poor mileage

[tfg]

I have a powacycle salisbury LPX which I am happy with apart from the poor mileage, it's only 2 months old, I get around 10 miles battery power on a full charge and on the flat before it starts to cut out and without the power it's very difficult just using pedal power. A friend has one and is around 5 years old and still getting 19 miles on battery power, before I start calling the suppliers and complaining I wondered if anyone can suggest some checks I could make, I wouldn't even know how to check if the battery is faulty. many thanks
tfg

 

[banbury frank]

Hi

The Battery mileage is dependent on your weight how many hill you climb and how much pedal power you put in .

If you bought the bike locally I would ask to try another battery you have bought a very small low powered battery only 10AH at 24 volts

Frank

 

[flecc]

There isn't much you can do to check, but the most useful thing would be to borrow your friend's fully charged battery once and see how far that takes you.

Yours does sound faulty, that bike should give anything from 18 to 27 miles on a fully charged new battery when on the flat, depending on the pedal assistance given. Professional reviews have reported around 22 miles.

 

[tfg]

thanks very much, I did say I was on the flat most of the time, anyway I was just thinking that I could try my friends battery first, I have a feeling they are pretty expensive but I may have no choice
tfg

 

[flecc]

If the battery is only two months old and proves to be faulty, there's no way you should pay for a replacement. Even the shortest battery warranties are six months, with many at one or two years.

 

[JuicyBike]

It is difficult to check a battery without specialist equipment, but the time it takes to fully charge is a good indicator. If you have a 2amp charger and a 10AH lithium battery and that battery is taking less than 2 hours to fully charge after being flat, then it is below 50% capacity... approx.

Actually I understand it is not as simple as this, but to create a rule of thumb, can anyone offer a calculation in support, or even a better approximation?

 

[tfg]

I have been talking to my friend and next week I am going to put my fully charged battery in his bike and see what happens, his bike is several years old and can still do around 19 miles on a full charge but since new it has always "missed" for a second now and then while pedalling, he now thinks it may have always had a fault but the battery life has been good, also I will check how long it takes to recharge, then i will have to make up my mind whether to return the battery under warranty, trying his charger with my battery is another option i think
tfg

 

[flecc]

That "miss" now and then on the Powacycles is usually down to a momentary loss of battery connection, the thin blade connectors in the base can do this as the battery moves slightly with road conditions. Some other makes are similarly affected.

 

[tfg]

I had wondered about the battery connection Flecc but still trying to think of a way to improve it, my battery is a good tight fit , however I have noticed a temporary change in performance after a good bump, but will have to check if my friends bike has the same problem