Currie Ezip power erratic Now.

[slickdude]

I noticed as I began throttling it up as usual. The power started skipping all over the place and it is skipping or stuttering in power flashing between green, yel;low and red. Power surges one moment, off the next then back on again while I hold the twist throttle. The batteries are about a year old sla's.

If I get a LifePO4 battery pack for it, I have seen the tie-in wiring job. Seems pretty simple but I do worry about the battery catching fire as I garage the bike at night. Have considered the Ping LifePO4 battery maybe 36volt and longer amp hours for range. Is the sputtering power a sign my battery is dying out? Thanks all.

PS, the Pedal assist never worked on this bike from the getgo. Also I discovered if I put the sla pack on the left side and flip the switch there is no power to the left side, only the right side.

 

[slickdude]

It is a constant hesitancy on the bike's part with the throttle sometimes steady other times not. I also noticed when I hit bumps and the battery in the holder bounces a bit the connection is interrupted. I am wondering if it might just be a terminal the batt sits on. Or the throttle maybe wearing after about a year. Throttle looks good though, cables alright still.

 

[grinningremlin]

Howdy,
Never worked with ebikes, but have with RC aircraft, are you in a high humidity or near the ocean area?What your problem sounds like to me is corrosion on the contacts, which causes bizarre behavior in most electronics.If you have access to the service manual see if there are any place where it suggests contact cleaner, if you are on your own, I would unplug/plug everything you can (a simple clean) and look for signs of corrosion on the pins (if you're near the ocean it will probably look like blue/green fuzz/dust).Your throttles contact is going to be a thing piece of copper foil so be careful if you decide to scour it.
Lipos are great if you live in a wet area and store them in a fire safe bag EVERY NIGHT, I can't ever see going from glow fuel to lipos, I live in the desert and have the stories of the peoples cars burning down because they left a lipo charging while they were flying, wet fuel needs a spark, lipos need a dirty look to blow.

 

[slickdude]

Thanks, found the issue late yesterday. It is the mount the battery sits on. Also the key lock screws got a bit loose from all the bouncy riding. I switched the battery to the left side mount (snug fit) and it works like new. So what it is, the springs that support the base contacts have become weakened. I will take that mount apart and check it out. I have heard the fire issues are only when charging actually and that newer LifePO4 batteries have been stabalized. Many folks have them, few seem to have issues. I have considered the Ping battery which seems to have an overall approval from other ebike users.

 

[slickdude]

Appended today. Took apart right mount. The connector in it has a loop. That loop broke in half. But I have decided to sacrifice that mount and wired two longer wired leads to set up for a Ping Battery. Probably will try out a LifePO4 15ah battery at 36volts.

My understanding is that the newer Currie motors can handle the 36volts without issues, older motors though were stuck at 24volts. I am going to crack the motor cover to add more grease inside as it is somewhat noisy. I'll post my Ping adventures as I go along.

 

[slickdude]

Other way around. Newer motors like mine stuck at 24 volts, it is the older motors that currie had that could handle higher voltages. A shame really. This forces me to an alternate system on the bike.