I am gonna call this, what happens when you get an abandoned project for 40 bucks.

[DaLanMan]

So I did me some learning!

What I have here is some bits and bobs that I suspect were never gonna work out right.

First off, I have a 36v Brushless controller, Which is a bit wierd being that it is matched up to a pair of hub motors, one is a 36v 500w unity the other is uhmm... no clue
Rear:


Now the more Wiley amongst you will have noticed a distinct set of URL's there... to a place I have never heard of... but that is an aside, I get what these bits will do when assembled...

But how does this work into the picture?



I get that I am looking to build a 36v battery, not an issue, do I need 2?

What do I need for a controller?
Amberwolf I need your great sage and often canoodly advice!!!

Ok, I am rather stumped, this was supposedly all going to go together, it is not the multi KW murderer it was alluded to, but it is stuff....

And it was cheap...

So I am gonna need...
(in my guesstimation)
a new controller,
Some kind of read out
some kind of accelerator
and uhm... Oh yeah, a bike, I have tons of those around here.

Can I recruit some people of much knowey to help out with this?

 

[amberwolf]

There's a number of posts and threads about various Aotema motors that might help; there's more than one type though: I expect the controller you have came with that motor or is intended for it.
threads

Search results for query: aotema

endless-sphere.com

posts

Search results for query: aotema

endless-sphere.com

Also lots of them about the various ebike-kit.com motors; that particular one looks like a variant on the Crystalyte 35xx series; the earlier ones were 9C 280x variants.

AFAICR both of those are in the ebikes.ca motor simulator if you need to see what they're capable of.


For batteries, what you need depends on what you want it to do for you. I recommend using that simulator in 2WD mode to guesstimate power / current needs for your specific usage scenario and riding conditions, terrain, wind, etc. When you have that, then you can use that to estimate how large a battery you need (Ah) to meet your range goals, and how many amps A it must be able to provide for the worst-case parts of the rides. It's not exact, so overestimating doesn't hurt.

If you want complete redundancy, two batteries gives you that. If you don't need redundancy, one will do fine, and simplifies things--it just has to be "twice as big and twice as capable" as each single battery would otherwise have been, more or less.


Controller depends also on what you want the system to do for you--you pick it first based on the max capability of the battery you're going to build, vs the current requirements of the usage and conditions you have. Then by the features you want it to have, such as displays, assist levels, PAS, throttle, programmability (and of what exact features), sensored only or dual-mode sensorless/sensored, FOC or plain cheap sine or squarewave, etc.

What you need for control inputs (levers, PAS, throttle, etc) depends on how you want it to work for you, and what is required for the specific controller you choose.

You'll have to work out the wiring between any parts you don't get as a kit together, so get stuff that has complete documentation on which wires are which, which pins do what, etc. so that you don't have to work out that stuff, and then you only have to figure out the wiring for anything you've already got.


It's easiest to get a controller kit (everything but motor and battery) that specificially states and shows that everythign in it is plug and play--if it doesn't actually show you this it may be made up of randomly chosen/supplied parts that may be similar to what's shown, but probably not the same parts every time (not terribly uncommon unfortunately). But if there isn't a kit that does what you want, you'll have to be careful to choose specific parts that you can tell for sure will work together or that you know you can make work together.

Displays that don't come with the controller may or may not work with it; plenty of posts and threads about the compatibility issues around here. Not much you can do about it if they don't besides getting a new display or a new controller to fix that, most of the time (unless you like writing code and reengineering things).


If a motor doesn't have a hall sensor connector (only three thick phase wires) you have to get a sensorless capable controller for it.

 

[DaLanMan]

Amber you are truly my hero!

Ok, So did a *lot* of reading.

I think I am gonna go with this kit...
Swapping out to xt 60 connectors on everything.
and a Kit from Amazon
Heaya
I am gonna pull a shwin frame.. .mebbe a trek out of the boneyard and slap this together.
I am looking to put a pair of monster batteries on this.

Now for the rear hub I have no idea what I am gonna do... Do I need a seperate interface?

