Can anyone recommend a good ebike repair and battery construction book(s)?

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Deleted member 33385

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I hate depending on other people to repair things. I actually managed to repair my washing machine last year, somehing I'd never attempted before and I fixed it eventually - took me ages. A professional repair would have cost more than buying a new one. I'm constantly having to learn new things anyway - can't avoid that or solving puzzles, working in IT... and I would like to learn more than I currently know about how my new toy type (and workhorse) functions; how to fix it when it inevitably stops working properly. Does anyone know of a good book or books about how to repair ebikes? Also, a book (or books) on how to build battery packs would be handy.
 
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Andy-Mat

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Great idea, as the industry/Hobby as a whole, could use one (or more), but to cover all makes, it will have to be very comprehensive and probably quite large.
Then there is the problem of updates and amendments as "better" designs are made and sold...
Furthermore, there is also the problem of the "knowledge and ability" level of the bike's owner, as some of the repair work needed to be done, needs a great deal of background knowledge and specialist tools......and a workshop, in inclement weather, is also needed.
But even some individual manufacturers are (apparently!) loath to put out a decent manual of any sort on their own products, and sadly some expensive makers will not even supply ANY spare parts to private persons/owners/LBS that are not affiliated/trained..... for the best example of that, just look at the way "Bosch" products are 1) expensive, 2)designed to actually "hinder" repairs not made by Bosch, and 3)charge huge sums, 4) sometimes take months to react, for parts (replacement motors are apparently close to 1000 UK pounds, once installed) that may exceed the new price of some simpler (and often far more reliable!) 100% new cheaper e-bikes....
You only have to search through the pages of Pedelec to see that in all its glory!
But Bosch are not alone, but probably the best (worst?) example.....
Basically, that is why (IMHO) such forums as Pedelec have appeared, to supply the needs of a private person wanting to repair and maintain his bike.
Furthermore, a prospective e-bike owner, before paying out any money buying an e-bike, can search on such bike forums and note which e-bikes are easy to repair and obtain parts, and which are not, as it is hopeless relying on the actual manufacturers for such details needed.
I wish you well in your endeavors.
Regards
Andy
 

PC2017

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Micah Toll ebikeschool.com is always shilling his books, never read em, but he seem genuine. Lots of Youtube content from him also.
 

Woosh

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how to fix it when it inevitably stops working properly.
Ebikes are pretty modular nowadays and the sub-assemblies are closed systems. I just swap out the faulty bit. Most frequent faults are items that are exposed to water damage.
Not sure if a book on repairs is of much help.
 
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Nealh

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For battery construction a part from info on here which is scant but useful, I have only used one or two sources for research and they were/are Pedelecforum..de and the excellent Endless Sphere. ES is probably the largest resource of what to do and what not to do when it comes to batteries whether lipo or lion.

Some of the threads are large and takes days to read, I bookmark them and often peruse them still.

Common pack design mistakes, how to avoid? - Endless Sphere (endless-sphere.com)

18650 spot welding -how to- ULTIMATE REPOSITORY - Endless Sphere (endless-sphere.com)

CHEAP NEW ORIGINAL 18650 BATTERY CELLS AND PACKS - Endless Sphere (endless-sphere.com)

 
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vfr400

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People have already written books on the subject. They're a complete waste of time. By the time the bool is written, everything changes, and what they say only applies in specific limited circumstances.

Everything you need to know is written in this forum. All you have to do is find it. Also, there are Youtube videos on how most things work and how to repair things.

Also, there is a good reference section in Endless-sphere, though it has a bias towards American and higher powered stuff.

There's a lot of good stuff on Spinningmagnets' site too:

The whole field of electric bikes is very complicated, though there are simple common principles that apply throughout.
 

Nealh

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For bike repairs I have found it is down to a hands on approach, so converting using kits and working out (with the help of the forum) to diagnose and fault repair items.
For me as kid we were also making items and tearing things down to put back together, I guess without knowing it as naïve youngsters we were feeding our obsession of learning.

Tbh I have never needed to build bike wheels as there is little to go wrong, Its only in the last decade that I have taught myself wheel building due to fitting hub motors and recently Alfine hub gears. All that is involved is patience and a little time, I find wheel building very chilling and relaxing.
 
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Nealh

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Ron aka spinningmagnets is a founder member of ES I believe (could be wrong) he has a large presence on there at times and a regular contributor.
The cell cycle aging thread is not very old, an independent resource of info you won't find any where else.
 
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D

Deleted member 33385

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For battery construction a part from info on here which is scant but useful, I have only used one or two sources for research and they were/are Pedelecforum..de and the excellent Endless Sphere. ES is probably the largest resource of what to do and what not to do when it comes to batteries whether lipo or lion.

Some of the threads are large and takes days to read, I bookmark them and often peruse them still.

Common pack design mistakes, how to avoid? - Endless Sphere (endless-sphere.com)

18650 spot welding -how to- ULTIMATE REPOSITORY - Endless Sphere (endless-sphere.com)

CHEAP NEW ORIGINAL 18650 BATTERY CELLS AND PACKS - Endless Sphere (endless-sphere.com)



Wow! Thanks Nealh! That's an amazing resource! I'm going to automatically save every page of those threads (Firefox browser with addons: RePagination [spiders every forum thread page numbered in a sequence], Scrapbook X [saves the result of repagination], Quickjava [disables Javascript and keeps memory footprint low]), covert them to the open epub format and transfer them to an ereader (open ereader, not the evil Kindle). Solid gold!
 
