I have just had an email from 50 Cycles saying they do these batteries now. They have a shocking mark-up as the 18Ah costs about £350 in German and I have just purchased the 25Ah for £505 delivered. The email mentioned that the standard charger would take 12 hours to charge but there is a fast charger rated at 6 Ah. Actually I am more interested in battery longevity and wondering if the fast charge would shorten the life of the battery. I have a feeling it will.

I don't understand what you're saying. Did you buy the 25aH one from 50cycles or Germany?

 

The 25aH one is £383 plus £20 shipping to UK from Germany:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/E-Bike-Ersatzakku-Akku-fur-E-Bike-Power-Pack-fur-Panasonic-Antrieb-/300918756715?pt=Sport_Radsport_Fahrradteile_Komponenten&var=&hash=item461027d56b

I have just had an email from 50 Cycles saying they do these batteries now. They have a shocking mark-up as the 18Ah costs about £350 in German and I have just purchased the 25Ah for £505 delivered. The email mentioned that the standard charger would take 12 hours to charge but there is a fast charger rated at 6 Ah. Actually I am more interested in battery longevity and wondering if the fast charge would shorten the life of the battery. I have a feeling it will.

 

 

If the long charging times don't cause you too much inconvenience, personally I'd stick with the original slow charger. I've always treated my battery (the original 10Ah Panasonic) gently in terms of discharging it and it's still going strong at six years old.

 

Charging the battery at a higher rate if it isn't necessary to do so isn't worth the potential of shortening it's life, plus you save money by not having to buy a new charger.

I don't understand what you're saying. Did you buy the 25aH one from 50cycles or Germany?

 

The 25aH one is £383 plus £20 shipping to UK from Germany:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/E-Bike-Ersatzakku-Akku-fur-E-Bike-Power-Pack-fur-Panasonic-Antrieb-/300918756715?pt=Sport_Radsport_Fahrradteile_Komponenten&var=&hash=item461027d56b

 

The one you have quoted comes up as 779 euro. The 25ah at 50 cycles are £775 so no I didn't buy there. Some of the cheapest eBay stores charge an unreasonable amount (76.50) euro at checkout (although you have to purchase it to find that out). Is that all clear now?

If the long charging times don't cause you too much inconvenience, personally I'd stick with the original slow charger. I've always treated my battery (the original 10Ah Panasonic) gently in terms of discharging it and it's still going strong at six years old.

 

Charging the battery at a higher rate if it isn't necessary to do so isn't worth the potential of shortening it's life, plus you save money by not having to buy a new charger.

 

Thank you - those were my thoughts though charging on the bike is very tempting. My 4 year old 10ah hour is now pretty much rubbish as it gets me about 11 miles on the middle power setting (I have hammered it). So charging at work at home is a pain. Very much looking forward to have 25ah at my disposal and charging once a week rather than twice a day.

Thank you - those were my thoughts though charging on the bike is very tempting. My 4 year old 10ah hour is now pretty much rubbish as it gets me about 11 miles on the middle power setting (I have hammered it). So charging at work at home is a pain. Very much looking forward to have 25ah at my disposal and charging once a week rather than twice a day.

It will be interesting to hear how you get on with the big battery.

 

My understanding is that these batteries don't take well to deep discharge. I don't know how deeply your battery will discharge after a week of use, but if its substantially below 50% , it would be worth considering charging mid-week.

 

I try to avoid fully charging my battery or allowing it to discharge much below 50%. I don't know if this had extended the life, but at 6 years old and still usable, its done no harm.

Yes that a good point - it is so big I could probably do the 20% -80% charging routine and it would last many, many years.

HarryB - good to hear from you.

 

I am happy to keep you in touch with any problems that arise with the Vision 6A charger.

 

I purchased an 18 Ah Vision battery and fast charger from Germany before Christmas, and have been using the fast charger when the battery requires a fairly full charge. (Just recently I have not been riding so much due to a broken arm, but returning to normal now).

 

The Vision battery has been performing well. The "onbike" charging socket near the base interferes a little with the plastic trim on the bike until the battery is swung into the clipped vertical position. This makes it a little bit fiddly to insert the battery onto the battery connector bayonets compared with the panasonic battery, but eventually one gets the hang of the best insertion angle.

 

Charging works fine on the original Panasonic charger, which of course is silent as the low charge rate never required any fan cooling.

 

The fast 6A Vision charger was still being supplied with a rather noisy fan when I purchased, but so much has been written about this on the German forum that they have probably found a quieter fan by now.

 

As I tend to do quite long rides on a daily basis when away in the VW camper, the quick charge is useful, but the charger is noisy in the confined space. Definitely noisier than the ezee Torq chargers !

 

James

Good to hear that these batteries work with the old charger.

 

I've been thinking of buying a bigger battery but had heard that the fast charger was noisy and that put me off it a bit.

.

I do a bit of cycle camping and usually ask someone with a hook up to charge my battery overnight.

 

Folk might not be so keen to oblige with a noisy charger.

The battery has been delivered so I will give it the full charge/ discharge as recommended by flecc and see what the range is. Very good and quick service from bikediscount.de and the 25 ah battery was 25% off list price.

HarryB - good to hear from you.

 

I am happy to keep you in touch with any problems that arise with the Vision 6A charger.

 

I purchased an 18 Ah Vision battery and fast charger from Germany before Christmas, and have been using the fast charger when the battery requires a fairly full charge. (Just recently I have not been riding so much due to a broken arm, but returning to normal now).

 

The Vision battery has been performing well. The "onbike" charging socket near the base interferes a little with the plastic trim on the bike until the battery is swung into the clipped vertical position. This makes it a little bit fiddly to insert the battery onto the battery connector bayonets compared with the panasonic battery, but eventually one gets the hang of the best insertion angle.

 

Charging works fine on the original Panasonic charger, which of course is silent as the low charge rate never required any fan cooling.

 

The fast 6A Vision charger was still being supplied with a rather noisy fan when I purchased, but so much has been written about this on the German forum that they have probably found a quieter fan by now.

 

As I tend to do quite long rides on a daily basis when away in the VW camper, the quick charge is useful, but the charger is noisy in the confined space. Definitely noisier than the ezee Torq chargers !

 

James

Thanks James. I see what you mean about getting it on the bike as it is a right faff to line it up. In a moment of weakness I have ordered a plug in charger. £50 from eBay so not too bad and it is 5a rather than 6a so a little slower charging rate. Bike is transformed now. The battery must have been limiting the current in a clever way to avoid cutting out.

Bike is transformed now. The battery must have been limiting the current in a clever way to avoid cutting out.

 

That's interesting, in what way is the bike transformed? Are you noticing an increase in the level of assistance?

 

As another point of interest, how old is your bike and how many miles has it done? I'm curious about how well the early 26 Volt Panasonic Kalkhoffs are lasting now that they are approaching 6 / 7 years old.

My battery is 4 years old and is pretty tired. It lost bar quite early on and then another bar a few weeks ago so down to 6ah. It used to feel sprightly, at least initially after a charge but lately felt very flat all the time. Now the new battery enables the bike to storm up one hill at 16mph whereas the old one was down to 13-14mph.