New to board...Hello

[smudger1956]

[quote="dogmanBTW if 56 is the year you were born, you are officially an old fart like me, 58.[/quote]

Yes..lol......us 'old farts...young hearts' must stick together...Age and treacherousness will always exceed youth and exuberance...!!!

All the best.
Tony

[Brentis]

If you guys are old farts, then I must be middle aged.
35, But I feel like Im 16 most days.
Middle aged yikes

[MadRhino]

35, But I feel like Im 16 most days.

I'm 64 and I feel the same, some days

[smudger1956]

+1
To downtube placement.
Almost everyone will warn you against rear rack mount.
That would ruin the handling of such a fine machine.
If you can cut&paste&heat, you could fab. up something for the downtube.

I have to admit, the downtube mounting looks 'right' for the weight 'distribution and balance'.

All the best.
Tony

[MadRhino]

For off road, fitting batteries under the down tube is risky and would need a strong enclosure and skid plate, that would add a lot of weight. I prefer mounting them on the fork, where they are not likely to take a hit and help retaining the original balance of the bike. The 18 fet controller fits in the triangle, where it has good protection and air flow.

[smudger1956]

For off road, fitting batteries under the down tube is risky and would need a strong enclosure and skid plate, that would add a lot of weight. I prefer mounting them on the fork, where they are not likely to take a hit and help retaining the original balance of the bike. The 18 fet controller fits in the triangle, where it has good protection and air flow.

Thanks for your input MR, you have a good point there , I dont want to restrict the use of the bike because of a 'fragile' lipo install, I've seen some spectacular and expensive Lipo fires in my time......

ATB.
Tony

[dogman]

Some bikes really do seem to have a lot of space under the downtube. I've thought I wanted to keep all the clearance, in case I fully compress the cheaper forks I've had on some of my dirtbikes.

Definitely want some kind of armor on the lipo. My boxes were made with old aluminum road signs I happend to have laying around the garage. We still see proud new ebike owners posting pics of thier new bike, with lipos duct taped all over the frame. Makes me shudder. They always say, " I ride carefull so I won't crash" I know for a fact I'll crash the dirt bike. My lipo boxes are all dinged, but the batts are just fine. Part of why I settled on that method was so I can quickly get the burning lipo off the bike if I have to.

[LegendLength]

Take note the batteries need at least 1/2 inch of room between each other for the cabling, although you could run it down the sides to reduce that to like 1/4 inch.

Personally for that frame I'd go down the 'tiling' route, where you use smaller batteries tiled on each side of the frame rather than the larger 6s batteries. You end up with more cabling but you get a better look. Depends on how much you value aesthetics over quick-build i guess.

[smudger1956]

Take note the batteries need at least 1/2 inch of room between each other for the cabling, although you could run it down the sides to reduce that to like 1/4 inch.

Personally for that frame I'd go down the 'tiling' route, where you use smaller batteries tiled on each side of the frame rather than the larger 6s batteries. You end up with more cabling but you get a better look. Depends on how much you value aesthetics over quick-build i guess.

Thanks LL, as it happens..I thought about smaller packs, I will be seeing my Lipo supplier tonight at an Electric RC model Flight meet, and going to bend his ear and pick his brains over a pint or 2. I do value aesthetics, and can get a bit 'perverse' about installations...........

ATB
Tony

[LegendLength]

Tony whichever route you choose I'd suggest taking some time to play with the different battery sizes using stencils, cardboard etc.. It's can be fiddly and time consuming but I think it's something that needs to be done if you have any care for the looks of the build. That frame is pretty awesome IMO and deserves some respect for it's figure

The wiring can take up significant size and of course the padding + outer casing takes up a good 1/3 inch in itself. I know when I did my case it took a few builds to get right and hours of laying out batteries in different configurations. The wiring in particular took up more space than I imagined, partially because I used Sermos / Anderson connectors which are a little larger than bullets.

Some of the factors you may like to consider (for battery layout) are:

- Space for wiring
- Padding
- Case material / strength for worst case scenario (i.e. crashing)
- Ability to remove / install the batteries as a single pack (often overlooked IMO)
- Ease of charging. i.e. put batteries into parallel then series them so they can be broken back into parallel easily.
- The routing for cables running from the throttle, voltage meter and e-brake to the battery and the cables running from the batteries to the controller. The length of the latter cables can have a surprising impact on efficiency.
- Space for the controller and whether it will sit inside your battery case or not. Need to consider airflow / vents if it's inside.
- Space for a battery disconnect relay or switch which can be quite large depending on the power draw.
- Some way to mount the battery box to the frame without having any screws, cable ties or other sharp things rubbing against the batteries inside.
- Perhaps room for a BMS such as methods' ( viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36414 ) if you're going the LiPo route.

Matt

[wojtek]

the Stig.... probably not the best picture to have in this forum taking how badly this petrol headed Top Gear is representing and misinforming the public about the electirc vehicles.

saying this, i do like to watch the programme - it is very entertaining! and the Stig is a great driver , that is for sure [i actually found another member here called the Stig from Athens, must be your grand grandson... ]

Some say that after making love, he bites the head off his partner. And that he's had to give up binge drinking now that it's gone to one pound eighteen to a litre. All we know is, he's called The Stig.
--Jeremy Clarkson [S11E1]

[dogman]

It's obvious that I come from a different culture. Function is everything and aesthetics are only cool if they improve function. Call it ranch style or something.

I love the saddlebag type boxes because the weight is where I want it, they are well protected, and I can swap in fresh packs and go riding some more in seconds. I can also seperate my flaming lipo from the bike in seconds if I have to do that.

I like it that I have to go through the "hassle" of removing my batteries to charge. I know in an instant if one pack has a hot and puffy cell after a ride.

But to be honest, the bike never gets ridden into town. Riding in London, you sure wouldn't want a pile of square bricks with wires hanging out showing. And it rains. So you'd at least want a top to the boxes.

[smudger1956]

Evening all.....well, it is here.............
Been pondering installations, and we have arrived at 4 - 6s1p 5000mah packs 'bricked', to be installed in an decent Aluminium box with all the ' necessary electronics' then mounted to a seat post rack, I loaned a seat post rack and strapped 9lb and (11lb for 60volt... ) on it and went for a human power ride to see how it handled, happy with that.

The only other high light of the week was trying out a 36v 10ah pack on the Cyclamatic, whisked me to an eyewatering 20mph...... that about concludes Cyclamatic performance enhancing. Can't do much more this month, on a workathon....

Yeah, I know my avatar is a bit naff, all I had available, using a new laptop, going thru the 'file transfer procedure'..........new avatar on its way....

ATB

Tony

[smudger1956]

I have not been able to do a lot this month due to a workathon I am on, and still on till Sunday. Have had plenty of time to ‘data mine’ ES.
My original plan was to go for a MP3, but the more I read, the more I thought I would get bored with that setup, some more searching and finally decided on the X-Lyte HS3540 / 72v-45amp controller / X-Lyte APM,which all arrived this morning.
Not sure about ‘e-braking’….the Commencal has hydraulic brakes, if I get my engineering head on I could modify the existing lever assembly to accommodate the switches.
Going to base my build on Jimbo’s build -
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=32754
And mount 8 – 5s1p 5000mah packs on the downtube, I sussed out what ducting was used, and I can get it local to me.
I am soooooo tempted to build the bike, then go for a stripdown and take the frame to a mates body shop for a re-paint in Satin Black, I think that would look neat and ‘Stealth’ it a bit…?

I'll start a proper build thread once I get going.
All the best.
Tony.