My Battery is Failing

[RobNYC]

I got my Quando on 4/01/08. The battery was manufactured in August 07. In late September, just before the 6 month warranty on the battery was to expire, I took my bike into NYCewheels, where I bought it, to have an electrical short corrected and to have the battery evaluated. The battery was definitely deteriorating, with the yellow light flashing on and off after only a mile of flat riding, with my pedaling. It took them two weeks to repair the bike and I was very anxious to get it back as I had been reduced to riding the subway back and forth to work, which I despise.

When I went to pickup the repaired bike, the young man who had taken my bike from me had neglected to indicate that my battery needed to be checked out. So it wasn't. They agreed at that time to check the battery but that would have necessitated my leaving the bike there another 3-4 days and would added a total of three more trips to the transaction. They didn't have a spare battery for me to borrow. I was peeved so I just said, let me take it now and I'll return it shortly. The battery warrantee had expired while the bike was being repaired but they told me that would be no problem when I dropped the bike off initially.

OF COURSE, my first trip to work after that, the battery cut out while I was climbing one of the few hills in Midtown Manhattan where I live and work. I had to walk the bike up the hill just 2.68 miles after a fresh charge. So now I no longer go that way as it involves the hill and is a tad longer than the way I've been going lately. But that route is almost entirely on the bike path along the Hudson, which is beautiful and safe. Now I'm riding my bike 2.5 miles each way to work, basically level riding through murderous midtown traffic. The bike is now cutting out before I get home. So I'm not even getting 5 miles worth of flat riding, with pedalling. And we know these things only get worse.

So here are my questions:

How would you suggest that I frame all this with the seller? I mean I DID bring the bike in before the 6 mos to get the battery checked and they made the mistake in not doing it.

Isn't this really poor performance for a battery? I only used the bike for work, 5 miles RT, 5 times a week. And then maybe three additional trips of about 7 miles RT/week. Not many hills in Manhattan. And I always pedal. ALWAYS.

I'm a social worker so I live on a bare subsistence salary... buying a new battery would be very difficult for me. The bike was the biggest expenditure I've made in years and now I hope I didn't make a big mistake.

Feel free to weigh in here or in a private message to me. I would appreciate any feedback.

Just one more thing, I really educated myself about how to take care of the battery, mostly on this site. I charged it religiously after each use and also followed to the letter the battery care sheet that the seller gave me when I bought the bike.

Thanks,
Rob

 

[flecc]

I think you should frame it roughly as you have to us Rob, that you were anxious about the battery before the six months was up and you reported it to them, also observing that less than a year from purchase you wouldn't expect the battery to give up completely

The key thing as ever is to express everything in reasonable terms with no forcefulness, as a request for help rather than a demand.

If you cannot get satisfaction after every effort, you could then try an email to the eZee Chief Executive, Wai Won Ching, explaining the circumstances, your attempt to get the battery checked while in warranty and the failure within one year.

The email address is ezeebike@gmail.com
.

 

[wotwozere]

Hi Rob

sorry to hear this because riding electric bikes should be happy exparience.

This seem to be a normal thing for ezee battery, you can tell this when even the 6 month warranty is conditional.

You should approach the people you did buy it from and see what they say.

thx

bob

 

[flecc]

This seem to be a normal thing for ezee battery, you can tell this when even the 6 month warranty is conditional.

bob

To correct any wrong impressions, it was the 2006 and very early 2007 batteries that had problems but Rob's experience is not normal for an August 2007 battery, those from that date usually still performing well.

The six month warranty wasn't conditional other than against abuse, the same as other manufacturers.

The current eZee batteries have a one year warranty, and I'm using one of those that's working perfectly at almost a year old now.
.

 

[joab]

Hi Rob

sorry to hear this because riding electric bikes should be happy exparience.

This seem to be a normal thing for ezee battery, you can tell this when even the 6 month warranty is conditional.

You should approach the people you did buy it from and see what they say.

thx

bob

Hi Bob,
My September 2007 produced EZEE battery with more then 4500km and 150 cycles is still performing great. You're statement is not correct, this is not the normal behavior of an EZEE battery.

Regards,
Jo

 

[bersh]

Possibly Defective Ezee Quando battery

I had similar problem with my May, 2007 Ezee Quando battery, from same dealer. They checked it out and reported its charge remaining to be acceptable. While considering my options, the bike and battery were stolen on Tuesday, October 1, in San Francisco, California (substantial reward for its return). You should check with the owner of Ezee Quando whether your battery's serial number is in the "bad batch"? Also, if one reports a problem before expiration of warranty, then I believe consumer protection laws (in New York City) consider the warranty to still be in force on the particular problem. The question is: did you put this in writing or does NYCE consider your reporting it as a valid report? The serial number on the battery is explained as to date of manufacture in a previous post by the owner of the Company-(EZee) Mr. Wong (?). Good luck

 

[RobNYC]

Thanks all for your imput. I spoke with the dealer on the phone today and they said they will not hold me to the exact 6 month thing. But I am concerned that they will tell me that the battery is ok after they test it.

