Help! Electrickery!

[Depressed]

Have no idea where to put this but here goes.

Having suffered from mental and physical health problems for many years, at the end of last year, I decided to get myself an E Bike...in a bid to get me out a bit.
After much searching (not enough seemingly) I decide to buy a bike from E Bikes Direct. I bought a Basis Beacon ( I believe there is only one type) which seemed a good choice. Sadly it wasn't!
Since day one it has been useless! Because of the aforementioned health problems I have, the electrics on the bike had to be spot on...guess what...they weren't! On the odd occasion they do work, but only enough to get me a few hundred yards! Normally all I get is a couple of lights going on the power thingy and then nothing.
If anyone has any ideas on this it would be much apreciated, especially as the weather is now set fair. I can go into more detail should it be required.
I was going to put this in the stolen bikes section, but E Bikes Direct didn't actually steal the bike, they just stole my £1000!
How these companies get away with this stuff (morally and legally) is beyond me.

 

[Ocsid]

You ought to be comfortably covered by the Consumer Rights Act 2015, making the problem the supplying dealers, not yours, but unfortunately that process can be stressful in itself.
Talk to your local Citizens Advice people, help is there and the provisions of that Act can be massively powerful if the supplying dealer is not willing to refund your money. But you must play by the Acts rules, so get the advice.

 

[Depressed]

Thanks for that. With E Bikes Direct, they only give you a month (according to their site) where you can get a refund.
They did say I should box it up, take photos, do this do that! That in itself causes me huge problems, because it makes me feel like the guilty party and not them! They would then have it collected, and then have a look at it and if they found nothing wrong with it, I would have to pay to get it back! Putting a bike in a box and all the rest might seem trivial to some, but with my condition it has me bouncing off walls!

I will get on to the Citizens Advice people today.

 

[Depressed]

Had a chat with Citizens Advice, and as I thought the companies like E Bikes Direct have you by the groin area!

Being a Buddhist though, I know that Karma will come and bite them on the arse one day!

 

[wheeliepete]

Have you fully charged the battery? If you can describe exactly what happens when you try using the bike, we may be able to help you sort it out.

 

[Depressed]

I always make sure the battery is fully charged.

Sometimes it will work (the bike) and it will take me somewhere...no more than a mile to date...but rarely does that happen. On the rare occasion that it does work, it can either pack in when i'm riding, or when I've stopped.

Sometimes two of the power lights (they're four) will come on and immediately go out.

Sometimes nothing.

I had a look on You-Tube for advice, and found some shop in America talking about E Bikes. The mechanic there said, that the vast majority of bikes that were brought in for electrical repair had the most simple of things wrong with them...I hope mine is the same.

 

[PC2017]

I not sure if you have sent it back or not, I too have been down the rabbit hole that is mental health issues, luckily for me my issues where mainly caused by underlying physical health issue, I was un-diagnosed type 1 diabetic for several years and I too lost my cognitive functions due to high blood glucose, some may say even though I am now controlled by medication my mental health is still a cause for concern and requires ongoing treatment using a holistic approach and I too got into ebiking for these reasons. I applaud you for taking a vital step to improve your current situation.

You must send the bike back, my friend has high praise for ebikedirect if possible get some one to help you, google MSE for help and advice...

If you can video the problem you are having with the bike this will help your case...

 

[wheeliepete]

It's a good sign that the bike works some of the time, it shows there is nothing broken. The problems you describe point to a bad battery connection, although only 2 lights of 4 with a fully charged battery may suggest a battery fault. Do you have a way to measure battery voltage?

 

[Depressed]

I did have a neighbour check the battery and he said it was putting out half its amount of 36v, but then said it was probably a two cell battery so it was ok.

Are these batteries two cell?

 

[Depressed]

I not sure if you have sent it back or not, I too have been down the rabbit hole that is mental health issues, luckily for me my issues where mainly caused by underlying physical health issue, I was un-diagnosed type 1 diabetic for several years and I too lost my cognitive functions due to high blood glucose, some may say even though I am now controlled by medication my mental health is still a cause for concern and requires ongoing treatment using a holistic approach and I too got into ebiking for these reasons. I applaud you for taking a vital step to improve your current situation.

You must send the bike back, my friend has high praise for ebikedirect if possible get some one to help you, google MSE for help and advice...

If you can video the problem you are having with the bike this will help your case...

If your friend has high praise for ebikesdirect he must be one of the lucky ones. Law of averages states someone must get a good bike!

Have just sent a letter off to ebd stating my problems and how the bike is rubbish. Had a look MSE and it looks a good site if the letter fails.

