Hi I'm new to the forum, I have a swytch battery that needs a rebuild, does anyone know where I can get this done ?? I want to increase the capacity of the battery on the rebuild. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Rig the jig .

If you use the search function, you will find quite a few mentions of various Swytch upgrades.

 

A generic 36V battery is all you need, much less trouble than a recell, and as much capacity as you like, subject to fitting the battery to the bike.

Hi I'm new to the forum, I have a swytch battery that needs a rebuild, does anyone know where I can get this done ?? I want to increase the capacity of the battery on the rebuild. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Rig the jig .

Don't waste money on repairing the Swyrch battery. You can buy just about any 36v battery you want and mount it where you want. It's just two wires that you need to connect to the controller the right way round.

Don't waste money on repairing the Swyrch battery. You can buy just about any 36v battery you want and mount it where you want. It's just two wires that you need to connect to the controller the right way round.

I’ve been pondering this for a while as by brother has a gen 2 Swytch setup and both his battery packs are slowly failing.

There’s major sense ditching the gen 2 battery for a more generic one, but it potentially leaves you with an almost empty bag hanging on the handlebars that still houses the controller and display. A lot of battery panniers appear to have a controller box, so the controller could be reused, but you still would need a new display for your handlebars. It would be a nice thing to have a migration path for Swytch gen 2 owners to follow.

I’ve been pondering this for a while as by brother has a gen 2 Swytch setup and both his battery packs are slowly failing.

There’s major sense ditching the gen 2 battery for a more generic one, but it potentially leaves you with an almost empty bag hanging on the handlebars that still houses the controller and display. A lot of battery panniers appear to have a controller box, so the controller could be reused, but you still would need a new display for your handlebars. It would be a nice thing to have a migration path for Swytch gen 2 owners to follow.

If your battery goes, the only thing worth keeping is the motor.

If your battery goes, the only thing worth keeping is the motor.

That’s the sad truth. There’s a guy on ebay at the moment advertising gen 2 battery refurbs and upgrades - but the price is wow! You can completely redo the whole bike for the same price.

It would be a nice thing to have a migration path for Swytch gen 2 owners to follow.

 

It makes more sense, to me at least, to keep the Swytch motor wheel, and add a new low cost display and controller, possibly mounted in a small handlebar bag.

 

Then you have a very wide choice of batteries of different capacities.

It makes more sense, to me at least, to keep the Swytch motor wheel, and add a new low cost display and controller, possibly mounted in a small handlebar bag.

 

Then you have a very wide choice of batteries of different capacities.

A sensible approach. Without generalising too much though, I guess the average Swytch user has gone that way because they don’t want to get into the technical side. They want a quick half hour session in the garage, and away they go. To convert a fsiling Swytch gen 2 setup to something viable is maybe a bridge too far for them.

but you still would need a new display for your handlebars.

 

The LED display on the top of the bag is a Swytch special I thought.

I have a swytch battery that needs a rebuild, does anyone know where I can get this done ?? I want to increase the capacity of the battery on the rebuild.

 

There is not a lot of space in the bag and increasing the capacity usually implies adding more batteries ................

A sensible approach. Without generalising too much though, I guess the average Swytch user has gone that way because they don’t want to get into the technical side. They want a quick half hour session in the garage, and away they go. To convert a fsiling Swytch gen 2 setup to something viable is maybe a bridge too far for them.

That's true, but when their battery has expired, they need to start figuring out what connects to what, otherwise they can't fix it. For people that don't know anything, they shouldn't have a problem connecting the two wires of a different battery. We have to explain all options because some people do have DIY skills and nobody ever tells us anything about themselves. Also, they might have an electrical genius living next door.

The LED display on the top of the bag is a Swytch special I thought.

Not sure yet, I’m looking at alternatives at the moment. It’s a Lishui controller so I’m expecting to find one that’ll do the job. Looking on youtube a few people have mounted their gen 2 packs on the back of the bike, brought the leads forwards, and glued the existing display onto a rear light bracket in order to attach it to the handlebars.

That’s the sad truth. There’s a guy on ebay at the moment advertising gen 2 battery refurbs and upgrades - but the price is wow! You can completely redo the whole bike for the same price.

HI Who is the guy on ebay advertising the refurbs ??

That's true, but when their battery has expired, they need to start figuring out what connects to what, otherwise they can't fix it. For people that don't know anything, they shouldn't have a problem connecting the two wires of a different battery. We have to explain all options because some people do have DIY skills and nobody ever tells us anything about themselves. Also, they might have an electrical genius living next door.

I have DIY and soldering skills, but I've never rebuilt a battery pack, also I think the controller would need to be changed. Also I have a friend who is an electronic genius.

HI Who is the guy on ebay advertising the refurbs ??

Hi. Search on ebay for”swytch battery upgrade” and he’ll be shown in the result. Don’t know who he is, but he will probably be the way to go if you need to keep your existing setup. As you can tell from the posts, the Swytch gen 2 setup is not easy to update - especially now that it’s obsolete in Swytch’s eyes.

I have DIY and soldering skills, but I've never rebuilt a battery pack, also I think the controller would need to be changed. Also I have a friend who is an electronic genius.

You don't need to rebuild the battery pack. You can buy any 36v battery you want. You just join two wires. You can buy one that fits in the bag or you can buy a downtube battery or one that goes on a rack, or whatever you want. It makes no difference - just wo wires, red and black.