In any case.
gonna go with a Polly DP-9 case and bang in a 13s7p for the front,
On a rear deck I am gonna pop a luggage racxxk with a monster box I ran across, it will give me the same 91 cel option and leave me room to pop on a 12v unit to do headlights etc off of (yeah, I am still cranking out those lil 12v units)

I think that should do it, mebbe I should put a third battery so I can just flatline the poor wee rims...

Nah, I can have a pit crew... all should be field hot swappable.

I would love some feedback on this, first *real* build for me.

 

[DaLanMan]

Boxes are wandering in, I expect to have the frame off to the new fab guy later today. Having the chain wacked off the frame entirely (Evidently rain jacks chains, who knew) a support plate change done and having the top bar swapped out for a square hollow one to have a hidey hole for electrics that looks kinda sorta stock. I would upload my drawing but it iliterally on the side of a box in his garage and he understood enough of what I was babbling about to order stock, so I will wait til he gives me the final product along with the (paid off his kid) supporting docs I am having written up for tax reasons (amazing how much tax incentive you can get in Cali if you are unethical enough to just pull the snot strings of the hippies, or, I will never cheat, but if you are so dumb you think I am not gonna abuse your stupidity woohoo, you have obviously not met me)

Ok, so one of the weirder things I do is... I buy pallets of dead bikes from the county sheriffs, no clue why they always have a couple pallets of dead bikes, but everytime I have wanted/needed on, there they are.

These get picked over for sales stuff (I know peeps that do flea market stuff and some parts sell well) in other cases we will put together working bikes and donate them, In this case however I bought a pallet for spare parts and spare old frames to play with my kit.

Evidently I am a retrograde idiot for not immediately recognizing a Yeti. Mostly intact with of all things the ring on the seat post cracked. Off to the Welder supreme to have a new sleeve fixed to it and bobs yer uncle, it was slated for a charitable donation because it looked too stupid fore my ebike desires.

So, it is setting on the side of the garage when my buddy the swap meeter swings by. It is a suck day, i am exhausted, spent too many hours talking to china at way too early in the morning for me, and yeah, it is just a suck day.

I have been informed that if I am gonna build an e-bike with zoomy motors, I should use this frame.

and I fail entirely to find it, and am too lazy to go out in the rain and look. I have a Yeti off-road frame from like 2015ish I am told that while it is mostly intact has had some work done by the god of welding and fabbing out my weird stuff. He generally checks out the stuff I send him, calls me an idiot and does what he thinks is best, so far it has never failed me and it is a good thing he gets that my wild ramblings are best filtered through skilled minds.

In any case there was the crack in the hole the seat post goes into, he fabbed up an insert that also covers the outer bits of the metal and assures me no one will be impaled under any sane conditions. So I looked up Yeti bikes.. hole hot smoking money suckers batman, them things is pricey. I was unaware that bikes got that pricey... ok, I was ephemerally, I just never would buy one like it.. No need honestly, so the question is, should I dump the current frame and go that way? or should I stick to the steel frame I can weld on?

 

[DaLanMan]

Frame is cleaned up, paint is touched up, and it is nice and shiny. A big fluffy bum hugging seat is installed, and I have cleaned, and tuned up everything to the best of my meager abilities...

Then there was something I was forgetting... what... Oh yeah. Idiot needs to order rubber cuz those rims are gonna be bumpy to ride on.

It has been a very long time since I have ordered rubber for a bike without just looking at what it had on.

The Aotema:

I got these beasties, just like it shows in the pic, this one has the rubber on the base of the rim to keep the holes for the spokes from causing injury to the innertube. That is *IT*, nothing more.

So, realising It is a 26" rim, (I read Dogmans many posts about this thing, and yes, it is based on a build of his) and knew.. 26, read up on them thar interwebs how to ya finger out what size to use when ya ain't able to read it off the prior tire.

Measure from the ground to the middle of the tire, x2.

Evidently I have a 24 inch version somehow... No can't be, Google wouldn't... ok, it would, quickly figured that out, went on to recall a conversation someone (Chalo? I think) had with another Newb about the fact that it ain't the 60's and there are all kinds of wierd things afoot in the world of peddled rubber.

