Ecotric Hammer Fat tire bike

[KenK]

Thank You harryS. Just that one word, 'silverfish' was the key I needed. Feeling much better than $400 now. I was also missing that fact that it was a 'generic'. Now I got some digging to. I'll post again once... maybe before, I purchase. With that on my rack I can drive the OEM til death, and still get home. What's another 10 lbs. added to pedal around

Micheal Backus... The Hammer is a beast, made me feel like a little kid when I first rode it. I'm 5' 11"ish and it feels tall to me still. If you where to extend seat to proper height for leg/knee extension you could never reach the ground when sitting on saddle. It's a compromise between touching the ground when you stop getting good leg extension. Good side is I feel like 'Motaur' in the Prgressive Ins commercial when I stand up on the pedals and lean forward. Great fun going thru intersections that way, great visibility too.

 

[KenK]

Looks like a 48v 15ah w/PayPal & free shipping from Dongguan JNET co. on Alibaba is $215 ...
I'm new too Alibaba... as they say "Is it Safe"
Has anyone been there done that?

 

[jangles]

I'm confused here KenK . Are you Craigrrr posting as KenK or ?????????

 

[KenK]

As far as I know I'm KenK posting as KenK. Never been here before as anyone else. Maybe my Motaur ref confused... I was not referring to anyone here, just the commercials... Sorry if I stepped on someone's name/id/whatever. Do I need to edit it out?

 

[jangles]

No , its fine I was just confused as it was a very similar circumstance . Welcome .

 

[Clueless]

hi
Most people here should agree that generic Chinese batteries are nowhere near the quality of a Samsung or Panasonic battery pack..... but also don’t fully charge your battery after a ride and just let it sit there at 100% that is really bad, try to stay below 80% and recharge just before riding, this simple procedure will greatly extend any lithium battery pack. I rarely charge beyond 90%
cheers

 

[KenK]

Hey Clueless, thanks for the info... so you're saying to charge just before riding to 100%, my charger has a red/green light only, impossible to tell 90%, does yours have a digital readout?
I've been charging right after the ride, Maybe I should leave the battery low after the ride and then charge it just before the ride instead? Like plug it in the night before the ride?
Does that mean Li-ion batteries don’t like staying fully charged for any period of time?

Thanks again

 

[Clueless]

Hey Clueless, thanks for the info... so you're saying to charge just before riding to 100%, my charger has a red/green light only, impossible to tell 90%, does yours have a digital readout?
I've been charging right after the ride, Maybe I should leave the battery low after the ride and then charge it just before the ride instead? Like plug it in the night before the ride?
Does that mean Li-ion batteries don’t like staying fully charged for any period of time?

Thanks again

Hey Clueless, thanks for the info... so you're saying to charge just before riding to 100%, my charger has a red/green light only, impossible to tell 90%, does yours have a digital readout?
I've been charging right after the ride, Maybe I should leave the battery low after the ride and then charge it just before the ride instead? Like plug it in the night before the ride?
Does that mean Li-ion batteries don’t like staying fully charged for any period of time?

Thanks again

Howdy Kenk
My Tesla which I’ve owned for 5 years is arguably the most technologically advanced battery operated vehicle and my car is very clear about charging....90% is the max. except when 100% is required and when that is the case time your 100% charge to finish just before departure.
So this is what I am saying about our bikes
My charger like yours is very simple and featureless with only a red or green led. I use a simple timer like for turning your Christmas lights on and off and set it for 2 or maybe 3 hours and let my bike charge after the ride, turn the bike on and check the battery gauge/ bars and after a while you get somewhat good at the quessing game, then charge again before tomorrows ride
I also don’t charge every day when it isn’t necessary, to bring the level down to 1 bar then charge back up to 90%.
batteries do need to be 100% charged every now and again but not every time
Extreme heat or cold are also enemies so avoid charging when this is the case
The worst thing you can do is charge your 100 degree battery to 100% and just leave it there for a month.
Cheers

 

[KenK]

Luckily I never have to be concerned with temperature issues. The bike is Stored inside attached garage and riding Temps are 60 to 80, year round.
The label on my battery makes it obviously China is the origin. Sinlion.com embossed on bottom too.
Quality is always an issue, you get what u pay for. But, I could pay Ecotric $400 for a replacement or get one for near half price from likely similar sources. Once I have a working spare, I'm splitting the old one opened to start the search for the cell pack itself. Then I can look for better cells by Sam or Pan...



Updating purchase; I have completed purchase, I'm keeping my fingers crossed, 1st Credit Card purchase failed. 2nd seems to be processing.
Updates to follow... shipping time 3 - 6 weeks

 

[ElevenAD]

I understand, cold bad for batteries, but I live in Oxnard CA. Lowest temp when riding is upper 60s. Highest temp was mid 80's.
I've dealt with Ecotric tech support before when the PAS stopped working and it was not a happy ending.
Tech support basically said they don't support PAS anymore. It took many emails to anyone I could find at Ecotric before someone would send a new Controller and even then, they said the PAS was not an option anymore. I never installed it.
I'm not sure your experience with rechargeable batteries, but what I've seen is once they start not holding a charge, totally dead comes quickly. Also it Feels like the pack has a bad cell, when it reaches 2 bars it's not long before the display goes blank. I've got less than 100 charge cycles on the pack.
I believe if I keep riding this way the battery will be dead before the 18 month warranty is up and then, maybe, Ecotric will replace it. But how much fun is riding a battery to death? Every trip will be shorter than the last and you better make sure to be near home before it dies, peddling a 80 pound bike is slow, makes the way home not much fun.
Maybe a rack mounted battery would be better, a 48v 20ah on ebay is not much more than $100 which make Ecotric's $400 48v 12ah look way too expensive.

dont buy a $100 48v 20ah battery unless you love disappointment,misery and woe! thats far to cheap.

