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. With some owners out of action, I went looking for a replacement, and the one described here has since proved successful and 100% reliable for many owners, at a far lower cost than Giant's one. It also has fan cooled discharging, so is better.
The chosen charger has been in depth tested with both the standard 6.5 Ah battery and a re-celled 8Ah battery. It's specification makes it fit for any capacity up to and including 15 Ah, a size unlikely to be achieved within the lifetime of your bike. This charger is an option used for a kit so does not come as a retail product in a glossy box with instructions etc. 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.
The charger can be bought from a USA supplier at $56.25 which could be as little as £40 once shipped into the UK if no taxes* are applied, but these prices depend on currency exchange rates. This is the specialist supplier Powerstream. 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 with 3 amp charge. In practice the supplied model is usually the 1800 mAh version, either being perfectly satisfactory.
* 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 of £9.38 VAT was. 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 very slight, but the risk exists. Fortunately it still leaves this better charger much cheaper than the Panasonic one from Giant.
Print out these User Instructions as none come with the charger and illustrated connection details for various ways to add the Panasonic connector are given as well.
The charger can be bought from a USA supplier at $56.25 which could be as little as £40 once shipped into the UK if no taxes* are applied, but these prices depend on currency exchange rates. This is the specialist supplier Powerstream. 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 with 3 amp charge. In practice the supplied model is usually the 1800 mAh version, either being perfectly satisfactory.
* 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 of £9.38 VAT was. 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 very slight, but the risk exists. Fortunately it still leaves this better charger much cheaper than the Panasonic one from Giant.
Print out these User Instructions as none come with the charger and illustrated connection details for various ways to add the Panasonic connector are given as well.
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Updated 10.10.2009
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