Mahle X35 battery not working - can I fix it?

[@brucehutcheson5371]

Its like a poison pill software function. On Ryobi 40 volt tool battery packs, they used to shut down if the voltage dropped below a specific threshold. People would toss them in public recycling bins after letting them set over winter and I would fetch them and use a bench variable DC power supply to coax their voltage back up above that threshold and IF the cells were still good, it would come back to life and work again. Great video as always!

[@EbikeRepairs]

Salvaging is great! Unfortunately these packs seem to just... Die...

[@larryt.atcycleitalia5786]

One of those "Well, it's not working so why not take it apart?" schemes. We have 4 X35-equipped e-bikes so I was curious to see the guts inside the downtube.. So far, so good, two of 'em needed a visit to a competent dealer for "update" that took 10 minutes and cost $10 while the others have needed nothing. I really like MAHLE!!!

[@EbikeRepairs]

They're fantastic when they work, but a pain when they break because they aren't really fixable, just 'replaceable'

[@markscarratt4041]

Thanks for the throughly convincing explanation. The unserviceability because of failsafe BM hadn’t occurred to me. Deep irony that a safety/ cheapness measure makes the whole thing so un-eco :-(

[@EbikeRepairs]

Totally agree! It's a shame...

[@umitdagdelen7538]

Is mahle batary and momentum voya 3 batary the same

[@alexnightflydance]

Very perfect Timing , i got one of this x35 systems without the Bike , it was my first time to view a Controller inside the Batteriepack 😂 , now i can do what i want , but first i see a purple led and the App tells me 1 cell is down 😊 ..its confusing how small it is

[@alexnightflydance]

Frustration to view ur Video , 😂 i was in Hope 😢😂 , but i see this comming 😅..Its not for Save Resourses , its only to save Money for Producers.. ...i will test the Controller unit and cables with a seperated Hoverboardbatterie , last idea ..

[@EbikeRepairs]

Good luck! I tried to get the controller to work with a separate voltage not the original battery and it wouldn't work :(

[@alexnightflydance]

@@EbikeRepairs 😂🤔 it was my next PlanB ..again ,frustration 😭🤣... I can't belive how might the insustrie fight for unrepairable Consumer stuff like Elektrikverhicles ..xD I mean , -\+ a Engine and a trootle xD xD ..of course a Overwatch for 🔋 ...but what we get is a Card house 😂🤯😂 ..new company's in EU have to look for Upcycle-Circle but In reality * lost more Resources by building the complicated Way for use "Energie" ..sry my english is the high-end quality xD I open aloot of Liion Akkupacks and view to much good Cells and one or max 3 was dead ..but the Normal user trows all Time "Broken packs" away ..can't open without destroy or the Company's burn it down 😂 again for Energie to produce new Cells ..wrong Circle but ..u know , controller dies..BMS closed forever ..packs full of Glue etc.etc.

[@yakoridesagain]

Always wanted to see inside one of these! Thank you. Rather than shelling out the €622 for the battery/controller, might it be possible to replace the controller with a KT aftermarket model and recell the battery? I appreciate connectors may need to be changed…and finding a controller small enough to fit into that area may be impossible…it’s just that I’ve been running a DIY range extender on mine for years and that was also supposed to be impossible due to the CANbus…would appreciate your thoughts, and thanks for a great channel!

[@alanmorgan1389]

As you probably know, KT Controllers are designed to only communicate with KT displays so even if you could find one to fit inside the existing Mahle x35 battery case, it won't communicate with the iWoc display. The next big question to answer is whether the Mahle X35 motor is a 'standard' sensored hub motor that would work with a KT based system? If the answer were yes and I was faced with a 'broken' X35 battery and didn't want to shell out the money for a replacement (700 GBP?) then I'd look to scrap everything Mahle except the motor, recell the battery with a KT controller, fit a KT display and independent PAS and speed sensor (unless there's a way to utilise the Mahle ones?). All in all quite a technical challenge and not for the feint hearted.

