Wisper Battery Failure x 2

[AndyB]

I've had a Wisper 905SE for 3 years which I was initially pleased with. However after a year the battery failed which was replaced with a reconditioned one. 6 months ago the second battery failed (cuts out under load). As I'd only done 1000 miles between each failure that was pretty disappointing.
Is this unusual? I didn't realise e-biking was so expensive. What are the alternatives to spending £500 for another 1000 miles of cycling?
Andy

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The battery cells should last a long time, but after bunping up and down for a year, it would be easy for a solder joint to break and a wire come off, or one of the inter-cell connections break - especially if you have no rear suspension.

If you know about batteries, it would probably be an easy fix. Your "reconditioned" one might have suffered such a fate, but who knows the history of it's cells and what was done to recondition it.

 

[AndyB]

OK will probably give it a go tomorrow as I've nothing to lose now. I had sent it off to Wisper for checking but all they did was send it back saying it charged up ok and held its charge but had clearly not checked it under load.
I'm not that hopeful of a simple solder joint as symptoms are that it always works when first switched on but soon starts cutting out. Switching on and off will reset for a short while.

 

[NRG]

Unfortunately milage has nothing to do with the life of the battery, they will age even with out use and around 2 years life is what you can expect. Some last a bit longer though like the Panasonic or Ping batteries...OEM battery replacement is the downside of e-bikes and the costs hurt unless you are prepared go down the DIY route.

The battery on my Alien is now only good for short trips and I'll be looking for a replacement soon, either Lipo DIY or maybe I will be able to adapt one from Kudos as they are reasonably priced or I'll go to BMS battery for one...

 

[banbury frank]

Hi

You have had the bike for 3 years so good Bike if I was you I would Bite the bullet


And purchase from wisper a new battery they give a 2 year warranty


The Battery is a consumable so 2 . 5 years on the old battery was good

Frank

 

[Scatty]

Wise words Frank £500 + is a bargain!!! for getting a 1000miles makes me think i should of bought a wisper or just chucked me money down a drain

 

[Alan B]

If the battery has a two year warranty why is there any talk of buying a new one !

My reading of the original post is that the first battery lasted for one year, and the second for 18 months. Were these replaced under the warranty ? If so could be that running costs are going to be very low because they never last as long as two years !!!

 

[Scottyf]

Not good Alan. Sorry to hear about the bikes battery.
Least you can keep it as a spare or maybe open it up and check all cells are ok.

As mentioned above adaprting one of the other retailers batteries will prove far more economical.
Or even buy a BMS battery with a larger capacity!

 

[Eaglerider]

Hmm, difficult one this.

I do believe the manufacturers are going to have to shoulder a greater responsibility of this very costly part. They might consider reducing their mark up on batteries if they are only going to last 2 years. I can't think of anything worse than being obliged to return to a manufacturer every two years to be financially kicked in the testicles to keep your bike going!

It is a new technology, and a rapidly changing one, but I think £500 is way too much, especially now the economies of scale should be reducing costs.

I think E-Bikes could have a great future, but this major cost for end users could well kill off any mass demand. Lets face it, the big names are asking very strong money for their products, and the support needs to be there to justify these costs.

For a commuter, a 2 year battery life might just be countenanced, but for the occasional fun user, who does perhaps 500 miles over a summer season, it would be very much a luxury activity!

 

[jerrysimon]

As stated the only way round this at the moment is with a little DIY. OEM batteries do get expensive but then the cost of materials for them has been rising.

If commuting regularly, comparisons with petrol costs DO bring some perspective to the table.

Regards

Jerry

 

[Scottyf]

The DIY Lipo's and £200 batteries from other retailers like Sunlova and Kudo's make it more affordable.

Least at that price you can grit your teeth and carry on but @ £500 it really is a kick in the balls.
You can virtually buy a new Ebike at that cost every two years.

But then I guess you are paying for the support and warranty which takes into account the eventualities of failed batteries.

You could even rip the inners out of the replacement battery and hook them all up to your exisiting case.
Ok they may use the cheaper 18650 cells but they should see you will for another 2 years.

I'd even be temped to buy lipo and then use the battery case and BMS that works and just add the lipo inside it. But you'd need to be fairly competent at DIY builds.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

I've had a Wisper 905SE for 3 years which I was initially pleased with. However after a year the battery failed which was replaced with a reconditioned one. 6 months ago the second battery failed (cuts out under load). As I'd only done 1000 miles between each failure that was pretty disappointing.
Is this unusual? I didn't realise e-biking was so expensive. What are the alternatives to spending £500 for another 1000 miles of cycling?

Andy

Hi Andy

Sorry to read about your problem, has the battery been sent back recently? It sounds as if there is a problem, if it is still in the warranty period we will of course replace it.

Please drop me a line at dmiall@me.com with all details, i.e. when you bought the recon battery, how much you paid and when it was sent to Wisper Support for testing, and I will look into it for you.

