Waterproofing a bike

So I'll be leaving my bicycle out throughout the year (apparently it's a "fire hazard" to have bikes in dorms) and I was wondering what I needed to do to make my bicycle ready to withstand the elements (rain, tornadoes, wind, and whatever else happens in missouri). I'm planning on bringing my battery with me wherever I go to charge and to prevent it from being lost forever, but I need to find a way to make the connectors, controller, front hub motor, etc water and sun resistant. So, where should I start?

Yeah, hermetically seal it... :|
Constant exposure to high humidity and rain will ruin a hub motor in an amazingly short amount of time..

Your dorm is really screwing you by making that a rule. Maybe you should got the way of a stand up scooter to get around it.

"Constant exposure to high humidity"

You've just described the Missouri summer.

Depending on which college you're at, some of them do offer solutions if you can figure out who to ask.

I had recently dormed in a 60s building, and I put up a bike rack right in front of my top bunk bed, right in front of the door. lol

What I have done is sheath all my cables in inner tube. All my cables run top to bottom. I have no horizontal cable runs, though this should still work if you seal both ends.

1 Cut enough tube to cover the cable run. (Cut slightly long)
2 Insert the cable into the tube.
3 Put a cable tie about an inch down from the top open end of the tube.
4 Close it as tight as possible. This leaves about an inch of tube above the tie.
5 Squirt some silicone into the opening (approx half filling it).
6 Tie another cable tie above the silicone to seal it in. (squeeze the resultant balloon of silicone to get penetration)
7 Bunch the tube up the cable to expose the connector.
8 Make the connection.
9 Slide the tube over the rest of the cable covering the connector and all the way to the end of the cable run.
10 I chose to leave the bottom open in case any water gets past my "seal" so it can drain out.

I've run this for 4 months now through some heavy rain and standing water. I was checking after each wet run at the start and all was fine and dry. I don't think about it now and consider it weather proof.

Hope this helps.
Tony

Consider drilling (or having someone else drill) holes in the side covers of your hub motor. Accept the fact that water will get in and give it a much better chance to get out. You don't want water trapped inside where it can't escape, it'll just rust your motor.

Look into some kind of covering for your bike, either a bicycle-specific rain cover or something more rudimentary like a tarp and bungee cords. You just want to minimize direct exposure to rainwater and keep it from just sitting wet.

I'd also worry about the bicycle part of the ebike. A lot of nice bikes can get trashed by being neglected outside on campuses, especially their drivetrains. Use a good thick chain lube (not anything that comes out of a spray can, and not grease, and not WD40) and be sure to apply it right. One drop on every roller of your chain, pedal with the wheel off the ground to work it in, and wipe off the excess on the outside with a rag. You can use that same chain lube a drop at a time on lots of other places on the bike that will rust or corrode. Heads of bolts that face upwards and can collect water, like on your stem, put a drop there. The springs and pivots of your derailleurs could use the same treatment, and any place a gear or brake cable enters or exits cable housing. If you have any doubts, your LBS would be happy to sell you a small bottle of lube and show you how to use it.

lazarus2405 said:

"...your LBS would be happy to sell you a small bottle of lube and show you how to use it."

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Don't take this the wrong way laz as I truly appreciate your good advice and contributions but 'gotta nominate this for quotable quotes thread, LOL...

OP - As laz suggests, a cover when it's parked will go a long way preventing build-up of water in various places you don't want it to build up. Small m/c cover or tarp with tie downs. Large amounts of dielectric grease stuffed into connectors will help prevent water from entering, old tubes, tie-wraps, most suggestions already offered in this thread.

Of the two methods, Covering/Sealing and Drilling Vent Holes:

• Covering will work partly, but you can’t escape humidity. Therefore sealing the hub motor is a good way to go, except I wouldn’t use Silicone because it’s hydroscopic; instead use Urethane. Apply a bead around the flange covers where it mates to the surface, and to where the cables pass through to the motor. Cross-your-fingers and pray this works, otherwise the motor will suck moisture in and create a real problem.
• The second method drilling vent holes is better, though requires the removal of the hub cover(s). Drill the holes at the periphery of the cover; two should be enough – maybe ¼” in diameter for venting. The only drawback with this (aside from assembly) is that the motor probably doesn’t have a coat of varnish to protect it from the elements like any normal alternator or starter motor.

I just find it amusing that the bike is being considered a fire hazard, and yet you’re being allowed to bring in the batteries for charging. That’s definitely reverse-logic at work.

Best of luck in your resolve. KF

Bicycles are considered fire hazards at my workplace if they block exits and/or escape routes. We have a designated area but must maintain 3ft corridor in the event of an emergency building evacuation. Batteries don't seem to make any difference to my employer just that the exit has 3ft opening.

