E-S Stealth Electric Bike Owners

[Brute]

CD, have you considered a LiPo booster pack? You could fit a 15ah 25V 6S setup with 3 x 6S 5.8Ah packs in parallel Fit them up in a handlebar bag like on my fighter and series the booster to your existing pack. Parallel all you balance leads and fit a LiPo alarm. Then get a cheap RC LiPo charger. Jobs done. Quick easy and cheap and the bike will not only fly but also go further. Too easy. Hyena with do it for you :wink: but I get a cut

Let me get this , you`ve got the 3 6s packs in parallel , then you plug them in series into your standard 48v pack thus bringing the voltage up another 22 volts or so ? I remember reading some time back where you put 3 lipo`s on a rack on a Fighter but I thought you plugged those ones in when you unplugged the main pack & used them as a distance extender pack .
I`ve got mountains of lipo packs here from 2s to 5s which I use in rc toys but haven`t plugged any of them into my Fighter as yet ( scratches head )

 

[Kepler]

Correct on all accounts

My extender pack was the same voltage as my main pack. If I wanted, I could have paralleled the main pack and the range extender pack but I chose to use the packs on their own. As they were the same voltage, they gave the same performance, just a different range.

The suggested booster pack is different to my extender pack. The booster pack needs to be connected to the main pack in series while both packs are preferably full. You then get a combined voltage.

However, the important thing to understand is that packs in parallel tend to balance themselves so they drain quite evenly. Series packs are different. If you series up a 5 ah 22v pack with a 15 ah pack 48v pack, the 5 ah pack will be completely flattened during the ride with plenty still left in the 48v pack.

So the trick is to match the ah of the booster pack with the capacity of the main pack. If you make the capacity of the booster pack higher then the main pack this would be a good thing as the BMS on the main pack would shut the main pack down when it gets low. The Cycle Analyst would then only see 22v and shut the bike down thus protecting the booster pack too.

If your booster pack is smaller then the main pack, you need to connect up all the balance leads and fit a LiPo alarm to the balance tap. Once the LiPo Alarm goes off, you then either stop riding or just disconnect the booster pack and continue on with the just the main pack. When the booster is removed, a jumper would need to be installed in place of the booster pack to complete the circuit.

Hope that makes sense

 

[Brute]

All makes sense except " The booster pack needs to be connected to the main pack in series while both packs are preferably full. You then get a combined voltage. "
What difference would it make if you used say 10 ah out of your main pack & then plugged in your booster pack . ( Assuming I was using 5ah packs )
Seems an easy way to get the power of a Bomber with minimal cost & effort

 

[cruzxia]

Re bike security.
I tend to lock the bomber through the back wheel using a Kryptonite hoop lock.
The back wheel can be unbolted by an organised thief, but then he has a bike with no wheel/motor,
and has to move the rest of the bike with no back wheel.

Cutting off the seat mount, would be easy, and you can ride the bike away with no seat.
Chain is only strong as its weakest link!

Re 8ah lipos
I run a 18s 8ah (3 zippy packs) and they have 5.5ah of usable energy.
I found that the packs were not all even, 2 of them discharge faster than the third.
The nano tech packs are higher quality and also available in 8ah, but they are a different size to the zippy packs.
Cruzxia

 

[Brute]

Out of interest . I just soldered some leads with bullet plugs onto an Anderson plug ( stolen from my caravan ) disconnected the main battery on my Fighter , duct taped 3 * 5s lipo`s in series on top of the battery compartment & went for a spin . A big improvement in power . Voltage dropped from 63 to 57 volts under load . This compares to the standard battery dropping to 44 volts under load . And a top speed of 59 kmh .
A bit cold out tonight though .

 

[Cowardlyduck]

Thanks for the replies guy's.

As Kepler said that's a big negative. I posted pics ages back somewhere of my setup but you can it a few standing up (4-5) but hte frame isn't wide enough to run them 2 wide like that. So you can only stand a few up, the rest have to be laying down.

Yeah I tried to find those pics as I do remember that, but couldn't find em any more. I seem to remember you saying that you could stand up at least 6 on each side.
At the very least, I'll buy 12 packs and see how I go. I can always take 3 packs with me in a backpack for longer rides if it doesn't work out.
Maybe I will even consider a front mounted box like Kepler has done. What brand is that Kepler? Did you have to do any customization to mount it?

