Bottle batteries

Electrically assisted bikes, trikes, etc. that are legal in the UK
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Slowtwitch
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Joined: 25 Oct 2021, 11:35pm

Bottle batteries

Post by Slowtwitch »

I'm looking to put together a lightweight project using the Tonsheng mid mount, but I'm struggling to find the bottle batteries everyone talks about.

I woulds like to know the following :

Are they limited to 10ah or available in larger capacities

I want to adapt several of my bikes, is there a reliable retailer?

What is the weight /cost difference over a traditional battery

Are there problems with water ingress, and can they be mounted on the seat tube as well as the down tube?
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bikes4two
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Re: Bottle batteries

Post by bikes4two »

I'm looking to put together a lightweight project using the Tonsheng mid mount, but I'm struggling to find the bottle batteries everyone talks about.
I did 4 TSDZ2 conversions back in October (for friends/family), two of which used 10Ah bottle batteries at 36v which I got from PSW Power (directly and from their Ali Express store)
Are they limited to 10Ah or available in larger capacities
That I recall you can get smaller and larger than 10Ah, but the larger ones are hard to find and then not much more than 13Ah iirc?
What is the weight /cost difference over a traditional battery
I don't think there is any - it's down to aesthetics - I just have a disliking for those enourmous Hailong battery cases!
Are there problems with water ingress, and can they be mounted on the seat tube as well as the down tube?
My bottle battery fits in both places without any problem - I settled on the downtube location, again, purely down to personal taste. As for water ingress, I drilled a 6mm hole in the base of the battery holder as this seemed a likely area for water to 'pool' in the event of a downpour.

i am however a fair weather cyclist now I no longer need to commute, but if I had the need to cycle in inclement conditions, I'd be reasonably confident that the bottle battery would be OK is 'splashing' conditions. Any more than that I'd consider a cover - maybe a simple shower cap or similar for those odd occasions?
Last edited by bikes4two on 29 Nov 2021, 12:28pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Greenbuilder
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Re: Bottle batteries

Post by Greenbuilder »

I use Yosepower batteries for my conversions. I find them reliable and not expensive.
Normally I fit a 13ah Hailong, (3.7kg) as part of their hub motor kit. I agree the cases are a bit ugly; But they now do a black neoprene cover which looks much better. The advantage over the bottle, is the controller is hidden in the base.
Their bottle battery is 10.4ah and 2.75kg and looks much better, but with a hub drive, the controller is then external. I just did a Pashley roadster and fitted the bottle on the seat tube with a TDZ2 drive (no controller); it all looks 'factory', with a nod to the old Raleigh Superbe.
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bikes4two
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Re: Bottle batteries

Post by bikes4two »

Greenbuilder wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 8:58am ..........The advantage over the bottle, is the controller is hidden in the base.
Their bottle battery is 10.4ah and 2.75kg and looks much better, but with a hub drive, the controller is then external. ....
That's a good point about the Hailong cases having space to fit the controller, but newbies to the TSDZ2 please note that for the TSDZ2 the controller is all contained withing the mid-drive casing so the Hailong casing space is wasted
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rjb
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Re: Bottle batteries

Post by rjb »

Does this mean that you don't need a display. Could you just connect a battery to the TSDZ2 and ride away allowing the torque controller to cut in. I assume you would still need the wheel magnet sensor.
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stodd
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Re: Bottle batteries

Post by stodd »

rjb wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 1:48pm Does this mean that you don't need a display. Could you just connect a battery to the TSDZ2 and ride away allowing the torque controller to cut in. I assume you would still need the wheel magnet sensor.
All ebike systems have several settings for power levels. The controller controls that, but the display plus any associated buttons tells the controller what to do. The most basic bikes might just have a 3 led display for three levels and a single button to cycle through them.

If you completely trusted the control system to behave as you wanted you might get away without any display or buttons. To get that right is a bigger ask than automatic shifting.
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bikes4two
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Re: Bottle batteries

Post by bikes4two »

rjb wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 1:48pm Does this mean that you don't need a display. Could you just connect a battery to the TSDZ2 and ride away allowing the torque controller to cut in. I assume you would still need the wheel magnet sensor.
As said above and in short no - the VLCD6 display for instance powers the control system on and off, gives you a means of selecting the level of motor assist gives you an idea of battery charge and has a tripometer, Odometer and speed display.
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hemo
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Re: Bottle batteries

Post by hemo »

Tsdz can be used with no display by shorting a pair of wires together at the connector also as with hubkits one can short controller wires together for no display, the result though is one only gets one level of assistance which is the lowest supported mode.
stodd
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Re: Bottle batteries

Post by stodd »

hemo wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 9:22pm Tsdz can be used with no display by shorting a pair of wires together at the connector also as with hubkits one can short controller wires together for no display, the result though is one only gets one level of assistance which is the lowest supported mode.
For a little more information also see the end of this thread at pedelecs:
https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/thread ... ost-635228

Basically confirms what hemo said; and what I said, that you get very limited functionality.
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