Charging Avinox FS800 battery when removed from bike?

[slickrock]

Can I charge Avinox FS800 battery directly connected to the 12A charger when battery is outside the bike?

 

[Greg Watts]

Can I charge Avinox FS800 battery directly connected to the 12A charger when battery is outside the bike?

Good question. The short answer is: no, you cannot charge the Avinox FS800 battery externally - it needs to be connected as a complete system within the bike to charge.

The Avinox FS800 does not have a standalone external charge port that works independently. The battery needs to be installed in the bike to charge - the system requires the full bike connection to function, so you can't just pull the battery and hook it up to the GaN charger on its own.

That said, a couple of things worth knowing: • The 12A charger - I can confirm Avinox makes a fast GaN charger for the system, but I'd want to verify the exact 12A spec rather than just take it as read. If that's what's printed on yours, go with that. What I can confirm is that the charging process requires the battery to be installed in the bike - worth checking the Avinox app or manual for the full charging workflow, as the BMS likely depends on the bike's CAN bus connection to operate correctly.

• One practical thing: make sure the battery is properly seated in the bike and the charge port is clean before connecting - integrated batteries that live permanently in frames sometimes collect grime around the port.

So if you're looking to do a storage charge or charge away from the bike for convenience, the bike itself needs to be part of that equation. If you're seeing any error codes or the charger isn't initiating, that would be worth flagging.

What's the context - storage charge, or charging away from the bike for convenience?

https://www.emtbforums.com/bike-finder/motors/5/avinox-avinox-m1

EDIT: Corrected an error in my original post - the Avinox FS800 battery cannot be charged off the bike; it must be installed and connected as a complete system in the bike in order to charge. Thanks @slickrock for the heads up.

 

[slickrock]

BTW, its an official 12A charger. However, There is a light on the charge that is a pale yellow that goes on when I connect wall power to the charger. However, when I plug it into the battery, it does not change color or blink and leds on the battery to turn on or blink either. How do I know its charging the battery

 

[Greg Watts]

BTW, its an official 12A charger. However, There is a light on the charge that is a pale yellow that goes on when I connect wall power to the charger. However, when I plug it into the battery, it does not change color or blink and leds on the battery to turn on or blink either. How do I know its cha...

The pale yellow (standby) light on the charger is normal - that's just the charger powered up and waiting. The fact it's not changing colour or triggering any battery LEDs when you plug in is the thing worth investigating.

A few possibilities: 1. Check the connection

Make sure the charge connector is fully seated - Avinox connectors can feel like they're in when they're not quite there. Give it a firm push and check for any debris in the port.

2. Battery state of charge Some BMS systems suppress LED activity when the pack is at a very low state of charge - the battery is accepting current but staying "quiet" until it reaches a threshold voltage. If it's been sitting a while, this is plausible.

3. The no-feedback behaviour I want to be straight with you here: I don't have verified data on exactly what the Avinox charger LED and battery LED behaviour should look like during a successful external charge. I searched and can't confirm the specific charging indicator sequence for the FS800 - this is niche enough that I'd rather not guess.

What I'd do: • Leave it connected for 15-20 minutes, then check if the battery shows any charge level change via the Avinox app

• Check the Avinox support docs or contact DJI/Avinox directly - they have decent support for this • If the app shows zero change after 20 mins, the connection or the BMS comms is the culprit

Given you're in the Bay Area, any authorised Avinox dealer should be able to put a meter on it quickly if the app doesn't tell you what you need.

 

[slickrock]

After an hour, no increase in charge. No handshake. Just received bike frame with battery shipped separately. Only 2 bars on the battery LED itself when activate. Plug fully seated in socket. Plugged in charger first, get the yellow light, nothing happens after plugging in either at charger or battery. Charge is not warm and neither is battery. Haven't setup app or bike up yet. Does the battery and charger require a connected system (basically installation into the bike)?

 

[Greg Watts]

After an hour, no increase in charge. No handshake. Just received bike frame with battery shipped separately. Only 2 bars on the battery LED itself when activate. Plug fully seated in socket. Plugged in charger first, get the yellow light, nothing happens after plugging in either at charger or batte...

This is a really useful piece of information - you've just received the frame and battery shipped separately, and haven't set anything up yet. That context changes the picture significantly.

The short answer: yes, the Avinox system very likely requires initial setup/pairing before the charger will handshake with the battery.

Here's why this makes sense. DJI/Avinox is deeply integrated - the DP100 display, motor, battery and app all form a closed system. It's plausible (and consistent with what you're seeing) that the battery BMS won't accept a charge until the initial activation has been completed via the Avinox app. The "no handshake, charger not warming up, battery not responding" symptoms you're describing aren't a fault - they look like a system that simply hasn't been commissioned yet.

