That thread title gave me a jolt, when I saw it back at the top of the list !
I thought there'd been another instance, not realising it was the old thread resurrected.
It could look very frightening to any new or potential ebike users, and even discourage them from wanting to buy an ebike, which would be a shame.
The crux of that thread (as far as I can see), was the major explosion and extensive garage fire caused by a blatantly incorrectly constructed lithium battery pack, without a "battery management system" circuit to prevent exactly that from happening. (Unbeknown to the buyer, who quite understandably expected a legitimately supplied item to be correctly and safely constructed).
After reading this forum for the past year or so, I've understood the reason why they are crucial, and that all reputable ready made ebikes and almost all reputable battery suppliers always fit them. This particular instance was an ebay seller wiring the cells up himself and then wrapping them up without the crucial BMS safety circuits.
I appreciate that charging or shorting any battery can potentially cause a big explosion, so certain precautions should be taken, but as others have said on here, it's important to not lose faith in these much more efficient ways of using electric power. I've been using cars and boats with lead acid batteries for 50 years, and hi amperage lithium batteries for two years, with no mishaps, and have never personally heard of any, except over the Internet.
I thought there'd been another instance, not realising it was the old thread resurrected.
It could look very frightening to any new or potential ebike users, and even discourage them from wanting to buy an ebike, which would be a shame.
The crux of that thread (as far as I can see), was the major explosion and extensive garage fire caused by a blatantly incorrectly constructed lithium battery pack, without a "battery management system" circuit to prevent exactly that from happening. (Unbeknown to the buyer, who quite understandably expected a legitimately supplied item to be correctly and safely constructed).
After reading this forum for the past year or so, I've understood the reason why they are crucial, and that all reputable ready made ebikes and almost all reputable battery suppliers always fit them. This particular instance was an ebay seller wiring the cells up himself and then wrapping them up without the crucial BMS safety circuits.
I appreciate that charging or shorting any battery can potentially cause a big explosion, so certain precautions should be taken, but as others have said on here, it's important to not lose faith in these much more efficient ways of using electric power. I've been using cars and boats with lead acid batteries for 50 years, and hi amperage lithium batteries for two years, with no mishaps, and have never personally heard of any, except over the Internet.
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