Best regards

David

 

[z0mb13e]

I've had a Wisper 905SE for 3 years which I was initially pleased with. However after a year the battery failed which was replaced with a reconditioned one. 6 months ago the second battery failed (cuts out under load). As I'd only done 1000 miles between each failure that was pretty disappointing.
Is this unusual? I didn't realise e-biking was so expensive. What are the alternatives to spending £500 for another 1000 miles of cycling?
Andy

My 905SE is almost 2.5 years old now with 6000(?) miles on the original battery (The ? is because I haven't looked at the odo for a while now - the mileage figure in my sig is probably a few hundred miles out by now) and while I don't get as much out of a charge it is still more than enough for my commute. I'm holding off on a replacement battery until it is completely dead. It just sounds like you have had a bit of bad (and expensive?) luck with your batteries.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi Zombie, it's good to hear from you, I trust all is well.

Looking after any lithium ion battery is paramount to it's longevity and you obviously look after yours well.

The two most important things to remember are;

1. ALWAYS keep a decent charge in your battery and recharge it every few weeks during periods of non use. (New Wisper chargers have a new 29V "conditioning" charge switch to keep the battery perfectly conditioned during the winter etc.)

2. NEVER leave the battery completely discharged, even for a few days. It is best to top up your battery every time you use the bike.

All the best

David

 

[z0mb13e]

Hi Zombie, it's good to hear from you, I trust all is well.

Looking after any lithium ion battery is paramount to it's longevity and you obviously look after yours well.

The two most important things to remember are;

1. ALWAYS keep a decent charge in your battery and recharge it every few weeks during periods of non use. (New Wisper chargers have a new 29V "conditioning" charge switch to keep the battery perfectly conditioned during the winter etc.)

2. NEVER leave the battery completely discharged, even for a few days. It is best to top up your battery every time you use the bike.

All the best

David

Hi David,

I'm still here - lurking mostly. I have been side tracked with other projects of late including the beginnings of a colour LCD bike computer with watt meter and programmable speed controller (but that is all a long way off right now - I've got a 3d printer to build first!).

The Wisper is still going well despite the ravages of the coastal weather. I've had a few issues with the pedelec sensor only working for the first few revolutions of each journey and I've spoken to Steve at Wisper support and have prices for replacements but right now I am just living with throttle only.

I think as I'm commuting daily the battery is always charged up in the evening fresh for the morning, and by virtue that has kept it in good shape.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Thanks z0mb13e, delighted to hear all's going well, I bet it was freezing today!

 

[z0mb13e]

Thanks z0mb13e, delighted to hear all's going well, I bet it was freezing today!

It was pretty chilly but I'm steeling myself for the really cold weather to come!

 

[Kudoscycles]

This subject of this thread was my overiding concern when entering the e-bike market and quite frankly without the emergence of the LifePo4 battery would not have started. These LifePo4 batteries are rated for 1500 cycles,hence the confidence we have of putting a 2 year warranty. But should the life span not make that 1500 cycles,which could be 5 years then the average £200 replacement costs is not so hurtful. remember IF YOU DON'T PAY IT OUT<YOU CAN'T LOSE IT !!! We have sold over 150 bikes since May so now have some history of the performance of these 10 Ah batteries...we have replaced a couple under warranty (some had the security seals broken,so customer's curiosity of whats inside?) but most are doing well-some customers are reporting 60 miles range. I have supplied service batteries to competitors product when our batteries are a direct swop.
There are 2 downsides to LifePo4-
1. The battery is 20-30% heavier than the same capacity Lithium Ion battery.
2. The usage under load gives a consistent voltage-this is an advantage in that the power is consistent until the battery is exhausted but it means that the readout display gives almost no warning of when the battery is flat.
We think these downsides are modest when compared to be asked to pay £500 plus,sometimes Euro 800 plus for replecement battery -these figures make a mockery of the concept of e-biking being cheap.
Dave
KudosCycles

 

[bazwaldo]

Hi,

This topic is concerning me as well.
I have been using my Bearprint Ebike to commute to work in a 26 mile round trip for just over a year now.
Tomorrow I should bring up 5800 miles.

Just recently on 02.11.11 I have had to start charging my Lipo 36v 16ah battery at work as it has started cutting out mostly on the steeper parts of the journey in to work and towards the end of the return trip even when going home on middle assist instead of high assist.

Today although there was no frost and not too much wind it was down to 1 light out of 4 even on the flat Somerset moor road after just 5 miles. After about 6.6 miles on the 1st steepish climb it cut out completely while on it's 3rd highest assist level.

After turning it off and on it coped with the remainder of the climb on the middle assist level but cut out again twice more before I got to work which is about 13.4 miles in total.

On average I commute to work 5 days a week so after taking away holidays I have probably charged the battery around 235 times since October 21st 2010 when I first rode to work with the bike.

My battery has a 2 year warranty according to the Bearprint website and there is no high mileage clause that I could see.

Overall I am pleased to have reached the mileage that I have but am worried about the battery performance going into my 2nd year.

If it cannot cope with 1 way of my work commute on 1 charge there will come a time when I will not be able to use it to go to work. I definitely would not want to commute on my Ebike without the motor assistance.

If the performance continues to decline, which is likely, I will have to speak to Bearprint and find out what the Battery warranty is worth in reality.

What mileage and usage represents a fair amount?
What drop off of performance is acceptable in terms of a 2 year warranty?

Best wishes,

Barry.

 

[Scottyf]

There usually rated to 80% there full capacity after two years. However thats usually in ideal situations.
Good weather, slow charging, low discharge rates and the rest of it.

I'd probably say 2yrs at best for most lithium ion tech, more for lifepo4.