first post: uk headway supplier

[robbo1972]

Hi All,
I have been looking on the forum for the last couple of months as I have just got an electric bike kit for commuting to work to enable me and the wife to dump one of the cars with the rising cost of fuel and insurance etc. What I have bought and bare with me is a currie electro drive. It was bought with the intention only to see if I could hack the 8 mile each way commute and it has done its job! . Right now what I need is a better battery as sla as you all know is pants. I have looked everywhere for a lifepo4 battery at a reasonable price with no joy (including ping with the chance of having to pay duty etc). So with my love of tinkering and building stuff have come to the conclusion that building a 16ah battery with headway cells and a 60a BMS is what I would like to do! Now the hard part is finding a supplier in the uk. I have found a website/supplier called eclipsebikes and their prices definately look reasonable but unfortunately I have not had a reply from 2 emails stating that I was interested in buying some kit from them. Alarm bells say walk away and find somone who really wants some business.
Does anyone have any ideas for me? (lipos sound cool but not at the moment, maybe when I upgrade to a decent hub motor).

kind regards Rob

 

[amberwolf]

THere are several threads, some recent, discussing possible headway suppliers. SOme of their discussion might be helpful to you.

 

[robbo1972]

Hi amberwolf, thanks for your reply.
I have been trawling through the previous topics for the last few weeks but cannot find anything but ping etc imported to the uk. The trouble with that is if the post office stop the battery i could then end up with a large duty bill which then makes the price ott. I have been trying to find a uk supplier of headways as the c rating on those look really good for when I then go to the next stage and get a decent hub motor.

 

[Dingo2024]

Hi Rob,

I can definately recommend Eclipse bikes in the UK; I bought my cyclone kit and some other bits from them and have met with the owner (Rob) at his house (just outside of Newcastle) to exchange a controller. He had loads of Headway cells and other stuff there in stock, also nice guy to deal with.

hope this helps,


Ian

 

[robbo1972]

Thanks a bunch Ian,
i was beginning to feel a bit of an 'outcast' without any replies but I guess being on a US forum I shouldn't really expect too much response as a Brit. I think I will bite the bullet and put an order in. I will follow up with my experience. kind regards rob

 

[El Duderino]

Hi,

just another mention for eclipse. Good people, good comms for me (both before and after ordering).

I didnt buy batteries from them, preferring to go with prismatics from overseas. Didnt have any issues with duty and shipping wasnt very long.

See Dingo's build for supplier. He was fantastic to deal with.

Cheers,
chris

edit: there is a supplier of a123 in the uk, but the link is on my work machine. I can dig it out tomorrow if you're interested.

c
e

 

[billsy]

Welcome Robbo

I recently bought a second set of headways from bmsbattery in china. The 16ah cells are currently £7 per cell cheaper than eclipse . I paid £60 for shipping and £20 import duty. it's worth a look unless your only buying a few cells. Shipping takes about 3 weeks at that price tho

 

[robbo1972]

Thanks guys,
looks like I have missed out with eclipse as he is down to 5 16ah cells left and I was waiting till I had funds in my bank this weekend coming. Billsy the bmsbattery site looks well priced and I wasn't sure what the import duty would be, What amount did you only have to pay £20 on? 3 weeks delivery sounds ok as I was thinking it would take far longer than that. Looks like I might have to take the plunge with them. . unless I can find out that eclipse have some more cells coming in the near future as he sounds like a decent fella to deal with.

 

[billsy]

Robbo

My order value was £204 plus the £60 shipping. I didn't pay any duty last time. Just lucky that time i guess.

Roll the dice mate

 

[robbo1972]

Finally took the plunge from eclipse bikes and settled for 16 no. 10ah batteries (his last cells in stock) to produce a 8s2p pack. will now have to get a bms and not really knowing that much about them will probably buy the one from eclipse too with the charger + all the bits and bobs required. so happy bunny now but will be happier when its built

 

[robbo1972]

just thought I would post some pictures up of my new battery. The service from eclipse was first class and all is working great. Now with 20mph top speed I am thinking of getting a 48v bms and connecting all of the cells in series for 48v and get myself a mac or similar hub kit. It would be nice to have the odd spurt of 30mph

 

[robbo1972]

piccy 2

 

[robbo1972]

piccy 3 showing the steel box that I fabbed up at work

 

[robbo1972]

piccy 4 a bit out of focus after 1 coat of hammerite paint. I really enjoyed putting this battery together but I think I have gone overboard on capacity as my 4 amp 24v charger cuts after travelling to work (thought it was about 8 miles but bike computer says 6) in about 1 hour 50 minutes so it looks like I am only using 7 odd amp hours out of 20! It does give me the option of reconfiguring to a 16s 1p battery for my next plan.

 

[alban]

That's great Robbo, thanks. Where did you get instructions to build it from - Eclipse? Did you get the BMS from Eclipse too?
Seems to be disagreement on ES about just how good Headways are and what they output in terms of C rate discharge. Seem to be easier packs to work on tho'. Also seems, for a ready-made pack (if you get stung for VAT + Customs which is increasingly likely plus shipping), that buying from China without much warranty is only a wee bit cheaper than this UK supplier.

 

[robbo1972]

Hi Alban,
I did get the bms from eclipse and if you look at the bms page on the eclipse site you can click on a wiring diagram which shows you where the wires all go. I can see why there is people that would rather have better cells and chemistries but its about whats available locally or whether you want to take the risk buying from abroad and having further charges for duty adding. Lipo looks very good for power to weight ratio but these charge no where near as many times and have risks of catching fire when charging unattended.
I went to a 8s 2p pack which I would say is around the same weight as the sla pack that I replaced but it has about 4 times the capacity in it. As said above I think I could of managed with my commute on just a 8s 1p pack but I now have the ability to change to a 16s 1p pack with just a bms change to fit a 'proper' ebike kit with a mac type motor for more speed.