Freego Hawk Battery problem

[tonylenman]

I have a Freego Hawk and have not charged the battery up for 3/4 months so obviously flat.
I charged the battery and is showing fully charged on the battery but is not able move the bike under battery power.
On left hand side of handle bars there is a plus and minus to indicate what speed ( 1-2-3) and will not light up.
I have checked 20amp fuse and is ok
Has anyone had a similar problem with Freego Hawk
look forward to any answers.
Tony

 

[Andy-Mat]

I have a Freego Hawk and have not charged the battery up for 3/4 months so obviously flat.
I charged the battery and is showing fully charged on the battery but is not able move the bike under battery power.
On left hand side of handle bars there is a plus and minus to indicate what speed ( 1-2-3) and will not light up.
I have checked 20amp fuse and is ok
Has anyone had a similar problem with Freego Hawk
look forward to any answers.
Tony

This could get expensive......
Li-ion cells, are prevented from charging when below a certain voltage level, because going below this level damages the battery further.
You need to keep the battery at about mid charge when not using the battery, checking with a simple digital meter, about once a month..
Mid charge is about when the "nominal" voltage is measured at the battery connector.
A possible fix is a bike shop which has a so called "Zer0 Volt Charger" for the battery voltage that you have.
I only know one company that sells them, and they sell only for 36Volt batteries, no other.....
The special charger costs around US$100 , but are only from Sweden.
Also, I don't know what the charger to battery connector is that you have, so a different might need to be soldered on, to suit! The ones from Sweden have 5.5mm barrel and either a 2.1mm or 2.55mm pin. The 2.1mm will not fit a 2.55mm Socket, but the other way round, MIGHT work. It will look something like this:-

2.5mm x 5.5mm Pair Male + Female DC Power Plug Socket Jack Connector | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2.5mm x 5.5mm Pair Male + Female DC Power Plug Socket Jack Connector at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

Assuming that the battery "accepts" a charge from the Zer0 Volt Charger eventually, then once the minimum voltage is exceeded, the special charger then simply charges like any other charger....
This is a well known problem of Li-ion batteries and I must have written about it here probably a dozen times.....I am also not alone.
If the battery "recovers", it will have lost some capacity that over the next 5-10 charges it might recover, but do not expect it to be quite as good as it was....
An experiment I did this year with a new battery of mine with Panasonic cells (one of the best), showed only a loss of 1 volt over 4-5 months.
This is far less than most lose over that time, so if your battery needs re-celling, make sure that you 100% get the Panasonic replacements!! Let them show you all the cells first! And tell them that you want to see inside before the battery is sealed up!!!
Apparently there are some companies that use low quality batteries, but charge the same as high quality.
I have never needed a re-celling, so I am the wrong person to ask, but many here have had that done and can give good, honest advice.....
You might mention here your battery voltage and the number of cells, all in a special number, usually printed on the battery somewhere, with the nominal voltage first!
I hope this helps.
Andy

 

[vfr400]

Leaving a battery for a few months shouldn't do any harm, so I doubt that'there will be anything major wrong with it.

The only way to discover the fault is to do some tests with a voltmeter.

The control panel gets its power directly from the battery, so if it doesn't light up, there must be an interruption between the battery and the control panel. These are the places that can happen, and should be tested in the same order.

1. The solder joints on the back of the key-switch if you have one. This can be eliminated by checking whether you get around 40v on the main battery terminals when the switch is on.

2. Contact between the battery terminals and the receiver. You check this by removing the panel on the compartment under the battery, pull out the motor controller and all its wires. You'll see thickish black and red wires coming from the top of the compartment with bullet connectors on them. Disconnect the bullets and measure the voltage between the two wires, which should be around 40v.

3. Faulty contact on the Control panel connector. You have to locate the connector that runs to the control panel. Freegos sometimes have unconventional arrangements, so I can't be precise, but if you figure out which cable comes from the control panel into the compartment, you're looking for the connector that has thinnish red and black wires going into it. many other connectors have the same red and black wires, but we're only interested in the one for the control panel. With everything switched on and connected, measure the voltage between the red and black wires on each side of the connector by forcing your probes up the back where the wires go in. they sometimes have hot-melt glue in there, which you must pick out first (easy). it should be around 40v

4. Faulty control panel. If you have 40v on the control panel side of the connector and the panel doesn't switch on, either a wire is pulled off the PCB inside the control panel or it's been damaged by water, in which case the easiest option is to replace it.

Do the tests to find out where the problem is. Do not try and guess or jumpt to conclusions. all that will do is waste time.

 

[tonylenman]

This could get expensive......
Li-ion cells, are prevented from charging when below a certain voltage level, because going below this level damages the battery further.
You need to keep the battery at about mid charge when not using the battery, checking with a simple digital meter, about once a month..
Mid charge is about when the "nominal" voltage is measured at the battery connector.
A possible fix is a bike shop which has a so called "Zer0 Volt Charger" for the battery voltage that you have.
I only know one company that sells them, and they sell only for 36Volt batteries, no other.....
The special charger costs around US$100 , but are only from Sweden.
Also, I don't know what the charger to battery connector is that you have, so a different might need to be soldered on, to suit! The ones from Sweden have 5.5mm barrel and either a 2.1mm or 2.55mm pin. The 2.1mm will not fit a 2.55mm Socket, but the other way round, MIGHT work. It will look something like this:-

2.5mm x 5.5mm Pair Male + Female DC Power Plug Socket Jack Connector | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2.5mm x 5.5mm Pair Male + Female DC Power Plug Socket Jack Connector at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

Assuming that the battery "accepts" a charge from the Zer0 Volt Charger eventually, then once the minimum voltage is exceeded, the special charger then simply charges like any other charger....
This is a well known problem of Li-ion batteries and I must have written about it here probably a dozen times.....I am also not alone.
If the battery "recovers", it will have lost some capacity that over the next 5-10 charges it might recover, but do not expect it to be quite as good as it was....
An experiment I did this year with a new battery of mine with Panasonic cells (one of the best), showed only a loss of 1 volt over 4-5 months.
This is far less than most lose over that time, so if your battery needs re-celling, make sure that you 100% get the Panasonic replacements!! Let them show you all the cells first! And tell them that you want to see inside before the battery is sealed up!!!
Apparently there are some companies that use low quality batteries, but charge the same as high quality.
I have never needed a re-celling, so I am the wrong person to ask, but many here have had that done and can give good, honest advice.....
You might mention here your battery voltage and the number of cells, all in a special number, usually printed on the battery somewhere, with the nominal voltage first!
I hope this helps.
Andy

Andy,
Thank you so much for detailed reply it has been very helpful and informative.
Regards Tony

 

[Andy-Mat]

Andy,
Thank you so much for detailed reply it has been very helpful and informative.
Regards Tony

OUR pleasure, thats what we all do here.....
regards
Andy

 

[vfr400]

I'll leave you to it then while I go away and sulk.

 

[Andy-Mat]

Andy,
Thank you so much for detailed reply it has been very helpful and informative.
Regards Tony

I need to be able to help you further along the "road" with your battery problems, can you make CLEAR and CLOSE photos of the battery, and labels or numbers on the battery, the DC power connector and the charger details that are usually found on a sticky label on the charger, and state categorically nominal voltage (and current if you know it!), although the charger details should give me that as well!
Post them here please.
Do you also happen to remember (approximately), the SOC (state of charge) of the battery, AFTER the last time you used the bike?
If anything I ask is for any reason not fully understood, do not be shy, just tell me and I will try and re-word it for you!
In the worse case position, you may need to get the battery re-celled or replaced, and there are plenty here who can give up front great advice on re-celling and who to trust and maybe who not to trust!
Have a great day
Andy