Cyclamatic powerplus battery problems...anyone else?

[madfish2k]

I've had a Cyclamatic since May and loved it, however the battery has consistently lost charge ever since. I used to get 3 days per charge at approximately 6 miles round trip to work each day. This gradually dropped to 2 days and now on a full charge my battery is in the red after a day. My work colleague who was so impressed with mine bought one at the same time and is experiencing the same problem. Amazon have agreed to take them back so all is good. I was wondering if any other cyclamatic owners have had this problem. I know its a cheap bike but still....

On a side note I have just ordered a Kudos Sport, is there any owners who can give any feedback? The 2 year battery warranty was a big selling point!

 

[flecc]

We have had the odd Cyclamatic battery failures reported, but most appear to have been ok. Low temperatures can temporarily severely affect battery performance, so that is a factor at present, which will get even worse over the next few days with very low temperatures expected.

Warmer weather restores the performance lost due to that factor though.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I've seen one Cyclamatic battery with a balance wire detached. The wires are not supported very well and the solder joints can fail through vibration over time. The battery would then go out of balance, which would affect its capacity. I think this would also affect other batteries as well. Having said that, the Cyclamatic battery is under quite a lot of strain because it's only 26v, so will need to provide a lot more current than a 36v one, which also isn't good for long life. Plus, if you were doing the three trips to run it flat, that wouldn't have been so good for it either: Better to charge each day to avoid deep discharges.

I wish I new what Amazon were going to do with the defective ones. I'd love to get one, open it up and test it to see what's actually wrong with it. I guess they go to landfill.

 

[Biker44]

Having said that, the Cyclamatic battery is under quite a lot of strain because it's only 26v, so will need to provide a lot more current than a 36v one, which also isn't good for long life. ... Better to charge each day to avoid deep discharges.

I'm another new owner of a Cyclamatic, though with 30 miles covered in 30 days so far. Mine is folding and only has an 8Ah battery (ie 196W/h at 24V).

Thanks for confirming what I suspected, better to top up batteries little and often.

However, the Battery University.com tells me that Lion batteries don't really like to be fully charged, it would be a lot better to feed them at 4.05 volts/cell rather than 4.20 volts. This delivers only 80% capacity but less stress. One uses full charge only for a longer journey planned.

Is there anyway I can arrange this?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Don't worry about all that: Just charge your battery and use it. That's what it's designed for. There's so many different battery chemistries and constructions that it's difficult to make sense of what anybody's saying. The battery management module should keep the battery within its optimum design parameters so that you can't over-charge or over-discharge it. Lead batteries are different: Never leave them discharged if you can avoid it.

 

[flecc]

I agree with d8veh. One problem with charging at a lower voltage to about 80% capacity is that the BMS won't be able to signal an end of charge state. This means that either you'll have to time the end of charge, guessing at when that is and maybe falling short on charge content, or just leave it charging for longer in the hope the BMS will cut off the charge later. That longer period can chemically stress just as much as a shorter full charge.

With all lithium battery chemistries, frequent topping up is the accepted way to the longest life. Short charging is mainly of benefit in frequent short charge/discharge cycles as happens in cars for example. I'm not convinced of any benefit when in constant discharge followed by constant charge situations

 

[Biker44]

If I was to be awkward and still like to charge to 80%, how would I go about it?

I now have two batteries and deliberately keep the second one at less than full charge (40% charge is said to be be best for long term storage). However, I can only do that by putting it away after having done a few miles.

If I were to build a charger or modify a charger that only provided 4.05volts per cell, how would that interact with the BMS inside the battery? Would I risk getting some cells charged more than others?

I have a second question for everyone - when is the price of Lithium due to plummet? Is it going to take 10 years and more because the market will create almost unlimited demand? The price of my battery has actually gone up, was GBP 199 and is now #299!

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You can get a charger from BMSB. They have a pot in the corner inside where you can adjust the voltage.
Alloy Shell 120W LiFePo4/Li-Ion/Lead Acid Battery EBike Charger - BMSBATTERY

The problem then is that the balancing might not work because on some BMSs the bleed resistors only switch on when they reach a certain voltage, so you could lose a bit more capacity.

