My first e-bike project log named: "P.O.S."

[amberwolf]

but, the beauty about an ebike is that its still a bike. if the e-drive fails, you still got pedal power.
but its not so fun on my bmx i can tell ya that much...lol.

That's the problem with CrazyBike2 with teh old SLA setup; it was so heavy that I essentially *couldn't* pedal it without the assist. But even with DGA I can pedal it but I really don't like to have to--it's too heavy, too.

I don't know if the batteries could be damaged, but you can test that by measuring their cell voltages under load, even if you have to do it one at a time with a meter.

Depending on how your controller is setup, it might have a damaged component like a burned resistor or simliar that is keeping it from reading the full throttle voltage. If it does not work right even with your full-throttle button, that sounds likely.

Might be easy to fix, by tracing down the path of the burned trace.

[def215]

That's the problem with CrazyBike2 with teh old SLA setup; it was so heavy that I essentially *couldn't* pedal it without the assist. But even with DGA I can pedal it but I really don't like to have to--it's too heavy, too.

I don't know if the batteries could be damaged, but you can test that by measuring their cell voltages under load, even if you have to do it one at a time with a meter.

Depending on how your controller is setup, it might have a damaged component like a burned resistor or simliar that is keeping it from reading the full throttle voltage. If it does not work right even with your full-throttle button, that sounds likely.

Might be easy to fix, by tracing down the path of the burned trace.

i think the batteries might be okay. it still shows a charge, and i tried taking it around the block, with the botched up controller, and it goes but its not all there. because of what happened.

im still using the cheap china controller which uses the retarded potting material on it. well i did do a search on here for a few things like beefing up a speed controller and how to get the potting material off, and if i recall, in one of your posts, you said brake fluid worked? i kinda wanna try this but i dont want it to ruin anything else, well its broken already, so why not. im sure my wiring is correct on my throttle because i followed exactly what razor has on their website, which is the controller im using. i wanna fix it, but the potting on it is holding me back. maybe i should look into getting a 4qd like you have, or something similar. but i think most likely that im gonna fix this controller and beef it up in the time being.

yeah, i become an electrical engineering student, and the thing that i screw up is electronics...lol. i guess im gonna have to learn this stuff either way.

[dequinox]

Sounds like you're trying to polish a turd there def If you go with a tougher controller you can avoid that whole scenario of trying to break down potting material... I now use the YK43B controller from Yiyun, and it is a STOUT dark beer in a land of pale ales. You can find the specs here: http://www.tncscooters.com/YK43B.php

The 1000W rating is most definitely a continuous use rating, as I've seen peaks of over 3500 watts come out of this thing at 36v (to be fair thats out of the batteries)! I don't recommend running it at 24v, even though it says it will do that. Any voltage sag and you hit its low voltage cutoff...about 20v or so.

[def215]

good point dequinox. a polished turd is just a turd after all...lol. that might be my next purchase for this thing to get it at least working again, when i have some cash. i think ill end up rebuilding this controller anyway for learning experiences. it never hurts to try. the controller is sort of not working at the moment. whats the worse that can happen? to not work at all...lol. ive started to look at the 4QD motor controllers and they sort of gave me ideas. i dont know, i shouldnt have two projects going on at once and schoolwork too. it seems like everything is jumbling together. now everything is a big blurr...lol.

[dequinox]

Well if you are in it for the learning experience that makes it a different story. I guess you have to weigh whether you want a reliable commuter or a project that is mostly apart that you're learning on. I tried attacking both at once when I built mine, and it was a pain. It's a bit better if you can choose which

[amberwolf]

With my projects, they started out to be a simple quest for a reliable commuter and cargo hauler with assist. IN the process I found the educational part was as much fun as riding what I already had, although often quite frustrating when things dind't work and I couldn't figure out why. (or figured it out but couldnt do anythinga bout it).

The biggest thing I have found is that I really need to separate my cargo and commuter into at least two different bikes, which unfortunately limits me to just commuting and not stopping for groceries and stuff on the way home if I do it that way, forcing special trips for shopping, using the cargo bike or a trailer for the regular one. Then at least when things break on the commute, I don't half-die trying to just pedal my way to/from work.


Regarding the brake fluid vs potting, it depends on the kind of potting. If it si a hard epoxy, it may work. if it is a soft silicone it will not likley.

[def215]

thanks for the info amberwolf. i tried the brake fluid on the potting material of the controller and all i have to say is the potting material is really tough. i guess its really not meant to come off. is there anything else or am i SOL on this one? if i am. im not sure what ill do with that. well, the weather is starting to change, and for the worse, so ill just retire it for the winter and bring it out if there is a good day...lol. so i got plenty of time to work on it now.

