Whoosh Bike Kit Problem

[Bike Shetland]

Around Christmas I bought the £599 ebike conversion from Whoosh which I fitted it to a dawes discovery 101 and it was excellent. Other than the handlebar controller didn't show the battery level, which I thought I could just put up with.

After around seven journeys in it packed in on the way home (It's done around 80 miles in total). I emailed with them and I explained the problem and that connecting the battery was creating a "popping" sound and the controller would come on and then just die. I was asked to send back the battery cradle and the handle bar unit and the box which I presume controls the electric. They said it was fine but it needed a new handle bar controller.

They sent it all back to me with a new controller and as soon as I put the battery in, it made another loud "pop" and now again, nothing works. Unfortunately, I'm not hearing anything back from Whoosh and was hoping for some help on this from anyone. It feels like a complete waste of nearly £600 so I'm feeling pretty miserable about it all and it truth, the "pop" sounds a bit intimidating, I'm concerned about blowing my fingers off (probably not realistic, but all the same!).

- 15AH HL downtube battery with Samsung 18650-29E cells
- Lishui 18 Amps sine-wave controller or 20 Amps Lishui LS947 seat post mounted controller
- Speed sensor and King Meter LCD with 5 assist levels, speedometer and clock
- BPM 350W Rear Wheel Motor

 

[Woosh]

Hi Greg,

I thought I saw your kit in the workshop about 3 weeks ago.
Andy is at lunch at the moment. I'll ask him when he gets back.

Tony

 

[Woosh]

Greg,

Jim said he fixed it and sent it back to you weeks ago.
The LCD was found to be faulty, replaced, sent back to you by first class post on 5th-April.
We are tracing it for you at the moment.

 

[Bike Shetland]

I sent an email on the 11th April to say confirm I'd received it, here is a copy:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for the return. To let you know this did not fix the issue. I attached the battery, it gave a loud "pop" when fitting. I tried switching on the LCD which switched on and then switched off. I removed the battery and tried plugging it in again and it just gave a loud pop and the LCD will not switch on at all. In truth, I feel a bit nervous doing it again, in case the battery explodes or something. If that's even possible! What should I do now?

 

[Bike Shetland]

I have to add. I'm not particularly interested putting this problem out in public.

But I believe there must be someone out there who knows 1) Why the battery loudly pops/cracks when it's connected? 2) Is that even safe for testing purposes? 3) I'm I wasting time and effort on this?

I've tested the battery with a multi-meter and this is giving out a reading of 41.2v so easily enough power.

 

[Woosh]

1) Why the battery loudly pops/cracks when it's connected?

don't be alarmed by it. It's normal behaviour!
Inside the controller, there is a large 50V 2.2mF capacitor. When the battery is connected, if the capacitor is not charged, the inrush current can be as high as 30A-50A, causing a little spark across the contact points. The noise you hear is the noise of the spark.
If you remove the battery and re-insert back right away, the 2.2mF capacitor has not got time to discharge, you won't hear that noise again. But if you leave the battery out for a minute before re-insterting it, the capacitor loses its charge through the internal circuitry, you'll hear the spark again.
I usually put a little grease on the battery's terminal to reduce the spark.
All the Chinese e-bikes have the same behaviour. Other members can probably vouch for me on this.
The same thing happens with the charger. If you plug the charger into the charging port of the battery while the charger is off, the current will flow out of the battery into the large capacitor inside the charger and causes a spark noise, similar to the noise you have heard when slotting the battery back on the bike. If you switch the charger on BEFORE you plug the charger lead into the battery, no spark, because the internal capacitor is already charged up.

2) Is that even safe for testing purposes?

Yes, the system is perfectly safe.

 

[Woosh]

I sent an email on the 11th April to say confirm I'd received it, here is a copy:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for the return. To let you know this did not fix the issue. I attached the battery, it gave a loud "pop" when fitting. I tried switching on the LCD which switched on and then switched off. I removed the battery and tried plugging it in again and it just gave a loud pop and the LCD will not switch on at all. In truth, I feel a bit nervous doing it again, in case the battery explodes or something. If that's even possible! What should I do now?

Andy is back in the office. He'll sort it out for you.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

It's normal to get a spark and a snap sound when you connect the battery to a controller. It should only do it once when the contacts first touch. if you untouch and retouch the connectors, it shouldn't do it again unless you leave it for some time.

 

[Woosh]

Hi Greg,

the problem happened because of holiday. Andy was dealing with you - then the day you sent back the LCD, controller and the Julet cable, Andy went on holiday.
I stood in for Andy, sorted out the replacement LCD, sent the package back and thought no more of it.
Andy came back to work on the 11th when you wrote back, Andy thought I would continue handling the case, I thought Andy would. So nobody dealt with your email.
I am very sorry Greg and apologize for the delay. We'll get it sorted soon.

Tony

 

[Nealh]

Batteries without an on/off switch does this

 

[footpump]

interesting re connecting charger to battery and getting a spark, that's happened a few times with my bottle battery was always a bit wary.

so that's another thing learnt.

 

[Bike Shetland]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I must say that Whoosh are being extremely helpful on my problem and sympathetically so, as this does not seem to be a common issue with the kit concerned. Obviously the Easter Holiday period was not helpful to all concerned and I was also away visiting my wife in hospital in Aberdeen over this period as well, which is a fair distance from Shetland so not ideal!

 

[Bike Shetland]

To update this. Whoosh have addressed and fixed all my problems. If I could, I would remove this thread purely because I feel it is not a fair reflection on the attention that the business have done in responding to my issues. So kudos to them and I'm happy.