Carrera Crossfire ebike Battery Charger

[cyclebuddy]

is there a link for the Panasonic caps as one of my chargers has died, but there seems no way to get inside it.

If it's a standard Sans charger, use a sharp knife to prise out the four rubber feet, and there're 4 Philips screws underneath. Best to open the charger first to see if there's any evidence of what might be wrong (failed diode, bulging caps, blown fuse etc). In my (limited) experience, if those main output caps have blown, a number of secondary caps/components may be damaged too (which is why I changed them before an "event" happens). The caps I used were 470uf 63v 105c low ESR Panasonic EEUFC1J471 (ebay that) - but your charger (especially if not a standard Sans) may need different values.

 

[egroover]

I recently picked up a 2nd hand crossfire-e charger on ebay for £20 (as a spare and to keep at work if needed), so it's worth keeping an eye out on there. Sadly (for him), the lad who sold it to me had his crossfire-e nicked and hence why he still had the charger and why he was selling it

 

[Mantis55]

Thanks all. Been back to Halfords today, got a replacement charger, same result though
Guy in the store says the bikes arrive in the branch already charged, so it's possible some charge was lost in the interim. However I've now had 2 chargers and 2 batteries and it won't go past 75%. I'm taking it back to them tomorrow. Obviously reluctant to start mucking about dismantling chargers at this stage as the bike is brand new but might have a quick peek.

 

[Mantis55]

Halfords rang me back, guy has been on to head office and they think they know what the problem is. Sending up a part for the bike later in the week. Only worry is, I charged the battery off the bike the other day and I don’t think all the bars were lit. However we’ll see...

 

[Mantis55]

Well they replaced the controller under the battery. Went home and charged it and the problem is still there. I suppose when I tell them tomorrow it's a replacement bike or a refund.
A bit of background: I've not cycled much for about 5 years and I'm 62 and a fairly severe asthmatic, and the consequent lack of exercise makes it a bit of a vicious circle, so I hesitated about spending this sort of money on a new bike. Now I've been using it for a couple of weeks, even in January, I'm optimistic and think I could justify spending about £2k on something better. So I'll be trawling the forum for suggestions.

 

[cyclebuddy]

Well they replaced the controller under the battery. Went home and charged it and the problem is still there. I suppose when I tell them tomorrow it's a replacement bike or a refund.
A bit of background: I've not cycled much for about 5 years and I'm 62 and a fairly severe asthmatic, and the consequent lack of exercise makes it a bit of a vicious circle, so I hesitated about spending this sort of money on a new bike. Now I've been using it for a couple of weeks, even in January, I'm optimistic and think I could justify spending about £2k on something better. So I'll be trawling the forum for suggestions.

Logic suggests the issue is between your battery and the charger: It may even be that there's nothing wrong with either other than the LED battery display being a little off... but without measuring/checking actual voltages with a multimeter, you'll never know.

Replacing the controller may be Halfords new response to the intermittent "cut-out" issues that seem to plague this model... but I'd wager good money it has nothing to do with your own apparent "under charged" battery issue.

Good luck with whatever you now decide to do... but do keep cycling!

 

[Mantis55]

Forgot to mention, I had my first cut-out today. That was before they fitted the new part though.

 

[Amoto65]

My advise, take it back and get your money back then buy a bike from one of the contributors on this forum i.e. Wisper, Woosh, Juicy, Oxygen, Kudos etc. That is what i did after the problems with my Carrera cutting out, the bike is not fit for purpose even though when it was working it was good. Mine was returned and a Wisper 905se purchased (not from Halfords) which has been totally enjoyable and reliable.

 

[Benjahmin]

Second that. Plenty of good bike around in the £1k bracket, without all the Carrera problems. The biggest seemingly being Halfrauds.
Keep cycling, it's good all round and well worth the moola.

p.s. I have a Carrera I converted myself. Never had a problem with it. Funny that!

