Wisper battery

I bought my 905 a few months ago. It has the 14Ah battery

 

I'm after some advice/experience from other Wisper riders. I'm not sure that my battery is performing as it should. I certainly don't get anything like the performance given on the Wisper website. (i.e 50+ miles)

 

From a full charge, I get to about 4 miles before the green light starts to go out when the motor is working. By six miles, the amber light is also going out when motor is working. By 10-12 ish miles I can tell that the battery is going flat as the assistance is declining noticeably. However when I stop, amber and green come back on!

 

I ride a fairly flat route on a tarmac cycle path, with off road activated but never using the throttle. I have made sure that my tyres are properly inflated. I am a bit heavier than the road test rider on Wisper's road test (17 stone) but feel this can't be the sole reason.

 

Is this consistent with other users? I have contacted Wisper who will happily carry out a capacity test on my battery but that means paying to post my battery and communting without it for a week. I don't want to do that just to find out my battery is 'normal'.

 

Thanks for any advice

Have you conditioned the battery from new? have you ridden the battery to flat yet? and what kind of mileage was that? While waiting for some expert help....It is normal for the battery to recover, and for the green and yellow light to come back on after it has been put under strain.

 

it sounds like you may have a problem but I am not sure....

The bike I bought was a display model in the shop I bought it from so I didn't have the battery from brand new.

 

My daily commute is 12 miles by which time it seems fairly flat. I havn't then riden it the next day without charging in case it is completely flat before I get home. Maybe I should just take the risk to get a definate millage to completely flat. How will I tell if it is completely flat? Will it completely cut out?

The bike I bought was a display model in the shop I bought it from so I didn't have the battery from brand new.

 

My daily commute is 12 miles by which time it seems fairly flat. I havn't then riden it the next day without charging in case it is completely flat before I get home. Maybe I should just take the risk to get a definate millage to completely flat. How will I tell if it is completely flat? Will it completely cut out?

 

Not sure........seeing as we are still waiting for an expert. "fairly flat" is not flat. So time it so that it is nearly flat when you reach home? say on a friday night and then Saturday morning ride around locally till flat. charge fully then repeat this. you are supposed to do this 2 or 3 times when new to condition the battery.

 

where did you buy it from, are they a wisper dealer,what have they had to say?

I think this is normal if you are using throttle all the way i reckon

using full no throttle (and set to HI) i reckon 40 ish(if i was in off road mode)

i normally recharge after 20 miles when i get to work, but i have always measured the battery when not under load as it can be in the amber after 4 heavy ish miles

david

I don't use the throttle. 40 ish is more like I'd expect and be happy with.

 

I'd be grateful to get anyone elses experience?

you can expect about 15-25wh per mile depending on how much power you use. whats the voltage? if its 24V and 14Ah the that gives you 504wh. which would give you about 13.4 miles range. if its second hand then it may be even less than that. never believe the manufacturers range "specifications" they are just made up, probably based on lance armstrong riding and only using 1% throttle

 

whats the point in riding an electric bike and not using the throttle?

Edited September 15, 200916 yr by monster

The point (at least on Wisper bikes) is that they have pedal assist which is independent from the throttle.

The point (at least on Wisper bikes) is that they have pedal assist which is independent from the throttle.

 

Ok a few factors here that could be contributing to this:

a) It was ex-display. So we don't know how well the battery has been treated before you got it, or exactly how old it is. (David from Wisper might be able to tell you if you have the serial number).

b) Your weight is on the high side.

c) You don't say how much stopping+ starting is involved in your route. Starting from a standstill places a huge strain on the battery to get you up to a reasonable speed (even more so if you are heavy).

To reduce the strain you need to start off with lower amounts of throttle & then increase the throttle as you build up speed. As my battery is getting older, I'm needing to marshall power a little bit in this way rather than just slamming on maximum throttle. This really helps battery life.

