iMortor / UrbanX External Battery

Hello,

I am soon purchasing a used UrbanX/iMortor for a low price. Should work fine, but the problem I'm aware of will be the lack of range due to the small battery.

https://www.imortor.org/product/imortor-700c-smart-electric-front-bicycle-wheel/

The specs of the iMortor / UrbanX Battery:

"Lithium Ion Battery (Manufacturer TBD - Panasonic or Sanyo or LG) – 36V, 3500mAH, 126WH
Additionally, the 36V, 3500mAh & 126Wh lithium ion battery pack is rated at 125Wh and meets the International Aviation Transportation Association requirements allowing it onboard flights should you travel"

These videos demonstrate it can be connected it to an external battery:

https://youtu.be/hm_MdHxx15g?t=244

Comments mention "xt30 connector" and "36 volt or 46 volt battery".

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h0TsGYVKYv0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9-8tPqvDs4

If this is possible, any suggestion on what kind of connector + cable + external battery combination I should consider?

Thank you.

The first video's maker wrote that an XT30 connector charging cable from Banggood can be used to connect an external battery to the wheel but you could just make your own cable instead. You can buy XT30 connectors from eBay or Amazon.

The third video by Marco Reps is real good. He opens up the in-wheel battery pack so you see there are ten 18650 cells (10S) inside. Also shows the controller cutting off power at 44V when he tries to raise the voltage. So you'll want a higher-capacity 10S external pack. Someone will suggest a good place to buy one. You can run more than 36V but you'll have to use a different controller like he did.

Got the system, all up and running.

My problem is the battery gets in the way of forks. My choice is to either saw off some eyelets (not desirable) or get an extension cable for the hub where the battery normally goes.

Can you recommend an extension cable with plugs for these connections?

Attaching pictures of the connectors:

Charger:

View attachment 2

Battery:



Motor HUB:



Thank you.

There might not be a ready-made XT30 cable in the length you want. Looks like most XT30 charge cables are 12" long. So get one of these, some wire, & make a cable in the length you want.

https://www.amazon.com/Female-Connector-150mm-Silicone-Battery/dp/B073WWWMQP
https://www.amazon.com/pairs-Female-Connector-silicone-Battery/dp/B077P9J8W2

Hi all!

I'm having an issue with the iMortor's battery from my wife's bike.
She had a flat tyre just before the lockdown so I now replaced it, however the battery stopped working when she wanted to try it.

I checked the voltages:
Adapter out: 42V
Battery out: 17V

I assume this indicates that it has something to do with the chargecontroller.

Also the USB-port doesn't output any power at 5V when the battery is disconnected, when it's connected to the adapter it works fine...

I'm not really familiar with this stuff but i'd like to know if it'd be possible to fix this issue as spare batteries are very hard to find for this system...

Thanks in advance!

This means the battery's BMS has shut off the battery to protect it from overdischarge.

For instance, the bike may have been left on, draining the battery till the BMS shut it off, and then the BMS itself (which is powered from the cells) continued to drain it further, so now it is past the point it can be recharged.

You can open up the battery to measure the individual cells at the wires that go to the BMS, to see how far drained they are. If it is not too bad, just one or a few a little low, you may be able to recharge them individually to the point the BMS turns on and the charger can take over.

If they're all just a little low, about the same as each other, you may be able to connect the charger to the *output* port (may require some alligator clip leads or similar) to bring it up just enough to let the BMS turn on and then use the charger normally.

You do not want to charge very much this way, because the BMS cannot protect against overcharge this way.

You also do not want to charge this way without first checking the cell voltages, because if they discharged too far, they could be damaged in a way that leaves them vulnerable to starting a fire. (not a likely scenario, but it happens, and when it does happen there's not really much you can do to stop it, and it can be a BIG fire).

That Marco Rep Youtube video link sbturtle posted shows how to access the BMS and batteries at 6:41.

amberwolf said:

This means the battery's BMS has shut off the battery to protect it from overdischarge.

