Ezee - Brushless Geared Lithium kit !

Hi James :)

The limiter thing was probably my fault - I don't think there is a limiter now, based on Ypedal's results though I thought it a possibility with Wile E. Coyotes's results in the ezee conversion kit thread :).

On hill climbing, its like Ypedal said but remember that the wheelsize you put it in makes a huge diference to the motor gearing & top speed of bike - how steep are your hills? in 20" it could climb almost anything (rider & bike weight dependant!) at moderate speed while in 28" it will barely do 10% with rider assist but top speed would be ~22mph & it will climb lesser slopes fast (if your battery's up to it)! The 26" Ypedal has is probably a good compromise between speed & hillclimbing for moderate slopes, not serious hills (much over 10%) & it should compete quite well with a Bionx 350W in 26" wheels on hills I should think?

For better hillclimbing but lower top speed, you could respoke the motor in 24" or 20" wheels.

Check out the ebikes simulator for the eZee kit in different wheel/battery configurations to see, you can also compare with the crystalyte motors there :).

Hope thats useful :).
 
Hello! there,

Great information.

My bicycle is a Jahon folding bicycle with 26" wheels.

Should I switch to a 24" wheel to get more torque or should I stick with the 26" wheel.

I have to go thru a underwater tunnel that have a 2 to 3 degree grade.

The name of the tunnel is The Alameda Posey Tunnel in Alameda CA.

Thank you
James Tom
 
I think it will take you up that grade with the 26" wheel.

If you are extremely heavy, it might be good to use the 24".
 
If you manage to make the trip on a regular bicycle, on leg power, rest assured that with a motor helping you along it will be much easier ! :D

The eZee kit at present, only comes in a 26", you would have to re-lace it if using a 24". but i find the 26" to be a good speed/power combo !
 
Hey Ypedal,

Are you planning any upgrades to your eZee front hub kit? I just ran into a snag with my first planned upgrade.

I am planning to utilize a 12s1p LifeBatt LiFePO battery pack as a first upgrade but have run into a potential eZee controller problem. I believe that the LifeBatt BMS is designed to detect when the voltage of the lowest cell has fallen to a preset voltage level and then it pulls the controller's brake inhibit signal line. I don't know which wire coming out of the eZee controller is the brake inhibit, or whether it even has one. The standard eZee setup appears to just check the overall pack voltage and shuts down if that voltage gets too low. There is a small bundle of wires coming out of the controller that are unused and are simply tied off in the standard configuration. I was wondering if one of these wires might be a brake inhibit. There is also a kill switch on the throttle. Perhaps this wire might be usable for LVC but I just don't know.

I suspect that the eZee controller default setup would not provide adequate protection for a LiFePO battery since its LVC operates at the pack level. I want access to something like the Crystalyte brake inhibit signal in order to make full use of the pack BMS. I just sent an e-mail to Justin at ebikes.ca asking about brake inhibit on the eZee controller. I'm hoping he has a solution.

Have you looked into this problem? I don't want to give up on the eZee controller unless it becomes necessary.

Joey
 
An alternative solution, might be the bms Bob and Gary are working on with an On-Board cut-off.

they have 2 versions, or will i beleive.

1- using crystalyte brake inhibit

2- using BMS level cut-off of LVC ( need to confirm this )

I have the same cut-off and tied/taped wire on my eZee controller.. i'll dig thru my emails.. i recall asking Justin about it.
 
If there's no brake cutoff, you can tie into the throttle signal and pull that down. Justin has a diagram of how that's wired.
 
I have been working on Ezee's a couple of weeks, off and on, at an Ezee shop. (pre-builts, not kits)

all Ezees i have seen have a brake inhibit. it is "imbeded" as one of the conductors in the big multi conductor cable with the throttle stuff. Not to be confused with the multi conductor for the motor position sensors, but that is kinda obvious.

the unused cable with three or four conductors is used with a "pedal assist" control option.

might find out more on my next service opportunity, maybe this week.

I have a bionx 350, and a cyclone 360, would say the Ezee 350 is about the same as a bionx. My bionx is on a 20" wheel so hard to do an "apples vs apples" comparison. There is one Ezee 350 on a 700c wheel, this i would avoid if you have real hills.

d
 
fechter said:
If there's no brake cutoff, you can tie into the throttle signal and pull that down. Justin has a diagram of how that's wired.
Click to expand...

wiring Pin out for the 6 conductor EZ cable going to the Throttle;

pin 1 yellow "spd"
pin 2 red "key switch"
pin 3 blick "grnd"
pin 4 dark blue "In"
pin 5 green "Brake"
pin 6 white "+5V"

So i think if you ground pin 5 the motor cuts out until the pin is ungrounded.

