Complete Hobby King Lipo Protection Kit

[stypherfire]

I was actually going to try and integrate it into the battery pack itself so i could monitor its charge without it hooked up to the Bike. As for the full harness, i would like to order the items you indicated plus the over-charge HVC breaker. I would like to invest now and save over time in the future when i have to buy new batteries and already have this. Please go by invoice as for some reason i cannot access your website too well. Gets funky XD

[stypherfire]

Any suggestions on which Power supply i should use? (links pleasesss XD)

[Alan B]

It has been awhile since I checked the manual but I recall 24V 700W being recommended. Someone on here recommended these CNC supplies. I bought one and it works well. It has screw terminals and will need a power cord with lugs, but no mods are needed. Some other choices need hacking to make them work or get access to the terminals.

Here's the one I bought, 24 volt 750 watt:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Power-Supply-24 ... 0898767014

This is getting off topic for this thread, hopefully done now.

[methods]

I would agree that it is wise to over-shoot the power supply. If the unit puts out 500W then accounting for efficiency - say 80% that would mean you would want something like what is linked above. More is better when it comes to supplies.

If you do end up with something a little under-powered you can always just add a fan or increase the fan speed. I run all my supplies at 200% of their rated power.

-methods

[methods]

So just FYI we are finally settled into our hooch in Santa Cruz. The trailer is still in shambles but I have the back half dedicated to my office and shop. The wife and I are still staying at my mothers house while we finish construction. That being the case... I have finally removed the horrible annoying auto reply on my email.

There are 3 of the prototype alloy housings left. Once those are gone we are going to be out until Matthew finished the first batch from the production run. Last I remember we were waiting on some fasteners and insulators from Keywin - everything else is basically done. The package already left China but you know how that is....

I am excited - just found a big box full of 8AWG wire and 6mm bullets. Thought I had lost it. After my 100A testing I am thinking of upping the wire gauge on these to 8AWG just to be obnoxious. Wont fit my favorite Anderson connectors anymore but at that kind of current that may be a good thing.

-methods

[cal3thousand]

Just got my HVC breaker back from upgrade! Thanks Pat! (Btw, that is a crap-ton of shrink you included )

And congrats on the kid!

[methods]

Just got my HVC breaker back from upgrade! Thanks Pat! (Btw, that is a crap-ton of shrink you included )

And congrats on the kid!

Didn't you include $3 cash for Heat shrink in the box?
That is how much you get for $3

-methods

[Kris B Krunch]

Hi Methods, I'm looking at going the lipo route, but I'm still a bit of a newbie. My first bike worked ok for a while, but what it lacked was power. The battery pack I had was 52v 10ah lifepo4, but I only ended up being able to run my bmc V2T around 550-600 watts, and I'm a big guy with some big hills.
Anyways, what do I need to have a complete plug and play system that doesn't have to be disconnected to recharge, unless it's just maybe every once in a while they need balancing? I'm not sure, I've tried reading a lot the last few months, and I feel like I'm learning more, but I lack experience so not everything is clear to me.
My other option, which is more money, and I know will last longer, is getting an A123 16s 20ah prismatic pack from cell man, but I'm just not sure if I feel like spending that kinda money right now, and if I won't maybe be going higher power later anyways.

The batteries I was thinking about were 4 of these for now, maybe 6 later to get me 17.4 ah and running around 59v which I think is a good match for my bike.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/%5F%5F10870%5F%5FTurnigy%5F5800mAh%5F8S%5F25C%5FLipo%5FPack.html
or, is the extra price for nano tech lipo worth it for bikes, or is that just for the very high voltage and amperage guys?
And what kind of charger would you recommend? Thanks, and sorry if this has been covered before, believe me, I've looked.

