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Re: Expert battery advice needed - Aixam Mega City

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 11:43 am
by CarlFuss
Hi

We have a Mega City of about the same age and have had two sets of batteries replaced under warranty. Our charger also failed, not under warranty, It was the fans and I replaced them with ones I purchased from RS Components approx £50 for the pair. That was last year and alls well so far. There are some components you can get seperatley which are much cheaper, EG: hall effect current sensor, Axiam £149.50 Free sample from the Distributer.
Sorry I don't have any experience with the conditioning device, so I would like to know too.
I've attached a photo of the battery layout- hope this helps

Carl

Re: Expert battery advice needed - Aixam Mega City

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:37 pm
by ambey
Hi Carl,
thats really usefull - so thats what they look like !
I am having to get this Battery Conditioner from Australia as the UK distributors no longer trade.
I'll let you know what happens, these people are saying that I will need 2 x 24V units but that will mean getting into the mid point somehow and I didn't really want to start ripping the car apart!
Cheers
john

Re: Expert battery advice needed - Aixam Mega City

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 9:58 am
by ambey
Hello Carl,

I have been sent a reply from Megapulse suggesting that 2 x 24V units are used as shown on the diagram. I have 2 thoughts, is there room to place them on top of the batteries, I reckon the units are 2 1/2" - 3" thick.
Also, How easy is it to remove the seats and floor pan ? have you done this yourself ?
Thanks
John

Re: Expert battery advice needed - Aixam Mega City

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 1:08 pm
by CarlFuss
Hi John

The seats just slide forward after removing a screw in the outside of the seat , you'll need to remove the plastic cover. Then slide them forward, they can be a pig to put back, its easier if someone can help to line up the seat with the runners. The battery covers come off after removing the six nuts on the top. You will need to remove the plastic floor bit just behind the seats- 5 screws
There are two small covers which you can access without removing the seats. There is not much clearance on top of the batteries so I doubt whether you can put the battery conditioners there. Have fun !

By the way what range do you get with yours?

Carl

Re: Expert battery advice needed - Aixam Mega City

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 2:07 pm
by ambey
Hi Carl,
Thanks very much for the info, it it most helpfull !
I have had the vehicle 3 1/2 years and it's done 5600 miles ( the first 18 months it wasn't used very much due to me working away ) I get now about 25 miles on 'high' switch setting. This was about 35 - 40 when new. As my daily mileage is never more than about 10, there is no problem but if I can save the batteries before they fail and get more life out of them then it is worth going for these devices.
I have a 4KW solar PV array on my house roof so I charge them up for nothing !! ( I only work afternoons now so they are timed charged in the morning )
Thanks again for the info, I will let you know how it goes.
Cheers
John

Re: Expert battery advice needed - Aixam Mega City

Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 1:50 pm
by ambey
Hi Carl, well I have received 2 Megapulse units and installed them in my car. It was suprisingly easy, I didnt have to take the whole floor coverings out.
I just removed the seats and there is a cover with 3 nuts on it covering each battery bank.
The Megapulse units fitted snugly between 2 batteries and the leads and lugs supplied with it were just right to fit without any alteration to anything.
So we will see if they work !
:D John

Re: Expert battery advice needed - Aixam Mega City

Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 12:25 pm
by CarlFuss
Hi John
I'm glad they were easy to fit, lets see how they get on

Best Wishes

Carl

Re: Expert battery advice needed - Aixam Mega City

Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 4:07 pm
by CarlFuss
Hi John
Looks like I may be needing some of these conditioning units myself. After 14 months my set of batteries are starting to play up. Axiam's answer is a new set of batteries, but not under warranty this time. I've never had more than 18 months from the batteries so I either prolong the life of these or its going to have to go.
Have you had any indications from your conditioning units

Carl

Re: Expert battery advice needed - Aixam Mega City

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 1:24 pm
by ambey
Hi Carl,
Hope you are well. An update on my battery conditioning units. They have been fitted for 15 months now, trouble is, I don't know what effect they have had as I don't know what the batteries would have been like without them !!

Until the recent cold weather, the batteries were holding up though I was conscious that I probably had a cell going down. With this cold weather, the batteries are almost immediately bring up the caution light and I am only getting 6 -8 miles a day from a full charge. ( must put my laptop on controller and check ! ) The batteries and car are 4 & 2/3 years old so they haven't done bad. I do think these conditioning units have helped though that is only my gut feeling.

I will need to replace the batteries, ideally with lithium ones but that will need a charger change as well. The alternative is Pb,. Any thoughts?

Cheers

John

Re: Expert battery advice needed - Aixam Mega City

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 3:06 pm
by GregsGarage
Regarding the charger, Lifepo4 and Pb gel/agm batteries have a very similar charging profile. It may be possible to use your charger with Lifepo4 cells as long as the bms watches the charging and can switch off the charger when any cell reaches full charge. My Matiz has been doing just fine with a Zivan NG3 that has a gel cell profile, for nearly 2 years now. You may also want to see how the batteries behave when the weather warms up.