First Timer on E bikes

lee-wave

Pedelecer
Jan 7, 2012
61
21
Leatherhead
Hello everyone

I have followed this forum for some time now and in the last month decided to take the plunge and convert my Claud Butler Odyssey to an E bike - the set up is 36 Volt front hub motor, Controller, twist throttle only and a 36volt 10amp bottle battery.

Cycling now for me is a lot of fun and, once the weather warms up a little, will be a 24 round trip commute to work in Woking. With current petrol prices this should give me a return on the outlay in about 18 month and I hope to be a lot fitter.

If the following has been discussed on past forums I apologise for the repeat....

Some things spotted recently - after a full charge it is best not to press the battery level indicator on the battery. This will trip something inside the BMS system and the battery is then inert. At first I thought the fuse had blown but that was not the case. The only way to reset this trip is to plug the charger in briefly and the BMS resets itself.
Another thing to watch for - before connecting the charger to the battery make sure the charger is not connected to the mains. Using a small wire short the female end of the charger - this discharges the capacitors in the charger. This action should minimise the strong spark that can occur when plugging the female end into the charger - which can be quite disconcerting. Just be sure the charger is NOT connected to the mains while the capacitors are being discharged.

By for now

Lee-wave
 

lee-wave

Pedelecer
Jan 7, 2012
61
21
Leatherhead
Sorry I do not know how to edit my last thread - so I am replying to myself - I meant to say 'This action should minimise the strong spark that can occur when plugging the ''female end of the charger to the Battery'' Has anyone else experienced this sparking - is it normal?

Regards

Lee-wave
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,308
30,673
I've never noticed the sparking you experience but can understand it can happen in some circumstances, especially if charging frequently with capacitors retaining some content.

The edit button only appears for about two hours after posting, so wasn't there any longer when you returned to the thread today.