DIY battery replacement?

[Neil^P]

Hi, I was just looking up prices to replace the battery on my Meerkat Metro (aka Currie IZIP CB), and it looks like costing me around £90.
As far as I understand it, inside the casing it just contains 2x12volt SLA batteries, which obviously I could buy a lot cheaper if I got the right type/size etc.
Does anyone here have any experience of opening up the housing on the battery case on this (or other electric bikes) and replacing the batteries themselves rather than buying a whole new battery pack?
Or does anyone know any useful websites with info about how to do it. So far I haven't actually opened up the battery pack to have a look, I don't know whether it'll be 2 easy to replace batteries, or a case of all kinds of connections and stuff that would make it difficult to do.
I'd be really grateful for any advice.
(I know this should problaby be in the technical forum, but I can't access it with my ID yet)

 

[Ian]

It should be easy enough with SLA batteries Neil, just 2 connections on each battery which will probably be of the push-on blade type. If you open the pack you can measure the batteries and source replacements that will fit, ebay being a good place to look.

Even if the wires are soldered to the existing batteries the wires can be cut and blade connectors crimped on with a cheap, readily available crimping tool.

This may be a suitable battery

 

[Jeremy]

As Ian says, it should be pretty straightforward.

I've bought batteries from these people: Home and found both their service and their prices to be excellent. I'm not sure if they have the size you want, but they do stock a fair range of SLA batteries, as well as some good NiMH packs. If your batteries are those 12V 12Ah ones, then they will cost you about £45 for the pair, including postage and packing.

Jeremy

 

[Ian]

That Component Shop is a useful find Jeremy, I have bought odd items from their Ebay shop in the past and can vouch for their service but didn't realise they had such a selection of batteries, particularly high discharge NiMh types at good prices. My lightweight "get me home" battery is now a realistic possibility.

 

[Neil^P]

Thanks for the advice.
I've found 12v12ah batteries that are just about a perfect match for size, looks like it'll cost me about £46 inc postage instead of £90 + postage for buying a new battery pack
I'm assuming my existing battery charger (with it's green light to indicate fully charged) ought to still work the same since they're the same battery type and v/ah ratings as the originals - is that correct?
Thanks.

BTW, if I got eg. 12v 24ah batteries (ie. same voltage, double the amp/hours) and made my own battery pack (which would need to somehow fitted into a custom mounting as they're bigger) - would that still run my bike fine but able to run about twice as long - or have I got that wrong?

 

[Ian]

Your existing charger will be fine with the replacement batteries Neil. If you were to fit batteries of twice the capacity your range should actually be slightly more than double, at least in theory and your existing charger would still be OK, just taking longer to charge. The weight of such batteries would affect the bikes handling though.

 

[Neil^P]

Your existing charger will be fine with the replacement batteries Neil. If you were to fit batteries of twice the capacity your range should actually be slightly more than double, at least in theory and your existing charger would still be OK, just taking longer to charge. The weight of such batteries would affect the bikes handling though.

It's a very tempting thought. For now I think I'll replace them with the same ones, but would be an interesting project to build some kind of custom mounting and get some larger batteries for long trips

Thanks for the help everyone.

BTW I'm in leicester too Ian - I've seen a few electric bikes around, maybe I've seen you around. I had mine locked up at a bike stand today next to another IZIP CB, always nice to see more electric bikes around.

 

[Ian]

That's at least four members of this forum from Leicestershire, looks like we're set to become the e-bike centre of the country, certainly the "how many electric bikes do you see" thread indicates indicates that I may have seen more than most. I've only seen one iZip though, that was in Glen Parva a while ago. Most of my local cycling is on the North side of the city, many of my routes taking me through the Watermead area.

 

[Neil^P]

I've finally got around to ordering 2 batteries and replacing my old ones.
The connections inside were soldered on, so I had to buy a soldering iron (and learn how to solder - never done it before), and it all works great.
Thanks for the useful advice everyone.

 

[badnewsz]

Izip Canadian Tire Schwinn

Hi All from Canada.....Check out some of the amazing vids on youtube with the schwinn izip. (Macdonalds Run and 48 Volt)....you probably have seen them already. I came to tgis forum as a newbie because I noticed someone working on there Battery pack which sounds the same as the model sold in Canada. I was hoping that someone could post or maybe let us know how to in a few easy steps add batteries in series after drilling holes in the case etc. Also is your power cord in England Propietory? Has anyone done a easy work around? this would allow you to add your own battery pack.
Many Many Thanks
Badnewsz