Another charger question

[Tinker]

I know when you buy a battery pack you should get the charger as well but my question is, I am going to buy a 24v lifepo4 battery pack sourced from a UK supplier, my wife already has an iZip enlightened 24v charger, can I use that?
Also has anyone tried the 'mVELO Pedelec/eBike Charger' (12V/Solar/100-240V) ?They provide a list of bikes that it'll work with, but it's no use for me as I cannot find a list of what bike has what type/size battery.
Finally has anyone any opionion of Electric Bike, UK PowerSmart Electric Bikes the 24V 50W Ultra Lightweight Li-Ion 9ah Battery with Auliuminum Alloy Casing for £169?
Thank you all for any help.

 

[Tinker]

I guess no-one wants to answer my question but PLEASE does anyone have any experience of the 24V 50W Ultra Lightweight Li-Ion 9ah Battery for £169 or ElectricBike.org.uk ?
cheers

 

[Cyclezee]

I know when you buy a battery pack you should get the charger as well but my question is, I am going to buy a 24v lifepo4 battery pack sourced from a UK supplier, my wife already has an iZip enlightened 24v charger, can I use that?
Also has anyone tried the 'mVELO Pedelec/eBike Charger' (12V/Solar/100-240V) ?They provide a list of bikes that it'll work with, but it's no use for me as I cannot find a list of what bike has what type/size battery.
Finally has anyone any opionion of Electric Bike, UK PowerSmart Electric Bikes the 24V 50W Ultra Lightweight Li-Ion 9ah Battery with Auliuminum Alloy Casing for £169?
Thank you all for any help.

Hi Tinker,

This not going to be much help as I don't really know the products in question.

However, I would always recommend that if in doubt, and to avoid warranty issues, use the charger supplied and recommended by the battery manufacturer/supplier, particularly when the batteries are different chemistries.
As the charger is only £19 and if does the job satisfactorily, you will be able charge your 2 batteries at the same time.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You can't use a charger that was designed for SLA batteries to charge lithium batteries. The charging voltage is not high enough. That battery that you mentioned may not fit your bike. It's designed to go behind the seatpost. You can get batteries from BMSbattery.com. They're Chinese, but I wouldn't worry about that. I've had no problem with my orders.

 

[stevebills]

BMSbattery.com or a ping lifepo4 off ebay they have good support

 

[flecc]

The IZIP Enlightened does use a lithium battery in it's down tube, but as Aldby says, it's wisest to use the recommended charger, especially at £19 which is unusually cheap. Some firms charge up to £125 for a lithium battery charger.

Again I've no experience of that 9 Ah battery, but those alloy sleeved lithium batteries are produced by the cheap end of the Chinese manufacturing industry. They generally use the oldest technology Li-Mn so tend to have shorter life and can be reluctant to issue high currents under load.

However, a £169 battery that lasts 15 months is more economic than a £400 one that lasts two years. The main risk of these cheap batteries is if you receive a dud that fails early, not unusual. Then you can be faced with sending it back to China for a replacement that may never arrive.
.

 

[Tinker]

Thanks everyone, the battery is for my DIY bike so I can fit any.
Has anyone had any problems with duty payment when buying from China?
I'm unsure what to allow for.
As for the charger, I want to charge the bikes on my motorhome which is 24v or 12v with a solar-panel, I can use an inverter to give 240v but it seems wasteful to step-up then step-down if you see what I mean. I can get mains electric on camp-sites but we don't often use them.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I've never had to pay any duty on loads of stuff that I've bought from China, Hongkong and Taiwan, but I've been caught every time on stuff from USA and Japan.

If you're doing a self-build, these type of batteries are quit good because you don't need a rack and the controller fits in the box underneath making a neat installation. You can get them on Ebay for about £200.
36V 12Ah Little Frog Li-Ion Electric Bicycle Battery Pack - BMSBATTERY
If you need a 24v one you should e-mail BMSbattery or EVassemble.com as they no longer list them, but I'm sure they can still get them, or search on Google for "24v frog lithium"

You'll need big solar panels to charge bike batteries. I would say at least 300w unless you have big batteries on your motorhome. A 36v battery will charge at about 3amps, which means about 100watts into the charger. If you use an inverter, you can add about half as much again. On a cloudy day, you'll be lucky to get 25% of the rated solar panel power. Personally, I'd forget that idea and buy a cheap generator.