Help with iZip Zuma 36V battery

[paulreth]

I have a 2012 Izip E3 Zuma and the battery is not functioning. I called Currie and they said that the batteries are not available until June. Is there a 36V 11.4ah 500W battery that I can purchase and replace this battery with it. I took the battery apart and see that the connections can be spliced. Will this work? I also see there is a board in the battery, is this with all the batteries? Any help is appreciated.

 

[Shea N Encinitas]

You are probably ski-rude until the replacement is available. What do you mean by spliced? Putting good batteries inline with dead ones is a bad idea. The circuit board is likely the BMS, or battery management system and yes all good batteries systems have this to prevent deep discharge, overcharge and FIRE! Be careful, do research, seek knowledgeable help or just close up the case and ride another bike until June-ish. -S

 

[paulreth]

Thank you for the advice. The izip has a postive and negative that is spliced. I see that most batteries just have a plug into them therefore the splice comment. I would use the new battery and get rid of the bad one.

 

[George S.]

Well, I've done this, which is basically jumping the two connections (plus and minus) with the proper connectors. See Picture. From here I can hook up my bike to another battery, which I moved to the front. You basically want the same voltage. The circuit board you see is probably to monitor the voltage and turn off the power if the voltage drops or other bad things happen.

Clearly, the connection on my bike is two wires, so it's hard to see what could go wrong. Beyond this, the charging would be completely separate and you would probably need another charger.

I don't know what you want to do for a case and how things would fit together. It looks like your bike is like mine, with a rear rack. That means any battery you could safely and securely attach might work, which is good. A custom frame build would be much more of a problem.

I just tested this out after making a pack for a bike I am building. I was surprised how easy it was, really, assuming you can make a good connection to the existing plus and minus, etc.

 

[paulreth]

Thank you for the response. So what I am trying to do is not add another battery but just replace my dead battery. Unfortunately, izip doesn't have batteries available, and when they do they are $799! Ridiculous. So I am looking on alibaba for a battery that will work in replacement and I wondered if anyone has dealt with this issue. I have the case that I would use to put the other battery in and hook it up like the current battery. Any suggestions? Nervous that the battery wont fit, or work, and then I am at a dead end.

 

[George S.]

This bike?



If so, work with the rack. You could also get a bottle battery. But remove the old battery and jump a new one directly into the circuit where the existing battery supplies +/- power.

That price from Currie is a killer. I think Bosch is $1,000. My replacement is in that ball park with the shipping, though my battery still works. Be grateful if you have an ebike that leaves you some options for an aftermarket battery. There are bikes in the crowdfund space going for $500-$1000. They throw in a bike with the battery.

 

[paulreth]

That is the bike George. Just the male version below. It has a base that the battery snaps into inside that rack. I wanted to just replace the battery in the box and hook the positive negative up accordingly. Just not sure if I am asking for trouble.

 

[paulreth]

This is the exact bike https://www.google.com/search?q=izi...w.ericgooch.com%2Fcategory%2Flife%2F;1200;817

 

[Ann M.]

@paulreth , the price is not just 'batteries'; its all of the BMS system which is more than one part, the batteries you see, wiring harness and case. There's no plug 'n' play available for the Zuma from Alibaba; so any supplier there is going to create a product for you, thus not a lot of savings and questionable warranty to boot. And if you follow along on this forum you will have seen the report of a couple of bike shop fires from lithium battery packs and a very extensive safety protocol provided by the industry's most reliable and experienced team, LEVA- Light Electric Vehicle Association. Lithium cells are extremely easy to overheat and cause a very high temp fire which makes them more vulnerable when soldered into a pack, thus the need for safety. Please check out an alternative rebuild with Rechargeable Power Energy a US based company in NV that is experienced with this kind of work, where the cost is less than buying a new pack, but done by specialists in lithium batteries; fyi: they also manufacture Energie Cycles. I've had them work on some of my customer's packs and many times they can also upgrade the pack to the next amp-hour (ex- you have 36V 11ah--they can pack 36V 15ah into the same pack) without overly stressing your ebikes wiring harness and controller, so you gain a few more miles range in the deal! Contact them, you ship them your pack, they do a diagnostic and come back with a reasonable price to either fix or replace the batteries/bms in your pack.

 

[George S.]

I think the OP was asking if there is any reason he can't put a different battery into the connections on his bike and ride off into the sunset. The answer to that is 'Yes, that will work', as long as the polarity is right and the voltage is right, and the electronics will integrate with the new battery.

In other words, one could buy a battery from Paul at EM3ev. A trusted vendor. You can mount his batteries in a bag on the top tube. If you run the wires to the original connections, leaving everything else in place (circuit boards, etc) it should work. If the original battery pack has more than the plus/minus connections, stop there. You can't recreate those monitoring connections.

Rebuilding the pack would make more sense than chasing stuff on Alibaba. The original design is going to be more robust, with better seals at the connections, if nothing else. On the other hand, you could move the battery forward and make the bike more balanced. It's sad that there seems to be one place to rebuild these packs. It's sad that the packs are not made to be rebuilt. It's sad that there isn't a more universal pack. I guess it is sad that the world's largest ebike company can't supply, out of inventory, a battery for a 3 year old bike. I mean, really?

So... Do what makes you the most comfortable. There are lithium batteries in every phone, every portable computer, every tablet.

 

[paulreth]

Thank you Ann and George. I am going to call Rechargeable Power Energy on Monday. Thank you for all your help and suggestions. Cheers!