 

From my more conservative calculations maximum range on a new 36V 14Ah battery @ about 30Wh/mile (which is roughly what I get on throttle only in London city traffic) is about 16 miles, so you'd expect to see a drop off in performance at the 12 mile mark.

 

Those 40+ mile figures are for cyclists providing a good deal of input themselves and never having to stop! (Wisper are pretty honest about their testing criteria for the range figures they provide)

 

Cheers

 

Steve

Thanks for the feedback.

 

a) Yes, this is a concern. Where is there serial number located on the battery?

b) Agreed. I have nothing more to say on this! :-)

c) Very little starting/stoping involved. I am definatly putting in input myself.

serial number of bike is underneath the crank

A while ago, David from Wisper mentioned that they had bought some very slow rate chargers that they were willing to loan to customers, so that they could refresh their batteries. I think this may well be worth a go as it certainly sounds like your battery isn't holding enough charge.

 

My commute is 12.5miles each way, I ride mainly in off road mode at full throttle, albeit with few stops, averaging around 17mph. This, it would seem, makes for quite a high discharge rate, and yet on days when there is no significant headwind, I can arrive with all three power lights still on. If I do the entire round trip without recharging in the middle, then I'm pretty much down to red light only at the end. I have to say though, that I've not noticed a significant lack of power even then, and I do tend to lean on the motor a bit more on the return journey.

serial number of bike is underneath the crank

 

This may be model dependant, as my frame no. is embossed just below the Logo on the front of the bike i.e. just above the forks, and the battery s/n is engraved on the very underside of the battery. I have a 2008 version of the 905se btw.

I suppose its a bit like car manufacturers fuel consumption claims.

 

I am carrying out tests on my battery this week.(rained off today:D) It is a 14 amp wisper 905SE as well. I am also 17 stone. so far 2 rides of 8 miles. de restricted all the time. I pedal all the time, and only use additional throttle on inclines. just had a look and all 3 lights on, but I suspect the green will go once I start peddling......as it was dim on my return yesterday

 

I expect to get at least one more circuit out of it (8 mile) maybe 2? who knows! It will be interesting to see what's left.....

 

so the general thoughts on here so far seems to be about a 30 miles range more or less? But I guess this would be for an average weight person......My wife on her 14 amp 705 sails up hills without hardly changing gear, while I am in low gear full throttle frantically trying to keep up........

Edited September 15, 200916 yr by eddieo

Yes, 30 miles - maybe a little more, would be my estimate. I've never run it to cut out though - too lazy to get stuck without power, and have to lug the thing home I weigh in at around 14st btw, though I do carry quite a heavy pannier as well.

I had a simarler problem to this on mine, It would start cutting out as well. It turned out to be the controller box. It did take a while to get to the bottom of it. It was also my main transport but the guys at Oxford ETS loaned me a bike while they got to the bottom of my problem.

Battery

 

Hi Kabadi

 

The first thing to do is to let us know the serial number and we can let you know how old it is. If it has been left for several months without half charging the battery the range will certainly have been effected.

 

We would be happy to put it onto the trickle charger for you to see if that helps. I think though you will need to send it to service to have it checked out. Where did you buy it from? Does it have Wisper printed on the frame?

 

Best regards David

motor only riding wisper 905.

 

Hi I very recently purchased a 14ah wisper eco running on 1/4 battery and got 3.9 miles so times 4 = 15.6 miles.

I just traded in for a sport with full battery and will test ride when the rain stops tomorrow but expect 15.6 motor only.

I weigh in at 18stone so I think us heavier riders can expect the figures above.

Is this the serial number? (can be seen in attached photo)

 

260240A0-002

B/E 0015

 

 

Second photo shows label on side of battery. Curiously it says 36v when everything I read on the website says they are 37v

Yep, that's what I took to be the serial no.

 

36v seems to be the nominal rating, but when they're fully charged, they actually output close on 42v.

Edited September 16, 200916 yr by Straylight

just as comparison my light just moved to amber(just charged before i left) after this trip today 27km very little twisting though

Me and my Wisper have done 2000 miles now and the battery still seems full of get up and go.