Some more info if needed:
Kona Stinky Primo. XL frame size
I will probably continue with a front mounted battery pack, I tried it ghetto style with my lifepo4 pack, it was great, but not great on the trails just because of the vibration. but having it hard mounted to the shocks would be much better, just like how Oatnet does with his bikes.
I'd like to also change to a larger tooth count front chain ring so I can pedal all the time even full throttle on the flats, I like to peddle my bike with power assist.
crysatlite controller, 29-72v 25amps
cycle annalist
avid juicy 7 hydraulic disc brakes
6'1" Currently I'm just over 300lbs, but I was 340 a couple months ago and plan to continue to drop more weight, biking is helping a lot. Even e biking as many of you know.

[methods]

I have lowered pricing on the Potted HVC Breaker units from $150 to $120. We are now in full production with those... and since I was able to secure slave labor in India (aka Matthew doing a run of 50pcs) we were able to bring costs down a bit. Who does not like saving a few bucks at Matthews expense!!!

Seriously tho - Matthew stepped it up over at his shop. Since he switched over to doing solderpaste for the SMD and a solder pot for the thru-hole his efficiency has gone through the roof. I now think mostly of him while doing layouts - design for manufactureability. It is all about putting the surface mount parts on one side and having all the thruhole pop out on the other. That way he can just dip-n-bake with no hand work.

Pretty soon I think he is going to be able to hand off his operation to someone else - it is getting too easy and he is getting bored. Matthew - post up a picture of that bike you made. The one that smashes peoples faces.

-methods

[methods]

Hi Methods, I'm looking at going the lipo route, but I'm still a bit of a newbie. My first bike worked ok for a while, but what it lacked was power. The battery pack I had was 52v 10ah lifepo4, but I only ended up being able to run my bmc V2T around 550-600 watts, and I'm a big guy with some big hills.
Anyways, what do I need to have a complete plug and play system that doesn't have to be disconnected to recharge, unless it's just maybe every once in a while they need balancing? I'm not sure, I've tried reading a lot the last few months, and I feel like I'm learning more, but I lack experience so not everything is clear to me.
My other option, which is more money, and I know will last longer, is getting an A123 16s 20ah prismatic pack from cell man, but I'm just not sure if I feel like spending that kinda money right now, and if I won't maybe be going higher power later anyways.

The batteries I was thinking about were 4 of these for now, maybe 6 later to get me 17.4 ah and running around 59v which I think is a good match for my bike.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/%5F%5F10870%5F%5FTurnigy%5F5800mAh%5F8S%5F25C%5FLipo%5FPack.html
or, is the extra price for nano tech lipo worth it for bikes, or is that just for the very high voltage and amperage guys?
And what kind of charger would you recommend? Thanks, and sorry if this has been covered before, believe me, I've looked.

I use the 20C packs. With a 10Ah pack that is 200A continuous and with a 15Ah pack that is 300A. The nano will get you less sag under load but you pay dearly. If you are not looking to break any records just stick with the 6S 5Ah $44 20C packs from the USA warehouse.

Chargers? Ugh...
We are working on it


Some more info if needed:
Kona Stinky Primo. XL frame size
I will probably continue with a front mounted battery pack, I tried it ghetto style with my lifepo4 pack, it was great, but not great on the trails just because of the vibration. but having it hard mounted to the shocks would be much better, just like how Oatnet does with his bikes.
I'd like to also change to a larger tooth count front chain ring so I can pedal all the time even full throttle on the flats, I like to peddle my bike with power assist.

54T will go on a 4point. More if you have 5. Going with a larger front chain ring and an 11T in the back makes a huge difference.

crysatlite controller, 29-72v 25amps you want more current
cycle annalist
avid juicy 7 hydraulic disc brakes I have those - they are pretty nice
6'1" Currently I'm just over 300lbs, but I was 340 a couple months ago and plan to continue to drop more weight, biking is helping a lot. Even e biking as many of you know.

running a lower diameter tire like 24" or even 20" can let you experience the same level of acceleration that a twig 150lb guy feels on a larger diameter tire.

