Help Identify This E-Bike Please

[D1G1T4L3CH0]

Hey, new here, well not really. I've been a long time visitor of EBR but I'm new to the forums.

Anyway I just got a bike from someone and it's not running at the moment. The battery seems to have a very small charge on it enough to make the horn sound very low. But nothing else works. It appears to be a very old e-bike from R Martin.

I don't have a charger for it and I would like to be able to charge it somehow. I'm experienced with electronics and have some capabilities to charge it already depending on battery chemistry and voltage but I'm new to e-bikes. It's a very heavy and large battery, seems like lead acid. And I tested the voltage which sits currently at about 14.70v. So that's in line with a lead acid battery (on charge) but its also kind of high for a low resting voltage. So I suspect it might not be...

I'll add some photos on here, I'm hoping someone can lead me in the right direction for a charger or at least tell me more about this bike. I don't even know it's wattage. But I do know it appears to be a rear geared hub motor.

External link to all photos in high res: (Link Removed - No Longer Exists)


Thanks

 

[Va. Bch. Electric Bike Center]

Hey, new here, well not really. I've been a long time visitor of EBR but I'm new to the forums.

Anyway I just got a bike from someone and it's not running at the moment. The battery seems to have a very small charge on it enough to make the horn sound very low. But nothing else works. It appears to be a very old e-bike from R Martin.

I don't have a charger for it and I would like to be able to charge it somehow. I'm experienced with electronics and have some capabilities to charge it already depending on battery chemistry and voltage but I'm new to e-bikes. It's a very heavy and large battery, seems like lead acid. And I tested the voltage which sits currently at about 14.70v. So that's in line with a lead acid battery (on charge) but its also kind of high for a low resting voltage. So I suspect it might not be...

I'll add some photos on here, I'm hoping someone can lead me in the right direction for a charger or at least tell me more about this bike. I don't even know it's wattage. But I do know it appears to be a rear geared hub motor.

External link to all photos in high res: (Link Removed - No Longer Exists)
View attachment 18869 View attachment 18870 View attachment 18871 View attachment 18872 View attachment 18873 View attachment 18874 View attachment 18875 View attachment 18876

Thanks

Classic Chinese super crap..wouldn't waste my time

 

[harryS]

Hey it's free and the OP says he knows his electrics. It was likely state of the art in 2005. Wuxing still makes most of the little electric stuff found on many bikes today,
Probably a 24 volt battery, and if it is lead acid, it's a goner. A peek inside might show a battery with 12 cell (2.2V each) compartments.

Long term, you can replace it with a lithium battery, For now, test it on 24 volts.

 

[D1G1T4L3CH0]

Good to know that about Wuxing, means I may still be able to get a charger for this somewhere. I read your reply at work today and as soon as I got home, I opened the battery to find three 12v lead acid batteries of unknown capacity. Of course I could have already done that but I didn't notice the screw holes at first and assumed it was 'maintenance free' sealed. heh.

So the bank is at 36v. I can charge them now but I would rather have a better way to charge them in the future than the way I'm currently doing it, preferably a purpose built charger. But I can put an XT60 connector on it and charge it from that in the future. But the good news here is that I have tested the bike on 35 volts and it runs. All the functions seem to work.

And yeah it's really old, the headlight is even incandescent heh. I'll replace that with my current bike's headlight. I do plan to ride this. Maybe eventually upgrade it with lithium batteries, but for now lead acid should do. I've been pedaling for nearly 4 years now to and from work. I prefer to bike then use a huge metal weapon of death and pollution for just for me.

I have tested the batteries individually and they were all really low; <5v. I know this isn't good for the health of the batteries, but I think I can revive them, they do seem to hold a charge and not just drop almost immediately.

Can someone help me figure out what the capacity on these batteries are? I'll include some photos of them. They are written mostly in Chinese it looks like. I've done some looking and it seems it's pretty easy to find chargers even ones with the exact plug this battery has (house plug).

 

[D1G1T4L3CH0]

Actually it looks like it's pretty easy to find 6-dzm 12 on google. Looks like they might be 12ah. Do you think that's correct? The ones I found are actually from other companies, but probably the same exact thing, just re-branded.

Sorry about the double post btw, this forum said I couldn't edit my post because "Your content can not be submitted. This is likely because your content is spam-like or contains inappropriate elements. Please change your content or try again later. If you still have problems, please contact an administrator.". It was the exact text above.

I used an online ocr website for chinese text and got this...

Strong group of things to do their own business B Ding M can live the whole body of the dead "robbed robbery poisoning with the storage qi pool 6-DZM-ii2

Produced eagle ": the light of the larvae of the day to practice the evening of the party​

Just thought I would share that because It's funny.

