Specialized Warranty Expired - battery failure, what are my options?

[cream]

Can you email me about my options?

email sent.

 

[Stu84]

@cream

Afternoon,

You seem to be the person to talk too!

I have a 2019 Specialized Levo turbo with 700wh M2 battery, 54 charge cycles.

The other day, it stopped working. When I plugged it in to charge, the third of four green lights just flashed for a while.
Left it on charge overnight even though the charger didn't seem to be putting in energy. Flipped the charged on and off a few times to try and kick it into life. Couple of days later I walked past and flipped on the charger and it seems to have come back to life!

Just popped it into bike and it seems to work.

Took the battery to dealer for a check, Their diagnostic software says the battery is totally dead. Put it back in bike and it still works.... Did advance diagnostic test, phoned declare and they can't see any error messages...

Forums suggest the third green LED flashing is not good news. I suspect the BMS is locked out after the battery was left by previous owner for a long time on low charge over winter.

Any thought, help/advice or services you can share much appreciated. I'm based in the UK. Could post over or potentially post over the BMS only if you can provide simple advice on how best to safely remove/pack etc.

Cheers
Stu

 

[cream]

I have a 2019 Specialized Levo turbo with 700wh M2 battery, 54 charge cycles.

The other day, it stopped working. When I plugged it in to charge, the third of four green lights just flashed for a while.
Left it on charge overnight even though the charger didn't seem to be putting in energy. Flipped the charged on and off a few times to try and kick it into life. Couple of days later I walked past and flipped on the charger and it seems to have come back to life!

Just popped it into bike and it seems to work.

Took the battery to dealer for a check, Their diagnostic software says the battery is totally dead. Put it back in bike and it still works.... Did advance diagnostic test, phoned declare and they can't see any error messages...

Forums suggest the third green LED flashing is not good news. I suspect the BMS is locked out after the battery was left by previous owner for a long time on low charge over winter.

Any thought, help/advice or services you can share much appreciated. I'm based in the UK. Could post over or potentially post over the BMS only if you can provide simple advice on how best to safely remove/pack etc.

Hi Stu,

Normally I could help but I need the battery in our workshop for a proper diagnostic. Being in Uk, complicate things because of customs import taxes, and higher shipping cost. Even if you sent only the BMS, this won't necessarily solve your issue if it's cell related, for example, or if you do a mistake when reassembling (you wouldn't be the first ...working with powered circuits requires experience and extra attention. Especially when working with Li-ion batteries. Battery case is also not easy to open without damage. At the end, you must reseal it.

From your description, it doesn't seem the BMS is locked. Once it's locked, there's no way you can charge it or discharge it (aka the bike won't turn on at all). Rather it's an error/warning that's not permanent.

Also, if the bike powers on, then the dealer should have been able to do a diagnostic. There's no way the bike is working without proper comm with the battery. As long as this is working, dealer should also see the battery on their tool. An export of the error log would tell more about the cause for error.

In any case, presently is the battery working correctly ? (charging/discharging)

 

[mardziub]

Hi,


I’ve replaced the cells in a Specialized Vado battery, but unfortunately the BMS has locked and the battery won’t charge.


I’m reaching out to ask if you could help me unlock the battery. I’d really like to get in touch with you, as I’ve read that you have a lot of experience in this area.


I’m willing to pay for your assistance.


Best regards,

 

[cream]

Hi,


I’ve replaced the cells in a Specialized Vado battery, but unfortunately the BMS has locked and the battery won’t charge.


I’m reaching out to ask if you could help me unlock the battery. I’d really like to get in touch with you, as I’ve read that you have a lot of experience in this area.


I’m willing to pay for your assistance.


Best regards,

If it powers on the bike but won’t charge, you might have problems on the BMS charging circuit(it happens on this model). If not discharging or charging, might have a permanent failure flag activated in the firmware.

You can send the BMS board and I will check/repair it, as long as you are located within EU.


P.S.
Have you checked all balancing connections and NTC sensors when reinstalling the BMS? Is the pack balanced within 20mV?

 

[mardziub]

I’ve checked it – both the MOSFET and the fuse are fine.
It has definitely triggered a fault flag.
I tried pulling the pins to ground, but it doesn’t change anything.
This is a customer’s battery, so time is critical for me.

 

[rasendvov]

If it powers on the bike but won’t charge, you might have problems on the BMS charging circuit(it happens on this model). If not discharging or charging, might have a permanent failure flag activated in the firmware.

You can send the BMS board and I will check/repair it, as long as you are located within EU.


P.S.
Have you checked all balancing connections and NTC sensors when reinstalling the BMS? Is the pack balanced within 20mV?

How much does a specialized m1 battery cost?

 

[rasendvov]

How much does a specialized m1 battery cost?

or repackaging and repairing the BMS? write to me at [email protected]

 

[rasendvov]

If it powers on the bike but won’t charge, you might have problems on the BMS charging circuit(it happens on this model). If not discharging or charging, might have a permanent failure flag activated in the firmware.

You can send the BMS board and I will check/repair it, as long as you are located within EU.


P.S.
Have you checked all balancing connections and NTC sensors when reinstalling the BMS? Is the pack balanced within 20mV?

hello, write me your contact details to send the battery for repair [email protected]

 

[rasendvov]

Yes, I can help. Next time you disconnect the BMS make sure it's completely off (the safest way is to put a jumper on the reset tactile switch.

PM sent.

