Battery doesn't work!?!? Any assistance would be appreciated

[sondorsnate]

I received my Sonders Ebike 3 days ago and the battery was completely nonfunctional. I followed the directions precisely and unfortunately the battery doesn't charge or turn on. I have sent messages to the Sondors tech support and have received absolutely no response. After all these months of waiting, I now have a nonfunctional ebike. I would appreciate any troubleshooting advise or suggestions.

 

[George S.]

I have no idea how the battery connects to the bike, but if you have a voltmeter, you could check the voltage at the output terminals. Harbor Freight sells volt meters for $5. If you can't get a response here try the Facebook Forum for Sondor owners. They are very knowledgeable.

Obviously, the battery has to be turned on and seated properly to run the bike, and then you do whatever they say (on or off) to charge it.

Good luck. Hope it is something minor.

 

[Hurley]

I received my Sonders Ebike 3 days ago and the battery was completely nonfunctional. I followed the directions precisely and unfortunately the battery doesn't charge or turn on. I have sent messages to the Sondors tech support and have received absolutely no response. After all these months of waiting, I now have a nonfunctional ebike. I would appreciate any troubleshooting advise or suggestions.

Like George mentioned buy a voltmeter and not only check your battery for voltage but check the voltage out of your charger as well.
Presumably, the battery has "LED" indicators so they are unlit. Also try shaking the battery--maybe bang it a couple of times to see if the LED momentarily lights up. That would indicate a loose connection like a intermittent continuity issue.

Good luck.

 

[FTC Complaint]

I have sent messages to the Sondors tech support and have received absolutely no response

Ask for the procedure to exercise your implied warranty of merchantability. If Storm remains inaccessible consider sending the request for the warranty procedure to Storm's known service address; at Lewis Kohn Walker. If they fail to respond try charging back your credit card.

Storm Sondors via
[email protected]


Storm Sondors Via
Lewis Kohn and Walker LLP
Kent M Walker
15030 Avenue of Science, Suite 201
San Diego, CA 92128

Dear Sir. I received my Sondors Ebike on dd/mm/yy and it had the following defects thereby making it unusable for its intended purpose. I reached out to Sondors via "email/phone" on the following dates and times without reply ..... "list chronology with any help desk ticket numbers if any"

I would appreciate if you would provide me with the procedure for exercising the warranty on the bike, so it could be repaired as I would like the bike to be usable. (or I would prefer a refund and return)

-----------

Storm has short-cut-ted (avoided) federal regulations regarding how to offer and provide a warranty.
-How long does coverage last
-What is covered not/covered
-How to get service
-What Federal and State rights you have



File a complaint with the CPSC if there is a safety issue with the bike. In such case; do not repair the bike.

https://www.saferproducts.gov/CPSRMSPublic/Incidents/ReportIncident.aspx

File a lawsuit in CA Small Claims Court with the service address above.

------

The $300 "savings" on the bike has to come from somewhere and it has come from the business side; ignoring regulations, testing, support, paying vendors, and product liability insurance.

Repairs, refunds, and returns are part of this shortfall.

 

[Ann M.]

If you have the voltmeter, please take a reading at the base where it plugs into the bike. Make sure it is turned on (yes, even if it doesn't want to work) some batteries will not give any voltage reading if the on/off switch is not on. And as was suggested, carefully take a reading of the charger while plugged into a wall socket. Please do NOT bang the battery on anything, that is not going to change the situation. If you get a voltage reading of less than approximately 39 to 41 volts for a 36 V battery, there is a problem. Could be a simple disconnected wire off the BMS (we've seen that a few times at the shop), but you have some sort of warranty, so don't open the battery, that could void the warranty. Please share what you find out.

 

[flymeaway]

I would appreciate any troubleshooting advise or suggestions.

1) Plug the battery charger into the wall outlet, BUT NOT INTO THE BATTERY. There should be at least one LED on the charger, is it green? If it is RED or the LED is unlit the charger is defective. If it's GREEN the charger is working.

2) If the charger is working (GREEN LED) unplug it from the wall outlet, plug it into the battery and then plug it into the wall outlet:

A) GREEN LED, most likely a bad BMS or a wiring issue in the battery.
B) No light, probable short circuit, unplug the charger.
C) RED LED would be normal indicating the battery is charging.

3) If the charger is defective replace it.

Note, the battery should have come with some level of charge, even if the charger is defective. If you have absolutely no response when you plug it in either a wiring problem on the bike or the battery has failed.

Court J.

PS....did you watch the Sondors charging youtube? If you've been trying to charge the battery on the bike, I'd take it out and charge it stand alone.

 

[sondorsnate]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to purchase a voltmeter today and attempt to get some readings. The charger shows a green light when plugged into to battery then to power outlet but the battery doesn't charge therefore it's likely the battery that is the culprit. I did use the YouTube battery operations clip and followed it exactly, I will also continue attempting to get a hold of Storm with the email/address that FTC COMPLAINT supplied. Thanks again for all the suggestions/replies.

