Bought a new bike! (new member)- update

[andrey320]

Recieved the bike yesterday. Brand new in box. Packing slip says the bike was shiped from the manufacturer to me. This is sort of weird because the company lists the bike for 1399 and I bought it on ebay for 665 shiped.
First impressions
- some cheap parts (seat and pedals - one does not spin freely)
- charger stoped after 45 minutes, indicator said low
- first ride lasted about 30 minutes - until the battery drained
- this bike looks great!
- it is very quiet!
The bike may have a problem. I am hoping its the battery breaking in, but it could be worse. Sometimes when giving it "gas" the assist does not kick in. I have to release it and "gas" it again. The bike will not spin the wheel when I lift the back and "gas" it. Again, I hope this is the battery breaking in.
Despite all the glitches, I took the bike to work today. No speedometer yet, so no numbers. But it took about 25 minutes (compared with 35) and was MUCH easier.
I'll keep charging and riding and will update later.
Does the charger charge intermitently? I'm on the 3rd charge and the indicator will not go above low. The charger turns off / shows green=charged....

 

[Mathurin]

Yeah, green likely means 80-95% full, best to let it continue charging for several hours after that to fully top off the pack and balance the cells.

Also, it's normal for NiMH cells to give only a part of their normal capacity if they're new or haven't been used in a long time, it's like they get out of breath and lazy or something.

Giving it gas makes the voltage sag more or less, it's likely you've been hitting the low voltage cutoff when gassing it and it gives nothing. I'm guessing this happened when the batteries were partly discharged? After resting for a few secs the voltage comes back up, and so then you can give it gas again and it'll work. To prevent this, try gradually opening the throttle as you accelerate, especially when the pack gets close to empty - do this all the time to improve range per charge.

 

[Ypedal]

Along the same line... It takes more power to accelerate than to maintain speed... So if you use your legs to pick up speed.. then add throttle to maintain it.. you will get more range...

yeah.. i know.. not as much fun.. 8)


got any pictures to post up ?.. i love pictures !...

 

[andrey320]

The charge indicator lights are - red, and 3 green lights. I am charging it for the fourth time and it does not want to go above the first green light. I am hoping that it will charge fully. I'll mount the speedometer this weekend to get some numbers. I also have to buy some new pedals, a rack, and put replace the stiff seat.
I've got many pictures. But I don't want to subscribe to the image site to host them. Can I email them to someone to post?
Keep the electricity saving tips coming! I am loving all the info coming at me. Its great to have this kind of support. Without this site, I would think that the something is wrong with the bike.

 

[D-Man]

You don't need an image service. Just hit the browse button at the bottom of the post or reply page. Then open your picture. You must resize the picture to a smaller size first. (640x320) or something

 

[andrey320]

Thanks for the tip -
I think it will look much better with all the stickers off.
Sorry about the crapy indoor pics....

 

[D-Man]

Got a picture of the batteries?

 

[andrey320]

I have not taken a picture of that. If you look at the second picture, under the crank where the downtube ends, you can see a silver cover held on by 2 bolts.

 

[D-Man]

I see it now. Thanks.

 

[lemmiwinks]

That's a very nice looking bike. I'm also a sucker for disc brakes. Love the slogan "Clean, green, no gasoline". 8)

 

[Mathurin]

Woah, it does look pretty slick...

Good luck at removing the stickers, at least that barcode.
I've had luck with windex + paper towels + elbow grease.

 

[Ypedal]

Nice bike !!

Take a hair blower and heat up the stickers for a minute.. they should then peel right off... then use liquid butane to clean up the glue.. *( Zippo fuel ) .

I have the same charger.. once the light goes green.. leave the charger on for at least 2 hrs..

http://www.forsenusa.com/E_bike_battery_manual_1_.pdf

You may have a different brand battery in there, but similar rules apply.

Now we start bugging you for " How strong. har far. how .. ... ... . " lol

 

[lemmiwinks]

Now we start bugging you for " How strong. har far. how .. ... ... . " lol

...How much to send one to Australia?... :wink: :lol:

 

[xyster]

I'm wondering how difficult it'd be to swap-in a new NiMH battery if Andrey's problem doesn't resolve itself after a few charges, and the problem turns out to be a bad cell. I'm assuming they're size D, and not something weird and proprietary like in some digital cameras...?
At least D's are cheap these days:

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=228

24 volt chargers aren't too expensive either:
http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2969
http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1002

Is the controller hidden in the frame next to the batteries?