 

[Louise Morlin]

My husband bought me a Cycolmatic power plus bike via Tesco. After having problems of the delivery of the bike (they sent an email to say it was despatched when it wasn't) so a day was wasted waiting for it to be delivered.
I am very disappointed in the bike. It was put together by Halfords because we didn't want to make a mistake putting it together and Halfords said the battery had some charge on it.
Got the bike home, put it on charge. I didn't use straight away because the weather was bad. I went to use it for the first time and the battery is completely dead. We checked the plug socket, the plug, the cable (for damage) no lights appear when you are attempting to charge the battery. It's dead as a dodo.
We rang Tesco to say we wanted to return the bike, they said here is the number to ring SportsHQ. My husband managed to get through once to someone who said they didn't have the authority to authorise a return and we should speak to someone in the technical department. No one in the technical department until the 4th of January (not good news for people who have received bikes for Christmas with faults) My husband is trying to contact them again as I am writing this post.
My husband has a different brand of electric bike and has never had a problem with it.
The after sales experience from the SportsHQ has been dire. I would never recommend to anyone that they buy a Cycolmatic Power Plus bike. The next step is to drive to The SportsHQ offices with the bike if we don't hear from them. #cyclomaticpowerplus#sportsHQreview

 

[footpump]

I spoke to someone about a month ago who has had a cyclamatic for about a year, we discussed range etc.
where he works is not served by public transport, so round trip is 20 miles, 8 of which is has steepish bits, and muddy this time of year.
he charges the battery daily. no complaints other than how heavy the bike was.
no idea where the bike was purchased but I thought he said £500?

 

[Louise Morlin]

I spoke to someone about a month ago who has had a cyclamatic for about a year, we discussed range etc.
where he works is not served by public transport, so round trip is 20 miles, 8 of which is has steepish bits, and muddy this time of year.
he charges the battery daily. no complaints other than how heavy the bike was.
no idea where the bike was purchased but I thought he said £500?

Thanks for your reply. Pleased your friend hasn't had any problems.

I am sure this bike has a faulty battery or connection. The battery is still dead after being on charge for 2 weeks. The bike has never been used. I feel like putting it in the car and driving to SportsHQ to resolve it quicker. The purchase price was £599.00 from Tesco.

 

[flecc]

Thanks for your reply. Pleased your friend hasn't had any problems.

I am sure this bike has a faulty battery or connection. The battery is still dead after being on charge for 2 weeks. The bike has never been used. I feel like putting it in the car and driving to SportsHQ to resolve it quicker. The purchase price was £599.00 from Tesco.

Louise, you said that when first received you charged it but then didn't use it until later. What interval was there between that first charge and first attempt to use?
.

 

[Louise Morlin]

Probably 2 days. It was dead, no lights when plugged back in, nothing to say it was charging. My husband has got an electric bike from another company so he is used to charging them. We rang within the 30 days return period so when we finally get hold of SportsHQ it's definitely going back.

 

[flecc]

Probably 2 days. It was dead, no lights when plugged back in, nothing to say it was charging. My husband has got an electric bike from another company so he is used to charging them. We rang within the 30 days return period so when we finally get hold of SportsHQ it's definitely going back.

That 2 days wasn't a problem Louise, I was checking since a battery left a very long time after first charge can suffer problems.

It seems as though the battery isn't actually charging, despite the charger connected, so complete return is definitely the best answer since it could be due to either battery or charger.
.

 

[Lancslass]

Hi Louise
As I understand consumer law, if you bought the bike from Tesco your contract is with them and they should be sorting out any problems. They shouldn't be telling you to go to SportsHQ or whatever. You should be able to return the bike to Tesco for a refund or replacement if it has a fault.
Unless I have misunderstood the situation .........

 

[trex]

I think at this stage, the OP has just contacted call centres, they have been told to call again on Monday and talk to support, then if they still want a refund, Tesco will refund them, SportsHQ will retrieve the bike.
It must be a simple problem with the battery but as the bike is DOA and the customer has lost faith, refund is the simplest solution.

 

[Lancslass]

I was a bit alarmed at the thought of the OP thinking she had to drive to Sports HQ to sort the problem out rather than just getting a refund from Tesco, which, as you say Trex, is definitely her best option at this point. Just hope it hasn't put her off getting another bike. There are plenty of good ones out there.

 

[Fordulike]

I think at this stage, the OP has just contacted call centres, they have been told to call again on Monday and talk to support, then if they still want a refund, Tesco will refund them, SportsHQ will retrieve the bike.
It must be a simple problem with the battery but as the bike is DOA and the customer has lost faith, refund is the simplest solution.

Which is a real shame, as the Cyclamatic is a good bike for first time buyers

 

[electric_avenue]

I've seen one Cyclamatic battery with a balance wire detached. The wires are not supported very well and the solder joints can fail through vibration over time. The battery would then go out of balance, which would affect its capacity.

I've been having problems. If this is the problem, can it be fixed by re-attaching the wire, or is the damage permanent?
Do you have a picture of more info about which is the wire in question?

 

[trex]

you can reattach the wires. Charge it to full and leave the charger on green for another hour to rebalance the battery.