@сream Good evening, I also replaced the elements myself and the board also got blocked, can you help me? Write to me in Telegram @rasendvov1 or by email [email protected]. I will wait for an answer)

 

[Bastien2008]

Bonsoir @cream, j'ai également remplacé les composants moi-même et la carte est toujours bloquée. Pourriez-vous m'aider ? Contactez-moi sur Telegram (@rasendvov1) ou par e-mail ([email protected] ). J'attends votre réponse.

Si le vélo s'allume mais ne charge pas, il se peut que le circuit de charge du BMS soit défectueux (cela arrive sur ce modèle). S'il ne se décharge ou ne se charge pas, un message d'erreur permanent peut être activé dans le micrologiciel.

Vous pouvez m'envoyer la carte BMS et je la vérifierai/réparerai, à condition que vous soyez situé dans l'UE.


PS
Avez-vous vérifié toutes les connexions d'équilibrage et les capteurs NTC lors de la réinstallation du BMS ? La batterie est-elle équilibrée à ±20 mV près ?

Ma batterie fonctionne encore, mais elle ne se charge plus complètement et un voyant rouge est allumé. C'est une batterie de 460 Wh. Serait-il possible de la remettre à neuf ? Serait-il également possible de la remplacer par une batterie de 500 Wh ou 700 Wh ? Merci d'avance.

 

[Hol47]

Hi @cream can you help me with an M2 700wh battery that now has 3rd led blinking when plugged in. Power won't switch on on the bike. Only 49 cycles and was showing 100% healthy last week. I'm based in UK.

 

[cream]

Hi @cream can you help me with an M2 700wh battery that now has 3rd led blinking when plugged in. Power won't switch on on the bike. Only 49 cycles and was showing 100% healthy last week. I'm based in UK.

PM sent.

 

[edge540T]

Hardware wise, the BMS is the same on both 500Wh and 700Wh models. Both are using 21700 cells in 10s4p configuration, but the 700Wh model uses higher capacity cells. The firmware is different and that's what needs to be modified in order to use for example a 500Wh BMS to


M2/M3 batteries use 21700 cells, M1 is using 18650cells.

Hardware wise, the BMS is the same on both 500Wh and 700Wh models. Both are using 21700 cells in 10s4p configuration, but the 700Wh model uses higher capacity cells. The firmware is different and that's what needs to be modified in order to use for example a 500Wh BMS with a 700Wh pack.

Hi, can you send a pm, thanks.

 

[Hikus]

Hi, @cream I have two specialized gen1 batteries and neither of them were charging. So, I desoldered the entire main circuit in one battery and soldered it back in the order it should be soldered. It started responding to the charger, but a short circuit occurred and now it no longer responds to being turned on or to the charger... So, I started making the second one after desoldering the board and replacing one section of the batteries because they were swollen and soldering it back in the correct order. From three flashing dots, it became only one flashing red dot. When I connect it to the charger, it starts charging normally, but the output voltage is 20V, and on the sections 3.8V-3.9V, but the output voltage keeps increasing, only very slowly, as if it was trying to balance itself. But after about 15 minutes, the charging LEDs suddenly stop flashing and only one is left. green LED. What could be wrong with this battery?

 

[cream]

Hi, @cream I have two specialized gen1 batteries and neither of them were charging. So, I desoldered the entire main circuit in one battery and soldered it back in the order it should be soldered. It started responding to the charger, but a short circuit occurred and now it no longer responds to being turned on or to the charger... So, I started making the second one after desoldering the board and replacing one section of the batteries because they were swollen and soldering it back in the correct order. From three flashing dots, it became only one flashing red dot. When I connect it to the charger, it starts charging normally, but the output voltage is 20V, and on the sections 3.8V-3.9V, but the output voltage keeps increasing, only very slowly, as if it was trying to balance itself. But after about 15 minutes, the charging LEDs suddenly stop flashing and only one is left. green LED. What could be wrong with this battery?

I can help you with board repair/diagnose/unlock but in order for everything to work, you need to replace all the cells not just a single cell or a segment of cells. I can't figure out what is happening in your case. You said the cells in series have 3.8-3.9V but then again you said the output voltage is 20V. That doesn't make any sense.

 

[Mikeunstop]

@cream I have a Levo 700wh BMS that has the stupid flashing third green light. I would like to send you the BMS for you to see if you can reset it. I’m pretty sure it’s due to being left with low charge for too long. Please can you email me [email protected] so we can arrange the details of where I send the BMS and payment etc.
thanks
Mike

 

[Moejy]

Hi @cream,

We are a small company of 2 staff, based in Cape Town and Johannesburg , South Africa.

We repair ebike and escooter lithium ion battery packs. Recently we had enquiries for repairs to Specialized battery packs.

As shipping to lithium ion battery packs to Europe is a challenge, there's an option where we remove the bms and ship it, so that you can effect the repairs.

We can perform the recelling or repacking or cell repairs locally in SA. And then refit the bms that you have repaired.

Is that an option that we can explore? We currently have a Specialized with the 3rd LED flashing. Have checked the voltages and cell group 1 is at 4.2v and the other 9 at 4.1v. Battery pack accepts charge, then goes into the 3rd led flashing mode.

My email is  [email protected]

Regards

 

[Gnom]

I have a battery with the following issue: the LED near the processor is flashing, and when I press the button, only the two outer charge level LEDs light up. The battery was previously sent to another service center where the cells were replaced, so the BMS is likely locked.

 

[cream]

I have a battery with the following issue: the LED near the processor is flashing, and when I press the button, only the two outer charge level LEDs light up. The battery was previously sent to another service center where the cells were replaced, so the BMS is likely locked

What battery type/model is that? It doesn't seem a Specialized one.

 

[cream]

My email is  [email protected]

email sent.