Bad battery or safety feature?

[Robspace1]

I have two Seagulls.
One battery shutting down under load. Tried it in other seagull and same issue
It will run fine while using pedal assist but throttle only in 4 or 5 and it shuts off. Actually surges in 5 until it shuts off
I plug it into charger for a couple seconds and everything comes back on and fully charged
Less than 2 years old and out of warranty
Any other options other than spending $450 for a new ecotric battery?
Some of the repair businesses don't look that good

My Seagull battery died 90 days out. They sent me a new one. It's worked fine for 2 years but I'm going to have it rebuilt with high grade Samsung cells next summer. The rebuild company with the best reviews I found is HI C in Denver. They just gave me a rebuild price and it's basically the same as new, which is $450.00 for the 1000w Seagull battery. Here is the email from them yesterday
The problem with Ecotric batteries is they are made with poor quality Chinese cells that tend to fail prematurely.

We will rebuild your Ecotric battery better than new. All the poor quality Chinese cells are removed and new cells welded in. We use factory fresh name brand cells from Samsung and LG Chem. Here are the options:


Option #1

48v 13ah
615wh
Samsung or LG 3200mah cells
Reuse case and BMS
>500 cycles
1 year warranty

$439


Option #2

48v 16ah (Mega Range)
768wh
Samsung or LG 3200mah cells
Reuse case and BMS
>500 cycles
1 year warranty

$499

Return shipping $45


***Rebuild Shipping Information Below***

Before and after the rebuild/repair process your battery is tested using a BA1800 Battery Analyzer. This assures your new battery meets design specifications.

• Pack your battery and charger well so they don't get damaged. Please don't use packing peanuts.
• Wrap your battery in bubble wrap/foam and place in a sturdy box.
• Pad the ends so the battery does not shift in the box.
• Please include your key if it is the power switch.
• Include your name and return address in the box or print out the pre-paid invoice to help us identify your battery.

Send by GROUND SERVICE ONLY to:

Hi-C Power
1273 S. Cherokee St.
Denver, CO 80223

We will send you an invoice payable online after we inspect your battery.

Estimated turnaround time is 14 business days after receiving your battery.

Please fill out the battery intake form with your return address, if you haven't already: https://www.hicbattery.com/Start-a-repair-order-Intake-Form_ep_47.html

We look forward to rebuilding your battery better than new and getting you back in the saddle.



The easiest way to ship your battery is to box it up yourself and print your own UPS ground label.

• Follow the boxing instructions from above info
• Go to the UPS website and click on the word Ship. This will take you to the Create a Shipment page
• Enter in your return address and our address
• Under package information enter in the weight and dimensions of your package
• Then print your labels and take it to the UPS store.

If UPS doesn't accept, the Postal Service (USPS) will accept.
Show quoted text
--
Best Regards,
Patrick Duggan
President
Hi-C Battery LLC
720-933-4734

 

[harryS]

Sounds OK. 48V13AH is 52 cells in a 13x4 array. It would cost me about $5-6/cell to buy Samsung or LG cells. So that's $250-300 and I still need maybe $30 in parts.
.
You might ask if they have a balance BMS they like, and what it costs. The Ecotric BMS is a non balance type. There are pros/cons with balance BMS. Ask the Denver folks what they recommend,
.
Good luck with the shipping,

 

[Robspace1]

Sounds OK. 48V13AH is 52 cells in a 13x4 array. It would cost me about $5-6/cell to buy Samsung or LG cells. So that's $250-300 and I still need maybe $30 in parts.
.
You might ask if they have a balance BMS they like, and what it costs. The Ecotric BMS is a non balance type. There are pros/cons with balance BMS. Ask the Denver folks what they recommend,
.
Good luck with the shipping,

I'm done talking to them for now. Once I'm ready to do this I'll be back in contact with them. They say shipping is $45.00 ground only. That's not bad for hazmat. You can ask them, they respond fast.

 

[tomjasz]

Exactly the sort of customer I’d run away from. FFS

 

[EZrider]

I don't like this kind thread with no pictures of current ebike in question.

Pics are in my other threads but this thread was about the battery and pics are posted

 

[EZrider]

Exactly the sort of customer I’d run away from. FFS

Why is that? For not posting pics of a bike? LOL
I have a poorly manufactured battery with pics to prove and no help from ecotric.
Actually i found an old email questioning the battery within the warranty period and ecotric won't even respond
How is it that I'm at fault? FFS
I even asked for just a discount. They could have sold me a battery at cost and they wouldn't have lost anything and kept a happy customer.
They wouldn't do any such thing

 

[tomjasz]

Why is that? For not posting pics of a bike? LOL
I have a poorly manufactured battery with pics to prove and no help from ecotric.
Actually i found an old email questioning the battery within the warranty period and ecotric won't even respond
How is it that I'm at fault? FFS
I even asked for just a discount. They could have sold me a battery at cost and they wouldn't have lost anything and kept a happy customer.
They wouldn't do any such thing

Sorry, but not intended for you. Rather the fellow spewing on about $170 battery rebuild. And then blathering/posting his business correspondence on a public forum with no good reason. Idjet.

