Heinzmann battery charging issue

[Waffles]

Help!!!... I've got a NiMH 36V 8Ah Heinzmann battery that isn't charging, I'd really appreciate any help you can give me.
The charger light (well any of the three I have) flashes amber when plugged in. The chargers have are labelled GIM150, I'm assuming that is a model/type.
The battery shows no sign of charging (no flashing light as I'd normally expect).
If I press the battery check button it shows three out of the five lights, this would normally indicate half full, but there is no power in the battery to power the bike.

My older battery still charges and powers and the bike ok, so the rest of the kit seems fine, it's just the battery pack.

If anyone knows of a simple or cheap solution I'd love to hear it.
Also alternatives to the heavy NiMH battery that would be compatible with my controller would be really handy too.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[dnmun]

first thing is to buy a voltmeter at harbor freight and measure the voltage, and if the charger is working. do not use the resistance scale or ammeter until you know how to use them, and don't leave the meter plugged in to the battery or a circuit while you spin the dial over to DC volts. BOL

 

[Waffles]

OK, I've found a voltmeter and measured the batteries. They both have four "pins", I'll give them letters for reference:
A top
B right
C bottom
D left

Faulty battery
A - C 0V
A - D 0V
A - B 0V
B - C 19.1V
B - D 0V
C - D 0v

Working & charged battery (though wasn't as good as the above one before it stopped working).
A - C 41.5V
A - D 20.5V
A - B 0V
B - C 0v
B - D 0V
C - D 20.5V

Another thing to note is one battery is for the LHS of the bike and the other is for the RHS.
Is there any diagnosis you can get from this?
Thanks again.

 

[dogman dan]

Time for new battery. Unfortunately pings lifepo4 pouches are an awkward size for that space in 36v 20 ah. A 36v 15 ah might fit though.

The other possibility is lipo batteries. But then charging them gets to be more hassle. Not as simple as the on board EVG charger.

Great bikes, mine really woke up and worked well when I replaced sla's with nicad. Imagine one on lipo. 8)

 

[Waffles]

Time for new battery.

Crumbs, I better break the piggy bank and see what pennies I've got.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Waffles]

OK, having searched for batteries I can't find a Heinzmann battery anywhere, replacing the cells seems a waste of time and money when some 36V Lithium Ion packs aren't that expensive anyway.

So with this in mind, could anyone advise what compatibility issues there would be between my Heinzmann controller and a non Heinzmann battery pack?

The pack I had in mind was one of these:
http://electricbike.org.uk/electric-vehicle-info.php/3-1507
(36V Li-ion PowerSmart Battery)

Many thanks

 

[dogman dan]

That should work fine. Any good 36v battery pack will work. The heinzmann controllers are usually fairly low amps, and that battery should be a decent match.

More money on something with better cells inside would tend to last longer though. The issue is the size, the larger the battery the less strain on each cell, the shallower you can discharge it and go the same distance, etc.

The better batteries are often found in power tool batteries, with bosch fatpacks a favorite. So about 4 36v fatpacks connected in paralell make a good battery. Many other good solutions too like lipo from Hobby King.

Also, have you looked at pingbattery.com? A 36v 15 ah battery from him would run the bike perfect, if it fits the battery space on the bike.

 

[dnmun]

the heinzman has 12V SLA batteries. did you take the battery compartment apart yet to look at them? post up some pictures with the Ah rating and maybe someone will sell you some used SLA they wanna dump.


i would recommend a ping pack if you go that route. lifepo4.

 

[dogman dan]

We've seen lots of heinzmanns in EV Global bikes. Is this one? or something else?

 

[Waffles]

Thanks for the replies, I'll keep you posted on progress and of course which route I take, new replacement, new cells or new battery pack to go in the existing case. Progress will be slow as I'm yet to get around to opening the case, I've spent too much time trying to find a replacement

It's a kit rather than a purchased electric bike and it's setup on my Thorn Raven bike which has Rohloff gears. I've got the throttle on the right and the gear shifter on the left - flat bars all the way.

 

[WGT]

Waffles,

Do you want to sell your Heinzmann charger? I am in need of one.

WGT

 

[Waffles]

Unfortunately my chargers are in use with the working battery for the moment, sorry, hope you find one and if you do please let me know where you've sourced the parts from.

All the best.

 

[Waffles]

I finally got around to figuring out what the problem was, not bad, only 5 months!
It turns out the fuse had blown, since the pack is better than the one I was using I have swapped the fuse over.
Also it turns out that moving closer to work also solved my lack of battery capacity too lol