 

[KenK]

$221.35 delivered to my door a Silverfish 48v 15ah to my door from China.
The bad news is it is not plug and play. The battery connection on the Hammer is unique to Ecotric.
The Battery came with new connector, mounting plate, and rail. With the addition of two crimp connector, to the provided connector the whole thing fit right in place of the original. Now my Hammer has a standard connector and will accept off the shelf Silverfish Batteries.
>>Be careful if you do this as Ecotric reverses the polarity from what standard 'Off the Shelf Batteries' are normally configured with.<<
The Battery Supplier had me send pictures of my battery and built the new battery to match it.

The battery came packaged very well and nearly fully charged. I charged it to full overnight and will be out draining it later today.

Addressing ElevenAD here..., I found if you are willing to break open the Silverfish and remove the just cells, the replacement cells are far cheaper than buying a whole Silverfish. Now that I have a spare I can research exactly how much just the cells are, from better manufacturers like Samsung or Panasonic, and these cell packs run about $100 to $150.


Looks like another warm day here... I'm going riding!!

Will update again after I see how this new battery performs, usually takes three or 4 charge cycles and rides.
Also, I'm looking into converting the OEM battery to match the new connector so both batteries will be plug and ride.

 

[KenK]

I got 4 cycles on (850miles total on bike, 75 on new battery) the $230 replacement battery and can only say that I saved over $200 (50%) by buying directly from like sources. (See above posts for details) Still working on making both batteries swappable, parts on way, $45 will make the OEM battery compatible with new connector. That's the plan anyway, I will update as needed...

 

[vincent]

Cool, keep us up to date on how things go

 

[KenK]

888 total miles, weatherand wrist injury slowed me down... new battery has 100 miles now and seems just like OEM so far.
I finally aquired a Silverfish case only (no batteries) in addition to the complete battery. I Made a mistake by not purchasing from the same vendor as the complete Silverfish i bought. I used this new "case" to modify the OEM Silverfish so it is swappable/compatible without changing the rail or tools required, plug and play.
The biggest difference is is All Silverfish come in different lengths, this is critical for the rail to match. I've purchased 3 Silverfish 48 volt 1000w cases now (1 no batteries) and they all came with rails and they vary in lengths from 110mm, 130mm and 150mm.
Also the Hammer OEM battery has a different spacing for the output port pins. If you forced the new battery on the bike it would bend the pins and eventually break them. This required replacement of bottom cap on the OEM battery so it would fit the connector that came with the new battery already installed on the bike. The OEM top cap was also replaced because it did not fit new rail. Then I shorten the new 150mm Silverfish to 130mm that matched the OEM. That was a task, I disassembled the OEM Silverfish, removing nthe batteries completely, cut the tube to length and reassembled. Then I cut the new rail to matching length, modified 1 cap to fit rail and Now both batteries are the same. I was done. Plug and Play. Not easy for anyone without basic electric skills, abilities to cut various shaped metals perfectly to length. Could have been done easier had i known then what I know now.
To summarize;

1. Total cost, $270. What I got was two identical batteries... OEM cost would be $399 plus tax and shipping.
2. Took about 2 to 4 hours wiring, measuring, head scratching and cutting. Not mentioning shopping/research time.
3. Better to purchase identical length Silverfish from same vendor as extra caps to convert OEM so they are truly the same.
4. Hammer Batteries are unique in fitting, you're stuck with it until you replace the battery connection on the bike itself. The OEM battery will not fit "generic " connections and needs both end caps replaced with caps that are compatible with the new battery if you want to continue using it.

If I were to do it again... I'd find a vendor that would sell me a complete, same length Silverfish ( this may not be possible) and an extra set of end caps to convert the OEM with so it will match the new battery and then install all these new parts to bike. Plug and Ride. This would have saved me all of the compatibility issues and a couple of dollars.

 

[jef]

I am no electrician, nor mechanic and I am not giving advice but I appreciated this post and a few others on the upgrading of the battery for my Ecotric Hammer from a 12.5 Ah battery to a 20 Ah battery. I needed more range and Amp Hours seems to be the only way. I couldn't find anything but this: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805754881301.html (the B (430mm) 48V 20Ah version). I took a chance and it arrived in less than a month. It came with a little different guide rail, base, and plug. After charging (needed a converter: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P2HT2N7) and after a little adjusting to get base, rail, lock pin, etc. aligned it worked. So far it looks very promising to add range. I can update my experience as I go if anyone is interested.

UPDATE : Well, it's winter so haven't ridden with the new battery much but I did make a long trip and it seems a little better than the stock battery and I have had no problems. It was pretty cheap and though I can't swap the batteries with the other ones quickly, all in all good so far. Hopefully when it gets warmer I will get more range. All in all, so far so good, just not all the extra range I was hoping for but my other battery was tired so it worked out well enough for me.

 

[harryS]

Hello Jef. Sure, keep us in the loop about your battery experience.

 

[jef]

Well, it's warming up and the battery is holding up. Nowhere near the performance jump I was hoping for going from 12.5 Amp Hours to 20 Amp Hours but seems a pretty solid battery so far and better than the other two @ less than half the price. Now we'll see how long it lasts.