Schwinn Electro Drive bicycle with side mounted rear motor
02-11-18, 06:38 PM
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Schwinn Electro Drive bicycle with side mounted rear motor
I just brought this bike home from the Bike Exchange and can't find any info on it on the internet. I do have the original owners manual.
Anyone seen one of these. It is basically a Schwinn Sierra mountain bike With the Currie 250 watt motor mounted on the Left side (looking forward) and a 24 volt 10 amp sla battery pack mounted inside the frame triangle. This is the 4th bike or kit I have brought home lately and this is the only one that works. It seems like an old less sophisticated design but I drove it around the block and on the level and down hill it zips right along at maybe 15 mph. going up a moderate incline it starts to struggle with my 250 lbs. but with soome light pedaling it gets up the hills o/k. In looking it up I did find a site that carries most of the parts for the kit. Prices seem pretty reasonable.
Seems like maybe a case of simple low tech is most affordable in the real world. The Bionix parts I have appear to only work with integrated(and expensive) Bionix propriatary parts. The EZEE Quando folder I got a month ago is now at an electric bike shop that said innitially that "worst case, if we have to replace ALL the cells in the battery the total bill would be no more than $400." they tested the battery and said all the cells were o/k but the battery management system board was faulty. After agreeing to pay $150 to get it fixed and putting a $100. down payment I was told that one of the cells would not hold a charge, they couldn't replace just one cell, the rest of the cells were swollen and probably wouldn't last long, and the cheapest replacement battery from Ali Baba, although having the exact same model number, would probably need a custom interface to plug into the existiing plug. And in addition, They hadn't ordered a new power switch which will be needed for everything to work , and that is another $20.
Compared to all this, the Schwinn seems simple. The battery pack snaps into a mount on the frame and easily comes off with the use of a special key. It looks like removing a few screws and the case will pop open making replacing old batteries easy. The connector between battery and motor is a simple 2 wire plug.
Anyone seen one of these. It is basically a Schwinn Sierra mountain bike With the Currie 250 watt motor mounted on the Left side (looking forward) and a 24 volt 10 amp sla battery pack mounted inside the frame triangle. This is the 4th bike or kit I have brought home lately and this is the only one that works. It seems like an old less sophisticated design but I drove it around the block and on the level and down hill it zips right along at maybe 15 mph. going up a moderate incline it starts to struggle with my 250 lbs. but with soome light pedaling it gets up the hills o/k. In looking it up I did find a site that carries most of the parts for the kit. Prices seem pretty reasonable.
Seems like maybe a case of simple low tech is most affordable in the real world. The Bionix parts I have appear to only work with integrated(and expensive) Bionix propriatary parts. The EZEE Quando folder I got a month ago is now at an electric bike shop that said innitially that "worst case, if we have to replace ALL the cells in the battery the total bill would be no more than $400." they tested the battery and said all the cells were o/k but the battery management system board was faulty. After agreeing to pay $150 to get it fixed and putting a $100. down payment I was told that one of the cells would not hold a charge, they couldn't replace just one cell, the rest of the cells were swollen and probably wouldn't last long, and the cheapest replacement battery from Ali Baba, although having the exact same model number, would probably need a custom interface to plug into the existiing plug. And in addition, They hadn't ordered a new power switch which will be needed for everything to work , and that is another $20.
Compared to all this, the Schwinn seems simple. The battery pack snaps into a mount on the frame and easily comes off with the use of a special key. It looks like removing a few screws and the case will pop open making replacing old batteries easy. The connector between battery and motor is a simple 2 wire plug.
02-11-18, 09:19 PM
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Your Quando was low tech too. Your mistake was taking it to a cuckoo clock shop. A custom interface means they snip off the cable and solder on a new one, while making up some mumbo jumbo words.
Are these bikes like free?
Are these bikes like free?
02-14-18, 11:07 AM
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All the bikes I mentioned were donations to the Bike Exchange. I tried to find someone who would/ could diagnose what was wrong with the Quando and there was only one shop that said they could do anything except replace the battery with a new one at about $500. I took it in and agreed to pay $35. to have the tech check things out and when he said the battery cells checked out agreed to have the apparently faulty bms board replaced for a total cost including the original $35. of $150.
We are getting more e bike donations at the shop and I wanted to find someone we could work with to repair them so we could donate them back to the community or sell them to help support our non profit.
It is looking like doing anything other then selling what we get as is with no guarantee is going to be a bad idea.
We are getting more e bike donations at the shop and I wanted to find someone we could work with to repair them so we could donate them back to the community or sell them to help support our non profit.
It is looking like doing anything other then selling what we get as is with no guarantee is going to be a bad idea.
02-15-18, 09:37 AM
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Sounds like a great community service. Good luck! Hope you find a volunteer.
02-15-18, 12:51 PM
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For what you spent at the bike shop where you got hosed, you could have gotten a good Digital Volt Meter, crimping tool, some blanks and connectors, and probably an ebike-tester for the full $150.00.
Next, find a trained diagnostician who has read several hundred in-depth troubleshooting threads and is willing to work cheap.
5-10 minutes to open the battery case. Swollen cells or pouches immediately obvious. 5-10 minutes to voltage check each cell before and after charge. Changing connector type less time than that, after a bit of practice, $5 to $10 tops for connectors, housing, heat shrink, etc.
Sounds like opening a side business for ebike repair might help fund the main enterprise.
DrkAngel is the Currie drive expert.
I wouldn't touch a used (or new) Bionx with a ten-foot pole, or even a 6-foot Hungarian. Proprietary EVERYTHING.
Next, find a trained diagnostician who has read several hundred in-depth troubleshooting threads and is willing to work cheap.
5-10 minutes to open the battery case. Swollen cells or pouches immediately obvious. 5-10 minutes to voltage check each cell before and after charge. Changing connector type less time than that, after a bit of practice, $5 to $10 tops for connectors, housing, heat shrink, etc.
Sounds like opening a side business for ebike repair might help fund the main enterprise.
DrkAngel is the Currie drive expert.
I wouldn't touch a used (or new) Bionx with a ten-foot pole, or even a 6-foot Hungarian. Proprietary EVERYTHING.
