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We bought a Watseka XP Cargo Electric Bicycle off amazon back in 2014 recently is hasnt been working and after further inspection we found that one of the batteries has failed (the one pictured below). However i have been unable to find a replacement. any suggestions? its form factor is quite different from the what is standard now (the existing battery is shaped like a cube, where as all of the new ones i see are rectangle).
http://watseka-bikes.com/ seems to be down and has been for a while now so i think the manufacturer is out of business

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  • haha, did a whois on the domain name, found an email and a company called Midwest Motorcycle Supply. emailing them with same question.
    – owen gerig
    Commented May 29, 2020 at 20:32
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    If you have something like a "Batteries Plus" near where you live, you should check with them. Sometimes they can even rebuild the battery with new cells.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Commented May 29, 2020 at 20:38
  • thanks i have tried that already though
    – owen gerig
    Commented May 29, 2020 at 20:39
  • I think Daniel is right that that's the sort of avenue to explore. You may need to find someone that specializes more in this kind of repair. Also, there are a very few shops out there that will take in unsupported ebikes and do the groundwork needed to solve this kind of problem, which can require a pretty diverse mix of skills and resources. You may need to go that route unless you want a new hobby.
    – Nathan Knutson
    Commented May 29, 2020 at 22:18
  • Can you please add a photo of the top showing the connectors? Also measure the width, depth and height in millimetres.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented May 30, 2020 at 13:03

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SLA batteries are all the same, 2V/cell nominal, mostly 6V and 12V batteries. In this case you have a standard 6-DZM-9 6V, 9AH battery. All you need to do is find a replacement 6-DZM-9. The best solution would be find a battery specialist (not just you corner car/truck and motorcyles battereis seller) and see what they have in their catalogue. Ideally you want a Deep cycle battery desoigned for electric scooters, bikes carts etc, not a Standby power battery. The latter is designed for UPS with the very occational deep discharge and won't last quite as long as one designed for regular discharge/recharge cycles.

With lead acid batteries, do not replace just one battery out of a bank, you will need to replace all the batteries - at 6 years old theyare at the end of there economic life anyway, and replacing just one battery will mean the life of the new battery is significantly reduced.

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  • +1 for deep cycle and for replace them all. Absolutely spot-on.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented May 30, 2020 at 13:00
  • I went to a "battery specialist" but they didn't have any replacements. he told me to look online for an SLA battery that is 12V that is similar in dimensions: 3 7/8" tall - 4.5" wide - 3 7/8" length. but i havnt had any luck
    – owen gerig
    Commented Jun 17, 2020 at 17:04
  • Going to try buying slightly smaller batteries and some how affixing them to the enclosure
    – owen gerig
    Commented Jun 17, 2020 at 18:00
  • You may want to visit a shop that sells electric bike conversion kits. You may be able to run the motor off a Lithium battery - although it would not be cheap as it would need new charger and controller.
    – mattnz
    Commented Jun 17, 2020 at 20:36

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