pete22

If you get the DEALERS -Troubleshooting Guide Trikes manual from here: Powabyke Support :: Download User Manuals and open the manual with the password mentioned in this thread: http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/1078-old-powabyke-project.html You'll find the possible reason/answer/solution to this problem: Symptom Turn on Key and bike goes at “Full Throttle”

I use the bike mainly for going in and out to university. My longest journey to date however was 15 mile round trip, and all the lights remained on. I'm careful to keep the battery charged after every trip. When I bought my bike 3 months back, there was an free offer of suspension forks with new bikes. I finally got round to fitting them a month ago. They made a huge difference to the quality of the ride, smoothing out all the bumps!

It's often said that there is no such thing as an ideal purchase, that the promise of whatever we buy rarely lives up to our expectations or the stated claims. So was this the case with my Euro? I had nothing to compare it to and the dealer did say three times that the bike would never live up to the stated specification. He did say that the batteries were often poor to start with, but after a couple of charges it would gain in power (never happened). After using the bike for a week I decided that something must be wrong. The Euro comes with a bank of 10 leds with which the battery can be monitorered easily by the user and on even a modest gradient, there was a reduction in the number of leds displayed - say from 10 to 6, and this after a full charge and a 2 mile journey So what should I do? Go back to the dealer again, he'd already said three times "nothing wrong". Had he sold me a duff battery? Who knows? In the worst case if I demanded a new battery I'd probably get the same battery back and be no further forward. So I decided to buy a replacement battery from an independent supplier, I felt I had nothing to lose. Either the dealer was right and I'd gain a useful spare, or the dealer was wrong and I'd have a powerful proof. The rest as they say is history!

Sound like you have a similar problem to me (gutless performance). I purchased a brand new Powabyke Euro 3 months ago, performance was poor to say the least. I suspected the battery, but having nothing to compare this issue to, and when the dealer said performance was never going to match the claims of Powabyke!!! I decided to buy another battery (independantly), to compare (from ebay - 150231009112). This totally rejuventated the bikes performance inline with the stated claims for performance- so I suspect your problem (like mine), is connected to the battery. So very pleased with the bike now albeit after a sickeningly disappointing start! PS. Oh yes I get that loud freewheel noise too.

Good find Wizard!

Makes the "Bourne Supremacy" car sequences look boring!!! For a cheap and cheerful camera mount: 5.: DIY bottlecap bicycle camera mount

US supplier here: 24V 9000 mAh NiMH Battery Pack with Aluminum Case and 4 A Superfast Smart Charger for Electric Bike and Scooter - CH-UN300C02

From: Can the lead-acid battery compete in modern times? BatteryUniversity.com " Lead-acid does not like deep cycling. A full discharge causes extra strain and each cycle robs the battery of some service life. This wear-down characteristic also applies to other battery chemistries in varying degrees. To prevent the battery from being stressed through repetitive deep discharge, a larger battery is recommended. Lead-acid is inexpensive but the operational costs can be higher than a nickel-based system if repetitive full cycles are required. Depending on the depth of discharge and operating temperature, the sealed lead-acid provides 200 to 300 discharge/charge cycles. The primary reason for its relatively short cycle life is grid corrosion of the positive electrode, depletion of the active material and expansion of the positive plates. These changes are most prevalent at higher operating temperatures. Cycling does not prevent or reverse the trend."

Useful link here: Lead Acid Batteries There is a section on sulphation causes.

Thanks gkilner. Finally went for an AGM battery (Powerfit AGM12V 7A), purchased from RS-components.com. https://uk.rs-online.com The price I paid was #21.50 exvat per unit. (Sorry no pound sign on this linux computer - yet!). Many thanks.

Thanks gkilner. Well after a two hour trawl of the net - I keep coming up with these - Deep Cycle AGM batteries: VERTECI - Electric Bicycles, Scooters And Motorcycles The one applicable to me is the 12V 9A "DK1290C SLA - AGM - Deep Cycle" battery, since it has the same dimensions as the batteries I am replacing. Considerably greater cost at £33.96 (inc vat and delivery). But is this the type of lead acid battery type I should be thinking about (Deep Cycle AGM)?

Hi I'm about to replace the three 12v 7A batteries in my battery pack. Looking across the internet for replacements, I found the following site: Batterymasters.co.uk - Home They supply 4 variants: Power-Sonic PS-1270 - £7.99 Ultramax gel - £6.99 Yuasa SLA NP7-12 - £9.57 Yuasa SLA NP7-12F - £11.36 Which ones would be suitable for an electric bike? The Ultramax seem to be a bargain buy, but working on the basis that you get as much as you pay for, should I focus on the Yuasa's? Many thanks.