BMSBattery/ECityPower Experience

[miuan]

I've made 9 orders at BMS Battery so far. I've always chosen DHL, never got asked for extra payments. This may really have to do something with the way the shipping is calculated to some regions OR by some carriers. In any case, the way they communicate this, and other stuff too, is painful at times.
My other major supplier has been Cell_man. I've been waiting for my recent order for 2 weeks now, with no info on the progress or shipping note. But before it was all good, so I am not concerned. I wouldn't be concerned with BMS Battery either, it just often takes some time to get the bits you ordered.

 

[d8veh]

I wonder if the people getting shipping run-arounds are buying batteries or using one of the "expedited" shipping options? In those cases it may be tougher for the company to estimate shipping "incidentals" (i.e. bribe costs) at checkout time

I've had 11 orders with them worth about $3700 and three times they asked for extra shipping money when they were ready to ship of which I paid once. I think that this is very bad practice and it makes me angry so that I don't want to order from them again. Their shipping costs are high, but their stuff is cheap, so overall nothing to complain about in that respect. I've been very happy with everything they sent me except one time they sent me a non-disk motor when I specifically asked for a disk one, and they wouldn't do anything to help. I was able to sell-on the motor so I didn't really lose much. Greenbikekit.com offers the same suff, but their shipping costs are less - by a lot, so I will probably try them next time.

There are better suppliers with better back-up, but I reckon that I've saved more than $1000 (maybe $2000) by using BMBBattery instead of those recommended despite everything. I wouldn't specifically recommend BMSBattery, but I give my facts so that people can make a choice. I've never heard of any total disasters from them. It's mainly a bit of inconvenience.

 

[pdf]

Some people think our votes in elections are our power.
I think our power is in how we spend our money.
Voting with our money.
Sending money or our votes to companies like BMS Battery sends the message that we are voting for this kind of service and that is what we will fall for.
Low priced goods and high priced shipping is a big clue that the company is not on the up and up.
Found this out on eBay. A common trick.
So far my best ebike deals have been from Craigslist and members of this forum in the USA.
Posts swooning over Hobby King batteries and cheap chargers and the such is like writing "Mark" on your forehead.

I think there is a lot of truth in this, voting with your wallet. I bought from BMS Battery because someone on here recommended them to me in an earlier thread (last year) when I originally considered purchasing a high voltage charger for my 18s pack. I was lazy and did not want to figure out how to configure a charger or series of chargers for myself and I went with the only 72 (nom., actually more like 75v) volt charger I could find. I was not clear how different chargers functioned and if they terminated themselves or if they just kept the voltage at 75v while the current dropped to zero or what. I am not using an onboard BMS with this pack so there is nothing to keep it from overcharging if not done correctly. I understood that some people put two chargers in series (or are they power supplies and what is the difference?) but then there were discussions of isolated vs non-isolated outputs and the dangers of one or the other and....

Anyway, in the end I did not want to create another "Project"; I just wanted to charge my dang battery. I have a charger that "looks" the same for my other battery (a 36V) with a handy red and green light to tell me when it is done. I assumed (and I have no reason to do so) that since the charger I ordered from BMSbattery "looks" the same, it will be as useful. I know, it is scandalous. But sometimes, you just want to charge your danged battery and not take a course in battery charging and charger construction. If someone could enlighten me about chargers, that might be helpful. Problem was, I have a high voltage pack made from connecting three 6s packs. I got a hobby charger that will charge 6s and I currently take the pack apart to charge it in parallel and then occasionally check the balance on each cell (by the way, to date it has never been out of balance). I got tired of this, and here I am, waiting on a charger that, perhaps, is destined to let out its magic smoke on first use. If I had it to do over again, I think I would recommend picking a motor/battery/controller combination that would allow the same performance at a lower voltage/higher amperage. I have a 2810 running on 72v and I really like the efficiency and low current in hill climbing. The only drawback has been configuring for charging.

For the record, I am somewhat ashamed of paying $120 for a pair of fake Australian (well actually Chinese) boots and then another $200 for the original Australian (well actually Chinese) boots. So sue me; I am a sucker for my doe-eyed daughter.

 

[Jeremy Harris]

My take on this is that forewarned is forearmed. If people know what they are getting into by dealing with a particular company, or by choosing to buy a particular product, then that's perfectly OK. it's about enabling informed choice, not dictating who to do business with.

In this case I knew BMS Battery had poor communications skills, and knew they were well known for being slow. I also suspected that they might not always deliver the right item. There wasn't much I could do about the lack of speed and the poor communications, I accepted those when I chose to do business with them. TBH, I only decided to deal with them because I wanted a code 8 BPM, and no one else seems to stock them. To try and alleviate the "not getting what you ordered" problem I double checked the motor type with them, and received a clear assurance that it was as described. That was backed up by another forum member who'd received three of the same motor from them recently.

