Dual batteries not charging in situ.

[AleksR]

I had the following problem after 4K miles riding my Riese and Muller Supercharger 2. Batteries didnt fully charge when in frame. It charges to 52%. When out of the frame, batteries individually charged overnight and power indicator showed full charge, but when placed in the frame it is showing 92% instead of 100% and drops to 88% for unknown reason without riding it.
Sent to LBS and their diagnostics noted that lower battery wasn't sitting well or something was loose. I always charged my batteries in situ. I do ride it hard, many potholes here, and I think that lower frame battery got lose or sitting got lose due to bumpy rides. It's working now, but I am concerned that this will repeat itself.

 

[AleksR]

Bosch. Came with the bike.

 

[Dick B]

I had the following problem after 4K miles riding my Riese and Muller Supercharger 2. Batteries didnt fully charge when in frame. It charges to 52%. When out of the frame, batteries individually charged overnight and power indicator showed full charge, but when placed in the frame it is showing 92% instead of 100% and drops to 88% for unknown reason without riding it.
Sent to LBS and their diagnostics noted that lower battery wasn't sitting well or something was loose. I always charged my batteries in situ. I do ride it hard, many potholes here, and I think that lower frame battery got lose or sitting got lose due to bumpy rides. It's working now, but I am concerned that this will repeat itself.

Interesting. I have always charged both batteries in situ but recently decided I should learn how to take batteries off and charge inside the house as I am going to tour with the bike. Struggled to get bottom battery out and back in and now the bike only seems to recognise that the top battery is in place. I put the other battery on charge in the house - started at 4 green lights but now showing 3 after 12 hours. Tried swapping both batteries over but it seems the issue is still with the bottom battery holder. I only had it serviced two weeks ago so a bit mystified. Will be phoning shop today for advice

 

[m@Robertson]

If there was a problem with battery contact, it wouldn't charge at all. The system wouldn't pick a repeatable lesser charge value and decide to use that.

This sounds like an issue with an electronic brain hiding inside of something, that is deciding to use a lower value. If this was an open system we could easily pinpoint a culprit.

Beyond this, the only thing I can think of that isn't a system fault is a busted weld inside the pack that gravity fixes when you lay the pack down at a different angle. So for example a 13S pack becomes a 12S pack. If charging is affected, but discharge is not (i.e. 54.6v is charged and then fully available without a sudden drop-down), then this unlikely scenario is not plausible.

 

[Dick B]

Taking to LBS tomorrow so will let you know the outcome. Hope it’s something simple ! Could be combination of faulty charger and a fault on the lower power pack holder. I did change fuse on charger but although the lights are coming on on the battery LED display the battery still not charging

 

[AleksR]

I got my bike back and this was the summary below. The bottom line is that the battery spacing was loose. I suspect that after 4000 miles, riding on some offroad trails too, with significant bouncing, that something loosened in the bottom frame and disrupted the contact. By the way, prior to this problem, I never took the battery out of frame.

"Conclusion: Ran different battery configurations and multiple diagnostics to find out that the battery spacing on Power tube 2 was loose. Now both
batteries work in both tubes and charge by themselves as well as while on the bike. Please make sure that the battery is completely seated in the mounts
before riding or charging. It does take a little bit more pressure than you would expect to get those in all the way. -JD
Symptom:
- From customer: "Batteries dont fully charge when in frame. It charges to 52%. When batteries taken out, the top frame battery was charged, but the
bottom was not. When out of the frame, batteries individually charged overnight and power indicator showed full charge, but when placed in the frame it is
showing 92% instead of 100% and drops to 88% for unknown reason without riding it."
- Diagnostic Report saved to DOC on this order. Error for powertube2 and low battery + communication error on display.
Possible diagnosis:
- Battery, y cable, both, or other.
Actions:
- Connect to diagnostic tool and mark error present on battery. Cross swap batteries and reconnect to see if error is still present on same battery or if
moved to other battery position or any changes. This will determine if the battery is bad or the connecting cable.
- Replace suspected part and run Bosch warranty for part itself."

 

[Dick B]

LBS have reported that my charger is not working AND there is an internal wiring issue on bike which means the batteries are not communicating with each other. Still at shop and they will update me next week. Sounds a bit like AlecsR problem but why charger is u/s is coincidental but a bit hard to believe. Could one fault have caused the other perhaps?

 

[JVBulman]

LBS have reported that my charger is not working AND there is an internal wiring issue on bike which means the batteries are not communicating with each other. Still at shop and they will update me next week. Sounds a bit like AlecsR problem but why charger is u/s is coincidental but a bit hard to believe. Could one fault have caused the other perhaps?

I don't know about a faulty charger causing issues with the batteries or power harness, but we've warrantied a handful of chargers in the past.