For instance, the bike may have been left on, draining the battery till the BMS shut it off, and then the BMS itself (which is powered from the cells) continued to drain it further, so now it is past the point it can be recharged.

You can open up the battery to measure the individual cells at the wires that go to the BMS, to see how far drained they are. If it is not too bad, just one or a few a little low, you may be able to recharge them individually to the point the BMS turns on and the charger can take over.

If they're all just a little low, about the same as each other, you may be able to connect the charger to the *output* port (may require some alligator clip leads or similar) to bring it up just enough to let the BMS turn on and then use the charger normally.

You do not want to charge very much this way, because the BMS cannot protect against overcharge this way.

You also do not want to charge this way without first checking the cell voltages, because if they discharged too far, they could be damaged in a way that leaves them vulnerable to starting a fire. (not a likely scenario, but it happens, and when it does happen there's not really much you can do to stop it, and it can be a BIG fire).

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! As I don’t really have any experience with this I think it’d be best to find someone who can do this for me. I’m not really into starting uncontrolled fires

amberwolf said:

This means the battery's BMS has shut off the battery to protect it from overdischarge.

For instance, the bike may have been left on, draining the battery till the BMS shut it off, and then the BMS itself (which is powered from the cells) continued to drain it further, so now it is past the point it can be recharged.

You can open up the battery to measure the individual cells at the wires that go to the BMS, to see how far drained they are. If it is not too bad, just one or a few a little low, you may be able to recharge them individually to the point the BMS turns on and the charger can take over.

If they're all just a little low, about the same as each other, you may be able to connect the charger to the *output* port (may require some alligator clip leads or similar) to bring it up just enough to let the BMS turn on and then use the charger normally.

You do not want to charge very much this way, because the BMS cannot protect against overcharge this way.

You also do not want to charge this way without first checking the cell voltages, because if they discharged too far, they could be damaged in a way that leaves them vulnerable to starting a fire. (not a likely scenario, but it happens, and when it does happen there's not really much you can do to stop it, and it can be a BIG fire).

Click to expand...

Probably a stupid question but wouldn't it be possible to just give the BMS some power so it could do it's work charging the batteries?
I don't have the tools nor the knowledge to disconnect all the cells, charge them separately and reassemble everything afterwards...

Then you need to fix that, or pay somebody else to do it for you.

kimme1024 said:

wouldn't it be possible to just give the BMS some power so it could do it's work charging the batteries

Click to expand...

The BMS does not charge.

It is doing its job, protecting the pack, and you, by preventing charging while an unsafe condition exists.

kimme1024 said:

Probably a stupid question but wouldn't it be possible to just give the BMS some power so it could do it's work charging the batteries?

Click to expand...

I don't understand the question.

The problem isn't whether the BMS has power.

The problem is whether the cells are too far discharged to be safe to recharge.

The BMS is there to protect the cells against overdischarge and overcharge, and to protect you against the things that can happen if they *do* get overdischarged anyway, to keep them from being recharged and starting a fire/etc.

Sometimes this doesn't work, defective BMS, wiring, user-intervention, etc., and then fires happen. You can look around the forum (or the internet in general) for battery fires and see the results, if you're curious. Not all that common, but can be disastrous when they do happen.

I don't have the tools nor the knowledge to disconnect all the cells, charge them separately and reassemble everything afterwards...

Click to expand...

It's not necessary to disconnect anything. But you do have to open up the pack and measure things first, to know if you need to do any of this, or if it will be safe to do so.

For instance, if you measure cells and find out they're at 0V, you don't want to recharge those.

If you measure the cells and find they're all at normal voltages, then something else is wrong, like broken sense wires to the BMS, or simply defective BMS.

But you have to measure to find out which is the case. If you can't measure the cells, or find anyone that can do this for you, you're probably safer replacing the battery pack entirely.

If you're willing to try measuring them, it's something we can help you figure out, but you'll have to respond with complete detail to questions we ask, and be willing to post pictures of specific things as you go so we can see stuff to tell you what to do and where to measure.