What I wasn't expecting was the extra shipping charge run around, neither was I really prepared for them to be so slow to dispatch - I'd thought it might take a week or so for them to send it out, not nearly three weeks.

I guess this thread was as much about me venting frustration as anything else, if it helps inform others in a balanced way then that's maybe not a bad thing either.

 

[etriker]

My take on this is that forewarned is forearmed. If people know what they are getting into by dealing with a particular company, or by choosing to buy a particular product, then that's perfectly OK. it's about enabling informed choice, not dictating who to do business with.

In this case I knew BMS Battery had poor communications skills, and knew they were well known for being slow. I also suspected that they might not always deliver the right item. There wasn't much I could do about the lack of speed and the poor communications, I accepted those when I chose to do business with them. TBH, I only decided to deal with them because I wanted a code 8 BPM, and no one else seems to stock them. To try and alleviate the "not getting what you ordered" problem I double checked the motor type with them, and received a clear assurance that it was as described. That was backed up by another forum member who'd received three of the same motor from them recently.

What I wasn't expecting was the extra shipping charge run around, neither was I really prepared for them to be so slow to dispatch - I'd thought it might take a week or so for them to send it out, not nearly three weeks.

I guess this thread was as much about me venting frustration as anything else, if it helps inform others in a balanced way then that's maybe not a bad thing either.

It's good feedback. Thanks for letting us know.

 

[cal3thousand]

Looks like hit or miss, with this company. They are not outright thieves, but some of their practices leave a bit to be desired.

I, too, had issues with their shipping rates. But this just lead me to wait for a larger order to place along with the charger that I needed. It took an agonizing 3 weeks before they even shipped it out. This was after several communications with them asking for the whereabouts of my charger.

In the end, I received the products as advertised, but not without much waiting and uncertainty. I've used the charger a couple times now, and it has worked just fine so far. I guess time will tell...

 

[jbond]

If not BMS, then who? Is there a reliable and sensibly priced alternative for things like Bafang hubs either in Europe or that ships reliably to Europe?

 

[Jeremy Harris]

If not BMS, then who? Is there a reliable and sensibly priced alternative for things like Bafang hubs either in Europe or that ships reliably to Europe?

Unfortunately not, as far as I've been able to find out, which is why I (reluctantly) decided to buy from them.

 

[NeilP]

This has all come as a surprise to me,

I have now bought 4 chargers from them, a 2kW, a 250, a 350 and a 500 I think, they ahve all bee here within the time frame I expected, within a month or so, OK a bit pricey shipping, but no other issues.

When ever I have sent them an e-mail asking technical questions about which pot does what inside the chargers, have always received a slow but accurate response.

 

[RC Extreme Power]

I am new to the forums and to E-bikes, But not new to dealing with China and getting products shipped to me.

I get about 3-4 shipments a month from China for products I sell on my RC airplane engine site and they are all shipped by DHL.

Most of the orders I get in about 4-5 work day's at better than half what BMS shows for shipping cost.

One engine company I deal with say's that once you go over a certain size and weight they get a discount on shipping.

I can get a 20 lb box shipped to me for right at $100.00 by DHL.

I went to there site and was going to order some products until I seen the outrageous shipping charges.

Milton
Milton@rcextremepower.com

 

[Alan B]

I ordered two of the alloy chargers for 18S lipo, a 200W and a 400W unit. Shipping was crazy expensive, but the charger cost was low, and I knew the risks. They came quickly and have worked so far. I have used the 400W many times and the 200W unit a few times. My understanding from other ES threads is that the chargers are really pushing their components. Many of them are bad out of the box and many fail later on. I don't know the percentages, but there are plenty of stories here on ES. Mine are doing well and hopefully will continue to.

Good luck with your order Jeremy,

 

[d8veh]

If not BMS, then who? Is there a reliable and sensibly priced alternative for things like Bafang hubs either in Europe or that ships reliably to Europe?

www.greenbikekit.com
They have exactly the same stuff at the same prices, but their shipping costs seem to be less. I'm not sure if someone defected from BMSBattery to start in competition with them or if there is some other link. I''ll try them next time to see what they''re like.

 

[Kiwi]

I ordered some rack batteries from BMS, the batteries turned up in about 5 days, but no racks. When I asked, where are the racks, they said, they did not account for the freight costs for the racks. They offered to credit me the cost of the racks on my next order.

Now they have offered to send the racks with the next order, but took some convincing.

 

[miuan]

That was backed up by another forum member who'd received three of the same motor from them recently.

Yeah I did and they run fantastic, although a bit hotter compared to code 11 at the same speed. Sadly, one of the freewheel threads broke off. BMSBattery replied to my claim promptly and said they have some covers for BPM, so hopefully they can offer the correct cover as a spare. Luckily I bought a spare motor.