Out of interest . I just soldered some leads with bullet plugs onto an Anderson plug ( stolen from my caravan ) disconnected the main battery on my Fighter , duct taped 3 * 5s lipo`s in series on top of the battery compartment & went for a spin . A big improvement in power . Voltage dropped from 63 to 57 volts under load . This compares to the standard battery dropping to 44 volts under load . And a top speed of 59 kmh .
A bit cold out tonight though .

So 15S is still decent then...what motor wind do you have?
Now you've got me reconsidering going 15S instead of 18S...especially if like Kepler and Hyena point out, there isn't much chance of fitting large amounts of capacity with the 6S bricks. The other thing to note is you can get 20C Turnigy 5S bricks for $34 vs the cheapest 6S bricks for $46. That's more than $100 less for a total 4P pack...and with the potential of fitting more capacity in long term.

What is your minimum voltage on your ca after riding . Can you reset maximums several times on a ride & see what your voltage is dropping to after loading the bike up .

Why do you ask? It depends on how far I deplete the battery. At completely flat it ends up at around 43V.

Did you respoke the new hub into your old rim or buy a complete new wheel ? Can I ask you how much it cost .

I bought the new motor laced into a new hub. Not 100% sure John would want me posting exactly how much it cost. If you want to know, I'd suggest emailing Stealth.

I've still got the old motor laced up into it's rim. Thinking I might hang onto it in case a spare HS35 stator decides to show up in the for sale thread or I decide to rewind it some day when I have time...probably never. That being said, if anyone's interested in the old (damaged) motor laced into it's rim, PM me and we can see what we can arrange.

Where are you located Brute?

Cheers

 

[Brute]

Why do you ask? It depends on how far I deplete the battery. At completely flat it ends up at around 43V.
What I mean is , with a fully charged battery , crack the throttle from an almost standing start , ride it up to speed , stop & check on your ca what the voltage minimum is , while you`ve got your ca in the amps max volts min mode you can reset it & it will only reset those values . If you try it a few times & see what average your voltage drops to . This will soon tell if you have a dud cell . I`d consider a good pack drops to around 44.5 volts . If it drops to the low 40`s or under 40 volts you`ve probably got a dud cell .

So 15S is still decent then...what motor wind do you have?
I have the standard Fighter motor ( what ever that is ? ) The packs I used are Zippy 5800 mah 30c . You would only get 9 of them in there . There is left over space but no way can you get another 3 in there so 9 * 6s would probably fit ok . But yer It gives a decent power increase . Another 12 volts has gotta help .

Where are you located Brute?
I`m in Melbourne , outer east . No probs with getting in touch with John .

 

[Rodney64]

Thanks for the replies guy's.

As Kepler said that's a big negative. I posted pics ages back somewhere of my setup but you can it a few standing up (4-5) but hte frame isn't wide enough to run them 2 wide like that. So you can only stand a few up, the rest have to be laying down.

Yeah I tried to find those pics as I do remember that, but couldn't find em any more. I seem to remember you saying that you could stand up at least 6 on each side.
At the very least, I'll buy 12 packs and see how I go. I can always take 3 packs with me in a backpack for longer rides if it doesn't work out.
Maybe I will even consider a front mounted box like Kepler has done. What brand is that Kepler? Did you have to do any customization to mount it?

Out of interest . I just soldered some leads with bullet plugs onto an Anderson plug ( stolen from my caravan ) disconnected the main battery on my Fighter , duct taped 3 * 5s lipo`s in series on top of the battery compartment & went for a spin . A big improvement in power . Voltage dropped from 63 to 57 volts under load . This compares to the standard battery dropping to 44 volts under load . And a top speed of 59 kmh .
A bit cold out tonight though .

So 15S is still decent then...what motor wind do you have?
Now you've got me reconsidering going 15S instead of 18S...especially if like Kepler and Hyena point out, there isn't much chance of fitting large amounts of capacity with the 6S bricks. The other thing to note is you can get 20C Turnigy 5S bricks for $34 vs the cheapest 6S bricks for $46. That's more than $100 less for a total 4P pack...and with the potential of fitting more capacity in long term.

What is your minimum voltage on your ca after riding . Can you reset maximums several times on a ride & see what your voltage is dropping to after loading the bike up .

Why do you ask? It depends on how far I deplete the battery. At completely flat it ends up at around 43V.

Did you respoke the new hub into your old rim or buy a complete new wheel ? Can I ask you how much it cost .

I bought the new motor laced into a new hub. Not 100% sure John would want me posting exactly how much it cost. If you want to know, I'd suggest emailing Stealth.

