I have a 2018 pimbicyle that is no longer suported nor are there any replacement parts left. In fact, the company has renamed their business and wont help former cudtomers at all. My battery died and i would like to salvage what i have, looking to use the 750w rear hub motor. the bike has 8 gears so I'm not sure if i need a gear sensor or not, the original bike had a 48v bsttery so I'm thinking about a rear rack battery and controller, new display if needed to get this commuter bike back in service.
Pim ebike salvage
- Thread starter KellyB
- Start date
I was in touch with some of the guys there and I can probably help you out. Do you know for sure if you hub motor is bad?
I'm working with someone in Denver to be able to literally rebuild the rear hub motor and battery a new controller will likely be necessary (the one you currently have is in the rear hub and it typically just not worth trying to save). We have one project ebike that is going to have a GMAC / Phaserunner drive system and over a 1kwh battery which will likely assist a bit past 55kph. That's the option if we don't re-use the hub motor (to reuse the hub motor you have to gear pull it apart and run the 3 phase wires, 3 hall wires, and thermister wire out to use an external controller but it's a robust motor actually - we are working on figuring out a way to do this fast because you have to unlace at least 1/2 the spokes).
If you have a mid or high step frame at least it's a good platform to build on.
As far as i know its not the controller or motor thats bad, its the battery. Im new to this stuff but need the ride.
antboy
Well-Known Member
If it's a dead (or dying) battery, then you could get the battery pack rebuilt. Where are you located (US, Europe, Canada)?
I'm in Denver, CO USA. If you have any battery power and the motor is dead the display will indicated an error code. If so let me know what is says or you can google online for Polaris ebike error codes which actually should get you to the owner's manual to review the error codes.
The batteries can be rebuilt. We haven't really started rebuilding them to the old specs but probably can but I believe Ebike Marketplace in Las Vegas is pretty good rebuilding the batteries to the old spec (the cells were prismatic Lifo chemistry.
If you left the battery charger on the battery for a long period of time that can throw out the balance enough that the BMS thinks the cells are defective. This can be fixed for like $100 or less.
The batteries can be rebuilt. We haven't really started rebuilding them to the old specs but probably can but I believe Ebike Marketplace in Las Vegas is pretty good rebuilding the batteries to the old spec (the cells were prismatic Lifo chemistry.
If you left the battery charger on the battery for a long period of time that can throw out the balance enough that the BMS thinks the cells are defective. This can be fixed for like $100 or less.
The motors tend to be very reliable if they last for at least a month. They had some that the magnets would slightly rub on the stator poles and the debris would short the controller that was inside the motor. I have no clue why any ebike company would allow the bean counters to direct a decision to put a controller inside the motor such that two major heat generators are housed in a hub motor but they did that so the motor would be "proprietary."
Polaris/PIM has very real potential with these ebikes if they wouldn't have done some really stupid decisions and actually did some marketing for a urban mobility model - they were never good off-road / trail bikes but that is mainly how they promoted their ebikes.
Polaris/PIM has very real potential with these ebikes if they wouldn't have done some really stupid decisions and actually did some marketing for a urban mobility model - they were never good off-road / trail bikes but that is mainly how they promoted their ebikes.
I have the battery pack disassembled and 4 of the groups of cells are at 4.2v and 2 are at zero
Im in portland oregon
Attachments
I dont have the equipment.
harryS
Well-Known Member
When cells are at zero, they're dead. Could be revived, but they could short circuit and burst into flame too. Depends on your appetite for risk. I wouldn't do it.
If your charger still works, you can try hooking it up directly to the bike ( no battery) to see if powers up and spins the motor. I can have done that with various controllers and my 36V 2.2Amp charger. My motor on;y takes about 1-2 amps to spin up to high speed. Then you can pursue getting an aiux battery to run the bike.
I assume PIM hasn't put any safeguards in place to to block use of third party batteries?
If your charger still works, you can try hooking it up directly to the bike ( no battery) to see if powers up and spins the motor. I can have done that with various controllers and my 36V 2.2Amp charger. My motor on;y takes about 1-2 amps to spin up to high speed. Then you can pursue getting an aiux battery to run the bike.
I assume PIM hasn't put any safeguards in place to to block use of third party batteries?
I believe PIM integrated some of the control system electronics and a DC/DC converter inside the pack to have a "?proprietary?" battery pack (bean counters drive bad decisions most of the time). The pack can be rebuilt but may need to leverage those elements and have same odd 44V nominal.
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