 

[egroover]

While I'm a big fan of the crossfire-e and have just bought a new one to replace my current one (got another great deal, £607 after various discounts, cashbacks ect), with all the problems you are having, it might be best to demand your money back and go elsewhere

 

[Mantis55]

My advise, take it back and get your money back then buy a bike from one of the contributors on this forum i.e. Wisper, Woosh, Juicy, Oxygen, Kudos etc. That is what i did after the problems with my Carrera cutting out, the bike is not fit for purpose even though when it was working it was good. Mine was returned and a Wisper 905se purchased (not from Halfords) which has been totally enjoyable and reliable.

Thanks for everybody’s advice. I’ll look at other threads rather than take this too far off topic. From riding a Crossfire for a couple of weeks I’m drawn towards similar looking hybrids but crank driven. I’m looking at the Cube stuff atm, Cross and Kathmandu ranges. Also has to be available in Edinburgh which rules out one or two makes.

 

[Mantis55]

Been away for a few days but got a refund from Halfords today.

 

[LowSpecChaos]

FOR CROSSFIRE / VENGEANCE The original charger is no longer made/sold separately from SR directly as i contacted them on this issue.
Therefor i'm posting a guide here where the bike was bought
To get the battery to charge again you'll need to open the battery unplug all connectors too the battery,
slowly pry the battery pack out from each end on first removal the battery will be adhered really strong so be careful.
once you have battery removed from housing proceed to unscrew the charging port from the battery case.
once you have removed it cut all the cables away from the charging connector.
Buy a dc plug female port with cable and insert in original charging ports place. secure and fill surroundings with with hot glue (you can add waterproof DC plug connector cover to make it look stock)
Add 45V 3A blocking diode with single terminal block to the positive cable of the new charging connector.
Making sure to connect the side furthest away from the line on the diode as this is the way we want current to flow into the battery and not the other-way round.
Now on the circuit board locate CHG : RED & BLACK You will need to cut away CHG cable away from connector and strip end of cable. (do one at a time recommend to prevent BMS damage/Short)
Tape the end of CHG black cable as we aren't going to be using it) use a single terminal blocks to join RED/+ from CHG and the other side of the diode you just attached to new charging port.
Now on either ends of the battery itself you have two screws that each represent MAIN battery positive and main battery negative you can tell what's what by looking at the exposed ends of the cells closest to the screw if its a row of positives under the screw that means that screw terminal is positive if it was a row of negatives cell terminals that means that screw terminal is negative.
Right now.. with this in mind lets continue to the final step.
locate main negative of the battery and attach the negative wire of your new charging port to the main negative this will stop the bms from stopping it from charging when it notices original charger isn't inserted. neaten up all cables and re attach remaining connectors
(one connector will be missing for original charger. this is normal as you've cut the 5 pin charger away)
Add seals back onto the battery and re attach the cover to the battery you are finished. Right.... Now get on Ebay and find a cheap 42V 2A EBike charger for about £13 1st class (making sure to select "UK only" for fast shipping) now just charge the battery up like normal your done
(it doesn't matter about using cheap chargers now as the battery psychically cannot leak back down to the charger because of the diode we put on the line earlier)

Posting this as the manufacturer really left alot of us out in the rain on this and not many people know how to fix, 0 guides on the internet. will post this around, so even if it's removed you'll find the guide somewhere

Happy riding

 

[georgehenry]

Although as a non tech eee it is strangely relaxing reading a thread like this I cannot but come to the conclusion that there is a massive elephant in the room.

Take the bike back. Get your money back. Buy a different bike that is actually fit for purpose. End of.

It is a brand new bike and should work as intended without having to resort to embarking on a night school class at your local tech college in electrical engineering.