I've still got the old motor laced up into it's rim. Thinking I might hang onto it in case a spare HS35 stator decides to show up in the for sale thread or I decide to rewind it some day when I have time...probably never. That being said, if anyone's interested in the old (damaged) motor laced into it's rim, PM me and we can see what we can arrange.

Where are you located Brute?

Cheers

CD, how are you planning to bulk charge or are you pulling the packs out after each ride and charging.

A good plug and play systems the way to go to prevent mistakes.

 

[rusty67]

I was hoping for some feedback from Fighter owners about their rear cogs.

1) Is it normal to be able to see the ball bearings in the cog when viewed from the side? I assume it is? When I spin the cranks I can watch all the ball bearings move. It seems like they are vulnerable to dirt/contaminates though. And I don't see any mention in the manual of a maintenance interval for regreasing them. Does any have a recommendation for this? It also appears you need a special tool to remove the cog.

2) Since my fighter was new (3 months ago), when pedaling with medium to heavy force, I can often hear a crunching noise from the rear cog. I can also feel the crunch slightly in the pedals sometimes. Is this normal? I assumed initially that this was due to the chain and cog being new and needing to wear in together. Some clicking/popping noises I could hear when it was new seem to have subsided. But the crunch sound/noise is still present when pedaling under certain conditions. When not under load it spins smoothly.

I do keep my chain clean and properly lubricated. I take it off to clean it periodically then relubricate. The crunching noise from the rear sprocket does not seem to correlate with the cleanliness of the chain however.

I also keep the chain properly tensioned at around 8-10mm of deflection. Also I am not talking about gear clank that one can hear from inside the Schlumf drive.

 

[rusty67]

An additional note, I've also tried reversing the chain. Mounted the direction it was in when the bike arrived, there is a lot of loud clicking and popping when backpedaling. Backpedaling with the chain installed in the other direction there is very little. When forward pedaling under load, the crunch noise seems to be slightly reduced when the chain is in the position that results in a lot of backpedaling noise.

 

[remf]

Hi Rusty, the rear cog is commonly called a freewheel and it sounds like it needs to be replaced. Easy to do, Stealth will send you a new one.

 

[Kepler]

All makes sense except " The booster pack needs to be connected to the main pack in series while both packs are preferably full. You then get a combined voltage. "
What difference would it make if you used say 10 ah out of your main pack & then plugged in your booster pack . ( Assuming I was using 5ah packs )
Seems an easy way to get the power of a Bomber with minimal cost & effort

The reason I say preferably connect the packs up when both are full is so you know where you are in relation to capacity. Connecting up a half discharged booster pack to a full main pack will mean the booster will be flat way before the main pack so there would be a big chance that you end up stuffing the booster pack. Of course if you have have a good LiPo alarm fitted, then it doesn't really matter if the booster isn't fully charged as it will warn you when the booster pack is low.

What difference would it make if you used say 10 ah out of your main pack & then plugged in your booster pack . ( Assuming I was using 5ah packs )

Again, no problems as long as you have a LiPo alarm fitted.

One thing that might be an issue. With the booster fitted, the CA will no longer roll off power before it hits the BMS. If you hit the BMS cut out, I am not 100% sure but you might need to unplug the main pack and re connect it again to re set the BMS. I have never used a Stealth factory battery so I am not sure if this actually is the case. Just though I better mention it.

And of course it goes without saying, anyone fitting a booster pack to their Fighter will void its warranty. (Needed to mention that before John calls me a rips my head off for encouraging people to modify their bikes )

 

[Kepler]

Maybe I will even consider a front mounted box like Kepler has done. What brand is that Kepler? Did you have to do any customization to mount it?

This is the bag I use.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=37975



Easy to get 3 x 6S 5ah packs in plus room to spare for puncture repair kit and tools.

3 x 6S 8ah will fit also. Its a bit of a squeeze but the bag zips up fine. The standard bag mounting hardware fits the Fighter fine. I tend to rotate the mount so the opening is at a 45 degree angle and the bottom of the bag is just lightly touching the steerer tube. You don't tend to feel the weight of the back then in the steering.

 

[Kepler]

Here is diagram on how to wire the booster pack and harness. All pretty straight forward, just thought it might be handy to have it documented.

Booster packs dont need to 6S or just 3 packs. They can be anything you want as long as they are the same voltage. You could even mix the ah of each of the booster packs if you wanted. ie. 5S 5ah + 5S 8ah + 5S 5.8ah. Best if you can get close to the ah rating of the main pack though so they last about the same amount of time.

