eBike battery won't charge (3 Viewers)

[MattR]

Hi,
I have a 36v 8.8Ah/316Wh battery that isn't charging. I used it frequently last summer and have had it in store since then. I think that I charged it at Xmas time even though the lights on the battery suggested it was still fully charged. Now the lights show it at 20% and it won't charge. I can't recall if I've had it at 20% before and have not checked the voltage from it yet. The bike control panel doesn't come on now either.

When I have had car batteries that have dropped too low to charge with a normal charger, I've used a pulse charger to start the process and it then reverts to a normal charge.

If I cut the charger wire of the charger and connected it to the vehicle charger with pulse function to get it to start charging and then continued with the original charger, am I likely to cause a dangerous situation? Is it likely to get it back to a chargeable state?

Thank you

 

[CAB96]

What voltage does the charger provide?

Have you tried using it for a bit to jog the battery in to life?

 

[Pausim]

I am no expert but I wouldn’t muck about with a pulse charger on an e bike battery. Bike batteries are likely to be one of the lithium types capable of thermal runaway.

 

[suavecarve]

I have no idea either but .......................... when my drone battery hadnt been used for a while I had to buy a specific connection to get the charging process working again.

Whether that is the same or not I have no idea

 

[Carpmart]

What’s the voltage showing on the battery terminals with a volt meter?

If low, I’d connect it with a charger that can bump up the voltage first in the wrong profile, like non lithium, Pb would work, then switch back to your normal charging method.

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[Pausim]

What’s the voltage showing on the battery terminals with a volt meter?

If low, I’d connect it with a charger that can bump up the voltage first in the wrong profile, like non lithium, Pb would work, then switch back to your normal charging method.

Would a 12V Pb charger even register on a 36V battery? It doesn’t sound right to me.

 

[Ridgeway]

Are you sure the charger is working correctly ? Any way to test either another battery or another charger to see where the issue is ?

 

[TheBig1]

it is highly likely one or more of the batteries internal to the battery pack has died and the internal battery protection circuit has triggered, preventing charging. A very common fault, and the battery needs refurbishing or just replacing. Don't attempt to force a charge in

 

[Carpmart]

Would a 12V Pb charger even register on a 36V battery? It doesn’t sound right to me.

Good point.. I forget myself sometimes…

I have an iCharger which is for the serious hobbyist market and allows complete configuration of charging parameters, how many C charge rate, voltage, Amps, battery chemistry etc

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[MattR]

Are you sure the charger is working correctly ? Any way to test either another battery or another charger to see where the issue is ?

The charger is outputting 40v - the label states 42 v

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[MattR]

What’s the voltage showing on the battery terminals with a volt meter?

If low, I’d connect it with a charger that can bump up the voltage first in the wrong profile, like non lithium, Pb would work, then switch back to your normal charging method.

The battery starts at 3v and drops to 1v quickly.

 

[MattR]

it is highly likely one or more of the batteries internal to the battery pack has died and the internal battery protection circuit has triggered, preventing charging. A very common fault, and the battery needs refurbishing or just replacing. Don't attempt to force a charge in

Is that likely to have been caused by lack of use / charging or age? I'm guessing the battery is approx 8 years old.

 

[Spriddler]

I can't recall if I've had it at 20% before and have not checked the voltage from it yet.

I reckon that if your 36v lithium battery shows more than 12v then a 12v car charger won't be able to put anything into it anyway.

 

[TheBig1]

Is that likely to have been caused by lack of use / charging or age? I'm guessing the battery is approx 8 years old.

The batteries have a service life dependant on which manufacturer. After 5 years it is just chance which fails first.

Yes you can replace the cells in some battery packs. Never be tempted to do just the failed one as they tend to fail again and again and can kill the new batteries.

Often see this after leaving them dormant for a few months and the protection circuit kicks in at the first charge cycle.

What I hate is some manufacturers make the protection circuit to fail killing the charging chip, which usually has the markings sanded off to prevent replacement

 

[Tykatem]

Beware of cheap Chinese E-bike batteries.

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[cyberyacht]

I've had our e-bike batteries refuse to charge. I've managed a workaround by using the supplied charger but connecting a couple of wires with plastic tape and a crocodile clip and using the bare ends to attach to the + and - prongs that connect to the bike socket. A short while 20-30 mins is usually sufficient to then enable normal charging. Needless to say, do not leave unattended for too long in case of problems. I do mine in the garage close to the door so that it can be evicted quickly ICON.