doomo

Further update. I figured out that if I charge the battery immediately before riding it lasts much longer (but still not as good as new). if I charge it and then don't use it for almost a week then that is when the capacity completely nosedives once it gets to about 75% remaining. Clearly the battery is knackered but perhaps I may be able to get a bit more use out of it.

Regarding the capacity loss. I did a test on a known route this morning, where the allBatteries one would have been at 55%, maybe 50 with a stronger headwind when it was new, it had just 14% left. I'd say it was guffed and the rate of decline has been quite quick over the last few months. When I started riding again back in june there were no obvious signs of decline. Admittedly the 9 month period where it was sat charged and not used may have damaged the cells, the original yamaha one had the same and hasnt lost anything as a result. From 100% down to about 80, 75% it seems to drain normally but after that it seems to plummet very quickly. This is pretty disappointing since its only really had about 2 years of use and doesnt look like lasting much longer. I guess provided it can get me a minimum of 5 miles then it is usable. This morning it did about 11 miles and ended up at 14% so who knows how long its got left before being useless. So to conclude I guess you get what you pay for with these batteries. It's cheap but it doesn't last and may not be reliable.

Its been a while since I've been on this forum. Unfortunately I was taken out by a van last july and the resulting smashed up collarbone which took nearly 9 months to heal. Consequently, the bike sat about not being used for most of that time (my daughter used it a few times). The allBatteries battery is still going but is definitely down on capacity now, perhaps as much as a 25% loss (this is a guess). Maybe the long period of not being used and being more or less fully charged has damaged the cells . The yamaha battery seems no different and has stabilized after its initial drop in capacity. Perhaps the all batteries one will also do the same but time will tell. The fuse hasnt blown again since which is good but I don't rely entirely on that battery just in case. I use the allbatteries one first then swap over to the yamaha when its down to about 50%. I've noticed in the last few months that the point I change the battery over is getting further and further from my destination. Between the 2 I've still got my than enough range but for how much longer who knows.

Looks like the right battery to me It says 36 V so should be the right one but that 17v reading suggests it is faulty and is why it doesnt work in the bike.

It might be worth opening it up and seeing if its the fuse thats blown, although your symptoms seem a little different as mine wouldnt fire up at all.

Good work! Well I have replied saying that having rebuilt engines in the past I think I could handle opening up a battery. Doubt it will help much. Like you say, just a heads up like "do this, dont do that, remove this, the fuse is there" etc would have been great. I get the impression the engineer is a moron who really couldn't care less. Oh well. When it comes to it I'll have to take my chances.

Well, their engineer has offered nothing in the way of a how to replace the fuse guide because "It requires opening the battery case". No shit, sherlock!

I replied telling them that Ive done over 300 miles since on the original battery and there have been no problems. I have also requested they tell me how to replace the fuse in case it blows again. Perhaps there is a slight issue with the motor but I dont believe they are service-able items and need replacing entirely if they break. Perhaps the fuse was a bit duff from the outset. I guess time will tell and I haven't given up on the spare battery. I will just have to always make sure I carry both and never rely entirely on the spare.

I'm so glad to hear that. It didnt sound good from what they told me last year.

Update from allBatteries: "It appears the customer has blown the internal 20 A fuse, either the customer has short circuited the terminals of the battery or the motor on the bicycle has drawn excessive current, this may mean a potential fault with the motor. We can replace the fuse and return to the customer as a good will gesture, but the failure is due to customer error." I have asked them for details on how to replace this fuse in future if it blows again

In that case it might be a good idea to contact them because if he has indeed stopped (as they implied) it gives you some time to find an alternative solution.

Ah. I contacted them a while ago (Insat International) and I think Jimmy wasnt very well and had more or less stopped doing it.

That service is not advertised on their site from what I can see. Do you know how much they charge and what they can do wrt spc (max capacity).

shame I never found that 612w battery before buying the 468 w one otherwise I would have snapped that up. Gutted! Interesting that the findings in that thread link above are different to my own personal experience of the 468w battery (which are: a noticeably better range and linear loss of capacity, the opposite of what they said). 20 down to 10 on the original battery seems to disappear in so little time, and interestingly I've noticed that the original battery doesnt seem to charge in a linear fashion either, i.e. the last 25% takes much longer than the other 25% blocks. I wonder if its duff, and I think I will take it into the shop to get it tested. Anyway, still no update on results of testing the battery I returned. I have requested that they keep me in the loop regarding what the failure was too, in case I have to try to fix it myself when it fails again (which will probably happen when it's just out of warranty).