 

[PowerMe]

Not so fast...

My battery and charger (albeit it's not a Sonders bike) requires me to first plug the charger into the wall (and not into the battery first). THEN, once the charger is plugged in, then I connect the charger to the battery. And then my battery starts charging up if needed. For some reason if I do it the other way my battery won't charge. I have no idea why this is, but this is a quirk I found, so this is the order I have to do it.

Try that on your Sonders battery and see what happens.

 

[Hurley]

I would not rely solely on the "lights". Use your brand new voltmeter to check the actual voltages. I would elaborate on this but it gets fairly technical.

By "banging" I meant "light tapping" as a means of troubleshooting. Also, shake the battery while listening for rattles inside the battery. It could be a long while before you hear from Sondors so you might have to take matters into your own hands in terms of troubleshooting. Most likely with the battery it is an open or a short.

Ask George about batteries. Sounds like he has built a few.

 

[flymeaway]

My battery and charger (albeit it's not a Sonders bike) requires me to first plug the charger into the wall

FWIW the gosondors youtube video describes the process they recommend.

Court J.

 

[George S.]

Could be the charger, but it doesn't appear to be 'dead'. Could be the battery pack, so a quick check of the voltage should tell a lot. Could be wiring from the battery output, to everything on the bike.

One Sondors owner mentioned that his battery came, in the box, turned 'on'. Not sure if that hurt his battery.

I assume the LED's on the bike are not lighting up?

Not sure if you are sending things to the gosondors emails, posting to the Facebook group. Since the battery is the most expensive part, do what you can to set up for a (free) replacement, if needed.

 

[wa5]

as George said join the owners group, they do seem to have some helpful members and seem to be the pseudo warranty claims desk

https://www.facebook.com/groups/StormOwnersGroup/

 

[sondorsnate]

So I just joined Facebook and I am waiting for the owners group to befriend me so I can place a post. Of interest, I did place a very polite post on the Sondors ebike page asking for assistance/troubleshooting and it got deleted...twice! So dissappointing. My intention is not to bother anyone...I just want the bike that I paid for and waited months for to be functional. Off to purchase a voltmeter.

 

[Hurley]

So I just joined Facebook and I am waiting for the owners group to befriend me so I can place a post. Of interest, I did place a very polite post on the Sondors ebike page asking for assistance/troubleshooting and it got deleted...twice! So dissappointing. My intention is not to bother anyone...I just want the bike that I paid for and waited months for to be functional. Off to purchase a voltmeter.

Wow! you have got to be kidding me. Your polite post asking a simple question got deleted???
It is like a cult of good feedback or you get booted over there. No wonder it's all rosy over on their TwofacedBook page.

 

[sondorsnate]

Looks like the owners group blocked me!!! I wonder if the two groups are connected somehow? So much for Facebook.

 

[PowerMe]

 

[Hurley]

Unfortunately they are probably punishing you for coming onto this site.

 

[FTC Complaint]

Looks like the owners group blocked me!!! I wonder if the two groups are connected somehow? So much for Facebook.

Wow! you have got to be kidding me. Your polite post asking a simple question got deleted???
It is like a cult of good feedback or you get booted over there. No wonder it's all rosy over on their TwofacedBook page.

Every question that the press asked of Sondors was ignored and stonewalled. No surprise that this conduct (by Sondors) continues with the people that purchased the bike and are now seeking responsibility or recourse.

The vast majority are going to get a product without issues and concerns; It is still unknown as to whether or not all the bikes will be delivered, or whether or not Agency 2.0 will be paid. However a significant minority of people that received bikes are going to have support, quality, repair problems.

A very small percentage are going to have serious safety problems.

Better to keep quality/safety/support concerns under wraps since they are not going to be addressed.

 

[JoePah]

@sondornate message me your FB name and I will get you in the Sondors group.

The FB group is an independent working group to share experiences and help each other. Members are already developing their own line of aftermarket products like a larger battery, displays, fenders etc. They do not want any nonsense, so careful where you tread.

Did you buy the voltmeter and check output voltage?

Coming to this site asking for help is just going to draw comments from the trolls who have no idea how to help you, nor is it their intent to help you.

 

[Hurley]

@sondornate message me your FB name and I will get you in the Sondors group.

The FB group is an independent working group to share experiences and help each other. Members are already developing their own line of aftermarket products like a larger battery, displays, fenders etc. They do not want any nonsense, so careful where you tread.

Did you buy the voltmeter and check output voltage?

Coming to this site asking for help is just going to draw comments from the trolls who have no idea how to help you, nor is it their intent to help you.

Sir, where on earth do you get off saying something like that. I can't see anything in this thread to justify your comments. Perhaps you are the one trolling. I never thought I'd live to see the day where the only possible way to get any support for a paid for product, one would have to be a Facebook member of a private entity (which I refuse for privacy reasons). By the way, I think I speak for everyone when I say we are here to help, as well as learn.