Recent content by ColinB

What do you mean by "better?" Higher quality? More power? More range? The main thing is to ensure your battery is rated for a higher power draw than your motor. What's the wattage of the motor / controller? You don't want to lug around an un-necessarily large battery, but upsizing has some...

I'd like to find a new LiFeP04 battery too; Ping is no longer in business. A bluetooth BMS is also on my wishlist, so I can see how the voltage holds up while the battery is in use. (If one cell group voltage drops more than the others, you will know it is weak.)

Hi, Congrats on your first ride. How long were you riding for? I have the same issue on my fully suspended mountain bike. So my advice is to focus on the riding position, not the equipment. Try some of the easy things. Seat angle. Raise the stem. Experiment with tire pressure. (Enough so your...

I have a similar problem - a large hub in a small rim = very short spokes. You don't need to oil the spokes. Creaks mean the spokes are not tight enough. Try to get the tension as even as possible. I do this by tapping the spoke with something metal. Higher tension = higher pitch. I had a...

You want to protect your derailleur hanger. It'll either damage the frame, or cost $$$. You can only bend them so many times. Then "snap." That said, I've never needed one, and don't use them. Colin

Not a good idea - you need a BMS. The purpose being to keep the cell voltages the same, and stop one or more from getting too high. or low. (Look up what happens when you overcharge a Lithium cell.) Ok, you CAN do it without a BMS. Maybe you charge each cell separately. Or you're there with a...

Ok, I'm starting to look into failure modes for these types of cells. I don't know much yet. One failure mode is voltage drop after charging. (But that was for single cells.) Not sure how a parallel group would behave. One site said a failure mode is to drop voltage under load. (Makes sense to...

Alternate title: How can we monitor our battery to prevent it from having an "exciting event?" Ok, this is hurting my brain, so I appreciate your thoughts. Take the case of a typical 13s4p ebike battery. It looks like the cells are arranged in 4p first, then arranged in series. Each group of 4p...

It looks pretty similar to me, but I don't know anything about building batteries. I will ask though - - It looks like your BMS rating is higher than the bus bars you are planning to use. Is that ok? - When you parallel the cells, the BMS will watch the paralleled cells, right? If one cell...

I'm not an expert, but from what I see, not all batteries are the same. The cells themselves have different rating for how much power they can supply. And some manufacturers can be "optimistic" with the capacity and "C" rating. (ie: AA batteries are great in a remote control, but don't last well...

Does anyone know of a good seller for a LiFePO4 ebike battery. Thinking 48-52v, 15-20Ah range. I can't seem to find any. I see Ping is no longer selling them. My Google skills must be lacking. Thanks, Colin

I currently run a 48v battery and use my Cycle Analyst to limit the power draw to ~ 600w. And my bike gearing limits my pedaling to 30-40km/hr. So I'm not using the maximum power and speed from my motor/battery, but that's how I'm using it. If I move to a 36v battery, will it matter? If I was...

What safety features should I look for in a new ebike battery? - I'd like to be able to see the cell voltage while I'm riding. (To spot struggling cells.) - See balance status. - Is it important to monitor each cell? Or is each series string of cells enough? I've looked around, and see many...

That is a good question. My first thought was to use the lowest gear possible (the 22 or 18 tooth) because motors draw less current when they can spin freely. But... if you used the 11t cog, you would throttle back, so would that make up for it? I think the only way to answer is to get a...

Hi, does anyone know the name of the multi-pin connector used on the older Ping LiFePO4 batteries? They look like a JST, but the male connectors are flat bars, rather than square. I'm starting to use my old battery, and would like to use a proper connection to test cell voltages. Thanks! Colin