Haibike Yamaha - battery replacement options

Aaron R

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 9, 2017
6
0
53
Australia
Hmmm. I wonder if its a problem with the main power connectors.
Did you take the battery on and off for charging a lot?
And what was the outcome - did you get it fixed replaced?
I'm in Australia, I ordered the battery from China. I charged it up a few times only. Back when it happened, I didn't know if it was the motor or the battery that was at fault. Its only that I found your posting that I realised we have the same problem. Screen shows all of its display for a few seconds, then turns off. I cant send it back, so I am stuck with it (impossible to send Li batteries, no one in Australia will handle big Li batteries)

Aaron
 

GLJoe

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 21, 2017
853
407
UK
I'm in Australia, I ordered the battery from China. I charged it up a few times only. Back when it happened, I didn't know if it was the motor or the battery that was at fault. Its only that I found your posting that I realised we have the same problem. Screen shows all of its display for a few seconds, then turns off. I cant send it back, so I am stuck with it (impossible to send Li batteries, no one in Australia will handle big Li batteries)

Aaron
Don't you have the original battery? trying that should tell you if its the replacement battery or the motor.
 

Aaron R

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 9, 2017
6
0
53
Australia
Don't you have the original battery? trying that should tell you if its the replacement battery or the motor.

I bought the bike with me back from the USA, so had to leave the original battery over there (couldn't take it on the airline)
 

doomo

Pedelecer
Oct 6, 2016
31
7
50
Cambs
That's very annoying! If a local bike shop sells them they might be happy to let you try your battery out on one of their bikes? I haven't had such problems yet. The only thing Ive noticed is sometimes after a full charge it can be a bit down when it's put on the bike, like 94%. So there is definitely something slightly quirky I just don't know what. There doesn't seem to be any pattern to it.
I did think the battery was already showing signs of degrading capacity but after a few tests I came to the conclusion that I'm just riding a bit harder which is hammering the battery more.
 

GLJoe

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 21, 2017
853
407
UK
That's very annoying! If a local bike shop sells them they might be happy to let you try your battery out on one of their bikes? I haven't had such problems yet. The only thing Ive noticed is sometimes after a full charge it can be a bit down when it's put on the bike, like 94%. So there is definitely something slightly quirky I just don't know what. There doesn't seem to be any pattern to it.
I did think the battery was already showing signs of degrading capacity but after a few tests I came to the conclusion that I'm just riding a bit harder which is hammering the battery more.
When you say 'full charge' - how do you know its fully charged? What do you wait for to know its finished?
 

Aaron R

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 9, 2017
6
0
53
Australia
That's very annoying! If a local bike shop sells them they might be happy to let you try your battery out on one of their bikes? I haven't had such problems yet. The only thing Ive noticed is sometimes after a full charge it can be a bit down when it's put on the bike, like 94%. So there is definitely something slightly quirky I just don't know what. There doesn't seem to be any pattern to it.
I did think the battery was already showing signs of degrading capacity but after a few tests I came to the conclusion that I'm just riding a bit harder which is hammering the battery more.
Yamaha Australia never got the batteries certified to import into Australia, so no Yamaha batteries here. That's why I got the same as yours aftermarket one from China. I tired lots of avenues before I got it from China, but it was my only option. In Australia we have Bosch and Shimano steps ect, just no Yamaha ebike systems at all.

Funny though, our poor bastard child cousin (New Zealand), does have Yamaha ebike motors/batteries. And they won't send from NZ to Aust (too many rules for sending Li batteries via sea cargo or air)

Aaron
 

doomo

Pedelecer
Oct 6, 2016
31
7
50
Cambs
When you say 'full charge' - how do you know its fully charged? What do you wait for to know its finished?
The green indicator lights on the top of the battery will flash when it is charging and they also indicate how charged the battery is (during charging) by the number of lights constantly on, e.g. one flashing only means the battery is between 0% and 20%, one constant and one flashing means between 20% and 40%, etc. 4 constant and one flashing means between 80% and 100%. Once the battery is fully charged all 5 lights should be on constantly and will remain on until the charger is unplugged.
 

GLJoe

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 21, 2017
853
407
UK
.... 4 constant and one flashing means between 80% and 100%. Once the battery is fully charged all 5 lights should be on constantly and will remain on until the charger is unplugged.
Unfortunately, I don't think its quite that simple.
When any flashing stops and all five lights are lit, the charger circuitry is still drawing current for some time afterwards. Exactly how long, I'm not sure, but if you unplug as soon as the flashing stops, I imagine that either you haven't quite finished charging, or you're still in the balancing phase.
Buy a mains power meter, plug the charger in through that and keep an eye on the watts. It will slowly drop down to around 7w and then stay there (forever!). Once its there, then unplug.

Cheers
 

doomo

Pedelecer
Oct 6, 2016
31
7
50
Cambs
Unfortunately, I don't think its quite that simple.
When any flashing stops and all five lights are lit, the charger circuitry is still drawing current for some time afterwards. Exactly how long, I'm not sure, but if you unplug as soon as the flashing stops, I imagine that either you haven't quite finished charging, or you're still in the balancing phase.
Buy a mains power meter, plug the charger in through that and keep an eye on the watts. It will slowly drop down to around 7w and then stay there (forever!). Once its there, then unplug.

Cheers
That's quite interesting. I havent gone into that level of testing but I have tried leaving it plugged in for over an hour after the lights have gone constant, and also unplugging immediately after. Most of the time its 100% but sometimes it's under no matter what I do. It is bizarre and suggests there is some glitch in the circuitry of the aftermarket battery. The original battery has never done this.
 

GLJoe

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 21, 2017
853
407
UK
That's quite interesting. I havent gone into that level of testing but I have tried leaving it plugged in for over an hour after the lights have gone constant, and also unplugging immediately after. Most of the time its 100% but sometimes it's under no matter what I do. It is bizarre and suggests there is some glitch in the circuitry of the aftermarket battery. The original battery has never done this.
There are some differences.
For one, the original battery causes the charger to terminate charge completely and the green LED on the charger will go out when its finished (on a 4A charger anyway). I really didn't like the fact that it didn't do this on the third party one hence I tested it. The last thing I wanted was to say leave it plugged in overnight and it keep pumping 4 amps into the battery!
As it turns out, I don't think it does this, so all is good, however whatever the mechanism is to switch off the charger, that doesn't work properly.
I use this to monitor the charge:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brennenstuhl-Eco-Line-Extension-Energy-Saving-White/dp/B01GLHLOG4/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1525798187&sr=1-5&keywords=Brennenstuhl+Eco-Line+Extension+Lead+Cable+Energy
Handy as I need an extension lead most of the time anyway :)

Also, I have a feeling the 3rd party battery charges ever so slightly higher voltage wise, than the stock Yamaha one (or perhaps its a case of Yamaha slightly under volt their cells to give longer life). because the bike will register 100% for quite some time before it starts to drop under this figure when in use. So maybe the true 'full' figure is perhaps 105-110% compared to the normal battery. If yours is showing 90 something after coming off charge, id be thinking that it may very well NOT be fully charged.
 

doomo

Pedelecer
Oct 6, 2016
31
7
50
Cambs
There are some differences.
For one, the original battery causes the charger to terminate charge completely and the green LED on the charger will go out when its finished (on a 4A charger anyway). I really didn't like the fact that it didn't do this on the third party one hence I tested it. The last thing I wanted was to say leave it plugged in overnight and it keep pumping 4 amps into the battery!
As it turns out, I don't think it does this, so all is good, however whatever the mechanism is to switch off the charger, that doesn't work properly.
I use this to monitor the charge:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brennenstuhl-Eco-Line-Extension-Energy-Saving-White/dp/B01GLHLOG4/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1525798187&sr=1-5&keywords=Brennenstuhl+Eco-Line+Extension+Lead+Cable+Energy
Handy as I need an extension lead most of the time anyway :)

Also, I have a feeling the 3rd party battery charges ever so slightly higher voltage wise, than the stock Yamaha one (or perhaps its a case of Yamaha slightly under volt their cells to give longer life). because the bike will register 100% for quite some time before it starts to drop under this figure when in use. So maybe the true 'full' figure is perhaps 105-110% compared to the normal battery. If yours is showing 90 something after coming off charge, id be thinking that it may very well NOT be fully charged.
Yes you are right about the charger switching off with the original battery. I never leave the aftermarket one on over night either as I don't entirely trust it (in case it catches fire or something). That said, it could be that the aftermarket one has a more basic charge control system that just doesn't have the ability to feed back to the charger that it's full.

wrt over charging I have never noticed it staying on 100% for longer than normal, it always drops at the expected rate. Also, when its supposedly fully charged but starts with less than 100 it also drops at the expected rate. I would agree that there is perhaps a subtle difference in the voltage between the 2 batteries as it feels to me as if the aftermarket one has a tiny bit more oomph than the standard one. The aftermarket one also drains more consistently across the range of the battery. The original battery seems to drain more quickly once it goes below 50%, and especially when it goes below 20%. The aftermarket one has never behaved like this.
 

GLJoe

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 21, 2017
853
407
UK
.. it could be that the aftermarket one has a more basic charge control system that just doesn't have the ability to feed back to the charger that it's full.
Yes, could be. Either that or the charger is looking for the current taken to drop below a certain level, and the aftermarket one never quite gets there.


wrt over charging I have never noticed it staying on 100% for longer than normal, it always drops at the expected rate. Also, when its supposedly fully charged but starts with less than 100 it also drops at the expected rate. I would agree that there is perhaps a subtle difference in the voltage between the 2 batteries as it feels to me as if the aftermarket one has a tiny bit more oomph than the standard one. The aftermarket one also drains more consistently across the range of the battery. The original battery seems to drain more quickly once it goes below 50%, and especially when it goes below 20%. The aftermarket one has never behaved like this.
Interesting. This isn't on my own bike so I can't be certain on it, but my perception is that its the opposite! in that the original Yamaha one is more linear, but the aftermarket one seems to drop faster when it gets low!
 

doomo

Pedelecer
Oct 6, 2016
31
7
50
Cambs
Update: The replacement battery has failed. I was riding home from work yesterday and it literally just died on me, as if I switched the bike off. The battery was running at about 25% at the time and after that the bike would not power up again. I fully charged it later and put it on the bike and the same issue. If I put the original battery on the bike starts up no problem so it looks like the unit has failed in some way. I will be in touch with the supplier today to see what they say [They are collecting it Monday and will be testing it to see what the fault is].

The back rack I bought to carry the spare battery and charger is going back today as well. It is literally falling apart (the blurry bracket in the middle broke completely a few weeks back, which I knew about, the one in the foreground is also on the way as is the middle one on the other side...both of which I didnt know about until I took it off yesterday)20180517_193114.jpg
 
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georgehenry

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2015
1,447
1,264
Surrey
Sorry to hear that doomo, I was hoping this battery would be a viable option when my original Yamaha one finally gives up the ghost.

The good news for me on my 10 to no more then 18 mile commute, 28 maximum round trip with the chance to recharge at work is that the battery is now in its fourth year with over 9000 miles on it and working almost as well as it did when new.

I am hoping it can last quite a lot longer. I do look after it.
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
16,997
6,536
Sorry to hear that doomo, I was hoping this battery would be a viable option when my original Yamaha one finally gives up the ghost.

The good news for me on my 10 to no more then 18 mile commute, 28 maximum round trip with the chance to recharge at work is that the battery is now in its fourth year with over 9000 miles on it and working almost as well as it did when new.

I am hoping it can last quite a lot longer. I do look after it.
https://www.bga-reworking.co.uk/

they can recell the pack to your spec ;)
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
20,981
8,565
61
West Sx RH
Re celling these packs should pose no issue even with the original bms, the new pack simply needs connecting up in parallel with equal voltages so that bms power isn't interrupted then the old pack disconnected.
 

GLJoe

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 21, 2017
853
407
UK
Re celling these packs should pose no issue even with the original bms, the new pack simply needs connecting up in parallel with equal voltages so that bms power isn't interrupted then the old pack disconnected.
I've read that needs to be done with the current Bosch packs, but is this also known for certain to be the case with the Yamaha ones?
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
20,981
8,565
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West Sx RH
I've read that needs to be done with the current Bosch packs, but is this also known for certain to be the case with the Yamaha ones?
It will depend on how smart the bms system is.
 

GLJoe

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 21, 2017
853
407
UK
It will depend on how smart the bms system is.
You made a definitive statement - "the new pack simply needs connecting up in parallel with equal voltages so that bms power isn't interrupted". I'm trying to find out if that statement is based on fact, or have you instead falsely presented a supposition as a fact ?
 

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