-methods

[Bazaki]

The kit works great ! But after each ride I want to charge it and I have to press the reset button to charge, I thought the kit only needs a reset if a cell hits 4,29 ?
It is not a problem I just wonder why

[Stochastic]

I have lowered pricing on the Potted HVC Breaker units from $150 to $120. We are now in full production with those... and since I was able to secure slave labor in India (aka Matthew doing a run of 50pcs) we were able to bring costs down a bit. Who does not like saving a few bucks at Matthews expense!!!

Seriously tho - Matthew stepped it up over at his shop. Since he switched over to doing solderpaste for the SMD and a solder pot for the thru-hole his efficiency has gone through the roof. I now think mostly of him while doing layouts - design for manufactureability. It is all about putting the surface mount parts on one side and having all the thruhole pop out on the other. That way he can just dip-n-bake with no hand work.

Pretty soon I think he is going to be able to hand off his operation to someone else - it is getting too easy and he is getting bored. Matthew - post up a picture of that bike you made. The one that smashes peoples faces.

-methods

I posted up a few pictures of the bike here: http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=40285&p=636840#p636840

-Matthew

[MattyCiii]

Dumb question time!

I'd like to use the LVC protection by cutting off an RC pulse throttle signal instead of a hall effect type. I can't wrap my brain around whether this can safely be done:
1) Will it ruin my gear?
2) Will it even work?
3) If it is conceptually possible, would it require different wiring?

I want to do this because it would greatly simplify wiring. I have a hall effect throttle with a very short wiring lead to my CAv3. the CAv3 of course converts throttle to RC pulse, and sends this way down the bike to the battery and Castle Creations HV-160. The way the leads are set up, there's a very short 3-wire RC pulse throttle run from the CAv3 to the HV-160, and it just happens to be located at the perfect place to use a MethTek LVC board for protection.

If I understand all this electronics stuff correctly, it should work, but I don't want to damage the expensive CAv3 or HV-160 simply playing around...

Any thoughts?

[methods]

The kit works great ! But after each ride I want to charge it and I have to press the reset button to charge, I thought the kit only needs a reset if a cell hits 4,29 ?
It is not a problem I just wonder why

Are you running the new modified HVC Breaker boards?
Definitely should not have to hit the reset button each time - something is wrong. Noise in the system maybe?

-methods

[methods]

yea... it would work... but that is not really the best way.

My RC is rusty - IIRC the input to the ESC is a constant PWM signal - so if you just squelch it then the controller will probably drop into some sort of "safety" mode. Like it would do if you lost RX signal right? Not the best solution.... but do-able.

Hmm... so your throttle is up on the bars, goes to the CA, and only the CA comes down. Bummer... I can see why you would not want to run wires up there if you have a clean install.

So it wont damage the CA or the ESC... effectively all it is doing is injecting a ground signal into the ESC input and presenting a 2K load to the CA. I suppose you can give it a try - no doubt it will stop the ESC - my only worry is that there will be a time delay before it sync's back up again.

Other options would be to send a signal up to the CA - but that would require some wiring.

Someone may have a clever idea - for now tho - I am pretty comfortable with giving that a try.
First just spin it up and pull the throttle plug from the ESC.
What happens? That is the error mode you will drop into. This is often times programmable on ESC's so be careful... some default to 35% throttle or something that would keep the plane in the air

Just make sure your default value is 0 RPM

-methods

Dumb question time!

I'd like to use the LVC protection by cutting off an RC pulse throttle signal instead of a hall effect type. I can't wrap my brain around whether this can safely be done:
1) Will it ruin my gear?
2) Will it even work?
3) If it is conceptually possible, would it require different wiring?

I want to do this because it would greatly simplify wiring. I have a hall effect throttle with a very short wiring lead to my CAv3. the CAv3 of course converts throttle to RC pulse, and sends this way down the bike to the battery and Castle Creations HV-160. The way the leads are set up, there's a very short 3-wire RC pulse throttle run from the CAv3 to the HV-160, and it just happens to be located at the perfect place to use a MethTek LVC board for protection.

If I understand all this electronics stuff correctly, it should work, but I don't want to damage the expensive CAv3 or HV-160 simply playing around...

