E Life Swift bike power cuts out. Fully charged battery goes for a minute than all power lights go off. Can these integral batteries be checked inside the cover with a voltmeter? Could this be battery or motor? Anyone experienced this? Bike almost new hardly used. Also can batteries be replaced separately without buying the casing?
Swift E Life power cuts out
- Thread starter Poppet21
- Start date
Unlikely to be the motor. Sounds like a dying battery. That would charge to full voltage, but sag seriously as soon as power was drawn, and then cut out when the sag was too great. Even if you could check the voltage it would probably appear OK, unless you could check it while riding.
That shouldn't happen on an almost new bike though, I guess it could be some duff cells in the battery, or possibly the result of some form of battery abuse. The commonest form of unintended abuse is to let it run down much too far (eg if unused for several months), but in that case it generally can't be charged at all.
Batteries can be recelled in the same case. That is usually only worth it if the battery cannot easily be replaced for some reason. If the battery is reasonably easily available the replacement will probably be cheaper; cells are the major cost (which you have either way), and labour the second major cost. Bulk manufacture in China is much cheaper than one-off recelling in UK.
That shouldn't happen on an almost new bike though, I guess it could be some duff cells in the battery, or possibly the result of some form of battery abuse. The commonest form of unintended abuse is to let it run down much too far (eg if unused for several months), but in that case it generally can't be charged at all.
Batteries can be recelled in the same case. That is usually only worth it if the battery cannot easily be replaced for some reason. If the battery is reasonably easily available the replacement will probably be cheaper; cells are the major cost (which you have either way), and labour the second major cost. Bulk manufacture in China is much cheaper than one-off recelling in UK.
I'm having the exact same problem with my swifty bike - battery says it is fully charged, the motor wrks fine for a minute then all the lights flash on and it sits out - can switch it back on and works again but cuts out approx every minute - also a new bike and has done this since first use
Is the 'about a minute' the same whether you push hard uphill or pedalling gently on the flat, enough to keep the motor going? If it's a battery problem I'd expect quite a difference in time, though I guess if it has a pure speed controller it'll be using the same battery current in either of those cases.
Another test if you've got the patience is to keep restarting after ever cutout and see if the times before cutout quickly get shorter.
It could be that the bikes sat for a long time in the warehouse without proper care of the batteries, so they were degraded even a 'new' bike.
thanks for this, that's really helpful - I had a go last night and it does start to cut out faster if I am going uphill than on the flat
So, am I right in understanding then that the battery is probably the problem (due to being degraded) and the best plan is for me to try and find a new one that fits my bike?
I'm afraid that's what it sounds like. It would be good to have confirmation from a real expert before going to the cost of a new one though. I'm not sure how standard the batteries are; you might be able to borrow one just to clarify it really is the battery
Ok, thanks so much for your help! I'll take it into the shop and see if they have a battery I can maybe try...
Hi, everyone and thanks for all your replies. I got my mechanic to open up the battery, which by the way is new as I only bought the bike last year. I hadn’t used the bike since last summer and had only ridden it a few times as looking back this problem arose a couple of times last year as well.
I bought the bike privately on E-bay, so opening up the battery would make no difference to the warranty as it didn’t come direct from a company or manufacture.
The problem is the Thermal overload cut out. If you look closely in the photo, you will see the blue wire is burnt slightly towards the top. The manufacturer should not have put all the wires onto one side of the battery, allowing them the chance to touch. My mechanic just put the wires either side of the battery slot and the problem was solved.
The good news is, this was nothing to do with the battery cells, so no new battery required, which saved me £250.00, Phew!!!
Hope this helps others, as reading this thread others have had the same cut out problems as me.
I bought the bike privately on E-bay, so opening up the battery would make no difference to the warranty as it didn’t come direct from a company or manufacture.
The problem is the Thermal overload cut out. If you look closely in the photo, you will see the blue wire is burnt slightly towards the top. The manufacturer should not have put all the wires onto one side of the battery, allowing them the chance to touch. My mechanic just put the wires either side of the battery slot and the problem was solved.
The good news is, this was nothing to do with the battery cells, so no new battery required, which saved me £250.00, Phew!!!
Hope this helps others, as reading this thread others have had the same cut out problems as me.
