Plastic Battery Casing Failures...

[Paul Cavasino]

My City commuter & Her step thru Interceptor have had the Plastic Battery sleeves crack @ Various points along the Mid-seam & the Screw nodules in the casing actually breaking apart. The problem was initially noticed while riding along & Hearing a "Slapping" Noise coming from the back Of the bike. Upon closer examination I Stooped down & jiggled the Battery in an up & down motion when I noticed that the seam in the casing actually separated. That was causing the "Plastic Slapping Noise". My remedy was to Connect 2 Medium length ZIP TIES together, loop them around the Back of the casing & Draw it tight !! In Her case I additionally cut & taped along the seams on both sides of the casing with "Gaffers Tape". So far, so good until I decide to call Pedego Tech. Dept & see if they can send us another Battery Casing for each Bike.

 

[justforfun]

Checked our Interceptors and don't see any cracks.

 

[tomjasz]

Do they use a proprietary case?
Picture?

 

[Paul Cavasino]

Checked our Interceptors and don't see any cracks.

The "Very Fine Cracks" are Just That,...You Have to Take The Battery out of the sleeve & try to put pressure on the 2 Halves & see if they are More noticeable !? I Think riding over Potholes might be the cause & Over time the stresses on the "Battery sleeve" will possibly show as these hairline cracks...But when I tried the above test, 3 of the screw Nodules Actually broke free from the upper half of the sleeve !!

 

[Paul Cavasino]

Do they use a proprietary case?
Picture?

Don't know about "Proprietary",...but Was told they are 2cd generation Battery Sleeves made of softer Plastic which could be another reason for Cracks & seperation of Screw nodules ??!

 

[tomjasz]

Don't know about "Proprietary",...but Was told they are 2cd generation Battery Sleeves made of softer Plastic which could be another reason for Cracks & seperation of Screw nodules ??!

I ask because replacement cases, somewhat difficult to replace, are available if made by the two major makers. Reention, and Hailong.

 

[tomjasz]

It look like your plastic cases ar3 available. The aluminum looks like a Reention case.
https://shop.scooteretti.com/products/pedego-battery-box-black-top-plastic-bottom-plastic-case-only

 

[Alex M]

Her case I additionally cut & taped along the seams on both sides of the casing with "Gaffers Tape". So far, so good

Put a fiberglass tape soaked in epoxy. With black tint mixed into epoxy, if visual appeal is important. It will (most likely) outlast the battery itself.

 

[Deleted member 4210]

cracking plastic cases are much more common with rear mounted battery's that are over the rear wheels. Its hard to dampen the vibration, as they design the cases to slide on metal, and so you can't really put any rubber, or soft material between the case, and the mounting bracket. The amount of vibration that occurs in that location above the tire, is not good for the batteries either. Its better to go with casings that are metal, if you are going to get an ebike with the battery over the rear tire. Also, make sure the batteries are packed tight. I've seen some brands with plastic cases, and the battery pack is just sitting loose inside, wrapped in tape, and clearly bouncing all over inside the case. (NOT good). There is a company who only sells on-line, who has these types of plastic battery casings. be careful.

 

[tomjasz]

cracking plastic cases are much more common with rear mounted battery's that are over the rear wheels. Its hard to dampen the vibration, as they design the cases to slide on metal, and so you can't really put any rubber, or soft material between the case, and the mounting bracket. The amount of vibration that occurs in that location above the tire, is not good for the batteries either. Its better to go with casings that are metal, if you are going to get an ebike with the battery over the rear tire. Also, make sure the batteries are packed tight. I've seen some brands with plastic cases, and the battery pack is just sitting loose inside, wrapped in tape, and clearly bouncing all over inside the case. (NOT good). There is a company who only sells on-line, who has these types of plastic battery casings. be careful.

I prefer shrink wrap packs in a well padded Crystallite rear rack pack. The pack has on on off switch.

