New Wisper 905se battery queries.

[allen-uk]

Hello.

My new Wisper 905se is fine, but I have a couple of battery queries which aren't really answered by the online manual.

1) Does the battery need the full 'conditioning' process, i.e. the 12-hour charge plus the 2 or 3 full discharges? (I've been emailing Wisper, but no reponse yet). I suppose my question is this: would Powabikes have done this process before delivering the bike to me, or just made sure the battery was normally charged? And in the absence of any response, should I do it ANYWAY, or would it damage/reduce the life of the battery?

(A secondary point: being disabled, I don't want to do a full discharge by riding the bike away from my flat and ending up miles away and having to pedal it up hills all the way home! Is there a better way of flattening the battery?)

2) The battery indicator lights: on the handlebar display, all four come on. But on the battery itself, only four out of the five are on, even after a 5-hour charge. Is this normal, or should all five lights be on?

Thanks.


Allen.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi Allen

Let's see if I can help?

1) Does the battery need the full 'conditioning' process, i.e. the 12-hour charge plus the 2 or 3 full discharges? (I've been emailing Wisper, but no reponse yet). I suppose my question is this: would Powabikes have done this process before delivering the bike to me, or just made sure the battery was normally charged? And in the absence of any response, should I do it ANYWAY, or would it damage/reduce the life of the battery?

It is always best to fully condition your battery, it will have been done as a part of the manufacturing process. But one or two deep charges can only do good. As the charges automatically turn off after about 4 hours, if you want to double check you have a really good charge after the battery has charges once and the charger has turned off, turn the charger off at the mains and on again after a few seconds and then give the battery a second charge.

(A secondary point: being disabled, I don't want to do a full discharge by riding the bike away from my flat and ending up miles away and having to pedal it up hills all the way home! Is there a better way of flattening the battery?)

Don't worry about completely flattening the battery, it is the deep charges that are important.

2) The battery indicator lights: on the handlebar display, all four come on. But on the battery itself, only four out of the five are on, even after a 5-hour charge. Is this normal, or should all five lights be on?

Try doing as I say and give it a second charge, if the 5th light is still not illuminated please let me know.

All the best and good luck!

David

 

[flecc]

Adding to what David has said, if you do almost fully discharge the battery on the bike as part of one of those conditioning cycles, though not necessary for the battery health, it will enable the battery meter to zero itself and read correctly thereafter, showing all five lights when charged.

Some authorities recommend a full discharge every 30 charge cycles to keep the battery meter registration correct, but I think that after the initial one, to avoid stressing the battery unnecessarily it's best only done if the meter drifts out after long use.
.

 

[allen-uk]

Thanks flecc, David. I'll try the 2-charge approach overnight and report back tomorrow.


Allen.

 

[allen-uk]

David: got my email problem sorted out (mea culpa, or rather my Mac culpa, but my Latin doesn't stretch to that), and have talked to Steve, who says that with the sort of charger I've got the double-charge might not be the best solution. He recommends running the battery down to one light, then giving it an overnight charge, then having another look at the lights.

But his view is that the charger gives a more accurate picture of the battery than the battery indicators themselves.

Allen.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi Allen

Do you have the new 4A charger, if so Steve is bang on as usual!

All the best

David

 

[allen-uk]

Yes David, the 4a charger, which Steve describes as "the latest 4A version of the Wisper charger", so I'll go with what he's told me, thanks.


Allen.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Great, please let me know how it goes Allen.

All the best

David

 

[allen-uk]

David:

I've been talking to other members about possible battery problems :
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/6399-batter-power-fall-off.html
but I thought I'd come back to you here with more on the charging question (oh, and I've never seen all FIVE indicator lights lit up on the battery).

First overnight charge, I only got it down to two lights on the indicator, but the overnight charge did revive the battery and I ended up with four lights (from the top, i.e. the 'full' light was on).

Tried like heck to get my battery indicators down to ONE light, even to the extent of 20mins local cruising on throttle only. Couldn't do it, even though the bike was very nearly stationary at the end - still two lights on the battery.

So, I'm assuming that the battery indicator lights might not be telling the right story, and I'm going to give it another overnight charge tonight and see what happens.

I've got a basic bike computer on order, which means I'll be able to tell you more precisely what I've done in terms of miles etc. between charges.

Allen.

 

[flecc]

Now you've taken the battery down to the bike being nearly stationary, so quite fully discharged, after the full charging you should find the meter lights rather more accurate as the battery empties.

However these meters operate on voltage decline as the battery empties, which is not a true way of measuring content*, so the higher voltages of a new battery will tend to bias readings a touch high. AS thr battery ages over a long period the readins will shift down a little naturally.

* Batteries are chemical devices, not electrical ones, so charge content cannot be spot measured electrically with any real accuracy. Only chemically sampling the charged electrolyte can do that, but of course that is impractical with sealed cells.
.

 

[allen-uk]

Thanks flecc.

Steve at Wisper said that the indicator lights on the battery CHARGER were the truest indication, and they do seem to go out in the expected order.


A.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

David:

I've been talking to other members about possible battery problems :
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/6399-batter-power-fall-off.html
but I thought I'd come back to you here with more on the charging question (oh, and I've never seen all FIVE indicator lights lit up on the battery).

First overnight charge, I only got it down to two lights on the indicator, but the overnight charge did revive the battery and I ended up with four lights (from the top, i.e. the 'full' light was on).

Tried like heck to get my battery indicators down to ONE light, even to the extent of 20mins local cruising on throttle only. Couldn't do it, even though the bike was very nearly stationary at the end - still two lights on the battery.

