The New Hotness

The Bafang mid-drive e-bike kits I installed on Mary’s Tour Easy recumbent and a friend’s Terry Symmetry used the “Ultra-Slim Shark” lithium battery, a rectangular lump with a tapered snout:

The battery has a key lock on its left side:

The lock might deter casual thievery, but really prevents the battery from bouncing out of its mounting plate while riding.

The right side has a charge port closed with a rubber plug:

The cover protects a coaxial jack with a 5.5 mm OD and a 2.1 mm center pin:

My friend in Raleigh generally removes the battery before hoisting the bike into the back of her car to haul it to a friend’s house for their companionable rides: not lifting an additional seven pounds is a Good Idea™.

A momentary distraction in the middle of that process caused her to insert the brass key into the charging port, rather than the lock. The key put a very short circuit between the coaxial jack’s side contact and the center pin, melting the key tip and welding a brass nugget onto the side of the pin:

The charger plug normally sits almost flush to the port’s surface:

The nugget keeps the plug out the damaged port, preventing the plug from making electrical contact:

She owned the problem and immediately bought another battery, which tells you the value she places on riding her e-bike.

Verily it is written: let someone who is without whoopsie cast the first shade.

Any takers? Yeah, the way I see it, someone who says they’ve never done anything quite like that is either not doing anything or not telling the complete truth. For sure, I’ve done plenty of inadvertent damage!

Here’s the problem:

• The damaged battery is the better part of 600 miles away from my shop
• Civilians cannot ship 560 W·hr lithium batteries through any parcel delivery service
• Civilians cannot fly or take the train with such a battery, either
• Driving 1200 miles twice is out of the question for either of us

How would you proceed?

More to come …

For reference:

• USPS – Hazardous Material Info – section 349.222
• UPS – Lithium Battery Pack & Ship – PDF page 9
• FedEx – How to Ship Batteries – PDF page 3

Basically, it is possible to ship lithium batteries up to 100 W·h.