Monday, July 11, 2011

How to Rebuild the Battery for a Merida TEV 500/550

If you are the owner of a Merida Electric assist bicycle, you are probably aware that it's impossible to get factory replacement batteries, because they are no longer shipped to the USA.

I was able to successfully rebuild my Merida battery, and it now works great! Total cost was about $100 with tax. It took me about three hours labor. If you are more mechanically inclined, you can probably do it in less time than I did.

For replacement batteries I used four WKA6-8.2F batteries from Batteries Plus. These are slightly different than the original batteries, but close enough in size and amp hours to work. The original batteries were two 12 volt 9 amp hour batteries (for a total of 24v 9 ah). Replacement batteries were four 6 volt 8.2 amp hour batteries (for a total of 24v 8.2 ah).

To open the case, unscrew the 4 screws at the base of the battery, and the two ones on the side where the power plugs into. You do not need to undo the screws at the top where the metal plate is. That area controls the ignition and can be left alone.

Inside you will find two SLA batteries that are wired together. You will need to wire cut the old batteries out. Cut the red wire and black wire close to the terminal connections (the two at the bottom right and left of pic above). The important thing is to leave enough wiring for when you put everything back together.

Add in the new batteries. You will need to wire them all together to complete the circuit. I was fortunate in that the guy at at the Kennewick Batteries Plus store soldiered all of my connections together and did it for free! Wire in positive and negative connections on the two ends, these will connect back into the electrical system. Notice that the four batteries fit in quite nicely. Sorry about the cluttered work bench. :)
Crimp the ends back into the wiring system. Use yellow 12-10 gauge crimps - available at any hardware store. Make sure the wiring goes in the same direction as when you pulled it out. :)

The fit is kind of snug for putting the cover back on. Make sure to neatly manage the wiring as best you can, so the cover will go.

Enjoy!
Be sure to drop a comment if you do a replacement, I'd like to hear how the process went for you

Happy cycling. :)

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Debt Per State - Right to Work Compared to Union States

There is a noticeable correlation between the per capita debt of a state, and whether or not the state is "Right to Work". There are 22 "Right to Work" states, and 28 "Union" states. The 7 states with the lowest debt are all "Right to Work", and the 14 states with the highest levels of debt are all "Union".

Wisconsin comes in at #12 on the worst offenders list. Even given Wisconsin's problems, they are considerably better off than the folks of Connecticut, who have almost three times the debt level.

Full stats are below, pulled from a CNN Money article.