Giant Suede replacement battery

peternevill

Just Joined
Nov 16, 2007
1
0
My battery which is only about 18 months old seems to be capable of taking me only about 6 miles. I need a new, refurbished and/or replacement battery - which is the cheapest source. Giant quote £250 wgich seems steep. Maybe there is some whizzo that can take the currenbt casing and put new cells into it - if so who is that person?
With thanks for any advice
Andrew
 

Bradwell

Pedelecer
Nov 10, 2007
32
0
Buckinghamshire
My battery which is only about 18 months old seems to be capable of taking me only about 6 miles. I need a new, refurbished and/or replacement battery - which is the cheapest source. Giant quote £250 wgich seems steep. Maybe there is some whizzo that can take the currenbt casing and put new cells into it - if so who is that person?
With thanks for any advice
Andrew
Hi Andrew, there is a company that does it (scroll to the bottom of the page on this link and have a look at Battery Replacement) Electric Bicycle & Tricycle Prices

But before you do read what the 'Guru' has to say here battchoice
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,760
30,348
You may find it's not worth it Andrew, since the Giant price is reasonable. They charge the same for the Twist's 24 volt battery with only two thirds the number of cells.

Just the cheapest 20 cell pack for a 24 volt battery costs £125, most cost more, and your bike uses 30 cells, so just the cells would cost about £200 or more. A recelling service would be unlikely to beat Giant's price.
.
 

Bikerbob

Pedelecer
May 10, 2007
215
0
Isle of Man
Hi Andrew,
Your experience of the Suede battery is much the same as mine. I was quoted £200 when I ordered one in mid-July and I'm still waiting - Giant UK now say I should get it in early December, but we'll see. In fairness Giant are not the only company finding it hard to get NiMh batteries. They also said that they have another batch scheduled to arrive after that one so if you do decide on a new battery it might be as well to get it ordered soon.
 
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chuck

Finding my (electric) wheels
Oct 25, 2007
11
0
giant suede-e battery

My dealer (south of France) received yesterday the new battery for warranty exchange of the deficient one (after 1500km, Suede-e bought from him on 2006 February).
I was waiting for this battery since the end of September 2007.
Si I hope you'ld receive soon the Nimh battery you plan to get?

My daily commute to work is 8 km (and 8 km back home), with hilly and windy roads; I'ld use the new battery later since the deficient battery still manages to assist the bike about 10 km, I'ld like to use it "until the end".
Is it a good idea to keep unemployed the new battery (3 or 4 months?), and how to stock it: charged or uncharged?
 

chuck

Finding my (electric) wheels
Oct 25, 2007
11
0
... Suede-e bought on 2007 February!
The dealer told me on Sept that the battery should arrive on December.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,760
30,348
Store it charged Chuck. It will lose about 1 to 1.5% of the charge each day and must not be allowed to drain right down to completely empty, only down to an absolute minimum of 30 volts at most.

Charging again once every two months while in storage will look after that and keep it in good condition for when you need it. For best results the storage should be in cool or cold conditions, but not frozen.
.
 

chuck

Finding my (electric) wheels
Oct 25, 2007
11
0
thanks Flecc! for detailing the conditions so how to store the new NiMh battery.
 

keninNY

Finding my (electric) wheels
Dec 9, 2007
5
0
suede e batteries

Hi all,

It's great to have found this forum. Here in the US, there aren't too many e-bike folks. I just went through the same hassels with a suede e battery that many of you seem to have experienced. I got a new one under warranty. It's got a green case instead of a blue one,but I'm happy just to have the battery! Having read this and other threads, I'll run the new battery right down, and refreshi it frequently in order to condition it. Question: is it actually harmful to store a NiMH battery below freezing?
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,760
30,348
Yes it shouldn't be frozen Ken, as it could lead to breakup of the internal structure, possibly preventing subsequent charge. In any case, all battery types performance deteriorates markedly at low temperatures.

Best not to do the discharging too frequently, about once every ten charges or so is sufficient. Also don't discharge to cells empty using lamps or resistors, since it won't recover then. Just use the charger's discharge function if it has one, or discharge to about 1.1 to 1.18 volts per cell, that's between 32 and 35 volts on your battery.

Some Suedes were different colours, hence your green battery.
.
 

keninNY

Finding my (electric) wheels
Dec 9, 2007
5
0
thanks for the info! I'm just happy to have the new battery. I am, as you suggest, going to use the refresh function on the charger. In the past I've done it every month. I'll certainly bring the battery indoors now. It's a shame about that Suede e. It has a lot of neat design features. It seems like Giant got a little cheap with the execution, though, and ened up with some pretty grumpy consumers.
 

keninNY

Finding my (electric) wheels
Dec 9, 2007
5
0
use of other chargers on Suede e battery?

Hi there,

One last question: Can one use a A"non-smart" charger to top up a battery. The Suede e chargers are tough to come by right now. I was thinking about getting a 36V, 1A charger for work, to insure that I've got the power to make it home. They're a lot cheaper than the smart chargers and, at 1A, it doesn't seem likely that I'd overcharge the battery. Thoughts?
 

Joel

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jan 28, 2008
7
0
Thanks for all your help

Very useful posts, to my cost I was not regular with my refreshing...
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,760
30,348
Hi there,

One last question: Can one use a A"non-smart" charger to top up a battery. The Suede e chargers are tough to come by right now. I was thinking about getting a 36V, 1A charger for work, to insure that I've got the power to make it home. They're a lot cheaper than the smart chargers and, at 1A, it doesn't seem likely that I'd overcharge the battery. Thoughts?
Sorry I missed your question when it was originally posted Ken.

Don't use a non-smart charger on an NiMh battery, since overchrging even at a trickle rate will damage the cells. NiMh chargers must have temperature cutoff and preferably peak voltage cutoff as well.

You US Powerstream company do an excellent generic low cost charger made by Shenzen which I've experience of, and it will be ideal for the Suede battery. All the information is on my Torq Talk site here.
.
 
Nov 10, 2006
178
14
Midlands
I have bought a nearly identical charger to the one that Giant supplied with the suede E. The only thing missing is the refresh button.
See Ebikes.ca store and the model I have is CG363Ni-HP
 

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