Fat Man Commuter - 270lbs on 700c

[dsullivan]

OK So here is the first follow up on this discussion.

I ordered the system as we discussed. The people at ebikes.ca took my order via email and phone. After a couple of conversations where they very politely helped me put together a kit with my preferences and the extra parts I would need to make it all work.
Paid via credit card and the shipment was sent and received in a timely manner. excellent!

So now I am unpacking everything. I put the spacer and the gearset on the wheel.

I unwrap all the fun little packages and I discover that my cycle analyst looks like the Direct Plug-in Model (CA-DP) except it has an extra wire.
The extra wire looks like a typical everyday power plug like you would have from a wall adapter to your telephone or computer speakers.
It is not mentioned in the manual for the Cycle Analyst nor is it mentioned on the website or ebikes.ca
before I do anything with this wire does anyone know what it is for?
My first guess is to plug into the battery maybe?

I had blowing stuff up to early in the game so advice would be wonderful.

Thanks.
Dave

[hjns]

What else did you order? If you ordered a luminator, this wire may provide the lamp with juice. Probably feeds 12V.

Connect the CA to the controller. Make sure the controller is switched off. Connect the battery to the controller. Switch the controller on. Check the voltage over the unknown wire, and you will see the light.

If this is it, it is extra service from Grin, to help you with minimizing the wire clutter.

[Ypedal]

It provides battery pack voltage, directly to a Lumenator if you get one.. or whatever else you want to power at the handlebars up to a few amps. (* Cover it with tape and tuck it or zip tie it safely away if not used )

it is not 12v !!

[hjns]

It provides battery pack voltage, directly to a Lumenator if you get one.. or whatever else you want to power at the handlebars up to a few amps. (* Cover it with tape and tuck it or zip tie it safely away if not used )

it is not 12v !!

Oh. OK. If it is battery pack voltage and you are not using it, you may want to cover it really well...

[dsullivan]

excellent answers. Thanks you. So I did like the first poster suggested. I hooked it all up, turned it on and put a tester on the plug.

TADA 1 Volt! Im not sure what that means. Yep ONE VOLT.

It does look like a plug for the illuminator which will rock when I buy one. But what good is one volt.
Maybe it has settings for the new wire?

Dave

[hjns]

beats me.

[Ypedal]

what battery do you have hooked up to the controller ?

( 1v might be residual voltage from the capacitors if the system is not getting battery power at the time of the test )

[dsullivan]

I have an eZee 36v(42v) 14ah battery attached and on. The cycle Analyst is on and the controller is on. I can read the display while I am testing.

Dave

[teklektik]

Just curious - what did ebikes.ca have to say?
Seems like the logical place to start....

[dsullivan]

I was hoping someone here would know before I have to pay another $8 long distance charge

I did find in the advance settings ("Aux Power" on/off)

[dsullivan]

I have searched the site and cant find the answer to this so I will ask it here and keep the first build notes all together for future builders.

I received my full kit today from ebikes.ca and all was great. The cycle analyst came with a book but the charger didn't.

it's an eZee 36v 14ah battery Lipo with an eZee charger.
Do these chargers have auto shut off?
can I plug it in at night and unplug it in the morning?

Thanks
Dave

[Ypedal]

Yes, the Hi-Power chargers are good quality and also what come with my A2B bike, as well as dozens i've used over the years... they either work or fail right out of the box..

plug it in the pack, then power it up, should get an orange light that will turn green when fully charged, leave it plugged in for a few hours when possible and ballancing takes place..

I dont like to go to bed with any battery charging, but i'm super-paranoid about this so i rarely do it.. however, of all battery packs out there.. this one is as safe as it gets.

[dsullivan]

Excellent! Thank you.

Got the bike together last night. Repurposed an old drill box into a little trunk that holds the battery and the electronics.
Good temporary start. All looks pretty clean.

Went out for the maiden voyage and WOW!
First trip was 12kms all up and down hills. At least 4 x 1-2 km hills averaging aprox 4-6% grades.
Top speed 37kph average speed 21kph used 6ah
Max amps 36a
And the great part is everything stayed reasonably.
Cool. The motor stayed. Old and the battery and controller got Luke warm.

Sounds like a successful first run to me.

Dave

[Ypedal]

Awsome !!! another NB'er on the road !

remember to check the spoke tension for the first few rides, if you find any loosies... crank them down..

[kevo]

Sounds like you've got your solid egrin on! Congrats and great job researching and implementing an awesome build! As the weather warms up you will like it even more.
PS: Don't leave the batteries out too long in too hot of sun, otherwise you're golden.

[oatnet]

Cool. The motor stayed. Old and the battery and controller got Luke warm.

