Replacement Charger
The Panasonic charger supplied for the Lafree Twist series has been notoriously unreliable. Currently in January 2007, Giant dealers are charging from £120 to £139 for a replacement, and none are available until March. Replacements are available from a few other suppliers but the thermistor circuit in the charger must match the thermistor that's incorporated in the battery if the charge cutoff is to be at the correct point and not either damage the battery or fall short of a full charge
The connector that Panasonic chose for the Giant system is a particular problem since it's not readily available so you'll need to transfer the old connector to this new charger. Details for doing that are in my instructions which you can access below, and these include an option for those who cannot or do not want to do soldering, and a way in which you can still have two chargers at the same or different locations.
A suitable charger can be bought from the specialist supplier Powerstream in the USA at a fraction of the cost, it's current part number is PST-N100-24V. The links to the pages are generic, so on that page click Chargers on the left hand menu, then NiMh and NiCad charger index, then scroll down to 24 volt NiMh/NiCad charger. It doesn't have the refresh feature, but most e-bikes using NiMh batteries have never had this anyway and it's not very useful with modern NiMh batteries.
* Warning. Many people have previously imported these chargers without customs intervening, but one unlucky person has now had the customs check their parcel. No import duty was applied, but a charge for VAT was made. Unfortunately the collection method before the parcel would be delivered was via the UK Post Office who added a further £13.50 clearance fee, also to be paid in advance. The chances of this happening to you are slight, but the risk exists. Fortunately it still leaves this charger very much cheaper than the Panasonic one from Giant.
Print out these User Instructions for illustrated connection details for various ways to add the Panasonic connector.
A suitable charger can be bought from the specialist supplier Powerstream in the USA at a fraction of the cost, it's current part number is PST-N100-24V. The links to the pages are generic, so on that page click Chargers on the left hand menu, then NiMh and NiCad charger index, then scroll down to 24 volt NiMh/NiCad charger. It doesn't have the refresh feature, but most e-bikes using NiMh batteries have never had this anyway and it's not very useful with modern NiMh batteries.
* Warning. Many people have previously imported these chargers without customs intervening, but one unlucky person has now had the customs check their parcel. No import duty was applied, but a charge for VAT was made. Unfortunately the collection method before the parcel would be delivered was via the UK Post Office who added a further £13.50 clearance fee, also to be paid in advance. The chances of this happening to you are slight, but the risk exists. Fortunately it still leaves this charger very much cheaper than the Panasonic one from Giant.
Print out these User Instructions for illustrated connection details for various ways to add the Panasonic connector.
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Updated 27.9.2010
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