So, I'm assuming that the battery indicator lights might not be telling the right story, and I'm going to give it another overnight charge tonight and see what happens.

I've got a basic bike computer on order, which means I'll be able to tell you more precisely what I've done in terms of miles etc. between charges.

Allen.

Hi Allen

It seems there may be a problem with either the battery or the charger. You should certainly get all 5 lights after a full charge with the 4A charger. Have you tried a double charge yet? After the charging cycle is complete the charger will turn off automatically, turn the power off at the charger and the mains and leave it for 2 minutes then start the charging process again. If after this you are getting all 5 lights the charger maybe faulty and we will swap it out for you. If you are still getting 4 lights, we will swap the charger and battery.

Please let me know how it goes.

All the best

David

 

[allen-uk]

Thanks David,

An offer I can't refuse, of course!

Anyway... yesterday, it was FLAT. Kaput. Just about turned the motor over with me on board. Still 2 lights showing.

So, did the overnight charge as per Steve's instructions, which I thought wasn't a DOUBLE charge, but just to leave it connected overnight.

This morning, 4 lights only.

I will ride it down for a few days, and then do it your way, i.e. charge while the fan is on, then go through the on/off procedure you describe above, and then I'll come back with the latest info - but it won't be till Friday-ish.

Thanks again for the interest and assistance.


Allen.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

No Problem Allen, we have a simple company policy at Wisper, to treat our customers as we would wish to be treated ourselves.

All the best

David

 

[Hugoforth]

My New Wisper Se Sport

Hello, i am new to this site and a new Wisper owner, (2 weeks) i too have a battery question, the Wisper "manual on line" says drain the battery right out 2 or three times at first, before recharging, now although there seems to be very little motor assistance left in the battery , when i tested it, it still registered around 34 volts, i am in no way an electrical genious, but this seems odd, although i did hear from somewhere that these battery's are supposed to not lose any of their power until completely drained, is this a fact ? also when i ordered the bike, one of the plus's was the off road 20 mph fascility.....but this button is now not on the bike, instead i have a unit that gives low, medium or high assistance, does that mean that the 20mph is now lost to me, i have'nt put a bike computer on as yet, so i cannot give you any speed figures, i'd just like to add that i am absolutely in love with my Wisper bike,... and kiss it goodnight, every night.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi Hugo, thanks for the business and welcome to Wisper.

The cut out on your battery activates at 31.5V but of course the power delivered to the motor does get lower the more of the charge you have used.

Wisper bikes no longer come with a derestrict button as they are illegal, however if you going to export your bike to a country where they are legal or only use your bike off road please ask your dealer to send you an off road button, they are easily installed in a few minutes. Alternatively if you open the front connection box and remove the white wire loop this will have the effect of continuously having the off road button activated. The bike will then not cut off at 15.5mph and will reach 18-19 mph. I must stress however the bike is then not legal on UK roads.

All the best,

David

 

[Hugoforth]

Wisper se sport battery

Hello David, thankyou for enlightening me so quickly in regard to my questions, and it is nice to know that i can retrieve the off road fascility if i want to, it is also very reassuring to have a person directly linked to Wisper in this forum, i must say again that i am so impressed with the quality and performance of this bike, and have already had fantastic comments about it, people seem to like the look of it,..... as i do.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Thanks Hugo for your kind comments!

Please let me know how you get on?

Best regards

David

 

[allen-uk]

Righto, David, Wisper now had the double charge, results as follows.

1) Flat as I could get it. Would scarcely move me along on level ground (mind, I am the same weight as you), and on the slightest slope needed a lot of pedalling to get up. BUT still LAST 2 lights showing, as previously.

2) Charged 0830-1330. Started with Orange light plus fan. Finished with Orange, no fan (didn't sit watching it for the brief 'green' phase).

3) Disconnected, checked battery indicator - 4 lights. Waited 5 minutes, reconnected.

4) No fan, just orange light. One hour later, green light on permanently. Checked battery indicator - 4 lights.

Now, all that seems to be as per Steve's email to me about a month back when I bought the bike.

Battery indicator lights: There are still four lights illuminated on the battery, of the five. The top light next to 'FULL' is lit, plus the next 3, so 4 in total, while the 5th one stays off.

But again, Steve's email reads "you can also check at the button on top of the battery that the battery is showing all 4 charge lights."

Yet in your last post here, you are most definite that I should be getting FIVE lights on the battery.

Confusion thus reigns over 4 or 5 lights being finally ON on the battery!

Thus, I remained confused, and patiently await enlightenment...


Allen.

PS Just for the sake of good order, here is the full text of Steve's email to me about the charger:

Please note: Battery charger lights

Your bike has been supplied with the latest 4A version of the Wisper charger (2A for 8Ah batteries) – this operates in a slightly different way than described in the instructions. When charging is complete the fan on the charger will stop and the orange light will turn green – then, after a few seconds it will turn orange again – but the fan will not be operating, this is normal operation for the new chargers. When checking the charger to confirm that charging is complete – if the light is orange – check that the fan is not turning – if it is stopped charging should be complete – the orange light is now indicating a trickle charge mode. To double check – with the charger still connected to the battery switch the charger switch to off, wait 5 seconds and switch it back on – if charging is complete the fan will not spin at all, the light will briefly show green and then change to orange – you can also check at the button on top of the battery that the battery is showing all 4 charge lights. Note that the orange light will eventually turn to green – if left on an overnight charge for example the light will be green by the next day.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi Allen

All very strange, it may be something as simple as the 5th LED is not connecting or is a duff one. What voltage are you getting from the battery when fully charged? Are all the lights on the bike handlebars lit?

Regards

David