Ni Cad

Not having been able to get out on my bike today I have been fretfully trying to read up something about batteries on the web. The curious thing is that the more I read the more does it appear that the early nickel cadmium batteries had a great deal to be said for them, and were overtaken by other types for reasons other than efficiency. Is anyone still using nickel cadmium?

Heinzmann were hanging onto NiCads until the bitter end, but since they are virtually no longer available for sound environmental reasons, they are no longer worth considering.

 

The very big disadvantage is that they needed fully discharging before recharging, and that just doesn't suit the majority of e-bike use, where journeys mostly don't neatly match the battery's range.

 

Technically they were ideal, willing to give up the whole of their charge at very high rates, so maintaining motor performance in any adverse condition.

 

But as history shows, every battery advance brings with it a built in reason why it should be discontinued.

.

NiCad still around

 

Heinzmann still offer 36V NiCd batteries with both the retrofit kits as well as the Estelle range of complete bikes.

 

Before normal use the battery should be discharged fully 3-5 times.

 

Knowing that a full discharge is impractical every time, Heinzmann say that partial discharges are okay but recommend a full discharge every 15-20 cycles (i.e. jack the bike up and run it in the garage until the motor stops or ride until you have to ride home under muscle power alone). Over long storage periods, eg over Winter, the battery should be recharged every month.

 

With good care a NiCad should last up to 500-700 cycles.

Edited February 5, 200818 yr by emotivepete

It would be interesting to know how Hienzmann have circumvented EU Directive 2002/95/EC effective 1/7/2006 regarging the use NiCad batteries, a directive that haunts me daily at work and has cost the electrical industry £millions in eliminating certain hazardous materials including cadmium from their products.

Edited February 5, 200818 yr by Ian

Yes, I'm interested in that too, and I'm also interested that the advice they give is for NiMh batteries!

 

I wonder if they really are filling them with NiCad now, or quietly popping in NiMh.

.

NiCad

 

Look guys, I'm just telling it as the factory advise. These operating instructions (see my post from yesterday) are valid for NiCad batteries supplied by Heinzmann and using the Heinzmann charger.

 

Regarding the directive I will seek the official line on this and report back.

NiCad and the EU directives

 

Whilst waiting to see what the official line is from Heinzmann I see that batteries are actually exempt from 2002/95/EC. This relates to electronic equipment.

 

Batteries will be covered by 2006/66/EC which does not come into force until 26th September 2008. The UK interpretation is currently in consultation and the specific timescales are not yet defined for Cadmium being completely outlawed from sale although stricter controls and labelling requirements appear to be required from that date.

 

Anyone interested (or bored) enough to read the full text, this can be found at:

(NetRegs - Batteries Directive)

 

By September 2008, Heinzmann bikes and kits will be available with Li-Ion batteries (Actually Spring 2008 is the hoped-for launch). NiCad may still be an option for spares but will likely be phased out. Luckily Heinzmann NiCad bikes and kits using the Heinzmann external control unit (not black box) can be upgraded to Li-Ion without having to change the controller.

It all a bit of a grey area, I would argue that the electrial parts of a bike do in fact constitute electronic equipment but others may disagree. I know that Heinzmann are a large ISO9001 registered company and therefore must have processes in place to ensure compliance with all relevent legislation as does my own employer who has spent millions on ensuring compliance of its own electro-mechanical products.

 

Whatever the exact legal position its good to know that Heinmann are likely to phase out Ni-Cads as the use of a highly toxic element in something marketed as green transport is something of a paradox.

Edited February 6, 200818 yr by Ian

Thanks for the information on Heinzmann's forthcoming Li-ions Pete. Good to see another quality bike motor manufacturer adopting them, indicating that Li-ions are getting more reliable now.

 

As for the NiCad advice, Heinzmann have always gone against the battery manufacturers where advice on their usage is concerned, even flatly denying that memory effect exists.

.

Hi

 

I have a 24v Heinzmann NiCad retrofit kit which is still going strong since I bought it (>5 yrs ago). I've used it most working days. I didn't realise how fortunate I was, till reading all the comments on your post

Hi

 

I have a 24v Heinzmann NiCad retrofit kit which is still going strong since I bought it (>5 yrs ago). I've used it most working days. I didn't realise how fortunate I was, till reading all the comments on your post

 

I'm not surprised that yours have lasted so well, as I said above, they had so much going for them in e-bike use. Bikes using them don't suffer the same loss of performance with age that NiMh batteries do, due to NiCads willingness to give up their charge more freely until they've finally had it.

 

Sadly the environmental objections to cadmium were too great for them to survive. Replacement cells are getting very difficult to obtain, most suppliers having discontinued their sale or are just selling off the remnants.

.