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The Heinzmann power system consists of a battery pack, a controller to feed the power to the motor, and a charger to recharge the battery. There are two configurations:
Silver Box System:
This is the system used on the Estelle complete bikes - the battery is in a box on the side of the carrier and the controller is in a separate box under the top of the carrier.
You can carry two batteries - one on each side - and the batteries can be either NiCad or NiMH (though not a mix). All the batteries and controllers are 36V, even the road-legal ones. The batteries have locks to secure them to the carrier.
The Battery.
The Controller.
This system is used on all the Estelle bikes, and is what we supply as standard with kits.
Black Box System:
With this system, both the battery and the controller are (usually) fitted into the same box - which is a bit bigger than the silver battery box.
This system is the older one - it is available in 24V or 36V versions, but with NiCad batteries only.
This system is (slowly) being phased out by Heinzmann, and the carriers for it are no longer available. It works well with the seatpost or seat-tube adaptions, though, and is very good for the Heinzmann-Brompton. We’ll keep using it as it’s better for some adaptions.
The Battery & Controller
A few older systems will have a separate controller - this is now obsolete, but looks like this:
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- The Cells: In the NiCad packs, Heinzmann only use genuine Sanyo Cadnica Nickel-Cadmium cells - 20 F-size ones in the 24V pack, and 30 D-size ones in the 36V pack. We have found that these cells manage well over 1000 cycles (“uses”), and are very durable. For a lot more detail about the cells, click here...
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The Battery Meter: Less sophisticated systems have a battery meter which just measures the voltage - this isn’t very effective with NiCad cells as the voltage doesn’t change much until the cell is almost empty, then it drops very quickly. A common thing is for the meter to show full until you’ve only got a couple of miles left! The Heinzmann meter is much more sophisticated - it actually counts how many amps go into or out of the pack, and compensates for temperature, so it is extremely accurate. - The Controller: Heinzmann use a pulse-width controller, controlled by the throttle on the handlebar. The throttle has an on/off switch and light, and there’s a keyswitch on the controller. The controller also has safety features to protect you and other parts of the system: it monitors the temperature of the motor at all times, and it monitors every cell in the pack - if anything goes wrong (very rare!) it cuts out to protect you and everything else.
- The Connectors & Cables: Heinzmann don’t skimp on the wiring - the connectors are the toughest available. Equally, the cabling is very tough, to stand up to years of use in all weathers.
- The Charger: The Heinzmann charger is designed to work closely with the Power Pack - it is a microprocessor-controlled “smart” charger which monitors the pack’s temperature, current and voltage to charge the pack in two hours. Because it’s a switched-mode charger, it doesn’t have a heavy transformer - you can easily carry it with you.
There is a lot more technical detail, for those who are so inclined, in the technical guides section - have a look...
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Last updated on:
07 November 2011
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tel: 0141 942 2552, email: mail@kinetics-online.co.uk
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