Dodie said:
It's a 24V-10AH battery. I've had the bike for a few years and it worked fine.
Then it *does* have a "riding range". Or at least, it did, when it "worked fine".
When I just tried to ride it the other day is when I noticed this issue.
Does this mean that the answer to the question: "Did it always get exactly the same range, up to the day it failed?" is yes? Or is the answer more complicated? A completely detailed answer would be useful to help you find your problem. The answer so far just lets us know that it "did work before" and "doesn't work now".
If you can answer whether it has decreased in range over time, that would be helpful.
Also, whether that decrease been significantly more extreme recently, especially just before the problem you have now?
Any and all details may be useful.
It a lithium battery pack.
<snip>
They did mention that the bms is in the battery pack.
That's helpful; it means that its BMS will probably attempt to protect the cells against overcharge or overdischarge, to protect you against the risk of fire those can cause, so a cell problem could trigger the BMS to cause the problem you see.
Now we just need to know the details of what changed between the time it worked, and the time it didnt', because rarely do these types of problems just suddenly start one day without any preceding symptoms unless there is a specific cause (crash, flood, maintenance, etc).
I took it to a battery store and he tested if with his meter and he said it was reading 28 amps.
Hmm. You probably don't know this yet, but a battery doesn't "read amps", so if that's what he actually said, then whoever you spoke with doesn't know what he's talking about.
It might be able to supply 28 amps under a specific load condition while only sagging a specific amount of voltage, but without knowing both of those other things, knowing the amps it supplied isn't useful.
I recommend talking to him to get complete details and clarification on exactly what he measured and how, or it is not usable information.
You can buy a cheap multimeter at places like harbor freight, etc., and do quite a lot of useful tests on your own (with our guidance if you need it).
To see if it has "juice" it has some led lights on the pack and it seems to be holding a charge.
What specifically do you mean by "holding a charge"?
Do the lights remain on when you try to ride the bike, in exactly the same way they are on now?
So, hopefully it is the battery and it's a simple fix. If not the battery, then will cross that bridge later.
Unfortunately, I don't mess with the battery or electronics.
Unless you're willing to test the battery, and potentially repair it (which if it's years old, probably means replacing all the cells in it), then realistically you're just going to have to buy a new one to find out if it is the problem. Replacing it is also the only really "simple fix" to such a problem, anyway.
FWIW, it will probably cost more to pay someone else to repair it than to buy a new one, especially if you have to ship it to them (since a defective lithium battery is dangerous goods, hazardous materials, and whoever ships it has to have certification for doing that).