[def215]

so its been down for quite a while now , so i havent really messed with it for a while. just playing with the propane goped i have. last time i really remember riding it was when i met up with another fellow ES member, mwkeefer, which was like more than a month ago. well the weather is too cold to do any of that anymore in this season, so i guess i gotta wait till next spring, unless i ride in the snow

still waiting for my twist throttle to get here from china, which should be next week. that would make it a whole month . upon the upgrades, i did get new rear brakes:

i think i ordered the wrong ones, these might be for a road bike. they fit, so why not...lol

they look way better than my stock ones. these should be able to stop me better than before

the old ones sucked ass. if i was on the brakes too hard, they would deform and flex.

still waiting on my throttle and grips. its feeling a little bare on the handlebars.
i also put on a new crank(not better, but a replacement i had laying around), and got pedals that werent broken. i still want a decent aluminum set. and i put my kickstand back on it so i dont have to use a wall, or chair, or bench, or table, or pole, or curb, or myself as a kickstand anymore...lol

also i ordered one of those spycams off of ebay for like 7 bucks to take with me to get ride footage or something of the like, like this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Car-Key-Chain-Hidde ... 0713915488
ive seen that they work pretty well in that thread here, so i thought i give it a shot. if it doesnt work so good or i break it, i cant be mad that i blew 7 bucks on it.
so until i get it working again...

[def215]

long time no update. but, so far its still working. i havent used it recently at all since the weather is still kinda crap. also, ive been riding my standup scooter lately because the bike is up at my school. its there because it will be going with me to erie, pa to an IEEE event, where ill be presenting it in a project competition in which ill be representing my school, along with the rest of the engineering department at my school.

but today, my bike got some good use because im working on a project at my school for earth day. the project is to use a bike to generate power. we were testing it with a normal mountain bike that was bought from walmart. but pedaling the generator really gets you winded, so in comes my bike to save the day:

it worked fantastic! so i used electricity to make electricity.

my goodness im lazy, or clever.

[REdiculous]

Now all you need to do is recharge your battery with the generator!

...use electricity to make electricity to make electricity...

[def215]

so its still running. i recently upgraded my pack to a 37 volt pack from the 25.9 volt pack with more konions i bought from slycayer(thanks! ) and i put newer cells in some of my battery banks because they were getting way off balance when i was going more than 5 miles to school. so here are some pics if anyone cares to look:

some more konions in 1s6p configuration ready to go in.

my entire 10s6p pack. it should be fun.


not sure if my hk-010 meter or my DMM is off. but all of the cells are sitting above nominal.

i took it out when i got done with it which was earlier this week, the results were a bit underwhelming. i got up to about 25 mph, opposed to the 22 mph on 7s but i recently undid the shunt so it was back to a 250w controller. i soldered the shunt back and ive been waiting to take it out when i had time to see if that took any effect to bring my speed up a bit more allowing more current to go through. this was all an attempt to compete with the bike on the left i recently built:

but any excuse to go faster.

but i cant complain, this thing has been going for almost 3 years strong.

[def215]

an update on the 10s pack:

i fried the motor recently running it for 5 miles straight nonstop. i was coming from school when it happened. as soon as i got home, i smelled a burning smell. thats when i noticed there was smoke coming out of the vent holes. heres a pic of it where you can kind of see it smoking:

it was toast when i pulled it apart so i got a new motor, which is a currie 350w motor and tried to shoehorn the guts into the 250w casing. that didnt work. so i ended up remounting my motor:

here it is up a bit closer:

the chain line seems a bit extreme to me but thats the only place i felt i could really put that motor without it being intrusive and out of the way. i just finished it tonight, so ill have to take it out and see if it will hold up.

[def215]

ive since rebuilt the entire driveline since my motor shaft snapped off. i think it was from the long drive chain and the slop it had when it was up at speed. at the areas where the chain passes near the frame, there are gouges that are exactly the shape of the chain. but i had a lot of derailment issues and i think it was one derailment too much.

i tried reaching out here for a new motor to no avail, i ended up resorting to other means and acquired another motor. now it has a whole drivetrain overhaul:

its closer to the wheel now

the left side

from the back. it appears straight.

from the right.

the way i have it set up seems a lot like the way the schwinn ebikes are set up and i understand why now. it runs much smoother now. its much quieter than before since the chain doesnt rub anywhere on the frame anymore. i have the timing adjusted so im touching about 27 mph top speed with my 10s pack fully charged. its much smoother than the driveline setup in the previous post.i was a bit skeptical of mounting my motor this way because i thought i would strike my heel against the motor everytime i pedaled but it ended up being fine with my heel barely clearing, luckily. and i wear a size 7 shoe.