New to Ebikes! Assistance needed!

mlcook19

Finding my (electric) wheels
May 2, 2011
15
1
Greetings everyone!

First of all, I would like to thank the staff here at Pedelecs for running such an expansive and informational community as well as the community itself for making this such a great place to visit.

Recently, I purchased a Heinzmann Estelle ebike (sadly I cannot find the exact model) from Craigslist that is in near mint condition for a mere $150.00 USD. I have been able to test all the components and everything is in working condition except for the 36v Nicd black battery/controller box. The issue I am having is that here in the US I have been unable to find any replacement parts or even much information whatsoever on this bike. I am really just looking for options at the moment so I can get this ebike back up and running (especially since petroleum prices have skyrocketed).

Thanks again,
Michael
 

mlcook19

Finding my (electric) wheels
May 2, 2011
15
1
I tried Heinzmann USA and talked to several people but I was given the same less than desirable answer each time. They told me that the black battery/control box that my bike uses has been phased out. I asked if it could be refurbished and I was told that they didn't have a supplier of Nicd battery cells that they "liked" to be able to make the repair. They also told me that they have no LiPo options but I could swap to a lead acid system but I would suffer extra weight and less capacity.

I would replace the individual cells myself (1.2v 5000mAH Nicd), but I have no way to test the controller.

I will check into Electric-bikes.com though, thanks for the link!
 

mlcook19

Finding my (electric) wheels
May 2, 2011
15
1
Has anyone had any good experiences using a different controller and LiFePO4 battery packs?
 

mlcook19

Finding my (electric) wheels
May 2, 2011
15
1
Thankfully I had just recently purchased 4x 12v 12AH SLA batteries for two Currie electric scooters so I was able to test the motor and everything works.

The only thing that I don't have a good understanding of is the controller. I was able to get the motor to work fine, but I was unable to get the controller to operate. I have tested all of the individual Nicd cells (all 30 of them) and I found that 5 were dead. I tried connecting the 3 SLA batteries to the controller but it did not activate. When I called HeinzmannUSA the technician I talked to told me that the controller only activates with a very specific voltage (some type of controller protection feature he claimed) but that leaves me with an ebike with bad batteries and a controller I cannot test.
 
Last edited:
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Deleted member 4366

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I tried connecting the 3 SLA batteries to the controller but it did not activate. When I called HeinzmannUSA the technician I talked to told me that the controller only activates with a very specific voltage (some type of controller protection feature he claimed) but that leaves me with an ebike with bad batteries and a controller I cannot test.
I guess the controller is trying to read a temperature sensor or something in the battery pack because the voltage is the same. Did you try connecting the SLA's while keeping the original pack connected (in parallel)? Might work!