Old GM 36v 10ah Lifepo4 battery died.

[muzza.au]

G'day all,

I have the old GM 36v 10ah Lifepo4 battery pack as can be seen on the following picture. I couldn't find a close up picture of it. Its the one that has the charger with the 12 leds on it that light up when all cells are charged.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I noticed that one of the leds would light up imediately when I plugged the charger in. I wasn't sure if it was the charger or the battery. I didn't have time to check it so I kept using it. I did notice the power seemed to be less. Then one day last week after my commute to the station I noticed a liquid seeping from my battery. It smelt real bad and was sticky. I think and I hope that Lifepo4's are not toxic, even so I had a head ache from the smell afterwoods. So much for Lifepo4's lasting longer than SLA's, just over 1.5 years. It was good while it lasted. That was the last piece of GM product I currently use and now the link is broken. 

In the process of building a new battery from spare cells I already have that I was going to use on another project.

Muzza.au

[Leslie]

Well my 24ah sla lasts about 8mths. which has about 2 times the capacity of a 10ah lithium.  In comparison I would need a 50ah and use 25% dod to get 18mths usage.

But!

A 12ah SLA would be lucky last me about 2 mths before I wanted to throw it, actually one set of 17ah SLA's lasted 3 weeks.

1.5 years = 18mths.

18mths for 10ah lithium/2mths for 12ah SLA = 9X better than SLA.

The only thing that would alter this equation would be if you didnt ride your bike as hard as me, and this I doubt.

How deep would you discharge your pack and how often?

[Sangesf]

At least you got 18 months out of it....
I only got 14 months (barely) before my wheel from golden motor died.
12 mo warranty and 2 months after that I'm left with a $350 useless piece of junk.
 

[Leslie]

At least you got 18 months out of it....
I only got 14 months (barely) before my wheel from golden motor died.
12 mo warranty and 2 months after that I'm left with a $350 useless piece of junk.
 

If your car needed a new fan belt after 14mths would you throw it away and write it off as a piece of junk.  Would just about anyone be able to fix it?

Look around, plenty of other hubs, controllers, and hall sensors fail.

This is what I call the second owner of a pet effect.
A person gets a dog, and trains it. For the masters effort the pet often isnt appreciative.  The owner gets sick of the pet and passes it on to a new owner in which the pet retains it previous training but prefers the new master over the last.

This is why I like cats, as you don't need to train them near as much as a dog.

If this doesn't make sense.  As put my fingers to the keyboard, for some people, I consider why the EV industry is taking so long to catch on.

[Leslie]

And!

If you bought a new imported car and the wheel bearing failed 2 mths out of warranty, would you expect the factory to pay to have the whole car shipped for a replacement bearing and expect the company foot the cost of shipping back too?

Or

Would you ask them to send you a replacement and get a jack and do it yourself?

The second choice may have you get the replacement for free. 

And what would one believe the first choice would get you? 

[muzza.au]

The only thing that would alter this equation would be if you didnt ride your bike as hard as me, and this I doubt.

How deep would you discharge your pack and how often?

My riding habits have been the same since I got it, 5k a day, therefore 25k a week. At first I was only charging it once a week and this was for about half the life. Then I got a 2nd 24v lifepo4 pack to take me to 60v. I think this extra power and speed made me pedal less, too quick most of the time, therefore I was using more power so I then had to charge twice a week for the last half of its life. Also the initial 24v pack I had was 2nd hand and it died a few months ago, so when I replaced it with a new one, it being newer may have overpowered the older 36v pack and caused it to drain too much (it didn't have a bms).

Muzza.

[Leslie]

G'day all,
 It was good while it lasted. That was the last piece of GM product I currently use and now the link is broken. 

In the process of building a new battery from spare cells I already have that I was going to use on another project.

Muzza.au

This doesn't mean we wont be seeing you any more?

Your interaction has been much appreciated by myself.

Thank you!

[Leslie]

The only thing that would alter this equation would be if you didnt ride your bike as hard as me, and this I doubt.

How deep would you discharge your pack and how often?

My riding habits have been the same since I got it, 5k a day, therefore 25k a week.

So when I replaced it with a new one, it being newer may have overpowered the older 36v pack and caused it to drain too much (it didn't have a bms).

Muzza.

Ouch it should of lived longer than that.

Explains the oozing, Poor lil GM pack,  I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did. 

[muzza.au]

G'day all,
 It was good while it lasted. That was the last piece of GM product I currently use and now the link is broken. 

In the process of building a new battery from spare cells I already have that I was going to use on another project.

Muzza.au

This doesn't mean we wont be seeing you any more?

Your interaction has been much appreciated by myself.

Thank you!

No I'll still be around. I love all the discussions and how we all help each other solve problems. I've learnt so much myself just by participating here.

Muzza.au

ps. I still may buy something from GM in the future, they are very inovative and relatively economical.

[Leslie]

The new batteries seem to be holding up nice.

I wouldn't endorse buying one as I wish to appear unbiased and stuff. But I'm going for a 16ah one for my daughters build. And "If" I do this rewind I will rewind for 72v  I might get another two.

I want the Magic Pie too.

[muzza.au]

Well if my current battery rebuild doesn't work, its a mixture of different cells, some newer, some older, but all 10ah, I'll have to consider a new GM pack or 2. My guess is it will die like the other one. But its all I've got at the moment. I think I would go for 72v also. At 60v my bike flies, at 72v it would be almost lethal, so I will have to be more gentle on the throttle.

Muzza.au

ps. I just had a look at the batteries on the GM site and I had a good idea. For people who want more than one battery, it would be good to have an adapter to let you slide on the 2nd battery on top of the first battery.

[GM Brazil]

ps. I just had a look at the batteries on the GM site and I had a good idea. For people who want more than one battery, it would be good to have an adapter to let you slide on the 2nd battery on top of the first battery.

Nice idea! I was thinking about a rack that have two batteries, one each side, and the top can be used for other things! Should be the type that is fixed at the bike axle, because of the weight.

[muzza.au]

Well if my current battery rebuild doesn't work,

Well, it didn't work, some of the cells must be no good. It appeared to produce the required voltage, but when hooked up, it just doesn't work. Maybe the bms senses a faulty cell and shuts down.

Looks like I'll be buying a new battery, a complete one that already works. I spent too much time this weekend building it up and trying to get it working when I could have done alot of thing around the house that needs to be done. Such is life!

Muzza.au

[GoldenMotor]

First of all, how did you know that we were developing a dual battery rack???
Since the cat is out of the bag, you guys were probably wondering why we came up with the Dual Drive.
The battery won't last anyway, unless you have 2 batteries connected in SERIES, giving you a total of 96Volts, which does not exceed the limit of the Magic Pie 2.
Although it may be fun and exciting to ride an electric bike at 50MPH, but safety first always.

[Sangesf]

how about giving a loyal customer a break and giving me a deal on returning my USELESS 14mo old motor to you for a credit towards a new motor/wheel....
You could always fix the motor and resell it.