 

[full-throttle]

An additional note, I've also tried reversing the chain. Mounted the direction it was in when the bike arrived, there is a lot of loud clicking and popping when backpedaling. Backpedaling with the chain installed in the other direction there is very little. When forward pedaling under load, the crunch noise seems to be slightly reduced when the chain is in the position that results in a lot of backpedaling noise.

Is it on the Bomber? If so, does it only happen in 2nd to 9th gears (if you switch to the lowest gear the noise disappears)?

In that case it's a normal behavior of the gearbox. Nothing to worry about.

 

[Kepler]

Its a Fighter. Sounds like it has a bad freewheel as suggested by remf.

 

[full-throttle]

Yep, can see that now..

Sealed freewheels exist, like the WI, but only in 16t and larger. For what they retail you might as well replace one twice a year.

On my Bomber I had a sealed Sachs multicog stripped down to only 14t cog.

 

[Cowardlyduck]

This is the bag I use.
Easy to get 3 x 6S packs in plus room to spare for puncture repair kit and tools.

Thanks for that Kepler.

I desperately want to prove you guy's wrong about how much LiPo capacity one can fit into the Fighter. Tonight I made up a brick to simulate the Zippy 6S 25C pack and sure enough you were correct about not being able to fit many of them.
I spent the last 2 hours trawling through Hobby King and making internal battery compartment measurements of my Fighter to try and figure out what battery dimensions I could make work to get the most capacity.
I think I've finally cracked it!

According to my measurements (more accurate this time), it should be possible to construct 9 of these into a square if placing them long side to short side.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...Ah_6S_20C_Lipo_Pack_Great_for_T_Rex_500_.html

Based on my measurements it's possible to fit about 120mm total height and girth into the frame. With these packs being 42x36mm high and wide, stacked appropriately, they will measure exactly 120mm. Since the cables will be exiting the ends, they shouldn't get in the way at all.

It would be arranged like this from the end.

Sorry...it's just a quick rough sketch in Paint.

Based on that, I should be able to do 18S6P with room to spare towards the top of the inside of the frame for a few other shaped packs maybe. With the 3Ah capacity of these packs, they will give me approx 1.2Kwh of capacity in a 6P config.
I don't yet have all the harnesses, so i'll probably just go with 4P to start with...unless you can make me a few more for an extra 2P soon Jay?

These are also heaps cheaper that other packs as well. With the standard HK discount applied, 18S6P only comes to $462 total. Almost every other config of pack for over 1Kwhr would be over $600.

Cheers

 

[cruzxia]

CD

Check out these
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__21386__ZIPPY_Compact_5800mAh_9S_25C_Lipo_Pack.html
If they fit it would make your wiring much simpler. You could use 4 packs to give 18s 1.16ah

Cruzxia

 

[rusty67]

Also, regarding the Fighter freewheel/chain noise, is there a correct chain direction?

There was significant clicking and popping from the chain meshing with the rear cog when I received it new, when backpedaling. I expected this to go away but it hasn't really. I noticed when I reversed the chain, the popping noises went away when backpedaling. And didn't seem to happen when front pedaling with the chain installed in that direction.

Regarding the freewheel itself, consensus is I may have received a defective one? And also that they need to be replaced periodically, but not lubricated?

 

[Allex]

New video:
Stealth Electric Bike With FMX Rider Ronnie Renner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TuwESVujaHg

 

[morati]

New video:
Stealth Electric Bike With FMX Rider Ronnie Renner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TuwESVujaHg

One step ahead of me as usual Allex. I was just about to post it as well. No word yet on my Bomber......Waiting to hear from Michael.

 

[JamesDub]

Since I am infected with Bomber fever and I'm waiting for my bike I have been looking at upgrades I'll add in the future .
The bike will be 85% street and 15% off road .

TIRES :
I wish the Hookworms were still available as those seemed as though they would have been a good fit for me .
I wish the crazy bobs were 2 ply and 3" wide as they seem the best available option for urban riding with a little off road capability .

To the two ES members on here that have put the ELECTRA FATTI O tires on .... how do they perform ?
Street traction , light off road traction , flat resistance and confidence while riding at high speed on road ?
Really interested in this tire .

MIRROR :
Anyone have recommendations for a bar end mirror that can take curb jumping and not wiggle around and has good clear visual qualities .

 

[dh-paule]

New video:
Stealth Electric Bike With FMX Rider Ronnie Renner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TuwESVujaHg

wo ho... cool

and its including Ken Roczen, a german guy...

 

[full-throttle]

The video is also on Pinkbike now
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Ronnie-Renner-Stealth-Electric-Bike-video-2013.html

Get some popcorn and read the comments :lol: