So you’ve done the all-important first step: You’ve made sure that your ebike’s battery is UL-certified, which means it’s passed an important manufacturing standard to ensure it’s not a janky piece of crap ready to melt down faster than the New York Giants in a fourth quarter.
Now you need to know the warning signs to watch out for that’ll signal your once-safe ebike battery is no longer safe to use or charge.
What to look for
A bulging belly is a surefire sign of a dying ebike battery. If the sides of your battery’s case are swelling outward like it’s pregnant, it’s liable to give birth to a whole bunch of troubles for you.
Likewise, if you notice a weird stink that you didn’t notice around your battery before. As long as you’ve eliminated the chance that it’s something else nearby, it could signal that the battery is leaking or venting gases that it shouldn’t.
Batteries get quite warm when they’re charging, but they shouldn’t be so hot that they’re painful to touch. If your battery feels ludicrously hot when it’s charging, even in the absence of any of these other signs, it could mean that it’s close to giving up the ghost. Give up the battery first, before it has the chance to spark a fire.
Don’t forget to keep an eye on your charger. Always use the one that came with the battery, or a replacement available from (or approved by) the ebike’s original manufacturer. If the cord becomes frayed or the wiring exposed underneath the rubber wrapping, get a new charger.
I know. Batteries are expensive. But they’re cheaper than skin grafts and homeowner’s insurance claims. If in doubt, toss it. And by tossed, I don’t mean thrown into the trash.
I mean recycled at the right location near you, because batteries are full of all kinds of nasty chemicals that’ll leak into groundwater if they end up in a landfill. And groundwater is, according to our latest indications, good and important.
The post How to Know If Your Ebike Battery Is Damaged appeared first on VICE.