Any thoughts?

[methods]

The kit works great ! But after each ride I want to charge it and I have to press the reset button to charge, I thought the kit only needs a reset if a cell hits 4,29 ?
It is not a problem I just wonder why

On second thought... please send $1 to my PayPal with a note stating "Send Potted Unit for Evaluation"
I will send you out one of the potted units to see how it treats you. I want your system to work perfect

-methods

[MattyCiii]

yea... it would work... but that is not really the best way...

Thanks for the reply!

I don't want to get too clever for my own good, but on further evaluation, it seems maybe I can send a pair of wires from the LVC board's "controller" [Thr] and [Gnd] pads to the CAv3 e-brake connector. When I hit LVC, the board will short these two wires which is exactly how the e-brake circuit functions. That would leverage a built in function of the CA, plus lower the number of extra wires.

It'll take a few days before I have time to test this out.

[methods]

Yes that would work

If you want to keep it clean I suggest replacing the stock CA cable (6 pin) with an 8 pin cable
Then everything will look just as clean - might have to open up the hole in the back of the unit a tiny bit with an xacto

You can actually get away with 7 pins if you tie my opto output into the CA ground and then only send up the ebrake wire. Whichever is cleaner and easier.

Another option is to carefully bundle the extra wire or wires with the CA wire and then heat shrink the whole thing to make it look like one clean wire.

-methods

[stypherfire]

Ok so just a very quick question. Might be stupid question. i am wiring 4 Turnigy 5mah 6s for 10mah 44.4v battery pack. I have 2 of your external parallel boards and have question. looking at your documentation i see where the tabs are suppose to go into the board but am wondering if the position matters. Here is a diagram of what i am guessing its suppose to be. even a yes or no would be good XD

[methods]

All of those 6 slots are wired in parallel so you can feel free to use any two that are convenient.

-methods

[stypherfire]

slight issue... my lipos uses round positive and negative ends. The HVC protection thing uses anderson plugs... what do i do now @_@

[methods]

What does your charger use?

Just cut those anderson connectors off. We really just put them on for our own testing (and because they are an amazing connector). You can then solder directly to your battery cables, solder on a bullet connector, cut the bullet connectors off of your Hobby King packs and convert them to Anderson, convert both to spade, convert them to ring terminal, etc.

Most people have a favorite type of connector (often left over from a different hobby or trade) so we gave up long ago on trying to standardize.

If you are in a pinch we would be glad to send out some mating connectors for you - either Anderson or Bullet. Some other members also offer a harness building service if that suites your needs. Just about the only thing you *cant* do is twist the wires together

-methods

[amberwolf]

What, wire nuts are not FTW?

[jonescg]

Hey Methods,

Can you take 7 of your 6s boards and stack them up into two stacks of 3 and one of 4? Or three stacks of two and one left over? I want to know how much room they take up. I will need to buy 28 of them for my race bike and I'm going to have to stack them to make them fit.

Then need not have any JST pins on the cell side because I will be soldering them myself.

Cheers mate,
Chris

[methods]

Yea - in that application you would just solder in a single 90 degree JST or solder wires directly to the boards.
I dont have them in front of me - but if you really want to get them stuffed in there you would also have to jimmy the data jumper lines.

I dont think this sounds like such a good idea... squishing them together is really asking for it.
How about instead you send a dollar to my PayPal account (MethTekPayment@gmail.com) with a note.
I will send you out some mock units that you can use for wiring.
Just empty boards, jumper wires, and some connectors. You can then sort it out yourself - as I suspect you will find that the wires take up more space than the boards.

I know you can find more space in there

-methods

Hey Methods,

Can you take 7 of your 6s boards and stack them up into two stacks of 3 and one of 4? Or three stacks of two and one left over? I want to know how much room they take up. I will need to buy 28 of them for my race bike and I'm going to have to stack them to make them fit.

Then need not have any JST pins on the cell side because I will be soldering them myself.

Cheers mate,
Chris