Battery age question 36v 16ah freego / bearprint folder folder

[Phil_P]

Hi fellow e-bikers

After numerous test rides over the past 12 months I have finally found a folder that I am happy with. I went for the freego / bearprint folder with a large 16ah battery. I think they are essentially the same bike manufactured in the same factory in china I guess.

The battery and bike are obviously spanking brand new with no sign of any prior use but I am a little scared that I may have made a mistake

The manufacturer code on the battery is 2009120201046. Now it might be a coincidence but if I was a betting man I might guess that the battery was manufactured in December 2009 from the serial number. I might be barking up the wrong tree.

Now I understand that these bikes come from china and it takes time to reach the UK but not quite this long - assuming my assumption about the manufacturing date is correct.

Please can someone put my mind at rest. Having spent more than £1000 on a bike I will be devastated if the battery is already over 12 months old !

Thanks
Phil

 

[flecc]

That is a quite normal way of numbering these batteries, but some manufacturers like Phylion use code letters to disguise the age. Your battery was virtually certain to be the 1046th made in that factory on 2nd December 2009.

However, not necessarily such a big disaster as it might seem. These batteries do chemically age in storage, but the rate before they are first used is much smaller. The main age problem kicks in when they are first used over the full charge range from full to empty since the decay sets in throughout the electrolyte. You will have lost some life, but if the battery still accepts a good charge and works well, it should still last quite a long time.

The mechanism of this is that once used, the current drain due to the internal BMS circuit will destroy the battery if not then recharged every three months at least. If it's still working well, that's your guarantee that it isn't too severely affected by age and hasn't been used before.
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[Phil_P]

Hi Flecc and thanks for your quick response.

I will fully charge the battery and go for a nice long ride tomorrow. I will repeat this a couple of times as suggested in many threads here and then see what the battery can do.

I get about 20 miles from my other 16" folder with a 24v 10ah battery so I guess if i can get 30-40 miles with this bike then things can`t be all bad.

Thanks once again for your help / advice. Once I have a few miles in the saddle I will post a review here for anyone else who might be interested in this type of folding e-bike.

Happy days
Phil

 

[Synthman]

Somebody ask Poweredbicycles why the bike I bought this time last year included a battery from summer 2007, with the tamper seal broken? I can't get the answer myself, but I'm sure this is not standard practice. I'd go to the shop in Nottingham personally, but all I can see happening is me getting arrested.

 

[Phil_P]

Ok....

went for a nice 25 mile ride this afternoon and intentionally chose a route that was hilly - well about as hilly as it gets in Norfolk !

For most of the journey i had the the bike on the "medium" setting just switching to "high" when going up the steepest hills. On the flat in "high" i am just peddling air but "medium" is just about manageable and I feel like I am putting in a little effort. I never had to change gear and remained in the top gear for the whole trip. I think I will try a slightly larger chainring so I can get more use from the gears and pedal at a sensible rate when in "high" mode on the flat or downhill. It was quite windy today and I was surprised that the wind did not seem to slow my progress as much as i am used to on my other e-bikes but my eyes were watering just the same !! I can only assume this is because this bike is a 32v system with a large capacity battery and the overall quality of the bike is better than my other 2 24v bikes.

My computer tells me I averaged 13 mph and had a top speed of 32 mph at some point during the trip.

Back to the purpose of this thread. The battery was fully charged before my ride and after the ride is showing 3 out of 4 red led`s on the control unit. This varied between 4 and 1 light during the ride. 4 when on on the flat and 1 towards the end of the trip up a particularly long and steep incline. There was no sense of any power drop off like i have experienced on my other e-bikes when the battery is approaching empty. There are 3 lights on the top of the battery and all are still bright. I guess this all looks good so far

I don`t cycle to work so it might take me a few more nights to fully discharge the battery but so far everything seems ok. I am pretty confident there is at least another 5-10 miles but maybe more - time will tell.

Will post a review and pics once I feel I have enough miles under my belt to form a reasonable opinion. So far I am very happy with my purchase despite a couple of easy to fix niggles.

Happy days
Phil

 

[flecc]

That's great Phil, confirms that the battery is in good health as I expected.

Also it seems to be good buy overall that will give plenty of enjoyment.
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[Phil_P]

C

Hi,
Done another 10 miles today and made a point of heading for the biggest hills I could find around here to test my new crank / gear configuration.

I have to say I can't seem to flatten this battery so I have mounted on a stand on left the trottle open to run the battery down. I guess I can repeat this a couple of times and the battery should be pretty much close to being able to hold a full charge.

I read somewhere that this conditioning does not need to be repeated even if the bike is not used for a few weeks is that right?

So hopefully over the next week or so I will have fully conditioned the battery and from that point on simply charge after each ride.

Must admit I feel relieved that depite the manufacturing date of the battery it does seem to holding a decent charge so I hopefully have nothing to worry about.

Thanks for the advice

Regards

Phil

 

[flecc]

That's right Phil, conditioning doesn't need to be repeated for battery health, it mainly applies to the odd makes which have a special need, like the unusual Panasonic system with it's "sleep mode" battery and multi-function meter.
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