I saw these signal names on the EZEE controller board ink. ohmmed them to be sure, but dont know the polarity or meaning of some of them.


d
 
So ypedal -- How did this pack work out in the long run? If it worked out well where might it be available?

Thanks,
Al
 
The LiMn pack is being used almost daily on an evox semi-recumbent with a clyte 406 in a 20" instead of the intended ezee motor.

http://www.ypedal.com/ezee.htm

I had a slight problem with the motor slipping from a dead stop, read above for the details of how i fixed it !!

I built another complete bike for a local customer, he travels 35 kms to work, each way ! using the whole capacity, this one has been on the road for only about 2 months..
 

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Did your epoxy/pin procedure work for the EZee?
otherDoc
 
Ypedal or Gaston,

I don't live in NB, but I heard it's beautiful there in the summer!

Anyhow, I see that you have a lot of experience with the eZee kit. I currently have a BIONX and love it matched with the Dahon, but I am looking to convert my 700c hybrid with the eZee kit because of the geared hub system and it has attachments already for a 2 wheeled trailer. It's supposed to freewheel when it's not used -- not?

So here's my question.

1, Does it really freewheel smoothly when not in use? The BIONX motor has resistance while pedalling when not in use
2, Is the slippage on the hub itself from cold start fixed from the factory?
3, Reliability concerns about the battery and the longevity of the battery itself?
4, Does it have the oommmph to tow a trailer full of groceries?

And when will the rear wheel version be out? I know that some retailers are testing the rear version of the eZee as we speak and have commented favorably on it. Your thoughts?

Much appreciated!
 
1- Yes, it freewheels perfectly( of course you have the added weight of a motor in the hub, but no resistance while un-powered to speak of )

2- I sent a video clip of the slipping motor, and pictures to Justin, he then sent those to the factory and Mr. ezee motor kit himself replied with positive feedback that they do not expect their customers to have to repair their mistakes, and that should all be taken care of at the factory.

3- Batteries... batteries.. batteries.. yikes.. this is a tough one, a battery is only as good, as the treatment it gets from the user, respect it's capability and charge it properly, don't ride it to cut-off all the time or leave it in the hot sun for weeks on end.. etc... lets face it.. shit happens.. but the packs are honestly well built, the case is solid, the bms is well attached, the cells are made by phylion and QC is the best of all the pre-built packs i've had my hands on so far.. this lithium pack will not do 40 amps.. but it's not designed for that. Get the kit with the CA meter, and keep an eye on the watts.. try to keep the 20 amp loads as short as possible and life should be good. Both packs i've had are in steady use and holding up good so far.

4- I'm confident it will outperform your BionX if that helps any. ! :wink: . Durability under heavy loads is yet to be proven, but the design is solid.

Rear motor would be cool if executed properly, the front motors just bolt on, it's great..
 
Ypedal,

Since you need to watch the amperage, does the eZee kit have cruise control? It would be nice if you can set a pre-determined throttle amount and pedal lightly. Will a combination of CA and Ezee provide this function?

Thanks again..
 
Ypedal or anyone else with an eZee kit, do you use a torque arm? ebikes.ca said they're not needed if the hub is installed correctly. I looked at the pictures of Ypedal's bike and I didn't see one.

My front fork is cromoly with a quick-release hub, and I have a 700c wheel. The kit should arrive any day now...
 
Dahon : just having the CA meter in front of you , will be enough to show you how to manage the power, not sure i'd want to restrict it, it's good to have the power on tap when you " Need " it .. vs dipping into that zone all the time by not having access to the data .

Tom: The power delivery is quite different than a crystalyte, on the ezee it's a steady pull vs a notchy rachet action on a clyte.. a torque arm can't hurt, but at 36v, installed correctly, it should be ok. The hi-powercycle arm looks darn good.. i'm about to order a few myself. 8)
 
Ypedal said:
Dahon : just having the CA meter in front of you , will be enough to show you how to manage the power, not sure i'd want to restrict it, it's good to have the power on tap when you " Need " it .. vs dipping into that zone all the time by not having access to the data .

Tom: The power delivery is quite different than a crystalyte, on the ezee it's a steady pull vs a notchy rachet action on a clyte.. a torque arm can't hurt, but at 36v, installed correctly, it should be ok. The hi-powercycle arm looks darn good.. i'm about to order a few myself. 8)
Click to expand...

Hi Ypedal,

What I meant was does the cruise control option on CA combined with the eZee kit allows a rider to set a cruising speed once the throttle is set and no need to continue twisting it? For example, if I want it to cruise control on the flat stretch at 26km/h and I put in my own effort of 4 to 5km/h equivalent pedalling speed, can I do that? And when CA detects the cruise speed falling below the preset 26km/h while braking, the cruise control will automatically disengage. With the Bionx, you can do all this. The reason why I opted with the Bionx system is the proportional power assist via the strain gauge. This means, I can still pedal like a normal bike but without using too much of my own energy to propel the bike. This has implication with my body posture because I did try the eZee kit once with the throttle on and no pedalling. One hour later, I'm starting to feel some pain on the back, wrist, hands and shoulder blades. Whereas with the current Bionx on the Dahon and up to 50km/h of assist level 4 at 20mph produced no pain whatsoever as long as I pedal like I would do with a normal bike without a motor. Any thoughts?

Thanks again for the insight into the system.
 
Thanks Ypedal. That torque arm looks nice, plus it comes with mounting hardware. I was looking at the ampedbikes one, but it's more expensive and doesn't include mounting hardware.

I don't have my eZee yet though so I don't know which of these will actually fit it.
 
Not to hijack the thread - well, with all the best intentions, anyway - When I googled "hi-powercycle" looking for the torque arm y'all referred to, I get a bunch of hits about the Browning Hi-Power pistol and accessories for it. the Browning is a lovely piece, though I prefer the 1911 style pistol myself, but not related to controlling the torque of a hubmotor. Is there a link to the hi-powercycle torque arm than anyone can post? I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

BC
 
The hi-powercycle torque arm is here:
http://www.hi-powercycles.com/product.sc?categoryId=4&productId=14

The ampedbikes one that Ypedal linked to looks very nice also.
 
My recent experience with the Ebikes.ca eZee kits has been unpleasant .. at best. Having received a pair of the beta kits -which performed well- but had 'issues', I was heartened to hear that the manufacturer had addressed these concerns, and that production units would be integrating several design revisions.

The most aggravating part of being a beta-tester is when creative criticism is submitted to the supplier - but met with disbelief & denial - hence the requirement to qualify objective observation with accepted processes. Let it be known that I have given my best effort to support 'the revolution'. Regardless, I have become misanthropic :x

-The 700c kits are laced improperly - requiring ~2 hours each to make 'right'.
-5 out of 7 production eZee kits we recieved had defective controllers.

My attempts to offer these kits at the retail level have kicked my ass early and often. My customers are (understandably) pissed.. and I fully expect to give full refunds on 2 installed kits that have been waiting for replacement controllers for over two weeks!

This means that I can expect to loose the COMBINED time of installing these kits, removing and RE-installing defective controllers.. then completely removing all of the kit AND restoring the bike to 'as was' condition - all for FREE!!

Rumors spread fast in a small community. My neck was stuck WAAY out to offer these kits.. me and my store went from HERO to ZERO in two short months.

What REALLY sucks is that the supplier which I held in the HIGHEST regard has let me down.
 
Stevil_Knevil said:
My recent experience with the Ebikes.ca eZee kits has been unpleasant .. at best. Having received a pair of the beta kits -which performed well- but had 'issues', I was heartened to hear that the manufacturer had addressed these concerns, and that production units would be integrating several design revisions.

The most aggravating part of being a beta-tester is when creative criticism is submitted to the supplier - but met with disbelief & denial - hence the requirement to qualify objective observation with accepted processes. Let it be known that I have given my best effort to support 'the revolution'. Regardless, I have become misanthropic :x

-The 700c kits are laced improperly - requiring ~2 hours each to make 'right'.
-5 out of 7 production eZee kits we recieved had defective controllers.

My attempts to offer these kits at the retail level have kicked my ass early and often. My customers are (understandably) pissed.. and I fully expect to give full refunds on 2 installed kits that have been waiting for replacement controllers for over two weeks!

This means that I can expect to loose the COMBINED time of installing these kits, removing and RE-installing defective controllers.. then completely removing all of the kit AND restoring the bike to 'as was' condition - all for FREE!!

Rumors spread fast in a small community. My neck was stuck WAAY out to offer these kits.. me and my store went from HERO to ZERO in two short months.

What REALLY sucks is that the supplier which I held in the HIGHEST regard has let me down.
Click to expand...

I was wondering why Justin did not use one of these kits on his trip across Canada. I thought they were pretty high quality!
 
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