Pouches! I don't need now stinkin' pouches!

[Enzobiker]

I am having a problem with my Prodeco Mariner folding 20" ebike, purchased used about 5 years ago. I think these bikes were made in 2013, 2014. I let it sit too long, so the battery was dead, would not charge. I watched videos and bought a Jesverty DC Power Supply Variable, 0-60V 0-5A Adjustable Switching DC Bench Power Supply on Amazon, which actually woke the battery up. But as soon as you put a load on it, it cuts out now. So I watched more videos on how to balance 18650 cells and how to cut power to the BM to revive it. So I opened it up and this is what I found. Pouches. Don't quite know what to do now.

 

[gromike]

Off hand, I would say you need to replace the battery.

 

[999zip999]

They started with lifepo4 batteries. That was a long time ago there are Florida Base company and so their bikes so cheap people think they we're laundering drug money.
Just like when you have a donut shop or a laundry isn't hide a lot of money and filter a lot of money back into the bank.
The batteries probably well beyond repair.
Don't get too achieve of a battery to replace it.

 

[amberwolf]

Those pouches are almost certainly toast, puffing indicating they're potentially damaged in a way that could lead to catastrophic failure at some point. (generally pouches should be compressed with specific hardware on their flat faces to keep them from doing this, but it's unfortunately very common to not do this).

It's safer to replace the entire battery, since the Prodeco systems don't have any proprietary stuff between controller and battery--any battery of the same capabilities as the original will work. (it can be higher Ah, and capable of higher A, but it can't be lower, and it has to be the same voltage range).

I recommend a good quality one from a trustworthy seller (like EM3EV, Ebikes.ca, etc), rather than something from Amazon, ebay, aliexpress, etc--there are so many bad battery makers and sellers out there that it is difficult to be sure you're not buying a potential firebomb.

 

[neptronix]

2013, huh? 10 years is around the calendar life period of a lithium battery where it will poop out.

There's no fixing it, other than replacing every single cell. Might as well replace the pack with some new technology.

 

[999zip999]

Is the bike originally with a 36 or a 48 volt battery ? If those cells are we charged from being below 2.0 volts it could be a fire hazard even though they're lifepo4 .
Lipo4 is safer than hobby lipo but it has no problem if Miss handled and abused of catching fire. Fire Yes.

 

[Enzobiker]

Thank you for all your good advice, especially Amber Wolf. The pack was enclosed in the plastic wrap, and the foam pieces provided the compression that was mentioned. I agree that the pack is toast. I bought the folding 20" ebike used for my wife. She has not ridden it that much, and spending $500 or more on a new battery pack is more that I spent on the ebike. It makes more sense to spend that money on a new bike that is matched to my wife's needs.
So now I have to figure out how to dispose of the pack and to get rid of the bike. Anyone in Southern California want a used battery pack and bike?

 

[amberwolf]

The pack was enclosed in the plastic wrap, and the foam pieces provided the compression that was mentioned.

Unfortunatley, they don't (can't); the foam just holds the cells in place inside the pack, and keeps the structure inside the casing plastic from damaging the cell surfaces.

It requires hard plates that are at least as large as the cells' largest surface to do the compression. There's pics in several of my posts over the years showing various compression methods used in commercial packs (and some DIY); pretty much no ebike, scooter, etc pack does it because of the extra volume and mass and cost of the compression hardware--correctly doing the compression seems to only be done on large EVs and stationary applications, which is unfortunate for the other usages.


I don't know if she's still around, but you could PM Cvin here on the forum and see if she's interested in the bike.

 

[Enzobiker]

Unfortunatley, they don't (can't); the foam just holds the cells in place inside the pack, and keeps the structure inside the casing plastic from damaging the cell surfaces.

It requires hard plates that are at least as large as the cells' largest surface to do the compression. There's pics in several of my posts over the years showing various compression methods used in commercial packs (and some DIY); pretty much no ebike, scooter, etc pack does it because of the extra volume and mass and cost of the compression hardware--correctly doing the compression seems to only be done on large EVs and stationary applications, which is unfortunate for the other usages.


I don't know if she's still around, but you could PM Cvin here on the forum and see if she's interested in the bike.

Thank you Mr. Wolf for the info. I will try to reach Cvin.