 

[harryS]

That's probably an accurate translation. It's a long version of the old Szechuan proverb, "ride far into the night, watch out for bugs" .

I've never used SLA on ebikes, but have heard they're not long lived. A 12 AH battery is probably enough. For cost of ownership one $200 lithium could last longer than two or three sets of SLA. Depends on how hard you run the bike.

There may be a low voltage cut-off in the motor controller. Controllers intended for use with lithium will usually shut off a 35V battery at 30 volts. I have no experience with something intended for lead, but maybe 30V is also used.

 

[Deleted member 803]

Hey, new here, well not really. I've been a long time visitor of EBR but I'm new to the forums.

Anyway I just got a bike from someone and it's not running at the moment. The battery seems to have a very small charge on it enough to make the horn sound very low. But nothing else works. It appears to be a very old e-bike from R Martin.

I don't have a charger for it and I would like to be able to charge it somehow. I'm experienced with electronics and have some capabilities to charge it already depending on battery chemistry and voltage but I'm new to e-bikes. It's a very heavy and large battery, seems like lead acid. And I tested the voltage which sits currently at about 14.70v. So that's in line with a lead acid battery (on charge) but its also kind of high for a low resting voltage. So I suspect it might not be...

I'll add some photos on here, I'm hoping someone can lead me in the right direction for a charger or at least tell me more about this bike. I don't even know it's wattage. But I do know it appears to be a rear geared hub motor.

External link to all photos in high res: (Link Removed - No Longer Exists)
View attachment 18869 View attachment 18870 View attachment 18871 View attachment 18872 View attachment 18873 View attachment 18874 View attachment 18875 View attachment 18876

Thanks

It is a chinese Wuxing ebike.

 

[Cnugget]

I love the shape of this bike, location of the battery and colour er.. I mean color

 

[Ann M.]

What does the charger port look like @D1G1T4L3CH0 ? You can find the appropriate SLA batteries at any local battery store, they're 12V 12ah lead acid cells. Go to Amazon and order a 36V 1.5 or 2amp SLA charger with the end that matches your bike's. Also check the polarity on the battery pack charger port and make sure your charger matches that or it won't do anything . Most of those chargers have a little picture on the back indicating which spot is positive and which is negative.

This is a much older, heavier ebike with SLA batteries, so I wouldn't spend a lot of $$ on it. Also, see if you can put together a 36V test pack first to see if this bike even runs. The RMartins are notorious for controller failures & other issues. We've worked on a number of them at the shop.

 

[mid drive merv]

Your rationale for biking is one I believe many of us have in using bikes rather than even small cars. The real plus is in one's overall fitness that accrues from regularly using a bicycle and actively contributing by pedaling with some vigor. Some argue that no assist is better and that is likely true in many cases. I firmly feel that in many cases and for many varied reasons, numero riders do need some level of assist to get to work, do other commutes, bring home groceries, and other cargo, etc. And doing it that way is so much more efficient than even very efficient small electric cars.

I commuted for many years on a Giant Lafree Sport that ran a seatpost SLA battery setup like your new project bike. It is quite a good location for a heavy battery on a bike in terms of center of gravity and balance. My Lafree Sport also used the twelve volt, twelve amp hour batteries, but only two of them instead of your three. You seem quite knowledgeable on batteries, but I will just emphasize here that reasonably good SLA batteries will hold up to several years of daily commutes if one remembers the important key factors of dealing with the SLA chemistry. ALWAYS charge as soon as possible after each ride. This is far more important when dealing with SLA than it is with most other batteries in common use today. And longevity of the SLA pack also benefits greatly by not routinely running them down to near automatic cutoff. I suspect this bike of yours has that, as my Giant Lafree Sport and most other SLA ebikes of the day did. My Sport had a five light battery charge remaining indicator and I also added a good Cycle Analyst. By rarely using the last 25 to 30% of the pack's amp hours, my SLA batteries always survived years of daily commuting that was highly rewarding on many levels and also reliable and efficient. Good luck, and keep us posted.

 

[D1G1T4L3CH0]

That's probably an accurate translation. It's a long version of the old Szechuan proverb, "ride far into the night, watch out for bugs" .

I've never used SLA on ebikes, but have heard they're not long lived. A 12 AH battery is probably enough. For cost of ownership one $200 lithium could last longer than two or three sets of SLA. Depends on how hard you run the bike.

There may be a low voltage cut-off in the motor controller. Controllers intended for use with lithium will usually shut off a 35V battery at 30 volts. I have no experience with something intended for lead, but maybe 30V is also used.

heh. Yeah it seems that it does cut off after a certain low voltage. I tried 24 volts first and the motor didn't even try to turn on.