"lukewarm" or "Luke Warm" ? I can put a my hand on a lukewarm motor, but this is how Luke (aka liveforphysics) gets his motors warm:

http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=24593


j/k, congrats on achieving the EV grin. I weighed more than you when I started, and am currently in the 220's thanks to eBikes.

-JD

[MadRhino]

"lukewarm" or "Luke Warm" ?

Don't go scaring the NewBie

[dsullivan]

I am happy with this build. I am really glad that I got to build such a great bike with the 1250W system so I can dial down the amps to emulate other kits and get a feel for what a 350w vs 500w etc feels like.
I have also enjoyed driving to work wide open 37Amps and getting a watthour/km of 24 and then driving home on maxAmps= 15 and pedaling one two bigger hills to get a total trip of 13 watthours/km

The numbers fascinate me. I'm just that kinda guy.

I have some questions regarding my battery behavior so I will now leave this posting and head over to technical/batteries and start a new topic

[Ypedal]

would actually be best to keep it going here, since it has all the background info needed for your question.. bike, weight, setup, etc.

[TonyReynolds]

We need pictures!

Great posts and choice on the commuter bike!

[dsullivan]

Great point. So phase one was installing the kit to the raw bike. I had an old plastic drill box lying around I repurposed for holding the battery and controller. I was concerned about the heat from the battery and controller so I moved the controller to a Tupperware container I mounted it in and after gluing on velcro straps I attached it to the cross bar. Eventually I want to replace both boxes with some panner bags with custome boxes inside to allow airflow and hide everything.

People around here still don't recognize it as an electric bike. They think I'm just a really fast fat guy I love this. I stop often and chat up people about the benefits of electrifying their old bikes.

For future reference I did get the answers to the Battery Questions. My current battery has a bms that cuts out at 31Volts this gives me a usable WattHour Count of 450WH.
So I now know what to be watching for.

If I run to work full amps 35a and full speed 36-47KM/h I use 220WattHours for my 8.7Km ride. Thats a few hills and hauling this 264lbs man. Yep I dropped 11Lbs since buying this bike. Last month. I also dropped two notches on my belt in the last week alone from biking.
Phase 1 - everything in the trunk


Here is the FatMan Commuter In Phase 2 moved the controller to its own well ventilated weather resistant box.





And this is me. If you ever get out to the east coast and see me say Hi!

[dsullivan]

In case anyone is wondering why it's loaded on the front of the bus. I am a bus driver for Saint John Transit. I often have to meet drivers out in the middle of routes to take over the shifts. It's great. I no longer need to figure out where to park. Just load the bike on and get to work

The bike is getting lots of attention out here. The only exposure we have had in Saint John to electric bikes are the Canadian Tire all steel 400w external extra sprocket and chain drive system and/or the little scooter looking bikes.

The local bike shop that I bought the original bike from has spoken to me about finding a couple of kits to install on some $400 bikes.
They do get plenty of calls from people looking for electric options but don't have any experience with them.
If I can come up with a reasonable introductory kit around $400-$600 that we can put on a demo or two. If they start selling, they want me to be the ebike guy

I have a background in computer software and hardware. My entire life has been spent ripping stuff apart to see how it works. I am simply loving this bike.

I have been playing with the advance settings on the Cycle Analyst and trying to maximize the efficiency of my ride without compromising the hill climbing abilities. So far I am doing really well. I have it tuned to have soft gradual launches, maximizing my amps around 20 for most rides and topping my speed out at 25kms seems to keep my WH/KM down from 24 to 13wh/km.

This makes me happy and extends my range. I really like it because I can do the round trip to work and still not be deep in the batteries DOD! Yay!

Any Questions and/or comments are always appreciated.

Thanks Dave

[kevo]

Dsullivan,
Love how you are maximizing your watt-hr consumption. Great job ebike evangelizing! Also sounds like very soon you will have to change your online titles to wazafatmancommuter... Nevertheless good to see the ebike gospel spread,

[dsullivan]

Looking forward to it.

Now if this 100mm rain storm would go away I could get back to losing weight and saving money

My logic - Most people pay the Gym so they can go and work out when it fits the gyms schedule.
I get paid by my bike to exercise anytime I want and It travels with me

PS - Build update. I removed the boxes and replaced them with a nice set of panner bags. since I saved so much on fuel I reinvested the money into making the bike look cleaner. Absolutely nobody recognizes it as an electric bike.
Even when I show them they spend time trying to figure out if I'm full of it.

The mountain bike sleeper. hehehe.
They believe me when I pass them

[kevo]

Stealth is a major factor in ebike enjoyment, adding to the entertainment. The bewildered look of drivers when you are able to take the lane and stay with the flow of traffic. The conversations at the top of the hill after you pass younger fitter riders. Just deciding when or how much to tell.