Hello,

I'm new here, but I made a mod to my ebike that I'm happy with that might interest you: I used Molex permaseal connectors for my battery connectors and plan to use the same for the three phase connectors on my front hub motor. Since the permaseal connectors are yellow (color coordinated for wire gauge), I've put red and black heat shrink over the top. I like this solution a lot better then what I had before.

link to picture:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B5t29Q_G-glzVUI2RTdJbXZ0aU0

The permaseal connectors are reasonably cheap and available through digikey (about $1.50 per connector)

link to molex site:
http://www.molex.com/molex/products...oducts&chanName=family&pageTitle=Introduction

I've been running these for about two months and have been very happy with them.


Cheers,

Bike Buckster

I'm thinking of filling my hub motor with oil- will the water mix with the oil and create a nasty mixture?

I wonder if a scooter or motorcycle cover would be the trick.

Tarps and BBQ covers and whatever else people use trap humidity inside and don't really help. But a proper cover is designed to breathe. I have a couple scooters outside with good covers on em and they're fine.

Got nothin' else other than what's already been said...I sealed up all my connectors on the wire-end with silicone and used a small brush to get dielectric grease in em good. Even better than silicone is rain gutter caulk...water proof, flexible, and way stronger than silicone.

+1 on lubing up with proper heavy chain lube...unless you have access to industrial lubricants; my dad had this stuff in spray can that they used to lube up cranes. Some kind of teflon lube...really light but wow that stuff was wickedly slippery.

I have something to say about this since I've been leaving my bike outside for the past year in Southern Ontario. We do get humidity here in the summer but probably nothing like yours. I just spray inside the hub motor with a lubricating rust inhibitor and re-apply it occasionally. I also need to open the side covers once in a while to let the small accumulation of water out it does get in there and needs to be drained.

My controller is in a nylon bag with the wire exit towards the ground. I try to cover my throttle up when it rains but it's been rained on countless times and never had any problem. I have most of my connectors covered in electrical tape. I don't even cover my bike most of the time when it rains. I find the bike components are more of an issue than the electronic parts. I ride a cheap department store bike so I'm not too worried about it eventually getting rusty. I don't think I'd want to leave an expensive bike outside in the weather unprotected.

Build a shed.
Make the shed look like some sort of recycling holder/platform/divider.

No one mentioned using drip loops, which are mandatory for any rain resistance. Otherwise water driven by gravity and wind will follow wires like a channel right into your motor or controller, or anywhere else wires lead. Also keep in mind that water will travel inside the insulation of wires if it gains access.

you can also talk to someone who manages the dorm about your situation.. they may let you lock it inside in a designated area in the basement for example

It seems that the negative pressure of a cooling motor is the main cause of getting water inside, and is really hard to make it totally waterproof because of bearings, wires, etc.

What if we made a tiny hole on the cover, with a rubber plug and a tiny piece of hollow needle sticking out just enough to be away from dripping water? The idea is to allow the motor to breathe without drowning.

Is there a valve that may do this? The pelican cases, for instance, have valves that allow air but not water. If we allow air in, but not out, the motor would blow the water away from the wires.

ewinters said:

It seems that the negative pressure of a cooling motor is the main cause of getting water inside, and is really hard to make it totally waterproof because of bearings, wires, etc.

What if we made a tiny hole on the cover, with a rubber plug and a tiny piece of hollow needle sticking out just enough to be away from dripping water? The idea is to allow the motor to breathe without drowning.

Is there a valve that may do this? The pelican cases, for instance, have valves that allow air but not water. If we allow air in, but not out, the motor would blow the water away from the wires.

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Check out Tyvek for this purpose. It allows vapor phase water to pass, but blocks liquid water. It's used for wrapping houses that are under construction as it allows the lumber to reach equilibrium with the environment abd any trapped water to escape as vapor. An easily accessible source for it is USPS express postal envelopes, which are free at the post office.

a product called LPS #1 is a spray on water repellent for electronics and it works Great-
just spray electronics and connectors

WD-40 will work too.

Hadn't thought of this, interesting. Would you simply spray it into a controller case? Battery? Hubmotor? Display housing? Throttle?

Frizzaper said:

Check out Tyvek for this purpose. It allows vapor phase water to pass, but blocks liquid water. It's used for wrapping houses that are under construction as it allows the lumber to reach equilibrium with the environment abd any trapped water to escape as vapor. An easily accessible source for it is USPS express postal envelopes, which are free at the post office.

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I think the problem is that when a motor cools it sucks in moist air, then the water condenses on the internal metal. You would want something to stop the entrance of moist air, and drain any internal water accumulation.