What does the charger port look like @D1G1T4L3CH0 ? You can find the appropriate SLA batteries at any local battery store, they're 12V 12ah lead acid cells. Go to Amazon and order a 36V 1.5 or 2amp SLA charger with the end that matches your bike's. Also check the polarity on the battery pack charger port and make sure your charger matches that or it won't do anything . Most of those chargers have a little picture on the back indicating which spot is positive and which is negative.

This is a much older, heavier ebike with SLA batteries, so I wouldn't spend a lot of $$ on it. Also, see if you can put together a 36V test pack first to see if this bike even runs. The RMartins are notorious for controller failures & other issues. We've worked on a number of them at the shop.

It's a pc plug type. The same one that goes into the back of a computer power supply. The polarity is negative left and positive right. Also it's internally connected with the middle pin to a piezo buzzer for alert sounds. It also does have the indicators embossed on the plug which is good to know. I noticed a lot of chargers I found don't even indicate polarity. But that's not a huge concern for me since I could just reverse it myself. But I rather not have to. I'll just have to look some more, I haven't found a decent one yet that comes from the states. I rather have to sooner than later. Most come from china as to be expected. Yep the bike works, well the wheel turned anyway, not very fast but the power supply I used really wasn't cut out for such high current anyway.

Your rationale for biking is one I believe many of us have in using bikes rather than even small cars. The real plus is in one's overall fitness that accrues from regularly using a bicycle and actively contributing by pedaling with some vigor. Some argue that no assist is better and that is likely true in many cases. I firmly feel that in many cases and for many varied reasons, numero riders do need some level of assist to get to work, do other commutes, bring home groceries, and other cargo, etc. And doing it that way is so much more efficient than even very efficient small electric cars.

I commuted for many years on a Giant Lafree Sport that ran a seatpost SLA battery setup like your new project bike. It is quite a good location for a heavy battery on a bike in terms of center of gravity and balance. My Lafree Sport also used the twelve volt, twelve amp hour batteries, but only two of them instead of your three. You seem quite knowledgeable on batteries, but I will just emphasize here that reasonably good SLA batteries will hold up to several years of daily commutes if one remembers the important key factors of dealing with the SLA chemistry. ALWAYS charge as soon as possible after each ride. This is far more important when dealing with SLA than it is with most other batteries in common use today. And longevity of the SLA pack also benefits greatly by not routinely running them down to near automatic cutoff. I suspect this bike of yours has that, as my Giant Lafree Sport and most other SLA ebikes of the day did. My Sport had a five light battery charge remaining indicator and I also added a good Cycle Analyst. By rarely using the last 25 to 30% of the pack's amp hours, my SLA batteries always survived years of daily commuting that was highly rewarding on many levels and also reliable and efficient. Good luck, and keep us posted.

Over the years of biking without a motor, I do stay in shape mostly, but mostly on the bottom half. I'm not overweight, but I'm a little out of shape on my upper body, bikes just really can't do a lot there in my experience. I do feel a little conflicted about using a motor instead of pedaling because I do like the benefit of staying in shape and keeping a healthy heart. I feel like I may start to get lazy and not actually pedal anymore. This electric bike don't even have different gears so it will be slow riding if I want to pedal. But still can get some exercise from it I guess, especially up hills. It is a very heavy bike. When I first got it I was pretty certain right away just judging from the weight, of it's battery chemistry. And on that; those are some really good tips to follow on taking care of an SLA. This one also looks like it has five lights to show charge level. Though in my limited testing I only got it up to 3. Cars use the same kind of batteries and they last years too when taken care of, even when they aren't, so it stands to reason these should too. However car batteries are used for cranking, not deep cycle, though I don't believe that's much of a factor. These however did sit for an unknown amount of time (maybe years) at less than 5 volt per battery. They do seem to hold a charge though. But I have yet to fully charge them.

- - - -

I'll look more for a good charger to buy, cheap, I don't want to spend much money on this thing. Maybe later I will invest in a lithium one or build my own from 18650s. Still unanswered though; does anyone have a clue of the wattage of the motor and do you have the google-fu skills to find an old spec sheet online for this bike? I don't have a clue what model it is so that makes it harder for sure. I did find something very similar but with different colors and branding.

Anyway I think as someone pointed out already, this is just a project bike. A first foray into the e-bike world and to get some experience with it before I decide to commit to throwing down some real cash.

EDIT: This is the one that is similar. https://www.bukalapak.com/p/sepeda/fullbike/city-bike/a8jmot-jual-sepeda-listrik-betrix-ice