Electric Bike Battery Repair & Repacking

[E biker]

Thanks harry s both sound good

 

[tomjasz]

Thanks for the very good info, however way over my knowledge of testing, batteries are two years old and we ride a lot in spring through summer and fall. I have noticed quite a difference when I pull the cart with the puppy .

HarryS gives the best advice. There's nothing mysterious about using the meter he suggested. IMO it a critical tool and very easy to implement and learn how to use. I came to eBikes from a career as a horticultural director. ZERO electrical background except for using sprinkler controls. A WATT METER AND A MULTIMETER CAN SAVE A LOT OF HEADACHES AND ENABLE OTHERS TO HELP YOU SORT ISSUES.

 

[Randroid]

On a side note, batterys like these can cost you your life if something goes wrong, so I wont fiddle around with them, period.

Amen. I still remember the time in the mid 60's while I was a radio tech in the USMC and was knocked off a stool onto the floor for putting my where it shouldn't go.

 

[oulipo]

You might be interested by the Made-to-be-repairable (and Fireproof!) battery we've designed at Gouach in France!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/infinite-the-repairable-universal-ebike-battery/x/8167177#/

 

[tomjasz]

Fireproof!)

bullshirt!

 

[oulipo]

bullshirt!

Thanks for your message, you can take a look here:

 

[harryS]

If you had been able to heat the Bosch cells the same way, they would have vented safely like your battery. , Most other .plastic case batteries with quality cells would do the same. Drilling thru the Bosch cells can create a short circuit that heats so fast, the cell ignites before the vents can do any good. Nonetheless, you have a nice advancement in packaging. Good ideas. Well done,

I'd buy a few, except I already own some packs that I feel are safe enough because they have quality cells.,

If you're going to extoll the fireproof quality of your battery, qualify that it works with quality cells. If some guy loads it up with junk cells, they may not have the safety features and may just self ignite in the case. What happens then?

 

[Slaphappygamer]

I wouldn’t be surprised if some one used junk cells either. I mean, the claim is that this is fireproof. Let’s not worry about cell quality.

What would the outcome be if these UltraFire cells cells were used? Surely the Bosch battery uses better cells than these.

 

[oulipo]

We're using DMEGC cells which are high-quality! A new fireproof video is coming very soon!

 

[Slaphappygamer]

How did you heat the cell? Did you over discharge them? At what C rate? Do you mean the 20P, 25P, 35E, 30P, or 29E? Maybe you can overdischarge the Bosch battery at the same C rate.

 

[TrevorB]

Bosch powerpacks have plastic housing, newer powertube are metal (aluminum?).
Moral of story don't drill holes in your expensive battery. I've replaced a bosch under contents insurance as it died after being dropped.

 

[tomjasz]

Looks like it's still vaporware, but if your good work survives the liability insurance better be high. The typical user will find many pitfalls. Simple errors can be disasters. However if they ever hit the open market and the fire proof is real, I'll own one. That said I still would worry about the average home builder a nightmare. That comes from 10 years of battery sales, repairs, and builds.

 

[harryS]

I believe it's real. Per the Indigogo page, 577 backers kicked in $217K, and they were testing the first product a few months ago. They're not taking any further orders though,

With a trade war here, who knows what will happen.

The lattice should have keyed somehow so you can't put a cell in backwards. Kaboom.

 

[PCeBiker]

The lattice should have keyed somehow so you can't put a cell in backwards. Kaboom.

I keep my lettuce in the fridge.
Cold lettuce is far less inclined to explode.
Don't let it freeze though, cuz it won't be crispy anymore.

 

[PCeBiker]

You might be interested by the Made-to-be-repairable (and Fireproof!) battery we've designed at Gouach in France!

bullshirt!

Send me one of those batteries and I'll give it a good ol' redneck test.

I know how to blow s*it up real good.

 

[Curtech]

Thanks for the post.

It's kinda strange to me when all these DIYers say "oh it's so easy anyone can repack batteries" and yet it's difficult to find people locally in major cities.