 

[Bruce Arnold]

My wife's City Commuter had a different but similar problem. The battery was so hard to remove from the sleeve, she couldn't do it at all, and it took a major effort for me. The guy at the Pedego Shop initially thought it was the sleeve itself, but when he tried a different battery, it slid back out just fine. So there is definitely a problem with some of the battery casings. I wonder what percentage.

 

[Pemberley]

Screws loosened that support the bracket for the battery case at the top twice and needed replacement. I also lost one screw that fastens the back cover for the wire connections to the battery sleeve that I replaced. Biggest issue was that two of the screws at the bottom of the sleeve broke away from the plastic and could not be repaired causing the whole case to vibrate at every bump. I emailed Pedego with photos and an explanation and received a reply within one hour! They are sending me a new battery case and hardware to replace mine at no charge. They said that the new sleeve has a higher quality plastic and also suggested that I use lock tight on any loose screws. Good response from them and a clear indication that they are aware of the problem and are going to stand behind their product. My Latch is barely one year old and has just gone over 400 kilometers. I will keep my short bungie cords in place to provide additional support going forward. The bike is good but has no suspension.

 

[tomjasz]

Screws loosened that support the bracket for the battery case at the top twice and needed replacement. I also lost one screw that fastens the back cover for the wire connections to the battery sleeve that I replaced. Biggest issue was that two of the screws at the bottom of the sleeve broke away from the plastic and could not be repaired causing the whole case to vibrate at every bump. I emailed Pedego with photos and an explanation and received a reply within one hour! They are sending me a new battery case and hardware to replace mine at no charge. They said that the new sleeve has a higher quality plastic and also suggested that I use lock tight on any loose screws. Good response from them and a clear indication that they are aware of the problem and are going to stand behind their product. My Latch is barely one year old and has just gone over 400 kilometers. I will keep my short bungie cords in place to provide additional support going forward. The bike is good but has no suspension.

Great to read they are working with you, but moving a pack to a new case is no easy matter. Do a bit of research and understand the pitfalls.

 

[ebikemom]

They are sending me a new battery case and hardware to replace mine at no charge.

Did you get everything? Did the new case work well? Does everything fit? Update, please!

 

[JohnT]

Great to read they are working with you, but moving a pack to a new case is no easy matter. Do a bit of research and understand the pitfalls.

I think there’s some confusion in terminology. I think what Pedego sent was what many call a “battery sleeve”, which is different from a battery case. The sleeve is the dock that the battery slides into. Swapping one isn’t an easy job, but it’s nothing like swapping the guts of a battery into another case.

 

[ebikemom]

I have a cracked battery case on one of our Pedegos (we have 4). New case on order from the dealer ... who will do the swapping out once it arrives, I presume.

 

[tomjasz]

I have a cracked battery case on one of our Pedegos (we have 4). New case on order from the dealer ... who will do the swapping out once it arrives, I presume.

I hate necro posts but I'm really curious. Any pictures of the case? It would help other threads too!

 

[6zfshdb]

I hate necro posts but I'm really curious. Any pictures of the case? It would help other threads too!

Thomas, here are pics of my 2018 Platinum Interceptor battery sleeve. Unfortunately, it is difficult to see when bolted to the bike frame. I have three identical bikes but this one has seen the most use with 3000 miles on the bike.



I was told by Pedego that a stronger sleeve was used on 2018 and newer bikes. I believe this is one of the newer units.
The only problem I've had is two of the controller cover plate screws stripped out the thread holes in the sleeve as shown in the first pic. As a fix, I screwed a bracket to the inside of the case with the circled screw.

I have experienced none of the issues posted in this old tread. The plastic battery sleeve is still a weak point however and I would very much like to replace it with an aluminum type.

 

[tomjasz]

WOW!!! what a MESS!!

 

[ebikemom]

I hate necro posts but I'm really curious. Any pictures of the case? It would help other threads too!

Hi Thomas! You are in luck! Here's a photo from 2017!! I never did end up having them replace the case because they said it wasn't necessary, and the battery is still going strong.
I see there are some talking here on this thread about battery sleeve issues. We have four Pedegos with plastic sleeves, all almost 3 years old, and no quality problems with the sleeves.