 

I tend to ignore the battery level indicator when I'm powering along because it's reading on-load battery terminal voltage which is no idicator of battery level really. When I'm stopped and the battery is off load I see that it goes straight up to green and will be green when I get to work after 7.5 miles. However, the last two days it's taken a while for the green to come on but there has been a foul northerly tearing down the Eastern Road. Even in derestrict and me helping the speed hovered around the 14mph mark (that's how strong the headwind was, normally headwinds I can cut through at about 16mph). Consequently, mucho juice was consummed by the motor to combat this. However, the green light does (eventually) come back on at rest.

 

On the way home, the lights do their thing and for a good portion of the return journey I will just have a green light at rest. By the time I get to the bottom of the Eastern Road it is not really there. This assuming a no wind on either leg of the Journey. Typically, I get headwind on the way home.

 

By the end of the journey (totalling 15 miles) I have a yellow light and no signs of flagging in the battery. In fact, I forgot to charge it one night (actually, it's worse than that, I plugged it all in but failed to turn the charger on). Bikey got me to work the next day without any problems power-wise. I took the charger with me and charged him up at work but I suspect he would have seen me back home.

 

Hope that gives some indication of how the battery stacks-up. By the way - I'm deristricted for 80% of my journey with full throttle and moderate pedalling keeping my speed at 17-18mph. Pedelec mode is set to 80%. Bikey does the bulk of the work, I kind of let him while I take it easy.

I am carrying out tests on my battery this week.(rained off today:D) It is a 14 amp wisper 905SE as well. I am also 17 stone. so far 2 rides of 8 miles. de restricted all the time. I pedal all the time, and only use additional throttle on inclines. just had a look and all 3 lights on, but I suspect the green will go once I start peddling......as it was dim on my return yesterday

 

I expect to get at least one more circuit out of it (8 mile) maybe 2? who knows! It will be interesting to see what's left.....

 

so the general thoughts on here so far seems to be about a 30 miles range more or less? But I guess this would be for an average weight person......My wife on her 14 amp 705 sails up hills without hardly changing gear, while I am in low gear full throttle frantically trying to keep up........

 

 

Well.....did another 8 miles today (8x3 =24:) ) the wind was against me but I stuck to my guns and did not use the throttle much. shortly after I left the green light failed and when I got home the amber is still on but there is a distinct lack of kick when you throttle on now......

 

So it looks as if the consensus of 30 miles? is about right

Range

 

Hi Guys

 

Range so much depends on so many variables.

 

Use of the throttle is a big user of available power,

 

If the bikes it de-restricted this will reduce about 20 to 25% of the range.

 

Tyres need to be fully inflated.

 

The number of times you stop and start has a huge effect.

 

Wind speed and direction.

 

The weight of the rider.

 

The terrain.

 

Our Delmar is; Do we get rid of the throttle and the de-restrict so the range will be up in the 50's or do we leave them on for people to make their own decisions as to range against the kind of ride they require?

 

Our road tests always return 60 to 70 miles and often more from fully charged to a flat battery.

 

This reminds me a little of Jeremy Clarkson putting a gallon of fuel into a Ferrari driving it hard on a race track and running out just over a mile into the circuit, Ferrari say you will get 12 miles to the gallon! It so depends on what you are asking the vehicle, Wisper or Ferrari to do!

 

All the best David

36 or 37?

 

Is this the serial number? (can be seen in attached photo)

 

260240A0-002

B/E 0015

 

 

Second photo shows label on side of battery. Curiously it says 36v when everything I read on the website says they are 37v

 

They are 36V batteries, the cells are 3.7V each and there are ten of them but I felt calling them 37V was confusing matters so everything is being changed to 36V now.

 

The max output is about 42V.

 

You will notice a drop in power as the battery discharges much like a tourch, if you want to get all the range out of the battery you have to run it till it dies.

 

Did you send this data to Norman?

 

All the best David

Edited September 16, 200916 yr by Wisper Bikes