. It seems to be the wrong way round. You need the switch to prevent the spark when connecting the battery to the controller, so if the switch has been removed, you should leave your battery in all the time, otherwise you'll burn the terminals. There doesn't have to be a load. The spark is caused by the inrush current when the capacitors in the controller instantly charge. You can't use an inline switch because the inrush will burn its contacts too. Batteries need a switch that switches off the BMS to solve that issue. I'm guessing that your battery got a new BMS without a switch.

Sorry, I wasn't clear, but you have nicely summarised what I understand to be the case.

Yes, with this missing PCB/power display/switch, I do understand that the battery's outputting socket will be constantly 'live', and could/would therefore 'spark' on fitting, if the controller or other part was drawing power - like charging its caps, for example. My priority is to get the whole bike running, and then I can look at finding a suitable replacement for that board and switch.

And, yes, there is a board sitting down on top of the battery pack, which I presume is a BMS, but with no obvious switch (not that I could access it in any case in normal use!)

 

[Shooby]

Here's some pics from inside that battery end. No switch or PCB or LED display, but tucked down over the battery appears to be a BMS.

 

[saneagle]

That's a very cheap BMS. I'm not convinced it does balancing. I bought a couple like that because I needed small ones. When I look inside, I can't see any balancing system. The pads where the resistors should be soldered are empty. In the listing, balancing isn't shown as one of its functions. Further down the listing, it says balance voltage 4.2v when being used. I'm not sure whether than means when it has a balancing system or what.

It might be worth peeking between the pcb and aluminium heatsink to see if yours has a row of 10 100ohm resistors and the 10 transistors to switch them. If it doesn't, you might need to open the case every so often to do manual balancing.

It doesn't have the contacts for a switch. The LEDs on the case could have still been used if they were wired in, but they've gone now.

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