Complete Hobby King Lipo Protection Kit

[methods]

I sent a troubleshooting procedure that will determine if the problem is miss-wired throttle or damaged board outputs.

Without showing the entire procedure here:

1) Measure between pins 1 and 2 of the LVC board (Ground and Signal)

There is normally an open circuit here. When LVC is activated (or the boards are damaged) there will be a short circuit here (less than 50 ohms)

If you measure an open then the boards are fine and the problem is your wiring. It is very easy to confuse the wiring an 9 out of 10 times this is the issue. It is not the customers fault... it is our fault for using confusing wire colors that do not map.

If on the other hand a short circuit is measured between pins 1 and 2 then the problem is that the opto outputs are damaged. This could happen from miss wiring, but I have never seen it. If it turns out the opto's are damaged I will ship new boards out to you and you ship the ones you have back to me for analysis.

The LVC retard cable looks like this:

YELLOW = GROUND
RED = SIGNAL (with 1K inline)
BLACK = 5V

Please post pictures of your connection to the throttle and your connection to the controller.
I know it seems simple - but 9 out of 10 times this is the issue.

-methods

[Bazaki]

Everything is working really great ! I will try my LVC this evening.

It was indeed the color lining, Methods gives great support and advice !

I recommend Methods and his products to every Ebike rider

Thank you !

[methods]

Just in case anyone else has trouble:

We source our pigtails from a supplier that uses a Yellow/Black/Red color combination. Sadly, when you mate this up to a standard JST HS throttle connector the mapping goes like this

Throttle Ground = BLACK
Our Ground = YELLOW

Throttle Signal = WHITE
Our Signal = RED

Throttle 5V = RED
Our 5V = BLACK

We considered re-wiring the pigtails but it was found that the procedure of extracting and reinstating the pins lowered reliability.
We have worked out what we believe to be a good solution to this and it will show up in the next version.

-methods

[Bazaki]

Also the LVC is working really good, I set the LVC of my controller and Cycle analyst to a LVC of 20v so completely off.
On exactly 10ah forward my throttle went off.

A few cells were exactly 3.00 v

Another benefit of the system is I can use almost full power till the end, my LVC in the controller was stuttering to LVC when the pack was a third full.and therefore much slower.
Now I can ride hard till the end. Ofcourse you should not run completely empty to 3.00v, I will use about 8 out of 10ah max. to prevent 3.00v but no more cliff divers for me

[methods]

-methods

[cal3thousand]

Just ordered from Patrick! With this kit, I'm stepping into the world of LiPo.

I definitely would not have gone with LiPos for my next project (Wifey bike) without this kit and his guidance. Of course, the reading on here helped me decide that LiPo's benefits greatly outweigh the cons (with this kit, that is)

[chroot]

Hey methods, I forgot ask you to send me one more extra throttle-lvc cable and how much cost? BTW I received the throttle-cable from post office. Thanks!

[methods]

Hey methods, I forgot ask you to send me one more extra throttle-lvc cable and how much cost? BTW I received the throttle-cable from post office. Thanks!

Ok... ok... we wanted to stop producing these but I have like 7 requests right now.

Matthew... you know what you have to do man.
Lets try to get a final - final - final batch done tonight.

-methods

[Stochastic]

I will make a special last batch for those who need them.
This is it though, so you all will have to fight for them.

[chroot]

Ok I understand

Sent from my Tbolt smartphone using Endless Sphere app

[Olly3012]

Am I to late or can I grab a kit

[joe tomten]

go here:

http://www.MethTek.com

[methods]

Exciting news guys....

A member approached me the other day and we got to talking. He runs a Machine Shop and has the capabilities to manufacture a heat sink housing for the HVC Breaker module. This has several implications...

1) We will now be able to run 60A+ continuous
2) The module can now be fully potted in epoxy

So this means that we can re-purpose the HVC breaker to be an LVC Breaker.
You will be able to wire this fully potted module between your battery and controller
If any one cell hits 3.0V it will latch up and stop all discharge on your battery

Voltage range is about 30V to 130V... but that can be extended in either direction pretty easy

We are currently feverishly working on this. It should be plug and play with all of the existing systems out there... just unplug your retard cable and plug this in. OR -> Use both for redundancy.

I was only able to test up to 50A continous here before my testing rig melted down I am going to pick up a huge constant current supply from Liveforphysics to do some 100V 100A testing. Anyway...

Since I am blabbing -

We secured a load of the new motors from Croatia - so expect to see those on our website.
It is looking like we are going to stock 18fet, 24fet, and 36fet controllers. These will be serious controllers for men and women who are out of control.

-methods

PS: Some people might suggest that the LVC Breaker module only temporarily cut power and then resume... Like the throttle retard does. I dont think this is the right way to do it for many reasons. First of all... if a single cell actually hits 3.0V under load on the average ebike you are done. Yea - you could milk it down... but that is just stupid. The way to do it is to set pack level LVC a bit higher and slowly glide down on that smooth power decay ramp. IF any one cell blips 3.0V before your smooth pack level LVC starts to kick in that is a sign of an imballanced pack and it is time to stop. Just think about the sum of the cells and visualize it... So for now this is how we are going to implement the system. I will consider releasing the instructions for how to mod the system to be a temporary cut out...(like the retard cable) the board has an RC delay built into it that I normally do not populate (I just have the breaker latch up and de-power itself) but for those who are adventurous I will show you how to play.
(and then sell you more when you blow it up )
It is basically just a large ceramic capacitor on the gate of the mosfets that is inline with a 100K resistor so once the system "trips" it takes some time for that cap to charge back up to turn the mosfets back on. It basically adds some hysteresis to the system so that it does not shutter when not latching.

[dougnutz]

Awesome news!

I look forward to reducing the number of pigtails hanging off my pack

[DesignerDan]

When do you think these new units will be ready?

[methods]

The mechanical engineer just brought by a prototype tonight. We decided to make a few changes. Realistically - it will be a month - but it will be worth it. It is looking like we will have a machined aluminum enclosure that is fully potted in epoxy with 10AWG silicone wire.... oh... so sweet!

If you have a deadline you can just tie a heat sink to the HVC Breaker I sell now, swap 3 wires, and use it for 30V - 120V 60A discharge. I just did a test with it the other day - hardly gets warm. I totally overkilled it with those 4110's

-methods

[fractal]

Hi Methods. I have 2 quick questions :

1- Does the system work with Regen?

2-I have a small 6s RC toy charger as a back up. Can I use a parallel board to parallel charge and balance?

Thanks!

[methods]

Hi Methods. I have 2 quick questions :

1- Does the system work with Regen?

Yes, every aspect of my system is 100% regen compliant

2-I have a small 6s RC toy charger as a back up. Can I use a parallel board to parallel charge and balance?

Not sure exactly what you are asking. If you are asking about hooking up a bunch of packs in parallel using a parallel board and then charging with an RC charger - yes - that would be fine. Few RC chargers run more than 2A through the balance wires and my board can handle more current than the JST-XH connectors (i.e. they will melt before my board will)

Thanks!

Hey everybody....

I am almost done with a new pictorial manual that should really illustrate how to hook this stuff up. I will be posting that up soon on my website, in a PDF, and I will also make a thread.

-methods

[methods]

Man I am beat...

Here is a link to the Manual thread.
At this point it is nothing but a long string of 100 lightly commented pictures... but it should be enough to pull a few of you lurks off the fence who were looking for a little more info before jumping in.

Methods documentation thread

P.S. I forgot to mention that we are now shipping the new 6P version of the boards pictured in the manual.

-methods

[methods]

Someone just pointed out that you guys cant read my mind. I tend to forget this.

So the LVC/HVC/Parallel boards are now 100% available in 4S, 5S, and 6S. We spent many nights spooling up production so there should not be any supply issues. The Parallel boards are also available in 4S, 5S, and 6S and well stocked. We are stocked up on HVC Breakers. The Retard cables are no longer needed and the new LVC Breaker module is still about 3 weeks out. We have Jumper cables in 4S, 5S, and 6S and those are available in 6" and 12".

The new boards have 33% fewer parts on them and they have the LVC Retard function built in to each one (though you only need to use one). They are not quite as sensitive as the old boards but unless you are running in -10C I don't think you will ever be able to tell the difference.

My turnaround time is still usually same day but I have been traveling more and more to my new hooch in the woods. The wife and I decided tonight that I need to move some of my stock to my Jeep... then when we are in the woods I can still pack boxes and get stuff out ASAP. Gives me an anxiety attack when I have orders in the queue and they just sit there

-methods

[methods]

I am now including Balance Tap Jumpers with every kit for free. I have had a run of folks not ordering these cables that allow access to balancing.. and I want people to balance.. so I am just going to include them.

example: 18S kit would come with 3 x 6S 6" Jumpers (12" optional)

I will update the webpage

-methods

[Bazaki]

Just an update, I still really appreciate this kit, I have bought 2 more for friends, I try to convice other friends to install this kit as well.
I hope more people will use this to avoid deep discharged cells and overcharged cells !

[methods]

Bazaki is helping me do some testing on the HVC breaker right now. Our results will make the new LVC Breaker (and the next version of the HVC Breaker) more reliable.


-methods

[fractal]

Hi Methods, I have a question about charging a 24s pack at 12 s using 2 12s chargers. I would like to know if I can leave the data cables plugged in. look at the diagram :

[methods]

Yes, absolutely
The data lines are totally 100% isolated.

You can also leave the packs wired in series at the power level as I have said many times.
Just install center power taps and hook those chargers right in parallel with the system.

-methods