Can anyone tell me if my Ezee liv battery is dead, and if so where can I buy a new on

[joanieb]

Hi there, I have not been on for a while as I bought an Ezee Liv with Nimh batteries about 16 months ago. Up until today everything has been absolutly fine, but on the way home my battery started conking out and the battery light kept flickering between green, red and flashing yellow. I somehow managed to get home, unfortunately home is the up hill bit, gnarr, alternating between pushing the bike and cycling on the flat bits.

There is a slight chance that I may have forgotten to switch the plug on for charging it last night, but when I checked it in the garage a few minutes ago after it has been charging for 2 hrs, it is still doing the same thing.

Does this mean my battery is dying, and if so where can I get a new one as 50 cycles don't do the Ezee bikes any more ?

Many thanks for any replies.

 

[flecc]

It's unusual for an NiMh battery to give up at this age, so check a couple of other things first. Have you tried removing the battery and charging it away from the bike, then refitting it to the bike?

If that doesn't do the trick, have a look at the controller just behind the battery when you switch on and see if the red LED lamp flashes a few times.

If it does, count the number of flashes and let us know how many, as that can often determine what the fault is. If you miscount, just switch on and try again.

The new UK agent for eZee bikes is Cyclepoint

They normally list the expensive lithium batteries for which you'd need a new charger, but eZee still list an NiMh battery which they may have available, but let's see if one's needed first.
.

 

[joanieb]

Thanks flecc , I won't get a chance to do that for a couple of days but will certainly check over the weekend.

 

[joanieb]

Sorry I feel like such an idiot when I try to do things with the bike, I just wish it had some instructions.

Can you tell me how to separate the battery from the bike ? I have 4 controls with the key, two of which are push and open and I'm thinking its linked to those but cannot figure it out.

 

[Django]

Sorry I feel like such an idiot when I try to do things with the bike, I just wish it had some instructions.

Can you tell me how to separate the battery from the bike ? I have 4 controls with the key, two of which are push and open and I'm thinking its linked to those but cannot figure it out.

Hi,

Push in slightly and turn the key anti-clockwise as far as it will go to 'open'. Remove the seat then grip the battery at the top and slide it out.

Hope that helps,

 

[flecc]

The usual eZee battery key works in two steps. The first turn anti-clockwise switches off.

If the key is then pushed inwards against a spring, it will then be able to turn further to the left and stop.

This then releases the battery which can be pulled upwards from the slides. It's sometimes very stiff to pull upwards, sticking a bit in the slides.

The saddle has a release lever under the rear which when pressed upwards allows the seat part to tilt forward to allow the battery to come fully out.

P.S. Django got in first!
.

 

[joanieb]

Thanks guys. I have managed to get battery out and recharged away from bicycle, unfortunately I still have the problem.

When I switch to on, the red light near the battery goes on, but when I rev it the bike cuts out very quickly, the red light near the battery goes off and the one that tells me how much electricity I have alternates between flashing red & flashing amber.

Any clues ?

 

[coops]

Hi joanieb

Sorry to hear your bike is cutting out like that - especially after 16 months trouble free - the same sort of behaviour you describe (flashing green-amber-red with intermittent power) happenend to my Torq once so I can sympathise, though that turned out to be a loose connection between the 'battery meter' box (where the red amber & green lights are) and the throttle, and not a battery problem.

Can you confirm if the red light near the battery just goes off when the fault is present as you said, or whether it is actually flashing on & off? (while the bike is still powered 'on').

If its flashing, count the number of flashes (between longer pauses) several times to check the number - this can often help determine the fault as flecc said .

I hope that helps,

Stuart.

 

[flecc]

When you say "rev it up", does the motor actually run a little, or it not run before the red light on the controller goes out?

That aside for the moment, the controller light going out could indicate a failed battery, and the red only on the meter flashing could also indicate that.

It's the alternation with the flashing amber as well that's puzzling me though.

It could still be the battery failed, but there's also a possibility of a controller failure or a wiring fault on the bike. Ideally you need to plug in another battery to determine that, since if that does the trick we'd know it was the battery.

I don't know if any of the members near you (Citrus, BossBob, Scobo and perhaps others) have an eZee bike to give you a chance of that? I see the Electric Cycle Company near you mainly deal in 24 volt bikes and don't represent eZee bikes, but perhaps they'll be happy to check the battery for you to see if it has deliverable current or not.

Those are the initial possibilities I can suggest at the moment. If you can perhaps pursue those first, if they don't get you to an answer we'll have to try something else.
.

 

[Django]

One more thought. Was it raining when the problem started? This kind of rather erratic problem could certainly be caused by water gaining access to the controller in particular.

Just a thought.

 

[joanieb]

The red light near the battery has done a couple of things, once I think it flashed but when I tried it most recently, before I revved the bike it was constantly on, then when the lights started flashing it went off again. It sounds like its a connection fault rather than a battery one, if thats the case any chance of a home remedy or do I need to get the professionals in ?

I will have another go tomorrow and double check if I get any red flashes and if so will count.

Oh it wasn't raining when this happened.

Thanks guys.

 

[flecc]

Yes, this is sounding like a connection problem, but it can be almost anywhere, so not necessarily easy to track down. Jiggling all the suspect points like connectors etc can bring a change in what it's doing, illustrating where the loose/poor connection is, so that's well worth trying. Likely places to try are the connections around the meter and the controller/ keyswitch area.

Did the motor actually run for a moment when you opened the throttle, or did the light on the controller just go out without the motor running?
.

 

[joanieb]

Oh sorry Flecc didn't answer that one last time.
Yes the motor goes on for about 2-3 seconds before it conks out.

 

[flecc]

That's very good news, it means the controller is almost certainly in the clear.

A poor connection is the top suspect now, though there's just a faint possibility that a battery cell failure could be involved.

I think best to do the "jiggling" first to check the connections out.
.

 

[joanieb]

We, well I use the term loosely meaning my other half, managed to sort the problem by cleaning round the battery connection with a nail file ( not something that would have occurred to me naturally !)

So problem now appears to be sorted and bike working again. So thank you for all your help.

 

[flecc]

That's good. The battery connections on the eZee battery can cause quite lot of problems and I have a section of my Torq site devoted to that.

In your case the flashing red/amber threw me off the scent as I've never seen that outcome before.
.