Burnt to a Crisp: Name and Fame for E-Bikes Aflame (Open Thread of E-Bike Fires)

[tomjasz]

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The ones you linked to. I don’t see where they say they are for lithium ion charging. I saw the designation when looking at 12v chargers. Some were for SLA and some for lithium ion. Is the real difference only in output voltage of the charger? I know 12v SLA and 12v l-ion charge to different voltages. Other than current, since that is also adjustable in your linked chargers, is that the only difference? Seems like yours are just power supplies and not a designated charger. Maybe they can be the same, as long as they are set properly?

This is where things COULD get dodgy. If you poke around the world of eBike forums and come to know the trusted sources you'll find these Meanwell power supplies are safe for our chemistry, reliable, and used by many. Where things go south it's usually because of some boob on YouTube or on a forum draws crazy conclusions and strikes out on their own and tries to use some other product or variation. OR is a truly goofy user that doesn't put his multimeter to good use.

You're safe with the Meanwell listed.

We're told to use only the manufacturer charger because very many are confused about what the LVC, low voltage cutoff, nominal charge, and finished charge levels are.
For example, a 48V battery fully charged is 54.6V. A 52V battery 58.8. And those are HARD maximums to NEVER exceed. Yet someone will read that some cells can be charged to 4.3V and THAT is where things begin to fall apart...

 

[PedalUma]

CC+CV mode.

This explanation was very helpful. Thank you. It mirrors the warmth of a charger. It peeks then backs off. Makes sense.

 

[m@Robertson]

This explanation was very helpful. Thank you. It mirrors the warmth of a charger. It peeks then backs off. Makes sense.

Yes. When calculating how many amps you can set a charger for, you don't calc max voltage times max amps, since the CV mode will start paring back the amps before you reach the voltage target. This will also slow down the charge-per-hour since you won't be feeding full amps into the unit for the last ... 45 minutes? of the charge operation. But even with all of these fudge factors, its still way better than just plugging in and coming back 3 hours later to see if the red light is green now.

 

[Art Deco]

You guys know I am following this thread closely and will ask questions when I don't look like a complete idiot, right ?

 

[Art Deco]

A bike came to my workshop and I looked it over outside. It had water incursion into the cells with lithium crystals growing out the discharge port. The guy left the bike before I spotted the problem. The battery is now outside under an upside down steel wheelbarrow. Until he can collect it. But that could be a problem. I heard the house where he lived caught fire and one guy died. The repairs including the new HQ battery added up. https://www.petaluma360.com/article...tify-man-who-died-during-petaluma-house-fire/
Edit:
Here is what that bike looks like now. It was the very worst mess of wires and connectors. The drive train was shot. It didn't shift. The pedals were junk. The brakes didn't work. The controls were unattached. I installed the new battery and fixed everything.

Any recognizable brands before the fire or can't tell?

 

[Asher]

Specialized and Ancheer have had bikes catch fire but both issued recalls. These are worth noting but it's far more concerning when a manufacturer does not issue a recall, because then a) owners are left with a potentially defective dangerous product and b) no one knows the product is at risk

Also the Specialized recall was much narrower than the Ancheer one, a problem limited to a few specific models, vs apparently a wide array of Ancheer models.

Specialized

We take a closer look at one of the most famous electric bike companies, Specialized, and find out why its products are loved by cyclists all over the world.

electricbikeaction.com

Online vendor recalls 22,000 Ancheer e-bikes because the batteries can explode

WASHINGTON (BRAIN) — Ancheer is recalling about 22,000 e-bikes, sold by e-commerce sites including aliexpress, amazon.com, eBay and others because the bikes' lithium-ion batteries can ignite, explode, or spark. The bikes were sold from 2016 through June 2022 for $280-$930. Ancheer has received...

www.bicycleretailer.com

 

[Rexlion]

I saw this video on FB today of a very hot ebike. As in, flames and all.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/380938917798166

 

[John from Connecticut]

I saw this video on FB today of a very hot ebike. As in, flames and all.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/380938917798166

Lets be clear on the included FB fire Video. My opinion. This is not an e-Bike. This is an e-scooter with
massive ( most likely generic ) no name battery, charged on a no name charger. Call this scooter
what it is...... Do real e-bike have battery fire, absolutely.

 

[PedalUma]

It is a crap electric motorcycle. I will bet the poor guy had used a 'fast' charger too on the battery because that sounded hot and so did overriding the max amps on discharge. Well it was hot.

 

[BryanG]

Is there a list of "reputable" chargers? Are the Bosch batteries/chargers reliable? What do they use on Aventon? Trek?

 

[BlackHand]

Both the Bosch chargers and batteries are UL listed and have been for years. Doesn't make them immune from issues... but at least more of a known qty. Presumably reliability hasn't been a major issue given that they have pretty good take up and seeming longevity with many major brands.

 

[PedalUma]

From what I know, chargers should be low Amps, say 2A, to slowly charge and should gradually back off charging as the battery reaches max voltage. They should also be properly calibrated. Some are not. @m@Robertson once showed a pot screw in one that set the max voltage limit, and if I recall it was not set right. It was over charging.

 

[John from Connecticut]

Is there a list of "reputable" chargers? Are the Bosch batteries/chargers reliable? What do they use on Aventon? Trek?

Bosch Batteries and Chargers are some of the best in the Industry, but they're not cheap.
Trek uses Bosch Chargers and Bosch Batteries which are UL etc approved. I have two Trek e-bikes,
6 years old 12,000 miles combined. My Bosch Batteries are rock solid, never had a problem. Still
delivering strong power.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Hell I have 4 batteries with a combined 30,000 or more miles now. the oldest is 4 years. bosch keeps on trucking.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Who says you need batteries for your bike to go up in flames? this guy got caught on video putting gas on his bike this is a screen capture.

 

[Art Deco]

Who says you need batteries for your bike to go up in flames? this guy got caught on video putting gas on his bike this is a screen capture.

View attachment 167971

you found the perfect place to post this @fooferdoggie

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Also the Specialized recall was much narrower than the Ancheer one, a problem limited to a few specific models, vs apparently a wide array of Ancheer models.

Specialized

We take a closer look at one of the most famous electric bike companies, Specialized, and find out why its products are loved by cyclists all over the world.

electricbikeaction.com

I could not find anything about a Specialized recall, could you be more specific?

EDIT: I have found it.

August 30 2022 Safety Notices

www.specialized.com

In May 2021 we issued a voluntary recall for a small number of battery packs sold as original equipment on and as aftermarket equipment for use with 1st Generation Turbo Levo and Kenevo electric mountain bikes manufactured between 2017 and 2019. In August 2022 we expanded the scope of this recall to include additional battery part numbers and manufacturing dates.

Indeed, the number of models and model-years was small.