I have a 2017 rad city with 400 miles and the battery failed. Yes I did check the fuses, including the one inside. The tech guy at RAD walked me through the obvious things and then told me it was shot and the replacement battery would cost about $650 delivered. Are there any replacements that fit and work for less?
Snoop
Well-known member
- Local time
- 4:05 PM
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2022
- Messages
- 573
Welcome to the forum, Willie.
Check out this thread. There is a company and a contact person discussed a few posts in, where you might be able to get a battery to your specs (I have no experience with them myself).
Hope it helps.
ebikesforum.com
Check out this thread. There is a company and a contact person discussed a few posts in, where you might be able to get a battery to your specs (I have no experience with them myself).
Hope it helps.
Anyone ever used a battery from DHGate.com for an Aventon Pace 500?
Looking at the original Aventon Pace 500 (gen 1 model) battery, they're pricey at $500 USD. I found some Reention Dorado 48v batteries supposedly for the Pace 500 at DHGate.com for around $330, which is MUCH more reasonable. These supposedly have Samsung, Panasonic or LG cells. Has anyone here...
CrossRoads
Active member
- Local time
- 1:05 PM
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2022
- Messages
- 106
Don't the rad city bikes use bafang rear hub motors? In theory any battery of the same voltage will work. I like the relatively less expensive unit pack power batteries and have used them with bafang rear hub motors. $350 for a 48v 20 amp hour "blue brick", but you'll need to make your own case. More like $500 for the UPP down tube mount with case of same voltage and amp hours. I've been told the UPP supplier on Amazon that says "official" is the best to buy from but I've got them on ebay and they all have worked fine for me. I like the 50 amp bms version which will be more than enough for any typical ebike motor. Also try to keep them not ever run down past 80% drained.
Rattlerq
New member
Hello Crossroads. Do you have links to more information on making your own case, replacing a battery for a Radrover 6+. It is not just the fuse; it apparently discharged too far and won't charge (also out of warranty). I searched Youtube and Google but your post is the closest I have come so far. Is it not possible to get a blue brick that would actually fit in the original casing of the Radrover 6+? (along with good directions on how to connect everything). Thanks for any help or suggestions anyone who reads this might have to save from buying the expensive Rad 6+ battery from Rad (if you can even get it; they are out of stock).
CrossRoads
Active member
- Local time
- 1:05 PM
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2022
- Messages
- 106
The term "blue brick" is just what i made up, refering to UPP's large case-less batteries. Search for "UPP battery" or Unit Pack Power on Amazon. They come in a range of voltages and amp-hour capacities. They are large, high amp-hour lithium-ion batteries that come in a "case" that's not really a case, which is very thin fiber-glass with some caulking to weather-seal it, but does not offer any sort of physical protection. I make my own cases out of mahogany plywood with some rigid foam insulation inside for padding. Kinda serious woodworking project, but it allows me to custom mount them to my bikes. My handle profile pic shows a recumbent with one of these wooden cases for a 25 amp-hour 60V battery from unit pack power.
UPP also makes a down-tube battery which has a proper protective case in some of the small or medium sizes.
Like I said, the unit-pack-power batteries are considerably lower in price compared to other batteries on the market. They offer great performance, with pretty good BMS as far as i can tell. However, keep in mind, these are made in china, and the company offers virtually no english speaking tech-support, warrantee, technical information etc. So you kinda get what you pay for in that sense. If you are tech savy and want to tinker these are pretty good batteries for a below-market price, but if you want something plug and play and trouble free and completely safe you might want to spend more for a battery from a US supplier.
UPP also makes a down-tube battery which has a proper protective case in some of the small or medium sizes.
Like I said, the unit-pack-power batteries are considerably lower in price compared to other batteries on the market. They offer great performance, with pretty good BMS as far as i can tell. However, keep in mind, these are made in china, and the company offers virtually no english speaking tech-support, warrantee, technical information etc. So you kinda get what you pay for in that sense. If you are tech savy and want to tinker these are pretty good batteries for a below-market price, but if you want something plug and play and trouble free and completely safe you might want to spend more for a battery from a US supplier.
CrossRoads
Active member
- Local time
- 1:05 PM
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2022
- Messages
- 106
Links to Amazon may include affiliate code. If you click on an Amazon link and make a purchase, this forum may earn a small commission.