 

[Robspace1]

Why is that? For not posting pics of a bike? LOL
I have a poorly manufactured battery with pics to prove and no help from ecotric.
Actually i found an old email questioning the battery within the warranty period and ecotric won't even respond
How is it that I'm at fault? FFS
I even asked for just a discount. They could have sold me a battery at cost and they wouldn't have lost anything and kept a happy customer.
They wouldn't do any such thing

EZ I completely agree with the question you ask. Why the hell is a photo of a bike needed to talk about the battery? It's not, and these kind of lame posts do nothing but drag down the conversation. If people can simply stay on track and color within the lines it makes for useful discussions. Some folks have a real need for attention and it's just sad. Why Ecotric ignored you're problem is hard to figure. Maybe they have some new people working there. I may have just been lucky two years ago but they responded really fast to replace not only my battery but the control unit as well on my Seagull. They couldn't tell where the problem was so they sent me both parts to change out. I haven't had any problems since but will be getting the battery rebuild/upgrade done this next year. It still works good for now but going into year 3 with one of their batteries makes me nervous. lol. Why risk another shut down miles from home right? I had to peddle that 70 lb. bike for miles. Not fun. Nice looking bike you have. I went with the white one for extra visibilty.

 

[Robspace1]

Sorry, but not intended for you. Rather the fellow spewing on about $170 battery rebuild. And then blathering/posting his business correspondence on a public forum with no good reason. Idjet.

You really need to find another hobby. Trolling this forum to pick fights and seek attention is not what these forums are for. Now you have this man, who is looking for answers to questions about Ecotric, being bothered with nasty comments for not posting photos? Since when does anyone need to post photos just to get a question answered? I gave him the latest price from a battery company to rebuild his Ecotric battery. The post is directly from the company this week. This is the kind of information people are wanting from the people doing the work. It's called being helpful. Him and I have the same brand and model bike and have had similar issues with them. Either jump in with useful, positive comments or just leave it alone. Coming across with good, solid, advice is great. But, trying to belittle people for not posting photos adds nothing to the thread. You did nothing but iritate the man. Why? How about this, elevate the comments, stay on thread, and just try to be helpful. Nobody came on here to argue.

 

[PedalUma]

This illustrates the problem of proprietary battery cases. You are stuck. External batteries are much easier to work with. Rome is correct about photos. No photo and it didn't happen. Here is a bike with a 48V 10.5Ah 504Wh external battery with premium BMS and Samsung cells. It has a 750W 90Nm cargo bike twin cultch torque sensing mid-drive motor. Tom is the best. The photos are from yesterday afternoon.

 

[harryS]

Should have been more blunt. Don't put the ecotric BMS back into a $500 rebuild.

I'm done talking to them for now. Once I'm ready to do this I'll be back in contact with them. They say shipping is $45.00 ground only. That's not bad for hazmat. You can ask them, they respond fast.

 

[Robspace1]

Should have been more blunt. Don't put the ecotric BMS back into a $500 rebuild.

Makes sense. I'm sure every component of these batteries was made at the lowest cost possible. The Ecotric is a fine bike for the money but the battery and tires are just real low grade.

 

[PedalUma]

Because of my dyslexia, every time I see Ecotic, I see Erotic.

 

[EZrider]

Hey everyone, all is good.
A bit of confusion on my part which is EZ to do lol
I got some great advice and learned a lot here
Happy Holidays!
Ride on

 

[Robspace1]

Because of my dyslexia, every time I see Ecotic, I see Erotic.

Lol It really is a sexy bike. I just got back from a chilly 25 mile ride. I'm in Wa. State and it's in the 40s. Wind chill while riding through the woods on a light snowy bike trail, had to be in the 30s. Winter wonderland. No crowds at all out there.

 

[Robspace1]

Hey everyone, all is good.
A bit of confusion on my part which is EZ to do lol
I got some great advice and learned a lot here
Happy Holidays!
Ride on

Same to you bud. Merry xmas!

 

[PedalUma]

Merry Christmas.

 

[PedalUma]

 

[Robspace1]

Thank you. Merry Christmas to you as well. Next year maybe you will be able to try that new bike trail they built down there. Nice. I really like riding them during the off season. Very few joggers, bikers, or dogs. A peaceful, quiet ride through the woods. Good for the soul.

 

[EZrider]

Update on new battery
It was dead within a few weeks. The older battery was fine
I did some voltage tests before i contacted ecotric and sent them pics of voltage
Just to keep it simple it did charge up to about 51 volts
They said to wait a couple weeks and try it again
old battery was good and charged up in 15 minutes
New battery was under 51 volts and took an hour and a half to charge

This was their response,
It's self-discharge, it's normal.
But, when you charge the battery fully, the voltage can't get 51V, you can contact us, we will let you know how to take a video and will claim a new battery to you.
For the self-discharge, you can check this info for a reference:
Voltage drop and capacity decay caused by spontaneous chemical reactions inside the battery. When chemical self-discharge occurs, no current is formed between the positive/negative electrodes, but a series of complex chemical reactions occur between the positive/negative electrodes of the battery and the electrolyte, resulting in the consumption of the positive electrode and the reduction of battery power.