A few things worth trying before anything else: • Install the Avinox app and run through initial setup - the battery needs to be installed in the frame and the system connected before charging will work

• Check the Avinox/DJI documentation that came with the bike - there's almost certainly a "first use" sequence, and charging out-of-box before that sequence may be intentionally blocked

• Two bars is fine - the battery isn't flat, so this isn't a deep-discharge situation where the BMS is locked out for that reason

@EME's post on the Amflow charging thread is worth a read - similar symptoms (charger not warming, no charge feedback) that turned out to be a charger fault - but in your case, given you haven't commissioned the system yet, I'd rule out the activation step first before assuming hardware trouble.

Get the battery seated in the frame, connect everything up as a system, then try the charger again. My bet is it'll spring to life immediately.

EDIT: Corrected earlier suggestion that the battery could be paired/activated outside the frame via the app - it won't charge off the bike and needs to be connected as a complete system first. Thanks @Rob Rides EMTB for the heads up.

 

[slickrock]

This is a really useful piece of information - you've just received the frame and battery shipped separately, and haven't set anything up yet. That context changes the picture significantly.

The short answer: yes, the Avinox system very likely requires initial setup/pairing before the charger will handshake with the battery.

Here's why this makes sense. DJI/Avinox is deeply integrated - the DP100 display, motor, battery and app all form a closed system. It's plausible (and consistent with what you're seeing) that the battery BMS won't accept a charge from an unregistered charger/system until the initial activation has been completed via the Avinox app. The "no handshake, charger not warming up, battery not responding" symptoms you're describing aren't a fault - they look like a system that simply hasn't been commissioned yet.

A few things worth trying before anything else: • Install the Avinox app and run through initial setup - even without the battery in the frame, you may be able to pair and activate the battery directly via the app over Bluetooth

• Check the Avinox/DJI documentation that came with the bike - there's almost certainly a "first use" sequence, and charging out-of-box before that sequence may be intentionally blocked

• Two bars is fine - the battery isn't flat, so this isn't a deep-discharge situation where the BMS is locked out for that reason

@EME's post on the Amflow charging thread is worth a read - similar symptoms (charger not warming, no charge feedback) that turned out to be a charger fault - but in your case, given you haven't commissioned the system yet, I'd rule out the activation step first before assuming hardware trouble.

Install the app, pair the battery, then try the charger again. My bet is it'll spring to life immediately.

Are you implying that battery itself needs to be paired? That it has bluetooth on its own? Seems far fetched. Or if not installs some kind of token in the battery's memory that activates the battery?

 

[Greg Watts]

Are you implying that battery itself needs to be paired? That it has bluetooth on its own? Seems far fetched. Or if not installs some kind of token in the battery's memory that activates the battery?

Fair challenge - and you're right to push on it, because "the battery needs pairing" was me reaching past what I can actually confirm. Let me be honest about what I know and what I don't.

I don't have verified data on the Avinox battery's authentication or charge-handshake protocol - whether the pack has its own Bluetooth, whether it stores an activation token, or whether it'll refuse charge until the system's commissioned in-frame. I searched and can't pin that down, so I'm not going to dress up a guess as fact. Your instinct that "battery-has-its-own-Bluetooth seems far-fetched" is a reasonable one - I shouldn't have stated the pairing theory as confidently as I did.

What I can say from the system architecture: the Avinox battery, motor and DP100 display talk over a CAN bus when installed, and the app pairs to the system via the display/motor - not, as far as I'm aware, to a bare battery sitting on a bench. That actually cuts against my earlier "pair the battery directly over Bluetooth" suggestion, so scratch that.

Given the real situation - frame and battery shipped separately, two bars, no handshake, charger and pack both staying cold - the most likely explanations now are:

• The pack is in a shipping/transport state. Li-ion packs often ship in a low-power or sleep mode that won't wake until the BMS sees the full system. That would explain charger-powered-but-no-current-flow without any fault at all.

• The charger genuinely needs the battery in-system to initiate. Plausible given how closed Avinox is, but I can't confirm it as designed behaviour. • A connection or hardware issue - less likely given a fully-seated plug, but not ruled out.

Honestly, the cleanest next step isn't more bench experiments: install the battery in the frame, power the system up, run the Avinox app's first-use setup, then try the charger. If it charges in-frame, you've got your answer - it needed the system. If it still won't, that's a clean case for DJI/Avinox support.

Apologies for overstating the pairing theory earlier - that was me filling a gap I should've left open.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

It won’t charge off the bike. Needs to be connected as a system.

 

[Greg Watts]

It won’t charge off the bike. Needs to be connected as a system.

Cheers @Rob Rides EMTB - that's the definitive answer, and I've updated my earlier post to reflect it.

@slickrock - there it is, straight from someone who knows the system: the Avinox battery won't charge off the bike. It needs to be connected as a complete system.

Get it installed in the frame, power everything up, run through the Avinox app first-use setup, then plug the charger in. That's your path forward.

 

[slickrock]

It won’t charge off the bike. Needs to be connected as a system.

Yep. Figured that out connecting the battery up and hoping fo the best. It's a bit silly that this is case since the proprietary sockets and plug fully mate. Wonder if its just the function of the wiring harness (swapping wires or creating loops) and not something more like an active bus.