Update: The replacement battery has failed. I was riding home from work yesterday and it literally just died on me, as if I switched the bike off. The battery was running at about 25% at the time and after that the bike would not power up again. I fully charged it later and put it on the bike and the same issue. If I put the original battery on the bike starts up no problem so it looks like the unit has failed in some way. I will be in touch with the supplier today to see what they say [They are collecting it Monday and will be testing it to see what the fault is]. The back rack I bought to carry the spare battery and charger is going back today as well. It is literally falling apart (the blurry bracket in the middle broke completely a few weeks back, which I knew about, the one in the foreground is also on the way as is the middle one on the other side...both of which I didnt know about until I took it off yesterday)

Yes you are right about the charger switching off with the original battery. I never leave the aftermarket one on over night either as I don't entirely trust it (in case it catches fire or something). That said, it could be that the aftermarket one has a more basic charge control system that just doesn't have the ability to feed back to the charger that it's full. wrt over charging I have never noticed it staying on 100% for longer than normal, it always drops at the expected rate. Also, when its supposedly fully charged but starts with less than 100 it also drops at the expected rate. I would agree that there is perhaps a subtle difference in the voltage between the 2 batteries as it feels to me as if the aftermarket one has a tiny bit more oomph than the standard one. The aftermarket one also drains more consistently across the range of the battery. The original battery seems to drain more quickly once it goes below 50%, and especially when it goes below 20%. The aftermarket one has never behaved like this.

That's quite interesting. I havent gone into that level of testing but I have tried leaving it plugged in for over an hour after the lights have gone constant, and also unplugging immediately after. Most of the time its 100% but sometimes it's under no matter what I do. It is bizarre and suggests there is some glitch in the circuitry of the aftermarket battery. The original battery has never done this.

The green indicator lights on the top of the battery will flash when it is charging and they also indicate how charged the battery is (during charging) by the number of lights constantly on, e.g. one flashing only means the battery is between 0% and 20%, one constant and one flashing means between 20% and 40%, etc. 4 constant and one flashing means between 80% and 100%. Once the battery is fully charged all 5 lights should be on constantly and will remain on until the charger is unplugged.

That's very annoying! If a local bike shop sells them they might be happy to let you try your battery out on one of their bikes? I haven't had such problems yet. The only thing Ive noticed is sometimes after a full charge it can be a bit down when it's put on the bike, like 94%. So there is definitely something slightly quirky I just don't know what. There doesn't seem to be any pattern to it. I did think the battery was already showing signs of degrading capacity but after a few tests I came to the conclusion that I'm just riding a bit harder which is hammering the battery more.

No, I always carry the spare and only change it if the conditions are tough. This morning with an 18mph headwind I had to change it. I had 37% left of the big one and 46% of the smaller one. The ride home with same tailwind I will probably just use the big one and have around 35% left or thereabouts. In the past with just the smaller battery I wouldn't have bothered riding in given the conditions (unpleasantly slow slog).

Yes definitely. So far so good I just hope it lasts. To be honest if it only lasted a year (which the warranty is for) then at that price I'd still feel it gave it's monies worth.

That's the one I bought

The battery seems decent. It definitely has a chunk more juice than the 400wh. The rate of decline seems more linear than the original which seems to drop off pretty quickly when it gets under 50% when its cold. Its a tighter fit than the original and took a lot of persuasion to get the thing to fit on the first attempt. Once it had been fitted it then came off and back on more easily but still not as slick as the original. Minor grumble really. So I'm carrying both now when I ride. Usually starting with the bigger one and if its a power hungry ride (up hill and into the wind) I'll change over at an appropriate point. I bought and fitted a cheap back rack (OUTERDO Bike Cargo Racks Bicycle Bike Alloy Rear Rack - 17 quid on amazon): and bag large enough to store the battery, charger, repair kit / tools (but not one that's too big): (Huntvp Multi-functional Cycling Bicycle Bag - 14 quid on amazon) (although mine doesnt have blue). It is JUST big enough to get the battery in through the zipped flap of the main compartment. Have to turn the battery on its side with the large end in first then its tight to squeeze the lock part past the zip, but it goes. The charger then fits inside bag with it. Then a bungy strap around the lot for extra anchoring of the bag to the rack. Seems like a good solution and I'm pretty happy with it all so far, especially not having to carry a ruck sack.

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I've just bought the £329 battery so lets see how that pans out. I think next up will be a back rack so I can put everything including the 2nd battery in that. Added bonus of not having to carry a ruck sack anymore