Anyone know of one in the LA area?

Did you find anyone in LA that repacks or makes custom battery kits?

 

[tomjasz]

I believe it's real. Per the Indigogo page, 577 backers kicked in $217K, and they were testing the first product a few months ago. They're not taking any further orders though,

With a trade war here, who knows what will happen.

The lattice should have keyed somehow so you can't put a cell in backwards. Kaboom.

Higher funded indigogo products have become vapor ware.

 

[Elyot919]

Hi guys!

In recent years, I have discovered a couple of good resources for getting help with refilling and repacking batteries for electric bikes, electric scooters, electric skateboards, hoverboards, neighborhood electric vehicles, and other products that use higher watt hour battery packs (often with Lithium-ion, Lithium-polymer, or Lithium iron phosphate LiPo or LiFePO4 cells).

It sounds like some of the fancier battery packs (Bosch, BionX, Stromer etc.) are more proprietary in design, and if the battery management system (BMS) is damaged or loses power for a moment, the internal memory will be erased and the battery becomes permanently useless or "bricked". For this reason, it seems wise to get help before a battery completely goes dead if possible.

The first resource I discovered was called Rechargeable Power Energy (RPE), and this was back in 2016. I believe that they are based in Las Vegas and part of a larger battery company that also sells kits. In recent years, they updated their website and seem to be operating as the EBike Marketplace. I created a short article with some pictures and an interview with Sam, from the Electric Bicycle Center in Fullerton California, where he talks about working with this company. You can reach their main landing page for battery repairs here. They advertised on EBR for a short period in late 2017/2018 and then I was told that they were restructuring or having some business changes and needed to pause. I welcome your feedback about them and my goal here is to guide people towards the best resource so they don't have to throw batteries away or end up in a frustrating, time consuming business exchange.

The second, more recent, resource I discovered was called Hi-C Battery. This happened when I was in Denver, Colorado filming reviews for Electric Bike Outfitters. The founder of Hi-C is Patrick Duggan, a former automobile mechanic who lots of shops in Denver know and have worked with for their own battery needs. Patrick is a high-speed kit guy who not only repacks and repairs batteries, but also tries to upgrade them to offer more capacity. He and I spent some time talking on camera and that is included in the EBO tour video here. Patrick has been super friendly and responsive in sharing what services he is working on offering and asking for feedback about his website, which looks pretty good.

View attachment 19921

In my experience, Patrick has been the most responsive and seems to offer the widest range of services for ebike battery repair and repacking. He strikes me as an expert and my goal in sharing with you here is to help reduce waste by recycling and re-using existing ebikes vs. having to buy a new one. Many companies, including Bosch, seem to have their own programs and replacement packs available, but many older or smaller companies may not provide this level of support or simply may have gone out of business. I welcome your feedback and links to other great service providers and programs for recycling old packs, tips on shipping with hazmat hazardous materials, and your experience actually working with these companies.

Here are a few closing notes from a text exchange that Patrick and I had recently. He said that he has been studying reviews on EBR to determine which battery pack designs to stock and sell. He believes that Hi-C will be able to cover 75% of the batteries being sold with his replacements, about 15% of bikes will have to recycle the original case and rebuild the cell insert which is more expensive. Most of the cells he uses are high drain Lithium-manganese (INR) chemistry. The final 10% of batteries use the proprietary BMS and may be rebuildable... but only if the power has not shut out completely and reset the software. He is also able to rebuild custom packs for electric rides which I review sometimes on ElectricRideReview.com. He told me that one of the main reasons he has chosen to offer rebuild services is that he hates to see useable items wind up in the landfill. He's not into planned obsolescence... and I agree with him there

It's a relief to see more options for battery repacking. Dealing with "bricked" proprietary systems from brands like Bosch or Stromer is such a headache for e-bike owners.

Having someone who can actually upgrade the capacity while keeping the original casing is a huge win, especially for older models where the manufacturer has stopped providing support. It definitely beats just throwing the whole pack in a landfill.