 

[sacko]

Had a really good experience with them to be honest.

I wanted a couple of controllers and TA's added to my order, they did with no charges.

Order was ready within 2 weeks, and the 3rd week was in transit.

The only slight issue is that I asked for the KU123, instead I got the KU120, which has slightly less features.

Either way, im happy with my purchase and would find it difficult to find the products I have for under £200 delivered anywhere else.

 

[auraslip]

Got my charger from them in 2 weeks. 6 months later with it ON THE BIKE the charger still works fine.

Compare that to my first experience with them where they set on an order of batteries for two months, and I had to call paypal to get a refund. At least they refunded the money in the same day.

It seems they do somethings well, but others not.

Are people having troubles with their chargers?

 

[amberwolf]

Soemtimes, yes--see the recent thread(s?) about at least a couple of models, whcih appear to be rated for higher than they can actually deliver, and/or are not built with sufficiently spec'd components, among other things. (I think previous posts in this thread also reference this).

 

[Jeremy Harris]

An update.

BMS finally said they'd shipped my order last Friday (17th August), they updated the order status on their website to "shipped" and emailed me a tracking number.

Guess what? Fedex have no record of that tracking number, even now, nearly a week after it was supposedly shipped.

Did they really ship it? Will I actually receive something eventually?

Who knows..............


EDIT:
OK, I have to sort of eat those words, as a couple of hours after posting this the Fedex van has just turned up, even though there's no indication of the package having been tracked. The order is all there, except the motor isn't the Code 8 one that I ordered and double checked, it's a useless (to me) Code 10 one.

The rest of the order is fine, but I'm now back to square one when trying to source a Code 8 BPM rear motor.

 

[Alan B]

What's next, open a PayPal dispute?

 

[cwah]

as a couple of hours after posting this the Fedex van has just turned up, even though there's no indication of the package having been tracked. The order is all there, except the motor isn't the Code 8 one that I ordered and double checked, it's a useless (to me) Code 10 one.

The rest of the order is fine, but I'm now back to square one when trying to source a Code 8 BPM rear motor.

My order is going to ship now. (status is : "QC OK GO")

If you want I can send them a quick mail to ask them to add an 8T motor to my parcel.

Also, I was thinking about potentially add more torque to my brompton. I have an 8T mac and it's not that torquy and it's also a bit noisy due to steel gears. I can go up to 100V with my lipo and controller to reach the desired speed (30 mph). If it would be reliable with this setup I can potentially buy this code 10 BPM from you.

 

[Jeremy Harris]

Thanks for the kind offer of adding it to your order, but I suspect there's just no way of being sure they wouldn't just ship another Code 10. I don't think they really know what it is they are doing, TBH, and will just ship something that looks the right sort of shape! It might just be a language problem, though, especially if they are translating on line.

The code 10 has a Kv of about 9.1 rpm/V I think, whereas the code 8 is about 10.9 rpm/V. BMS don't seem to understand the code numbers (which are the number of turns) and just seem to go by the marked voltage on the motor. The choices for the 36V 500W BPM were either 393 rpm at 36 V (which should be a Code 8 ) or 201 rpm at 36 V (which I think is something like a Code 15 by my calcs). Code 10 should be around 312rpm at 36 V, which fits with the information that Greenbikekit have on their website.

 

[Jeremy Harris]

What's next, open a PayPal dispute?

Not much point, really, Alan, as they'll just argue that I should send it back (at my cost) for exchange (with me paying another hefty shipping bill). None of these Chinese companies ever seem to agree to pay for shipping, even when something is clearly their error.

 

[The fingers]

Convince Isreal to nuke the Chinese to accelerate the prophetic timeline bringing impending world doom! :lol:

 

[GCinDC]

my experience: i got a 600W charger two years ago that lasted for a year or so. i just bought the much larger 900W model and it's been ok so far. didn't expect it to arrive sooner than a month so not surprised. funny request too.

June 11: I placed order for 900W charger ($88 + 77 shipping)
June 19: email from BMSbattery: "We are going to send out your order, but inside your parcel there is a cable for our another customer in USA . Then I will give his name and contact number to you ,OK ?" I wrote back, "Ok..." lol
July 4: email from BMSBattery w/ tracking. Parcel shipped.
July 12: Parcel arrived
Met up w/ local dude later to give him his cable.

 

[www.recumbents.com]

My 49V 600W charger is working fine, but I had to replace the fuse holder because it was flaky junk and power cord because it was made with some super stiff plastic - probably a reject from somewhere else.

I had the same issue with really bad communication and them saying it had shipped and providing a tracking number but the tracking site had no record of the shipment.

-Warren.