Alien Ocean problem

[Trex 850]

Hi,haven't posted for nearly 3 yrs !!!,, had a change of direction and bought myself a Boardman Comp as my last electric bike- Currie i zip and powered by 24v sla batteries kinda made me give up the whole electric scene !,,anyhow,got the urge to try electric bikes again and purchased an Alien Ocean from ebay- pretty good condition and the lipo battery (36v 10ah ) all 3 leds light up green- previous owner stated that lipo is 2yrs old and I suspect this could be the problem as lifting the front wheel off the ground,while on the center stand-the wheel spins at an indicated 22.1mph and the pedelec function works as it should, the main problem being that as soon as I start pedelling or twist the throttle to actually ride the bike- the bike cuts out !,, sometimes I can ride for a 1/4 mile ,and others less than 4 rotations of the back wheel- each time this happens I have to reset the on/off switch on the battery to restore power.. Checked all the wiring from the controller and cleaned the battery connectors-throttle works ok and there's no funny noises from the front hub drive- could the battery be failing under load or is the hall sensor itself?... I'm based in Harrow and since Alien went bust- any recommendation of a repair center or service shop please?, thanks,,

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Almost certainly a completely knackered battery. You can get a replacement from BMSBattery, but if it were my bike, I'd upgrade to one of the new type of downtube batteries. Which bike is it exactly?

Don't dispair yet. There might be some other options.

 

[Trex 850]

Its a rack mounted battery..

 

[Trex 850]

One of my other hobbies is rc helicopters,,would it be possible to rig a 36v 5ah battery pack just so I can definitely rule out the bike battery as the main culprit- i do have testing equipment but only for 24v- could the battery be rebuilt and where would I get a replacement from locally?..

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You can connect a chargef 10S lipo pack directly to the controller or the battery receiver terminals. You can't use less than 10S because the controller will switch off at less than 31v. You can use 12S if you want.

You have the smaller 250w motor that runs at about 15A do you don't need anything special. A bottle battery or a downtube type would improve the looks and handling of the bike for about £200.

Can you measure the size of the aluminium box of the battery - just the aluminium bit? I might be able to re-cell it for you.

 

[Trex 850]

That's excellent advice ,thanks !, dimensions are 334mm x 151mm x43mm-has integral rear light and on/off switch on l/hand side.. How much inc postage for that- also have looked at the bottle types and if it improves the handling may consider that also.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Unfortunately, my cell packs are 50mm thick, so that's a no go.

This is the battery I'd get. Then you can dismantle everything at the back of your bike, take out the controller and put it in a saddle tool bag or a triangle one.

https://bmsbattery.com/ebike-battery/683-36v125ah-bottle-09-e-bike-battery-charger-battery.html

Give Woosh a call. They might have those batteries in the UK.

 

[Nealh]

If not Woosh try eclipse bikes here; http://eclipsebikes.com/116ah-lithium-frame-battery-samsung-cells-p-1105.html.

 

[Trex 850]

Thanks again, looks like I might get some new batteries from Woosh, very informative web site and nice prices !, also Eclipse bikes will have a look in- seems a lot has changed since my last electric bike..

 

[johnc461165]

Hi, Morphix on here can supply batteries. http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/posts/245186/

 

[Trex 850]

Update : Made up a power lead from a 12s 5000mah lipo pack (Turnigy Blue 40C) to the controller via the bike power connector with an inline on/off switch and 30A fuse- powered up and eureka, it all works !, throttle works as it should and so does the pedelec function- on the road the cats eye speedo indicates a steady 21.1 mph,, speed eventually settled down to 17.9 mph and after a quick blast up Harrow on the Hill-made my way down the Greenford Rd to Northolt then back home !.. An absolute blast to ride and something to look forward to using more and more often,,, So before I buy a new battery a couple of questions- if my bike really was travelling at the indicated speeds, does this mean its been derestricted ? or would I have to calibrate the speedo to get a true reading,and secondly where do I stand legally with this bike?, -I've still got a Fazer 600 motorcycle so don't really want to risk my car and bike license for a few extra mph !.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

With 12S lipos, it was going 20% faster than with a 36v battery, so I think we'll call it legal at 36v. Older bikes like this often were restricted by two wires coming out of the controller. If you're really lucky, you get a little adjuster on them. Other than that, it could be restricted by the motor speed. Motors can only reach a certain speed at any voltage, so they might have designed it for 15mph at 36v. A 36v battery goes up to 42v, so the speed can be a bit faster than 15 mph with a fully charged battery because the speed is directly proportional to the voltage.

 

[Trex 850]

In essence your saying that with the correct bike battery,the bike will be then legal- 15.5mph?

 

[Trex 850]

Just remembered I've got an old Iphone 3gs with some cycle apps on it including several bike speed /distance toys on it-will try it mounted on the bars and see if I get the same readings as the cat eye.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Don't forget that there's a 10% tolerance on the speed so you can go 17.05 mph. I can't see anybody bothering you unless you're over 20 mph. In fact nobody has been prosecuted yet, and there's some very powerful bikes on the road. I was just looking at a video of a 17kw one on UK roads that could do 50 mph.

 

[Trex 850]

Thanks d8veh, just needed to hear this, now roll on sunny days ! ,will be getting a new battery on Saturday.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Good luck.

 

[KirstinS]

Just remembered I've got an old Iphone 3gs with some cycle apps on it including several bike speed /distance toys on it-will try it mounted on the bars and see if I get the same readings as the cat eye.

Worth doing, my cateye is not accurate. About 10% out against gps and I do have it setup correctly

To be sure I've tested using a Tom. Tom and my iPhone. The GPS agree

 

[Trex 850]

If that's the case,its looking more likely that the bike is totally legal and not a hot rod !!!

 

[Charliefox]

You can connect a chargef 10S lipo pack directly to the controller or the battery receiver terminals. You can't use less than 10S because the controller will switch off at less than 31v. You can use 12S if you want.

You have the smaller 250w motor that runs at about 15A do you don't need anything special. A bottle battery or a downtube type would improve the looks and handling of the bike for about £200.

Can you measure the size of the aluminium box of the battery - just the aluminium bit? I might be able to re-cell it for you.

While on the subject of carrier mounted batteries and currents, how come the C13/14 socket is frequently fitted to 36volt LiPo4 versions yet the max current for this socket/plug is only 10 amps.Ok, for a 350W motor trundling along that is just about reasonable, but how much does the current rise on hills, starting etc.