 

[wheeliepete]

I did have a neighbour check the battery and he said it was putting out half its amount of 36v, but then said it was probably a two cell battery so it was ok.

Deff not alright, fully charged voltage should be 42v on a healthy, new battery. There is normally at least 40 cells in the pack.

 

[sjpt]

Just checked comments on e bikes direct here and trustpilot, and they are generally good.

Good luck getting this sorted.

 

[Depressed]

Deff not alright, fully charged voltage should be 42v on a healthy, new battery. There is normally at least 40 cells in the pack.

Thanks for that, I guessed it was something simple. Now at least I have a starting point in trying to rectify the problem. Well not that simple I suppose, because a new battery is bloody expensive.

Now I hate E Bikes Direct even more for causing me a shed load of stress, fancy sending a new bike with a dud battery! Surely they must have had some idea when I contacted them by phone and email and described the problem...words fail me!

 

[PC2017]

new battery is bloody expensive.

They have to replace it if it's faulty as long as the bike is in warranty... Keep this thread posted and let us all know what happens.

My friend purchased a Oxygen Emate about 3 years ago and from what I remember ebikesdirect replaced the motor wheel as the spokes kept snapping and replaced the controller or wiring due to water ingress, this was all in warranty, however to say he was one of the lucky he still had issues, but he follow warranty and statutory rights to the letter,he had to fanny about sending it/parts back but they did sort his problems out.

 

[Deleted member 25121]

It sounds as though you have a bad connection somewhere, either inside the battery pack or elsewhere. These things can occur when the bike is moved, for example during shipping.

Either way the supplier will sort out the problem I'm sure, just be patient and give them the opportunity to do so.

In all probability E Bikes Direct were unaware of the problem when they shipped the bike to you.

I had a problem like this when my £6K bike was delivered and it was soon sorted.

 

[Nealh]

I did have a neighbour check the battery and he said it was putting out half its amount of 36v, but then said it was probably a two cell battery so it was ok.

Are these batteries two cell?

Ebike batteries most will be a minimum of 3 cells in parallel (21 in total) for 24v and usually 4 cells in parallel (40 in total) for 36v.
A 36v battery will charge to 41.5v to 42v for a 36v battery, min usable charge is 32v or above. If you have a meter check the voltage after is has come off the charger.

 

[Depressed]

Just checked comments on e bikes direct here and trustpilot, and they are generally good.

Good luck getting this sorted.

In my correspondence with them I always found them somewhat condescending...as if they thought I was an idiot for not knowing what was wrong with the bike. Their last email was sarcastic in the extreme.
The majority of people don't like to complain, especially the elderly. If all the people that had a problem with their bikes from ebd actually complained, I doubt the * rating would be much above 2!

 

[Depressed]

It sounds as though you have a bad connection somewhere, either inside the battery pack or elsewhere. These things can occur when the bike is moved, for example during shipping.

Either way the supplier will sort out the problem I'm sure, just be patient and give them the opportunity to do so.

In all probability E Bikes Direct were unaware of the problem when they shipped the bike to you.

I had a problem like this when my £6K bike was delivered and it was soon sorted.

Goodness, if I had bought a bike at that price and it didn't work I don't know what i'd have done...probably jumped over my back fence and into the river Swale which backs onto my garden!

Of course with you buying a bike at that price, they would have bent over backwards to sort it! They wouldn't have wanted a bad review at that price.

 

[Depressed]

They have to replace it if it's faulty as long as the bike is in warranty... Keep this thread posted and let us all know what happens.

My friend purchased a Oxygen Emate about 3 years ago and from what I remember ebikesdirect replaced the motor wheel as the spokes kept snapping and replaced the controller or wiring due to water ingress, this was all in warranty, however to say he was one of the lucky he still had issues, but he follow warranty and statutory rights to the letter,he had to fanny about sending it/parts back but they did sort his problems out.

Sadly, that is one of the problems with me/this...I find it impossible to do even trivial things like constantly (or even once) returning things when I feel it's not my fault and i'm being screwed by someone!

 

[Depressed]

Ebike batteries most will be a minimum of 3 cells in parallel (21 in total) for 24v and usually 4 cells in parallel (40 in total) for 36v.
A 36v battery will charge to 41.5v to 42v for a 36v battery, min usable charge is 32v or above. If you have a meter check the voltage after is has come off the charger.

I'm afraid most of that went over my head. I do understand that it's probably the battery and I can take it from there though.

I sent a letter to ebd yesterday explaining my situation and condition, and hopefully i will get a reasonable reply...i'm not holding my breath though!

If that fails, i'll tell them about the battery, and see what happens. Now you know why I think ebd are shite...because it's doing my bloody head-in!