PSA: warning about Juiced G2 battery casing

[Chazmo]

Very good of you to post with pictures. MOST ebikes use the same or very similar designs and potential issues. I fear this is far more critical than one isolated case with a single builder.

Every battery I ever sold could be an issues with mediocre maintenance, and frankly by the markets failure to instruct customers of do any real world testing. Alas that will make eBikes even MORE expensive.

I can say however my $3000 bottom shelf Bosch system is flying through a salty wet winter. But even that bike is "treated".

Thanks! Just want people to be aware since, otherwise, the Juiced G2 battery seems great to me! I’m keeping it charged within the 80%-20% guidelines and I don’t keep it in the cold except for my rides. Plus, since mid-January, there’s been nothing resembling “wet” conditions here. Just sandy, icy, snow crust on the trails which are somewhat unpassable (for me anyway).

Well, the real problem, Tomjasz, is that this battery has a connection port which is simply open to the elements. It was meant, apparently, to allow you to drop the battery into a docking station… Anyway, I mean, mea culpa for me taking the fenders off and thereby exacerbating the spray/contamination issue… but, most batteries I’ve seen use fairly well-sealed connectors on any electronics. Juiced somehow forgot that here. My failure was not a case of contamination in an already-protected area.

I bought a previous-generation Juiced battery which doesn’t have any “open” areas, as far as I can tell. That battery has a little less power, but I think it’ll be good for range extension for my rides this year. I hope I can keep the bike running for, say, another 3-4 years before I have to re-invest. The demise of Juiced hasn’t helped, but it’s turned me a bit into a DIY-er. A good thing, I think.

In any case, thanks for the corrosion resistance product suggestions! I’m going to look into these! Much appreciated!

 

[jrhoffman75]

Thank you for posting this. I just sealed mine (2022 RCS).
I saw in a different thread you replaced your fork. What model did you get? Are you satisfied with it? Thanks.

 

[Chazmo]

Thank you for posting this. I just sealed mine (2022 RCS).
I saw in a different thread you replaced your fork. What model did you get? Are you satisfied with it? Thanks.

Hello, jr!!

I’m delighted that you went ahead and sealed off your battery. It’s nice when your experience helps others avoid the same pitfalls! Happy riding!

After Juiced went belly-up, I bought a used RipCurrent S which I raid for parts, and that’s where the replacement fork came from. I.e., the fork is exactly the same crappy one as the broken original. Below are a couple of pictures of the broken fork. When I was looking around, I thought the RST Guide fork was a better substitute, but I put off buying one (and a pipe cutter to do the install) until I break this one.

 

[PCeBiker]

Thank you for posting this. I just sealed mine (2022 RCS).

I had issues with trying to seal my batteries.

The gaskets were far from waterproof and when I sprayed the top of the battery, it ran down through the battery and dripped out the charge port at the bottom of the battery.
So I knew water would do the same thing.

@m@Robertson had a waterproof motor that got water inside when his warmed up motor hit cold water.
The air inside the motor quickly cooled, created a vacuum, and water got sucked past the seals.

My batteries aren't even trying to be waterproof, so air is constantly pumping in and out of the air pockets inside the battery which could easily bring in liquid water, or at least hot damp air (that can be over 90% RH) that condenses over time and the inside of the battery gets damp.

So I just Hosed my battery down good with ACF-50 (it costs me $50 CAD) to help protect the metal and electronics.

Then @tomjasz checked out the spec sheet on my Krown Undercoating spray and said that it looked pretty good so I sprayed down the other two batteries with that.

I like the Krown spray better because it's more viscous and goes on a lot thicker.

My e-bike frame was no better for water penetration, and any water that got in the frame tubing (including sweating of hot humid air hitting a cold frame ) works its way to the bottom bracket, where it sits there slowly rusting out the hardened steel bearings.
The bottom bracket bearings are sealed but if they're submerged in water for years, water is going to get inside.

So I drilled a tiny drain hole in the frame in the middle of the bottom bracket to drain water.

I tested it by spraying the Krown undercoating down the seat tube and it ran out the drain hole.

Even my my multi chamber full suspension frame channels water into the bottom bracket to rust it out.

The swing arm bearings are fine, but the bottom bracket sits in water unless you invert the frame to drain it.

The Krown spray comes in two flavors,..

I usually start with the Spearmint because it seeps and creeps better and has less chances of sealing in a sweaty bubble of air, then a second spray with the Peppermint flavor for long lasting protection.

I'm sure the Spearmint flavor will work as a budget Statorade but I haven't tried it.



I make my own Gatorade too,..

It's specially designed for old farts with osteoporosis but the Gatorade bottle can't contain a vacuum so I bought a $3 bottle of something else that has a more "pressure resistant" bottle.

There's no way I'm spending 3 bucks a pop for an energy drink.

That's more expensive than drinking because you can pound them back in ten seconds and drink dozens of them without passing out.

 

[PCeBiker]

When I was looking around, I thought the RST Guide fork was a better substitute, but I put off buying one (and a pipe cutter to do the install) until I break this one.

Yeah, the guy from Area 13 reviewed those forks and says they are a great bang for the buck,..

, but I put off buying one (and a pipe cutter to do the install) until I break this one.

No need for a pipe cutter.

Just stack up the steerer tube.
You can even color match if you want to,..

I decided that the RST Fat Forks weren't good enough, so I bought a new set of forks for my new Voltbike Outback before the e-bike arrived, complete with a new wheel, tire, and tube.

The only long travel forks that I could find with fat spacing, didn't have a tapered steerer tube so I bought an inverted fork with the proper steerer tube but needed an entire new wheel with 110 dropout spacing and a thru axle to go with it.

I went with a 29" wheel and a Schwalbe Hurricane tire because I thought the tread design made sense.

It looked like the steerer tube was the same length as my Et.Cycle in the picture, but it turned out that I needed a longer steerer tube for the Outback and the damn forks won't fit.


I thought about a steerer tube extender, but I figured that's a Bad Place to clamp on an extension with the cracking issues you mentioned on your forks, so that entire front end is collecting dust.





My next purchase was another new set of air forks, and I went with a trusted name brand this time, and another new wheel, tire, and tube to match the forks,..

I think the forks are AWESOME, but of course they're not good enough because I've only got rebound adjustment, and if I ever go bouncing through a rock garden, I'm gonna need compression adjustment and tokens inside the forks, and probably need to fill them with nitrogen or special air that has been filtered purified and dried properly before pumping it into the fork.
I haven't looked into the details yet.