Rad Mini Battery Charger Problems

[philcann]

We have had our Rad Mini Bikes for about 4 years now, and really enjoy them.

Unfortunately a couple of years ago, both of our battery rechargers stopped working.  We purchased two new ones a couple of years ago from the RAD Vancouver store, and unfortunately one has already ceased working (no lights whatsoever when plugged in), whilst the second one the lights come on, however the battery does not seem to recharge?.  I tried new power cords (from our first rechargers), and it definitely is not the power cords.  Power supply in our house is also working normally.

Has anyone else out there had problems with the rechargers, and if so, what could be the problem and how do we remedy this?

In the meantime, it looks like I will be on our 5th and 6th recharger in 4 years....!

[Tony]

No problem so far with my mini4 charger in 3 1/2 years.

[Radding Along]

I know this is an old post, but I will answer in case anyone else has the issue.

Keeping the battery charger plugged in all the time reduces its life. Always unplug it after use. Besides that, you risk blowing a fuse in the battery if you plug the charger into the battery while it?s plugged into the wall. Rad advises to always plug into the battery, then plug into the wall.

A battery not charging when you have a red and green light lit up on the charger is probably a blown 5amp fuse in the battery. They are simple to replace at home.

[pehayes]

Leaving it plugged in all the time can lead to the rare spontaneous fire ignition.  I use a simple 'timer' in my plug circuit.  I select charging time based on my level of use and drain status of the battery.  It charges for that time period and fully disconnects.  Been working fine for four years.  $12 at Amazon:
https://amzn.to/424mOTU

Patrick
CA

[JimInPT]

I select charging time based on my level of use and drain status of the battery.  It charges for that time period and fully disconnects.

That's the smart approach for safety and battery longevity.  I use a timer like that on my water distiller, because it always runs for exactly the same amount of time, but for my bike charger I use a smart plug in the garage ceiling outlet (where the door opener is plugged in) set up on my Alexa network and programmed with several different-time routines.  I have an Echo device in the garage for playing internet radio and listening for commands, so I just connect to the battery and say "Echo, ebike 2 hours" or 4, 6 or maximum 7 hours depending on the battery state of charge.  Hands-free and handy; got the smart plug (one of many in my house) on a one-day sale for less than $10.

Just a slightly-geekier way to do the same thing, which is to limit the charging time - that's the important thing.  I wish the fancier programmable battery-monitoring chargers weren't so damn expensive - I'd love to just be able to program 85% charge level and be done with it, instead of guessing how much time it'll need to get to about there.

[inoxa]

A battery not charging when you have a red and green light lit up on the charger is probably a blown 5amp fuse in the battery. They are simple to replace at home.

I had a similar issue but was quickly resolved.  I had both lights on, but it turned out the battery was too warm to charge.  So I wait an hour or so to charge and no problems.

[John Rose]

...  I use a simple 'timer' in my plug circuit.  I select charging time based on my level of use and drain status of the battery.  It charges for that time period and fully disconnects.  Been working fine for four years.  $12 at Amazon:
https://amzn.to/424mOTU

The thing I like about that model is that it is clear in the description about the repeat function. I've looked at several timers for outdoor holiday lighting in the store, and you cannot tell from the packaging whether or not it can be made to not repeat the next day after the time runs out.

[edit]
Ooh, here's another one:

No repeat, 15 minute increments, and it goes up to 12 hours in case you want to balance the battery (which requires three full 12-hour charging cycles). Presumably you'd be able to tell how much time is left as the dial rotates.
Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/Century-Digital-Countdown-Repeat-Function/dp/B00MVDTEXS
Amazon U.S.A.: https://amzn.to/48ZIvqn

[handlebar]

I plug a wattmeter that reads in tenths of a watt into the outlet. I plug the timer into the wattmeter and set it for the estimated charge time. If I come back after it's off, I'll turn it on to see if the green light comes on and the wattage is below 2.0.

Even if the green light is on, if it's drawing more than 2 watts, I assume it's balancing and give it more time. I think that's better than occasionally leaving it on 12 hours.