Bosch Powertube Battery Charge Management

[GrahamPaul]

I have had a reply from Bosch about the need to unplug the charger from the battery before unplugging the charger from the mains: this is a design requirement. (Do it the other way around and the motor will not start). This requirement is not stated in the manual.

Hi Graham,​

​

Thanks for your email,​

​

This is a safety feature, as you said this is by design.​

​

If you remove the charger from the battery first then the battery should work well.​

​

Best regards ​

​

Your Bosch eBike team​

George Edem​

​

Robert Bosch GmbH​

Internet: www.bosch-ebike.com​

​

 

[Beezerk]

Is this gen 4?
Pretty sure I've done it both ways with mine and never had a problem.

 

[GrahamPaul]

Is this gen 4?
Pretty sure I've done it both ways with mine and never had a problem.

Yes. This is for the new CX Generation 4.

It surprised me because companies like Hope (for their lights) are very explicit about the connection/disconnection order. The disconnection sequence is not noted anywhere in the Bosch manual and caused me stress the first time I loaded the battery into the brand new bike and the whole lot stayed dark. Happily I was close to the charger so could try it the other way around. Had I had my usual 10 minute walk to the garage, that would have been a different matter...

 

[WilkyWay]

I tried this with my Trek Rail battery after reading your original post, unplug main socket before battery connection and it worked fine....

 

[p3eps]

I’ve charged my Rail battery (not in the bike) 4 times now.
Each time I switch the charger off at the wall, and then pull the plug out of the battery.
Each time it works fine.
Is that not contrary to what Bosch are saying?

 

[Paul Mac]

Same with my Rail, works fine when mains is turned off first.
Have noticed it turns the bike on though

 

[GrahamPaul]

I’ve charged my Rail battery (not in the bike) 4 times now.
Each time I switch the charger off at the wall, and then pull the plug out of the battery.
Each time it works fine.
Is that not contrary to what Bosch are saying?

Yup. It is indeed.

 

[salko]

I have had a reply from Bosch about the need to unplug the charger from the battery before unplugging the charger from the mains: this is a design requirement. (Do it the other way around and the motor will not start). This requirement is not stated in the manual.

Hi Graham,​

​

Thanks for your email,​

​

This is a safety feature, as you said this is by design.​

​

If you remove the charger from the battery first then the battery should work well.​

​

Best regards ​

​

Your Bosch eBike team​

George Edem​

​

Robert Bosch GmbH​

Internet: www.bosch-ebike.com​

​

​

This doesn't make any sense to me ... also if it's by design they should clearly mention this in a manual ...

 

[Hyp4r]

Can’t believe it would make any difference - whatever way you disconnect you still get the same result- the power supply is interrupted.

 

[GrahamPaul]

Can’t believe it would make any difference - whatever way you disconnect you still get the same result- the power supply is interrupted.

Not entirely true: The battery for Hope lights has to be connected to the mains after connecting the charger to the battery. The battery management system in the charger needs to read the state of charge before it's connected to the mains. Failure to do this and the battery just doesn't charge. Disconnection is the reverse. This is made clear in the Hope instructions provided with their lights.

So, on the one hand, I can believe it because Hope require something similar (but in the opposite order). On the other hand, no other Bosch owner seems to have this difficulty.

 

[GrahamPaul]

I tried this with my Trek Rail battery after reading your original post, unplug main socket before battery connection and it worked fine....

Yup. Decided Bosch were bullshitting me: I got the chance to test this with a different powertube using the same charger and bike. Doesn't make any difference which way round I disconnect the power.

That leads me to believe that there may be a problem with my powertube. As it looks like I may be having a trip to the Bosch Expert Centre about something else, I'll be discussing this with them...

 

[Darren]

The first time I charged up my PowerTube battery I did it off the bike and when I installed back in the bike it wouldn't turn on - plugging back into the charger for a second fixed it.
Unfortunately I can't remember if the charger was on or off when I first plugged into the battery.
I now have my charger permanently plugged in and charge on the bike and never had the problem again.
Assuming the charger was off initially the first time, this backs up what Bosch are saying.

 

[GrahamPaul]

The first time I charged up my PowerTube battery I did it off the bike and when I installed back in the bike it wouldn't turn on - plugging back into the charger for a second fixed it.
Unfortunately I can't remember if the charger was on or off when I first plugged into the battery.
I now have my charger permanently plugged in and charge on the bike and never had the problem again.
Assuming the charger was off initially the first time, this backs up what Bosch are saying.

Yes, it was the first charge for that particular powertube. I haven't actually tried with this particular battery again because it's a 10 minute walk to the garage and a pig of a hill to ride the bike up if the battery doesn't switch on. Sounds like it may be a "first time" thing, though. Perhaps I'll give it a play.

 

[Beekeeper]

I have had a reply from Bosch about the need to unplug the charger from the battery before unplugging the charger from the mains: this is a design requirement. (Do it the other way around and the motor will not start). This requirement is not stated in the manual.

Hi Graham,​

​

Thanks for your email,​

​

This is a safety feature, as you said this is by design.​

​

If you remove the charger from the battery first then the battery should work well.​

​

Best regards ​

​

Your Bosch eBike team​

George Edem​

​

Robert Bosch GmbH​

Internet: www.bosch-ebike.com​

​

​

Thanks,
That should hopefully solve the problem because at the moment upon inserting the battery into the bike, the patient shows no life unless I plug the charger directly into the bike for 2 seconds like some kind of defibrillator to get the heart going again ?