Another Synergie question please - Charging?

[LesleyA]

Put my Synergie battery on charge earlier, and just wondered whether the charger light changes colour when its done? Hubby's Thompson goes from red to green when charging is finished. Just checked them both, and his is done, but my charger light is still showing orange. Any ideas if it does change, or do I just charge for a few hours and hope for the best?

Hoping to give it a try in the better weather tomorrow!

Thank you!

 

[Nigelk]

Hi

Welcome to the forum, most charger indicators, I would have thought turned green when the battery is fully charged. Is it a brand new battery and charger.?

 

[LesleyA]

Thanks fro reply.

Not new, came with the 2nd hand bike I bought this week. Prev owner said it was around 3 years old, and when I picked the bike up it was showing full charge on the indicator, but it had dropped back to 3 after I've been faffing around with it a bit this week. Put it on charge around 2.00pm this afternoon, and it was still showing the orange light on the charger at around 9.00pm - don't like leaving chargers on overnight so I switched off then. Only info I can find online is recommended charging time of 4-6 hours. Have to give it a try tomorrow and see how it goes.

 

[Blew it]

Hi Lesley,

I've been searching through my photos of electric bikes which covers most machines from around 2005 onwards, but cannot find any photos of the Synergie G2 Brio, so I'm 'flying blind' so to speak.

As I understand, your machine is fitted with sealed lead acid batteries. As a result of age and constant charge/discharge cycles, lead acid batteries build up an internal resistance to charging. At three years of age, the internal resistance of your batteries will be very high...and that's why your charger is remaining on orange for so long. The typical 1.8 amps output from your charger is in fact being converted into heat, and this may cause the cells to become quite warm during charging.

By the time you read this, you have probably recommenced the charging. You may find the charger will change to green quite quickly. As a result of the high internal resistance, it takes longer for the individual cells to balance.....the overnight resting period will allow this to happen more slowly.

At the moment, everything points towards your battery reaching the end of its useful life.

One other check you can do. After the charger has been on for a while, and the light is still orange, check to see if the charger is hot. If it is, this suggests that not only is the charger working correctly, but it's struggling to overcome the internal resistance of your ageing battery.

Anyway, that will keep you busy for a while.

All the best
Bob

 

[Blew it]

Lesley,

Just found this document which gives charging instructions for the Brio. Unusually, it recommends turning the keyswitch to the 'on' position for charging.

 

[LesleyA]

Thanks for replies. Used the bike yesterday and it held charge well. Did about 10-12 miles on a fairly level cycle track and mix of throttle, pedal assist and pedaling only, was still showing 3-4 bars lit on the power indicator when I got back.

Have yet to try a re-charge leaving the key switch ON, to see if the charger light changes to green.

Blew-it, thanks for the Brio info above. Do these instructions have any more useful info for my bike? Having problems with the rear brakes now - they are a Wuxing "servo" type, and they slow the bike, but won't hold enough to stop it - I can push it along with the brake lever full on and it just squeals but won't lock the wheel. Chap I bought the bike from said he'd not used in for about 6 months or more, and only charged and gave it a test run before the sale. I think brake either needs a strip down/service, or hopefully just some adjustment, but not sure how to do it. Photo of similar brake is here:

Steel 95mm bicycle Servo brake - Product Picture From Wuxing Bicycle Co., Ltd.

Any advice on how to adjust/set up this brake would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[Blew it]

Lesley,

The document is about how to assemble the bike, put the wheels in etc. Nothing about servo brakes I'm afraid. It sounds as if the brake shoes need renewing, but I have no idea where they could be purchased.

Those servo brakes are often fitted to ordinary un-powered bikes, so your local bike shop may be able help. If not, they will be able to see if the Brio can be fitted with V brakes instead.

Sorry I can't help more.

Regards
Bob