[@yakoridesagain]

@@alanmorgan1389 That is exactly what I was planning Alan. I suspect the first gen X35’s are rather more amenable to ‘alien’ components, as a friend tested his suspect motor by swapping in a Swytch bike motor and it worked. Losing the Iwoc would be a benefit frankly though I do hate clutter on the bars…I’ve played with conversion kits before and I’ve been itching to re-cell with higher capacity cells…I do like long rides!

[@EbikeRepairs]

It is certainly possible! I uploaded a new video on it :)

[@yakoridesagain]

@@EbikeRepairs I’ll go take a look. I’ve been thinking about this for years!

[@phester28]

laptop repairs uses a tool to unlock batteries for laptops. It can do a full charge discharge etc. I recon can bus is how they communicate much the same as these batteries. It would be interesting to see if they would unlock

[@robibrcic-ck5tj]

4:45 😢

[@robibrcic-ck5tj]

😢

[@robibrcic-ck5tj]

8:34

[@robibrcic-ck5tj]

8:47 😅

[@EbikeRepairs]

I agree! Unfortunately not my area of expertise

[@MiniLuv-1984]

I reckon if govs were serious about environmental issues they would have created some legislation to stop this kind of proprietary bastardry from the Industry.

[@EbikeRepairs]

I agree! I see why they do it but they should have a repair program or something to save customers a WHOLE new pack. Design cell replacement into the mix when they're creating the things

[@pikola24]

It's really frustrating thinking of how many ebikes have to be thrown away because the batteries aren't produced anymore and that software makes them irrepairable.

[@EbikeRepairs]

Totally agree 😪

[@alexnightflydance]

@@pikola24 thx it was what I mean 🤯🔋 good Cells , done ...produced to Die without right work time ... Resources forever Away and Looking for new Materials ..

[@pacoki1]

luego entonces solo podríamos recuperar las baterías suponiendo que las pudiéramos revivir

[@pikola24]

But still there are people replacing cells of lots of battery manufacturers who are supposed to have such pieces of software. I wonder how they get to hack the software... If anyone had any info it would be greatly appreciated...

[@EbikeRepairs]

Hopefully someone cracks it but it's unlikely, this stuff all reports back to MAHLE server

[@bobikbobikowy5458]

Deeply discharged cells can be often repaired. Main problem is that if you try to charge it there are crystals forming inside cells causing shorts or self discharge issues. But if you connect like 1mA charging for a week (might be second battery connected paralell through ~20 kohm resistor) you can avoid forming those crystals. Often there is only slighty loss in capacity but cells still working. You should try it.

[@EbikeRepairs]

This one has gone in the scrap, but unfortunately it wouldn't come back to life once the BMS had detected that it shut down!

[@PeterMarinov-w8f]

It actually possible to repair with a bit of common sense and replacing the cell when the BMS is good is a common practice. Also the BMS itself is repairable in some cases.

[@EbikeRepairs]

Please feel free to share more, or if you offer this service maybe I can direct people to you in future?

[@lowspecbenchmarks7983]

[@jakebaked5996]

So let me get this straight, you didnt try to repair the cells or replace them... declared it "unrepairable" 😂

[@EbikeRepairs]

@@jakebaked5996 I did it off camera dude don't stress :) sadly can't replace or recharge cells as BMS has wiped it's vram/eeprom so won't come back on sadly :(

[@jakebaked5996]

@EbikeRepairs I have edited my post with your response in mind. But there's no such thing as "not doable".... probably a case of having the correct software to reset / reprogram the battery (which makes it doable but not at your shop).

[@EbikeRepairs]

@@jakebaked5996 yes totally! I wish I knew how to fix it :(((

[@jakebaked5996]

@EbikeRepairs I have access to a broken Mahle X35 bike like this right now, it's a shame it's wrecked by proprietary hardware (dead battery) .. almost heart breaking to spend £600 on a genuine but rubbish hardware locked battery worth £200 tops from manufacturer with a stupid controller built into the battery that becomes ewaste as soon as a single cell fails. Almost criminal id argue. I can't really believe these companies are getting away with it.