I can't do even 5 miles of flat riding in city traffic without the battery cutting out now.

One of the dealer's people told me he has a Quando and that he doesn't mind riding it without the power! That has definitely NOT been my experience. And I'm a strong cyclist. Unless, of course, he's talking about riding it only downhill. Or maybe off the top of a tall building.

Does anybody know the testing criteria for judging whether the battery is still good?

 

[flecc]

If it's cutting out on the flat at that age within 5 miles I'd say it's defective Rob. It's possible for a Li-ion battery to lose 33% of capacity in a year, and with the new range without pedalling of over 15 miles on the flat, you shouldn't have any problem doing 10 flat miles, or at least 8 counting from when the battery was manufactured. Since you do pedal as well, you shouldn't be getting such an early cut-out.

The dealer man who reckons he doesn't mind riding a Quando without power is either telling fibs, a masochist, or the incredible hulk. The Quando has many attributes, but ease of cycling without power certainly isn't one of them. It's one of the worst to pedal without power of all the many e-bikes I've ridden.

However, we'll see what they say after testing and declaring the result. Do let us know.
.

 

[RobNYC]

You're the best, Flecc. Thanks for all your support.

 

[RobNYC]

SO...

I just arrived home with my new Lithium ion polymer battery. NYCewheels replaced my defective battery. They say they just received my new battery today.

All it says on the battery is:

Li+ Polymer Battery
200809139

I am soooo excited.

I'm guessing this battery is significantly better than my original.

Question:

Should I condition this battery the way I did the first one? Charge and discharge almost fully two times?

 

[flecc]

Brilliant news Rob, the Li-polymer is their latest and you'll have noticed that it's much lighter than the old one. They've been performing well for a number of testers for some while now so you should get a trouble free life from it.

They are still li-ions and should be conditioned in exactly the same way to maximise the capacity. The polymer just refers to the cell content construction.
.

 

[RobNYC]

Yes, the battery is MUCH lighter.

One more question.... after I've conditioned the battery, I will continue to charge after every use which is easy for me and I understand is considered optimal. If the light turns green before I retire for the night, would it be a good idea to turn off the charger?

Oh, and one more thing:

Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama!

 

[flecc]

Yes, recharge all the time as before, and it is safest to switch off the charger when the green light goes off but not for the battery's sake since it's fully disconnected at that stage with your charger.

And yes, delighted you now have Obama taking over, it can't come soon enough for many of us here as well.
.

 

[RobNYC]

So when the green light goes on, the battery is no longer being affected by the charger? And it would be safer to turn the charger off just because it would be more stable and less prone to fire, etc.?

 

[flecc]

Yes, that's it Rob, it's not connected to the battery any more once the green LED goes on, but with these small devices I think they are best switched off after use since their circuitry is still live. The rocker switch on the back of the charger switches it off completely so no need to switch off at the wall socket.
.

 

[RobNYC]

So on the first charge, the yellow light came on at about 3 miles.... mostly flat riding with one big hill.

I didn't condition the battery on the first charge cause I needed to use the bike again that evening without worrying about running out of charge.

On second charge, yellow light came on after about 4.5 miles, mostly flat with some smallish hills. Yellow mostly stayed on for rest of 7.5 miles w/o any red.

I will condition the battery today w/o recharging first.

Q: Is this typical behavior for a new battery?

I don't remember this happening with the first battery. I wonder if I am doing something wrong. I weigh 180lbs (12.8 stone) and use the throttle a lot.

I keep it fully open, basically all the time after getting up to speed. When starting out I especially count on the battery to get me up to speed quickly. Is that not a good idea? I don't open the throttle up til I'm really moving as the motor sounds a little stressed when I first get going. Getting up to speed quickly IS one of the main reasons I love my Quando so much. It's especially helpful in midtown Manhattan traffic. I always peddle but as you know, the Quando is not a terrifically pedal-able bike.

Maybe I am over-reacting to seeing the yellow light coming on so soon?

 

[flecc]

I wouldn't worry too much yet Rob, these batteries sometimes needing three full conditioning cycles to be up to full performance. You will have delayed achieving this by not going straight into conditioning as it's important to near empty the battery and then fully charge each time.

You won't have done any harm though, and once fully conditioned you shouldn't see the yellow LED over about 10 mph on full throttle and hardly at all on the flat.
.