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  1. C

    Buying A Battery

    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...
  2. C

    Who are we trusting these days with prebuilt batteries?

    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.)
  3. C

    Just completed first commute on DIY eMTB, thoughts…

    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...
  4. C

    How to stop creaky spokes

    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...
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    Should derailleur protector be installed on an e-bike?

    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
  6. C

    Lithium iron Battery connection

    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...
  7. C

    Using and charging a regular 13s4p battery. What happens when there is a bad cell?

    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...
  8. C

    Using and charging a regular 13s4p battery. What happens when there is a bad cell?

    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...
  9. C

    4s2p LiFePO4 Leisure battery

    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...
  10. C

    Does it matter what brand of battery i use?

    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...
  11. C

    Good source for LiFeP04 ebike battery?

    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
  12. C

    Will it matter? Moving from 48v to 36v battery.

    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...
  13. C

    Who makes a "good" eBike battery? Which safety features?

    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...
  14. C

    Which gearing to maximize range?

    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...
  15. C

    Name of multi-pin connector on Ping BMS?

    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
  16. C

    Advice on this seller- crazy prices

    Looks like a typical scam website. Same as what you see on Facebook marketplace all the time. I bet if you search a bit, you'll find where they stole the photos from. Colin
  17. C

    When to recycle LiFeP04 battery? Safest battery?

    Bumping this potentially volatile (hahaha) topic. Will an older battery simply loose capacity, or be more likely to burst into flames? Probably an impossible question to answer 100%, but hoping to learn more. Thanks.
  18. C

    Using regenerative breaking as home electric generator

    Yes, a hub motor can act as a generator. I don't know anything about it's efficiency though. Some controllers will work with the throttle and e-brake lever to change the amount of regen. It's a cool idea. Nothing wrong with trying to solve a problem with what is on hand. If the person already...
  19. C

    Calculating watt hours used

    As a temporary measure, just time your charger. If your charger is 2 amps, and takes 3 hours, it put in 6ah of energy. If your cells are rated at 12Ah, you know your battery was approximately half empty. Colin
  20. C

    Cells in parallel vs whole packs

    Thanks for this discussion. Is there a way to check how the cells are doing to make sure they are performing normally? I'm still trying to understand the parallel first vs series first issues. If you put cells in parallel first, we know they'll stay in balance with each other. What happens when...
  21. C

    balancing your rims (offsetting air valve)

    I did balance my front wheel - but only because I could tell it needed it. When my bike was hanging (while I worked on it) the wheel obviously had a heavy side section. The wheel was very true, so I added a bit of lead wrapped around a spoke nipple. The bike rode well before, so I'm not sure...
  22. C

    low speed, high torque motor and Ligo battery choice help

    Have you checked out what others are doing? ie: https://notawheelchair.com/ Several videos about it, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuMg0QwKAGI, so should show motors, speeds, etc. I know building it yourself is part of the fun, but you might get some ideas. Battery size is hard. You want...
  23. C

    Grin's modular 36v 98Wh Li LiGo battery

    Does anyone know - is there a way to check the voltages of the individual cells in the LiGo battery? ie: checking if a cell is going bad. Thanks!
  24. C

    Ebike Build Question about Battery size

    For a 2 mile commute, range won't be a problem. The issues will be: - a battery large enough to handle 1000 watts. - charging, or keeping the battery at less than 100% charge for extended periods. Smaller packs will wear out sooner delivering higher current, and can heat up. (Heat is bad.)...
  25. C

    Issue with the rear shock on my Recumbent - new setup

    Hi Peter, I'm not a professional, but I have a few thoughts for you. What type of shock comes with the frame normally? You might want to get that one, or try to match it's specs. When you go over a big bump and the frame hits the fender, that's called "bottoming out." You can: - Use a harder...
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