So, I need to know the width. Now, I ain't an Engineer.. but I got a really nice set of calipers...well, and a really cheap set.. but in any case, bust em out the case, "measure across the inside of the rim wall where the rubber meets the rim"

::Blinks:: Uhm... 11/8" 33ish mm mebbe 1 1/4?

Is that even a tire size?

Undaunted I proceed ahead. and.. nope, it is not a thing that exists.

So, that said, this is not really a mountain bike. I doubt that the person who has already declared that they are getting it is gonna do anything but pull onto the grass at the park. So, not gonna put nobbies on this, want it to be street-ish and pay omage to the old school build of very quiet motors... and get something...

Ok, i have no idea wtf I am supposed to do at this point I can look at rubber all day but there is nothing that meets what I am looking for. And comparing what I saw was the proper process, It does not hold water considering a person much more knowledgable than myself put a 26x1.25 into the old search a roo.. and spent like 45 minutes burning up my phone battery in the garage trying to make sense of this. Finally give up, give in, don't worry about the fact man, you have 3 cases of people running 26x1.95 still not convinced I try various things and... Yeah.. I have no idea what I am doing.

We can look at the back rim, couldn't be...

Oh my, it is worse.

Od 26mm.. so a bit smaller.
id :: 20mm

od 1"
id .79"


I am stuffed on this one, not even sure where to go from here on it. I am fairly certain that I wrapped around an axle in the middle of all this, and yet... oddly enough. I can't even figure out where I took a wrong turn. Measurements are excellent double checked by a 2nd party in fact. Everything else pans out.. except some people say that these should have a 26x1.25, some say x1.75 and in one case they said it was a 26x2.1 mt bike tire...

I am kinda of a mind to go with a Kenda Kwest 26x1.25 (see, there was one out there) mainly because of it's rep (ok, or at least I read that) it is very quiet and prone to being sneakah

On the back, bit more of a conundrum, could fit the same?

Yeah, it is a bit thinner than the other one.

And.. Again same issue, matches up to nothing.

I am still looking at the Kenda, and my son announced before bed he wanted The Blue ones

So, along with a puncture resistant pair of bell tubes...

I am to the point of a lab in a lab coat. I have no idea what I am doing here.

 

[99t4]

What are you trying to do? Looks to me like you are trying to measure the rim to help decide which tire/tube to get? Are there any stickers on the rim? Also you should measure the clearance width between the chainstays and seatstays to know how wide you can go.

Here is some good reading material for you, bet you'll find your answers here:

Measuring Bicycle Rims and Hub Flanges

Several different systems of size markings for bicycle tires are in existence. The modern ISO system is not as familiar as it should be, this article explains it.

www.sheldonbrown.com

Tire Sizing Systems

Several different systems of size markings for bicycle tires are in existence. The modern ISO system is not as familiar as it should be, this article explains it.

www.sheldonbrown.com

Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Tire Crib Sheet

Useful dimensions and conversions for the cyblist/mechanic

www.sheldonbrown.com

 

[DaLanMan]

Struggling with ignorance. I guess I have sat comfortably in the midst of things I have a very good mental map of for long enough that getting confronted with something that you thought ya knew, and only just realised you kinda thought you knew...

In any case, I finally tracked down appropriate items. Just took looking a little harder. Turns out, Amazons in-house search sucks. ::laughing;:

It has just been a week...

 

[99t4]

Amazons in-house search sucks. ::laughing;:

Totally agree.

 

[DaLanMan]

However, it has created the next mission, I have a bike built out that has a buyer. (not much done on my side, replaced the battery and the controller, re-did the shoddy wiring, and tuned it up a bit) need to replace the tires because they are olllllld and jacked. So did a little digging, Turns out they make coloured mt bike tires. I have a hub motor going to my son, so gonna go get that installed in a rim so I have a nice matched pair... Then it is going on a frame that looks EXACTLY like the one that is already headed to a new home, he was all heart broke that he only gets to test it before it heads off to a new home. Figure I will surprise him with his graduation from a Jetson...

 

[Bullfrog]

Justin/Grin Tech did a YouTube video on running two separate motors...if you can find it, might be worth watching.