 

[fechter]

I want to see the insides of the motor and controller!

Ok, we'll let you blow it up first before we take it apart. If it's well made, that won't happen for a while.

Let's see how much we can jack up the voltage!

 

[mr.electric]

Man I want one of those bikes too! Looks great. The best upgrade I can think of is to make a symilar size and shape LiPo a123 pack and get a stronger hub motor and controller. Then you would have the best e-bike money can buy.

 

[Geebee]

Is that a tongxing hub motor I see?
I had a quick look at the spec.'s and as usuall they are all including pedalling.
24v/9ah battery pack, the Tongxin pulls 14.5 peak and about 7 at full throttle on the flat so with pedaling it should have a very impressive range, assuming it is a Tongxing.
Very pretty bike and is the kind that will do a lot to further the e-bike as a real force.

 

[Ypedal]

I would change the handlebars.. but the rest i'd keep just the way it is ! (* assuming i have another bike to haul butt ! lol ) :wink:

 

[Lowell]

I'd like to see mfrs also rate their bikes with no chain to show worst case, no pedal performance. Or maybe some sort of standardized test, much like the EPA fuel consumption ratings for cars.

 

[Mathurin]

I could see this thing with black Freddy Fenders, lghts & a Surly Nice Rack. Oh, and 2.35 Big Apples, just hope they fit.

 

[andrey320]

D-Man: I don't know what the batteries look like. They were in the bike when I pulled it out of the box.

lemmiwinks: I like the slogan too. I'll probably cut it out of the box and glue it to the wall in the garage or something.

Ypedal: Thanks for the manual!

lemmiwinks: I imagine it would be very expensive to ship it to Australia. The box is very big and heavy.

xyster: I think I was interperting the charge indicator lights incorrectly. The low green light is the brightes and the mid / high are much dimmer. They are on now, and go off as I ride. I will be testing the range this week. I rode it to work and will ride it back without charging. It better make it! Only 12 miles!
I don't know where the controller is. What does it look like? I'll add a pic of what I think the controller is, let me know if this is it.

fetcher: Hopefully it will be long before we see the insides of this thing....

mr.electric: Maybe some day in the future!

Geebee: I don't know what brand the motor is. How do I find out? There is a small sticker on it, I'll read what it says and let you know.

Mathurin: Accessories are coming. I will take a look at your suggestions.

Thanks for all the comments. I appreciate the support. The stickers are coming off little by little. The bike seems to be fitting my needs perfectly at the moment. I will consider upgrading when the current systems begin to fail.

 

[andrey320]

If anyone is interested, the same bike is being listed again by the same seller - http://cgi.ebay.com/IZIP-Electric-Urban-Crusier-NIMH-Currie-electric-bike_W0QQitemZ110091703383QQihZ001QQcategoryZ98083QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Same type of auction too. Only $15 shipping!

 

[xyster]

I don't know where the controller is. What does it look like?

On your bike, I don't know where it is either. It'll probably be shaped like a box about the size of a pack of cigarettes with lots of wires going in and coming out of it.

From the looks of your bike, I'm guessing it's stuffed up inside the frame where the batteries live.

Simply put, the controller connects your throttle to your batteries and motor, and contains the circuitry that, by turning the battery power on and off real fast, converts your throttle input into faster or slower motor rpm, hence changing the bike's speed, and doing so without nearly as much loss as if it was just a variable resistor like a radio volume dial is. The controller is analogous to a car's carburetor or fuel-injection controller.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_controller
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-width_modulation

 

[Reid Welch]

http://nano-motor.co.uk/

Weight is a function of materials, size and magnetics.
Low cost motors make up for design weaknesses with large-diameter drums and large (heavy) magnets.
Closer manufacturing tolerances and gearing allow for a small drum.
Light magnesium-alloy materials have made a lightweight - 2.3kg - 'nano' motor a practicality!

Most low-cost brushess hub motors use a drum of magnets rotating around a set of fixed coils.
Making the hub diameter large increases the torque that can be generated at low RPM to salvage hill-climbing performance.
However this increases the weight and makes small wheels hard to build

The nano incorporate an epicyclic gearbox that is factory-set to the required ratio.
This is typically 13:1 and so the motor can operate at much higher than road speed (and hence higher torque and efficiency)


Action:
Complete 100 %

Attachments:
nano internal view 1
nano internal view 2
nano internal view 3

 

[xyster]

I guessed I missed it, but Andrey's bike has a brushless hubmotor? Could the controller be inside a hubmotor that small?