 

[egroover]

Look out for a spare on ebay, I bought one last year, they do (albeit rarely) pop up. I also think this is the same one from Amazon Germany

https://www.amazon.de/Phylion-75-05-00022-Ladegerät-5-polig-Pedelecs/dp/B079SF3RYN/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_200_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=W115AWEV7FRF28ZGNG51

 

[LowSpecChaos]

They wouldn't take it back OR replace the failed part/charger as i'd "modified" this bike only done this after i bashed the front up pretty hard after around after half a year of having it wasn't paying attention was on looking at my phone changing song and clipped a lamp post (Wasn't expecting there darn lamp post splitting the path lol) & Halfords helpful as ever was going to charge me to repair it as it wasn't the bikes fault, Broke the display never came on again, bent handlebars, and twisted the rim & broke two human teeth lol. So a few months later ish when my face had stopped hurting i got on ebay, changed handlebars, forks, headset, front wheel, Tyre's, controller, throttle, dropper post, new seat, bigger rear disc & rear disc mount and rear break leaver, replaced the p.a.s crank with a 32T and a new BB. I didn't keep any of the original parts chucked out tyres, display, handlebars, one brake leaver & i sold the controller as i made £41 + 3.99 postage selling it on ebay. as its ran fine for at least a year in this configuration only had to pump the Tyre's up since.
0 stupid error codes. no nothing now is the perfect E-Bike for City and Offroad

I do not recommend even touching or breathing on your bike if you want Halfords to look at it. P.s this is second vengeance first bike went back within a week due to power cutting off

I do not see why me modifying everything BUT the battery... where the charger gets inserted, should stop them helping me getting hold of a replacement battery charger & i was willing to pay full price for it just to have all this all go away. I've since looked into this further and found Halfords should of taken the battery and charger back with no questions asked as i had receipt & my battery still had void sticker attached, They have offered me replacements in March this year but it's way too late. I'm just lucky my battery didn't die sitting, already sorted it myself. Never stepping foot in another halfords again. SR's techs was more helpful gave me drawn instructions over my bms picture on how to charge my battery. even though they didn't make it. (was written on mobile controlling PC via Parsec sorry for any spelling mistakes hard to see full PC on 6 inch phone lol)

 

[Gudoldtom]

Hello I am having the same problem. I have checked the output & it is 40.01W is this sufficient to charge the battery? I have tried to charge whilst the battery is on the bike & also off but am just getting the same green light LED on the charger though it does light red for a few seconds when first connected. Any ideas as Halfords have not responded to my emails?
Many thanks

 

[vfr400]

Hello I am having the same problem. I have checked the output & it is 40.01W is this sufficient to charge the battery?

Yes, that's about right. Unfortunately, these batteries are a bit more complicated than most, which makes fault-finding tricky. The problem is more likely in your battery. Did you check that the charge socket is not corroded because they are a bit vulnerable, especially if you use the bike in the winter?

 

[cyclebuddy]

I have two identical batteries and chargers...

When bulk charging the charger consumes between 80-90 watts initially, and the red LED shows. That charger consumption progressively reduces as the battery nears full, and the LED turns green when the charge level drops to about 18 watts... But even though the charger LED is green, it's still charging to top-off and balance the cells.

You could try leaving the charger on for about another hour or so after the LED turns green as the cells balance, and measure the battery voltage again (the two outer pins on the battery) to see if pack voltage is nearer the >41.5 volts it should be.

 

[vfr400]

I have two identical batteries and chargers...

When bulk charging the charger consumes between 80-90 watts initially, and the red LED shows. That charger consumption progressively reduces as the battery nears full, and the LED turns green when the charge level drops to about 18 watts... But even though the charger LED is green, it's still charging to top-off and balance the cells.

You could try leaving the charger on for about another hour or so after the LED turns green as the cells balance, and measure the battery voltage again (the two outer pins on the battery) to see if pack voltage is nearer the >41.5 volts it should be.

His charger is different. It uses either communication with the battery or remote switching of the charge MOSFET. If the communication doesn't get the right answer, it won't charge.