Originally Posted by
GerhardtD
Hi,
I have access to several new old stock Tidal Force E-Bikes that belong to a dealer friend who retired. I plan to make them operational. I would appreciate any recommendations on how to proceed. I have the dealers service manual. I have WMR 500 watt battery test equipment, several oscilloscopes, Cycle Analysis with data logger and a Controller-Motor-Throttle tester. I met one of the original Tidal Force design engineers at Interbike 2013 in My LEVA technician class.
Thanks for any help you can give me. I plan to put any useful maintenance information into the LEVA Level 2 E-Bike Training and Certification Instructor material.
Don Gerhardt
GerhardtD….first off, attempt to purchase the TF ebikes. Then give NO time, money, or effort to use or charge the original 42v/8ah NiMH front battery hubs. Replace with a nice 26" disc brake setup, or a dyno 26" hub to power a front light & purchase a third party lithium poly or iron phosphate battery pack. You will also need to "hot-wire" the bike, by using a "jumper" on the 11/12 "B" battery connection in the dash.
The original NiMH chemistry in the front hubs is too heavy, low voltage, and doesn't give the range you really desire from a modern ebike. The max voltage you can use is 46v for the rear TF hub to function. At this voltage, the stock "X" top speed is increased from 27.5mph to around 33+ mph.
The "X" hubs can really suck up the Amps, so setup at least a 16-20ah battery pack.