Giant Suede Battery Charging Problem

[rickhoover]

The pack appears to be a dude, as it will only get me a mile or less get me a mile at best before the bike beeps and shuts down (I think it overheats). I can then restart it and ride a bit more before it does the same thing again. The 3 LED charge indicators move to 2, and pretty soon thereafter to 1. The little cruise indicator is much slower on 1 as if the system is trying to conserve energy. The battery seems no better than its predecessor, maybe worse, and I am currently working on getting some sort of a refund from Hong Kong!

[rickhoover]

I meant dud, not dude, dude.

[rickhoover]

Greetings folks, R U still reading this forum? I've had to give the eBike project a break for a month but now I'm back on it. If U R reading, could you please advise me on whether converting to a LiFePO4 might be great or terrible idea. There is an eBay seller in China who will build me a 36V 10Ah pack that will fit inside the original Ni-mh battery's case (and I presume would be much lighter an more efficient). Would you recommend this route, or should I continue to look for a reputable Ni-mh set. I had to get a refund for the last Ni-mh set mentioned in this thread. It was advertised at 10Ah but ended up running more like 1Ah or less. It seems like the cost of the LiFePO4 won't be much more than the pricier Ni-mhs, and I won't have to build it either as the seller will do so; and it comes w/ charger too. Any suggestions?

[dnmun]

why do you need to make a pack that would fit in the old nimh case? you can buy a 48V20Ah pack for $500 delivered from sun-thing on ebay.

http://stores.ebay.com/sun-thing28/LiFe ... 34.c0.m322

[rickhoover]

Well first off it's a 36V motor/controller set-up, so I think I'll stay in the 36V range. Secondly, keeping the pack mounted inside the original case means added security to the pack whenever I leave the bike locked up at the mall, store, etc., as the case locks into the frame of the bike. Thank you for your suggestion.