 

These batteries are all over Ebay and Aliexpress. There are some very cheap ones that have recycled cells that won't last long, so use a bit of common sense in choosing one. If you're unsure, post details here.

Hi. Search on ebay for”swytch battery upgrade” and he’ll be shown in the result. Don’t know who he is, but he will probably be the way to go if you need to keep your existing setup. As you can tell from the posts, the Swytch gen 2 setup is not easy to update - especially now that it’s obsolete in Swytch’s eyes.

Thank you for the info.

I have DIY and soldering skills, but I've never rebuilt a battery pack, also I think the controller would need to be changed. Also I have a friend who is an electronic genius.

I can only say what I would personally do in your position if the battery pack is failing.

There are a number of pannier mounted battery packs on the market that provide 36v at really useful capacities. The controller from the swytch battery pack is useable, but will need mounting in the pannier somewhere (a lot of these pannier battery kits have a compartment for that). The black and red wire from the controller with the XT60 connector on it will be connected to your new battery. You’ll need an extension cable to connect the wheel to your new controller position, and ditto for your PAS. Your display from the swytch bag is useable, but the cable needs extending to the handlebars, and you’ll need some sort of handlebar clip to attach it rigidly to the handlebars. IIRC there are now two or three wires left over from the controller that probably perform some switch function, that you’ll need to understand so you can resolve them.

I can only say what I would personally do in your position if the battery pack is failing.

There are a number of pannier mounted battery packs on the market that provide 36v at really useful capacities. The controller from the swytch battery pack is useable, but will need mounting in the pannier somewhere (a lot of these pannier battery kits have a compartment for that). The black and red wire from the controller with the XT60 connector on it will be connected to your new battery. You’ll need an extension cable to connect the wheel to your new controller position, and ditto for your PAS. Your display from the swytch bag is useable, but the cable needs extending to the handlebars, and you’ll need some sort of handlebar clip to attach it rigidly to the handlebars. IIRC there are now two or three wires left over from the controller that probably perform some switch function, that you’ll need to understand so you can resolve them.

Thanks for the great information, I could probably identify the cables from the swytch controller, would these generic battery packs support the pedal assist sensor, and the accelerator handlebar switch ??, and do they come with the battery management circuit board ??

Thanks for the great information, I could probably identify the cables from the swytch controller, would these generic battery packs support the pedal assist sensor, and the accelerator handlebar switch ??, and do they come with the battery management circuit board ??

The battery pack will be self-contained with charger and bms integral to the pack. You only need to take the two wire output and join them to the controller (red and black). The battery pack’s only function is to provide your power. The pedal assist sensor is a three pin plug into the controller, which is 0v and 5v from the controller to the pas, and a signal wire back from the pas into the controller. The pas is just a hall-effect device giving an alternating signal as the magnets pass the sensor. Not sure what you mean by “accelerator handlebar switch”. Do you mean the display, or do you have a throttle of some sort? Either way, they would connect to the controller. I think the controller will have mainly the right connectors, but photograph the connectors when you remove the controller and we should be able to advise more then.

The picture is of what I believe a Gen 2 controller looks like, but I’ve not had my hands on one personally!

The controller in the Swytch pack uses YLS connectors for the display, PAS etc, these are smaller than the normal Julet type. Then a XT30 for the battery and 3 pin MR30 for the motor phases. These connectors then feed into the connector on the back of the pack.

 

The matching connector on the handlebars then converts these connections into the more normal Julet and motor connectors found on KT controllers etc. The exception is the brake sensors which are 4 pin blue Julet, KT setups tend to use 3 pin orange julet or two pin red Julet.

 

Getting Julet cables for extensions is easy enough, dont know where you get the YLS type.

Edited October 29, 20232 yr by StuartsProjects

This is where Rig the Gig’s technical guy will be needed - to basically engineer the removal of the gen 2 pack-to-handlebar connector. Should be fully achievable with additional wire, soldering and shrinksleeve.

The battery pack will be self-contained with charger and bms integral to the pack. You only need to take the two wire output and join them to the controller (red and black). The battery pack’s only function is to provide your power. The pedal assist sensor is a three pin plug into the controller, which is 0v and 5v from the controller to the pas, and a signal wire back from the pas into the controller. The pas is just a hall-effect device giving an alternating signal as the magnets pass the sensor. Not sure what you mean by “accelerator handlebar switch”. Do you mean the display, or do you have a throttle of some sort? Either way, they would connect to the controller. I think the controller will have mainly the right connectors, but photograph the connectors when you remove the controller and we should be able to advise more then.

\the accelerator is just a thumb throttle device.

I’ve been pondering this for a while as by brother has a gen 2 Swytch setup and both his battery packs are slowly failing.

There’s major sense ditching the gen 2 battery for a more generic one, but it potentially leaves you with an almost empty bag hanging on the handlebars that still houses the controller and display. A lot of battery panniers appear to have a controller box, so the controller could be reused, but you still would need a new display for your handlebars. It would be a nice thing to have a migration path for Swytch gen 2 owners to follow.

I am willing to be the guinea pig for this project, if you could recommend the battery, controller, and other bits I need, I am willing to have a go at completing the job. I want to get a 10 amp Hr battery or better, so the ball is in your court so to speak.