Rattlerq
New member
Thanks for your reply, CrossRoads. I have been looking around and trying to learn about this just recently so I did understand exactly what you meant by "blue brick" and that it needed a protective casing. I was just hoping I could find one with dimensions that would fit inside the RadRover 6+ original battery housing, but I am not finding that. Now I have looked at your wooden box on your bike and see what you mean. I am somewhat tech savvy and my husband is handy with tools and electronics so I feel between the two of us this could be accomplished to at least make a backup battery set up. We are not long distance riders (the most we have done in a day is 26 miles, and we do pedal rarely relying fully on throttle) so we don't need the highest capacity; just want it to be the 48 V with the same or better capacity as his original battery. As far as the horrible or non-existent directions that would come with the battery from China, that is where we rely on somebody like you who has successfully done this. I am not finding a lot of videos on this topic on Youtube so far. Thanks for your tips and the Amazon link.
CrossRoads
Active member
- Local time
- 1:05 PM
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2022
- Messages
- 106
what was the capacity of the original battery? Amp hours or watt hours?
Rattlerq
New member
The original battery is 48 V 14 Ah
CrossRoads
Active member
- Local time
- 1:05 PM
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2022
- Messages
- 106
I see, yeah 14Ah for $650 is pricey. Definitely could find one for less. The UPP batteries will be a bout half that for comparable amp-hours. Just make sure you get something with THE SAME VOLTAGE but same or greater Ah (amp-hours). BtrPower is also good from what i hear. The amp-hours is the capacity, what you're paying for, more amp-hours = more range. There's an 18Ah 48V BtrPower battery for $269 there on amazon. Also bare-bones, no case, just sort of a plastic wrap. You can put it in water-proof pannier wrapped in bubble-wrap. As long as it's padded and waterproof you're ok. These will all come with XT60 connectors which are pretty universal, but you can adapt with a crimping tool if you have something different on your bafang controller.
Also the amp-rating on a battery is theoretically a spec to get right but only for higher-amp systems. The rating on the battery that says, for instance, "50A bms" means it can output 50 amps before the current outflow is limited, it's like a circuit breaker in a house, sorta, but not really. In any case, your Rad power probably has a 750 watt motor, (750 watts divided by 48 volts equals 15.6 amps) which means you'll be fine with any battery that is 20 amp bms or greater. Most of the UPP and BtrPower batteries have 30A or 50A bms so you're fine no matter what basically.
One thing worth considering is just taking the battery to a real old-school hacker nerdy bike shop if there is one in your town. Try finding somewhere with hardly much of a sign out front but in the back of the shop it looks like a nuclear submarine scrap yard. Rad power is a very new and very retail-oriented company, like get them manufactured and get them sold, and after that we don't know you. I have had frustrating conversations with Rad power sales reps who don't appear to know the answers to real basic questions. A real ebikes nerd will have diagnostics tools... it could be one or two bad cells, could be the bms, could be just the connector... Even if it's a matter of replacing all or many of the cells, or replacing the BMS board entirely, it could be worth it, considering your case fits the bike. And they will offer you better advise than i can if they are looking at the bike.
Also the amp-rating on a battery is theoretically a spec to get right but only for higher-amp systems. The rating on the battery that says, for instance, "50A bms" means it can output 50 amps before the current outflow is limited, it's like a circuit breaker in a house, sorta, but not really. In any case, your Rad power probably has a 750 watt motor, (750 watts divided by 48 volts equals 15.6 amps) which means you'll be fine with any battery that is 20 amp bms or greater. Most of the UPP and BtrPower batteries have 30A or 50A bms so you're fine no matter what basically.
One thing worth considering is just taking the battery to a real old-school hacker nerdy bike shop if there is one in your town. Try finding somewhere with hardly much of a sign out front but in the back of the shop it looks like a nuclear submarine scrap yard. Rad power is a very new and very retail-oriented company, like get them manufactured and get them sold, and after that we don't know you. I have had frustrating conversations with Rad power sales reps who don't appear to know the answers to real basic questions. A real ebikes nerd will have diagnostics tools... it could be one or two bad cells, could be the bms, could be just the connector... Even if it's a matter of replacing all or many of the cells, or replacing the BMS board entirely, it could be worth it, considering your case fits the bike. And they will offer you better advise than i can if they are looking at the bike.