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D

Deleted member 33385

Guest
Great idea, as the industry/Hobby as a whole, could use one (or more), but to cover all makes, it will have to be very comprehensive and probably quite large.
Then there is the problem of updates and amendments as "better" designs are made and sold...
Furthermore, there is also the problem of the "knowledge and ability" level of the bike's owner, as some of the repair work needed to be done, needs a great deal of background knowledge and specialist tools......and a workshop, in inclement weather, is also needed.
But even some individual manufacturers are (apparently!) loath to put out a decent manual of any sort on their own products, and sadly some expensive makers will not even supply ANY spare parts to private persons/owners/LBS that are not affiliated/trained..... for the best example of that, just look at the way "Bosch" products are 1) expensive, 2)designed to actually "hinder" repairs not made by Bosch, and 3)charge huge sums, 4) sometimes take months to react, for parts (replacement motors are apparently close to 1000 UK pounds, once installed) that may exceed the new price of some simpler (and often far more reliable!) 100% new cheaper e-bikes....
You only have to search through the pages of Pedelec to see that in all its glory!
But Bosch are not alone, but probably the best (worst?) example.....
Basically, that is why (IMHO) such forums as Pedelec have appeared, to supply the needs of a private person wanting to repair and maintain his bike.
Furthermore, a prospective e-bike owner, before paying out any money buying an e-bike, can search on such bike forums and note which e-bikes are easy to repair and obtain parts, and which are not, as it is hopeless relying on the actual manufacturers for such details needed.
I wish you well in your endeavors.
Regards
Andy


Yes, I'm so glad I bought a generic Chinese Bafang kit - a quick Google revealed a lot of cheap and easy to obtain spare parts. And it seems there are many copies of Bafang motors, which pretty much guarantees cheap (and hopefully compatible) spare parts for decades - even after Bafang stop making them. The best thing about the internet are the virtual (but limited and as brief as you need) technology-assisted mind-melds.
 
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Deleted member 33385

Guest
People have already written books on the subject. They're a complete waste of time. By the time the bool is written, everything changes, and what they say only applies in specific limited circumstances.

Everything you need to know is written in this forum. All you have to do is find it. Also, there are Youtube videos on how most things work and how to repair things.

Also, there is a good reference section in Endless-sphere, though it has a bias towards American and higher powered stuff.

There's a lot of good stuff on Spinningmagnets' site too:

The whole field of electric bikes is very complicated, though there are simple common principles that apply throughout.


Yes, I think you're right vfr - I have failed to find a good ebook about how to repair ebikes - Micah looks like he knows what he's talking about but judging by the reviews of his books, he's clearly no writer. The great thing about this forum is that you see specific problems being solved, and gradually your knowledge grows. It seems similar to how it's best to learn a new programming language: find a use for it and specific relevant puzzles present themselves which you solve and gradually, and as you solve more and more puzzles on the way to your eventual goal... you learn much of the language anyway. It's far easier to maintain interest than simply memorising, much more fun and actually a lot more rapid. For anyone wanting to learn anything that intially looks bewildering to contemplate learning (never mind rapidly), Schaum's outline series is wonderful - lots and lots of questions and answers:



 
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D

Deleted member 33385

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Ebikes are pretty modular nowadays and the sub-assemblies are closed systems. I just swap out the faulty bit. Most frequent faults are items that are exposed to water damage.
Not sure if a book on repairs is of much help.


Yes, I think you're probably right. Plus everything keeps changing and with these closed systems, they become IT problems aswell - worse - they're closed IT problems.
 
D

Deleted member 33385

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I know a lot of people who write books. Quite honestly, I'm surprised nobody on this forum has written one about repairing ebikes and batteries. I was expecting someone to say, "Funny you should ask, it just so happens..." Authors I know and have known find it easier than ever to publish through websites such as Lulu.com and Amazon - upload, sell ebooks on Amazon, or physical copies one at a time on Lulu. Most don't sell well. As in music, creation is a labour of love. Technology oriented books sell more reliably than fiction, biographies, autobiographies, historical essays etc. It's true as it ever was: If you want near-certainty of poverty, be an artist. A Pedelecs.co.uk branded ebike repair book might sell. Perhaps an annual featuring best fixes? I'd buy one.
 
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Andy-Mat

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 26, 2018
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77
Yes, I'm so glad I bought a generic Chinese Bafang kit - a quick Google revealed a lot of cheap and easy to obtain spare parts. And it seems there are many copies of Bafang motors, which pretty much guarantees cheap (and hopefully compatible) spare parts for decades - even after Bafang stop making them. The best thing about the internet are the virtual (but limited and as brief as you need) technology-assisted mind-melds.
Well done, you may have saved yourself a lot of possible future trouble with your choice!
 
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Woosh

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they become IT problems aswell - worse - they're closed IT problems.
I am spending a fair amount of time moving customers to Office 365 because their on-premise exchange servers are at grave risks of being attacked.
What worries me is some Microsoft partners are given tools and proof of concept codes to break in in the first place.
 
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What worries me is some Microsoft partners are given tools and proof of concept codes to break in in the first place.


They're trying to hide it now lol, but that horse has bolted:




Trouble is, they all want or need to use MSOffice - any other solution is something new to train staff to use, or train staff to adapt, or costly to translate data to suit open source alternatives.