Discharge nimh batt through charge port or break into batt?

[badnewswade]

Hi all! I have finally bought a NiMH battery for the winter! its a 12ah 36v job from an Advance electric bike (which is a kind of electric Brompton-style folding ebike). Charger on way from Advance.

It seems to have seperate charge and discharge ports - two metal studs at thebottom, which are powered by an on-off switch, and a three-pin socket for the charger (which isn't affected by the switch and therefore presumably is on a completely different circuit).

I don't suppose it's advisable to just take power from the socket, is it? It's just a lot more convenient... I am currently using lead-acid batteries and my bike is designed around them, so ony one port for charging and discharging, also there's the matter of just having access to wires. Those studs utterly infuriate me - how the heck am I supposed to get power out of them?

The only other option I can think of is to break into the case and get some wires out of there, or just give up, sell the stupid thing and buy a Ping battery. What do you good people think? Anyone else done anything like this? Specific info about the Advance ebike welcome!

[ChrisB]

I'd think the only restriction on the charge point is the fact its unlikely to carry the load you will want it to, being that your going to discharge it at several tens of amps where as it charges only at a few amps, so I suspect the charge port is only rated at a few amps ?

These studs ?? no chance of running a dia down them and cutting a thread on them so you can put a couple of nuts onto the ??

As you say its either a case of break into it and do something inside or go the ping route ? I must say I am awfully close to getting a ping battery in to play with, just having never done a chinese import thingy I'm just a tadge concerned that I'll pay me 500 notes and never see anything for it

ChrisB

[badnewswade]

You'll get something for it all right - Ping is well known and respected in the eV community and he's been doing it for a while now, I've looked into it and they're all satisfied customers, which is more than I can say for me as Advance have decided to completely screw me on the charger.

They're offering a refund and a lame excuse for not being able to deliver before Christmas. Great. I've already got the battery so it's either sell up or have something I can't even use sitting around for months. I really want the charger but I'm furious at this waste of time and the fact that exposing my LA's to the cold weather will waste them before I get my NiMH going.

People who take your money and mess you around like this are scum.

Does anyone have a used Advance NiMH charger, or want to buy the battery? Buyer collects from central Bristol, UK; I'll let it go for £80.

[ChrisB]

Why dont you throw the battery back at them and get a refund on that to? or didnt that come from them ?

As for Ping I'm really close to ordering ...something.... just not sure what, also not sure about the dreaded import tax , have only ever imported one item about 5yrs ago and it cost me nearly £150 in import tax

ChrisB

[Jeremy]

My Ping battery arrived without attracting the attention of officialdom, thankfully, but the actual duty charges aren't that high, around 8 - 10% for "bicycle parts" I think. Duty is only payable on the value of the goods, but VAT at 17.5% is payable on the value of the goods plus the shipping cost, which is a bit irritating given the high cost of shipping from China.

The annoying charge is the shipping agents handling fee for paying duty and VAT on your behalf, typically around £12 to £20 per shipment, depending on the courier.

Ping, like most overseas vendors, knows that we get hit with charges, so will usually declare a low value on the customs declaration he puts on the package. This is of dubious legality and presents the small risk that the package will be under-insured, but does reduce the charges you get stung for (assuming the package gets noticed when it arrives here).

To work out the approximate charges, if you bank on getting hit for 10% import duty on the goods value, £15 handling fee from the courier and 17.5% on the total of goods value (less duty) plus shipping cost that should give you a worst case figure. If Ping declares a lower value, or better still if the package doesn't get noticed, you'll have a pleasant surprise at the reduced cost.

Jeremy

[badnewswade]

Yeah, the batt didn't come from them. I think I'm going to have to eat it. bah!

[ChrisB]

My Ping battery arrived without attracting the attention of officialdom, thankfully, but the actual duty charges aren't that high, around 8 - 10% for "bicycle parts" I think. Duty is only payable on the value of the goods, but VAT at 17.5% is payable on the value of the goods plus the shipping cost, which is a bit irritating given the high cost of shipping from China.

The annoying charge is the shipping agents handling fee for paying duty and VAT on your behalf, typically around £12 to £20 per shipment, depending on the courier.

Ping, like most overseas vendors, knows that we get hit with charges, so will usually declare a low value on the customs declaration he puts on the package. This is of dubious legality and presents the small risk that the package will be under-insured, but does reduce the charges you get stung for (assuming the package gets noticed when it arrives here).

To work out the approximate charges, if you bank on getting hit for 10% import duty on the goods value, £15 handling fee from the courier and 17.5% on the total of goods value (less duty) plus shipping cost that should give you a worst case figure. If Ping declares a lower value, or better still if the package doesn't get noticed, you'll have a pleasant surprise at the reduced cost.

Jeremy

Thanks Jeremy for that, has sort of put my mind at rest "a bit"

So if I bought say THIS from Ping for say £300 and it got stung for all of the above it would actually cost me something like £400 or have I done something wrong ?

ChrisB

[badnewswade]

Hmm, surely you can't be said to be "importing" it if its for personal use? I mean it's not like you're opening a shop selling them.

I really don't understand these charges, I mean, it's not like we have any advanced lithium battery industry to protect!

[Jeremy]

Chris,

Those prices look about right if you were unlucky enough to get stung for the full whack, although it's highly likely that the charges would be less in practice.


Badnewswade,

Importing is importing, no matter what. The exemption for personal imports is currently set at a very low figure, goods valued at less than about £18. Anything over that value is subject to import duty and VAT if it comes from outside the EU. Goods sold within the EU don't get charged by our government, but instead are charged at source. This means you can pay more if buying from somewhere in the EU with a higher VAT rate than the UK.

It's got little to do with protecting UK manufacturing industry (which effectively dwindled away years ago), but everything to do with raising revenue without hitting income tax......................

Jeremy

[MalcolmB]

It's definitely a bit of a lottery whether you get caught for the import duty. I just got stung for £22 duty on around $150 worth of PCBs, but slipped under the radar on the same value of electronic components ordered from the US the same day.