AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
That's what would go back in mine!
Rad Rover battery issue
- Thread starter curt
- Start date
Thanks will use the 30.
ExPatBrit: I purchased the charger from Amazon. It fit, but after charging for 7 hrs, the battery did not charge. The light on the charger stayed green the whole time, never was red. I assume the battery is defective. The Rad website says the replacement battery for this model year is temporarily out of stock. I will have to contact them to know for sure.The key has 3 positions. You can charge it in any position.
I only key my bike off when I leave it unattended, otherwise I just power ON/OFF it using the center button.
- Battery remove
- Off
- On
If the previous owner did not not leave in position 1 or 2. You can ride it but won't be able to remove the battery.
If it's On Check the battery level using the LEDS button on the top.
If its dead you can charge the battery without the key, there are quite a few aftermarket 48 volt Li chargers out there.
So charge the battery, it should take about 5 hours or so. If it takes much longer time or does
Rad will want the ser # of the bike, it's stamped on the frame under the RAD badge at the front. They will also want original purchasers name, maybe give them the tenants name. If you are still on good terms with your tenant they might provide an email confirming your ownership. If they are listed as owners not sure how you proceed.
Basic Battery Use
Click a heading below to learn about how to use the battery. Using the Battery Keys: Power On and Off The battery can be turned ON or OFF using one of the two identical keys included with your bi...radpowerbikes.zendesk.com
Area 13
boltonebikes.com
Thanks,
Curt
Do not have a volt ohm meter. Battery does not have another fuse for the charging circuit. Thanks. Curt
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Curt, before loosing all hope, take the battery case apart. You have nothing to loose at this point, and they are easily disassembled with just a few screws.
Go buy a volt meter. You should be able to get something decent for less than 20 bucks (Home Depot, Lowes, Harbor Freight), and if you keep track of it, it'll last you through a lot of projects, easily justifying it's purchase.
Using that voltmeter, you should be able to figure out what you have going on pretty easily. -Al
Go buy a volt meter. You should be able to get something decent for less than 20 bucks (Home Depot, Lowes, Harbor Freight), and if you keep track of it, it'll last you through a lot of projects, easily justifying it's purchase.
Using that voltmeter, you should be able to figure out what you have going on pretty easily. -Al
Al,
Much thanks for the advice. I will get a voltmeter and see what's going on. Just exactly what I would looking for re the voltmeter after taking the battery case apart?
Curt
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
I would start by checking to see if the voltage from the charger was making it to the battery, and if so, if the battery voltage is making it to the bike.
Regarding the battery voltage reaching the bike, possible problems could be the key switch (power in, but nothing out), and the same thing with the fuses.
Regarding the battery voltage reaching the bike, possible problems could be the key switch (power in, but nothing out), and the same thing with the fuses.
RangerDave
Member
When you get the voltmeter, you can test the battery output voltage thru the output contacts. I think that style battery uses slide contacts to mate with the bike mount. Turn the key switch to the RUN/ON position and measure the battery voltage across the contacts. That is how I measure my battery voltage with the newer style battery. It could be the battery voltage is too low and won’t allow the charger to kick in.
Edited to add:
You can test the charger output voltage also to see if it is correct. I believe it’s 54 volts and the center contact is +.
RangerDave
Edited to add:
You can test the charger output voltage also to see if it is correct. I believe it’s 54 volts and the center contact is +.
RangerDave
Last edited:
RangerDave,
Thank you for this advice. I will try this when I get the voltmeter. Hopefully this will help me get back on the road.
Curt
The center pin of the barrel connector is usually the + (hot 48 volt in this case), the outer shell is -ve. I have never seen a reverse polarity on anything with that kind of voltage as it would be a fire hazard.
If it stayed green the battery is not drawing current . The key switch has no effect on whether it will charge.
It's a 3-4 year old battery, it may have been left totally flat for too long. You are probably looking at repair (there are a few places that do this) or replacement. It's a specialized thing, I am an 40+ year EE and I choose not to play with Li batteries.
The cradle is unique to the RAD but if you can get it off there are after-market batteries and cradles available. This is getting expensive though.
If it stayed green the battery is not drawing current . The key switch has no effect on whether it will charge.
It's a 3-4 year old battery, it may have been left totally flat for too long. You are probably looking at repair (there are a few places that do this) or replacement. It's a specialized thing, I am an 40+ year EE and I choose not to play with Li batteries.
The cradle is unique to the RAD but if you can get it off there are after-market batteries and cradles available. This is getting expensive though.
Thanks. This is good information. I do not have a background in EE. I just want to get my RR up & running. I will not look into getting anything off EBay for Rad, too risky, too many different products.
I will contact Rad to see if I can get a replacement battery. The website says they are temporarily out of stock. Don't know how current that is. It's very difficult getting through to them via phone or email. They say that they are swamped. Probably so.
Thanks for you advice. I will let you know what transpires.
Curt
Last edited:
E-bike Battery Replacement, Repair, Rebuild
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legsofbeer
Active Member
If you do open up the battery case and start poking around, be bloody careful. Even a mostly discharged bike battery has lethal voltage and amperage lurking. Maybe wear gloves?
It's the volts that kill you, 48 volts isn't generally lethal. You might get a slight tingle if you have sweaty hands. 60 volts is the threshold for more protective measures on the battery.
The concern is thermal runaway on Lithium batteries due to a short or BMS problem , once they start cooking not easy to stop it.
The concern is thermal runaway on Lithium batteries due to a short or BMS problem , once they start cooking not easy to stop it.
Great thanks.
legsofbeer
Active Member
Did you mean to say "amps"? It's the amount of power in the current that can fry you. Car batteries are only 12V, but can generate 350 amps for over 4000 W and it's DC, which means once your muscles contract into position they don't let go. But then your somewhat discharged electric bike battery still has 40-something volts and can deliver 20-30 amps, pretty sure that's enough to lock your hands into place.
Yeah, I've been zapped by 120 V AC on a 30 amp breaker circuit, but AC tends to make your hands rebound unless you're willfully stupid.
