my first build, now with a shady m1 pack

[slayer]

no it is 4x 4s12p equals 192 cells
meaning 48 volts 27 ah
i know cause the guy who build this pack build it about the same time i build mine

 

[liveforphysics]

Gestalt- It's 12P.

If it's 192cells (which I think myself and others remember reading in the auction), then it's 16S.
**edit** Slayer beat me to it.

This is a good thing.


Buy two of the power supplies I linked. I will help you get them dialed in for 58.4v when combined in series, or it may be as simple as just turning the POT with a screwdriver if you don't need a bit of additional adjustment range.

You could buy 3 hobby city battery medics (if you want to monitor all cells at the same time), or 1 battery medic if you want to do it in just in groups of 6 at a time. Then, if something gets too out of balance, just set the hobby city balancers for 3.4v or whatever, have them bring all the cells to 3.4v, then go back to normal bulk-charging with the meanwell supplies. It's entirely possible you will never need to balance if the cells are in good shape.

If you're not the sort who can be responsible about avoiding over-discharge, buy one of Gary's LVC modules.

 

[gestalt]

thanks for the great info, I feel like I'm finally getting a more clear understanding of this pack. Do you think it would be possible to use the cell logs to monitor my pack and when I see an imbalance use one medic to bring the cells back into balance? as far as lvc goes with the combo of the cell logs and a CA preventing overdischarge seems like a no-brainer. plus my controller has a lvc built in though it is a pack level lvc.

hopefully I make enough $ riding tomorrows game to pay for them chargers. I don't know how long small items like the cell logs take to get here from hobbyking but those power supplies are in new jersey and would probably be here in a couple of days beating my cell log8s that I bought yesterday by a long shot.

 

[gestalt]

I've taken the pack apart and had a good looksee, went over it with the multimeter and everything was gravy....exept for the group of 12 dead cells

im going to see if I can get a donation of 12 brand new cells to graft into this pack, though I dont think I would be using the "tons of solder technique" that was used to make this pack in the first place. I'f I can get away with it I would like to scheme on a fresh case of cells but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I also got my power supply pair in, it only took two days to get here! they are a bit larger than I expected but they manage to just fit in the "triangle" of my frame.

and it looks like this is the screwdriver solution of which you spoke of Luke

 

[gestalt]

well, no go on scavenging 12 new cells. I feel I'm having a morph-like defeatedness, that I'm in way over my head on this one and don't have the mental or physical resources at my disposal to finish this damn thing. I need some real shop space where I can angle grind the hours away without wearing out my welcome. drink beers and bend tubing and weld without having to ride my bike miles across town. shop buddies to build stuff with and bounce ideas off of. I feel I've come so far and am so close but am mired in setbacks.

my problem isn't just with the pack, but with not being able to find some frikin metal boxes to fit the dimensions of 8"X18" 4" wide, or even four 8"X8. you would figure after five hours of scouring the enterweb for some sort of affordable box solution, all I can seem to find is industrial stuff that goes for $100 and up per. I'm at my wits end on that one. I think a wood enclosure could work for those power supplies though, that should be easy enough to whip up.

I dunno, kinda having a nervous breakdown. had to vent some.

 

[amberwolf]

Are there any electronics or other kinds of scrapyards around your area? You'd probalby find some old rackmount equipment that would suit those box sizes. Some may not be fully enclosed, or be ventilated/etc, but the basic box structure would be there and you can then seal with plastic sheet, silicone, or even thin metal sheet.

 

[magudaman]

I had a guy that was selling Aluminum diamond plate boxes on ebay build me a custom sized box for my chopper project a while back. He build it completely custom about 6 x 6 x 17 I think with lid and all and it was under $100. I dig up the guys contact information in the morning and PM you. Here is the old beast, she's gone now:

 

[gestalt]

I think I remember seeing that bike in a YouTube video, cool ride and one of my early inspirations. A box like that would be great, if you can find the contact info I probably would go for it.

As for scrap yards, all I have found around here is industrial type yards and they won't let you go picking I've called just about every one in the Boston area.

 

[etard]

BUMP!

Gestault,
don't give up buddy, I know finding a shop space is tough, Wouldnt it be great if there was some govt supplied area for fabricating? Oh wait, there is! I took some classes at my local community college and this gave me access to all sorts of tools and space. I took auto body, welding, and a few others and the teachers were all super cool and love to see projects such as yours. Other than that, it looks like you are close to being done with the "messy" fabrication part of your build and could possibly do the rest in a storage unit or your apartment. Keep your head up bro, it will be worth it in the end.

 

[Anonymous]

Just curious what kind of tyres and rims those are and the spacing? that can't be normal MTB rim... I don't know if you're using bmx either...?

I had a guy that was selling Aluminum diamond plate boxes on ebay build me a custom sized box for my chopper project a while back. He build it completely custom about 6 x 6 x 17 I think with lid and all and it was under $100. I dig up the guys contact information in the morning and PM you. Here is the old beast, she's gone now:

 

[gestalt]

Etard,

thanks for the keybump man! just the jab I needed this morning and I was on a mission. I carried three 16'X6' reed fences and a roll of bailing wire on my shoulder to do the three mile ride from home depot to my house on my beat up spare cruiser. now my back "porch" area is nice and closed off, and I have a nice somewhat private place in my shady back alley to do my dirty work.

oh yeah, I bought a welder. a little mig that can run off normal outlet and weld up to 5/16" steel, the thing had only been used a couple of times and is in real great shape.

I also got my battery boxes in, I opted to not go with diamond plate and use sheet aluminum that I will polish myself after I have all my intrusions and latches figured out. they will straddle the frames down tube between the seat post and where the pedals would usually be. I would say it was quite a deal to pay about $140 shipped for these custom boxes, thanks again magudaman!

and last, but definitely least I have a dirt cheap double crown fork that I will use until I can find a great deal on a proper DH dual crown for like a marzocchi junior T or the like. once I strip all that ghastly red paint off of it I'm sure it will fit right in with the rest of the project for the time being.

my next purchase is going to be a large steel job box that will probably double as welding table and a vice for my work bench. oh, and I cant forget to get some fire blankets to string up around my welding area when doing hot work. a decent fire extinguisher is probably in order as well. all that's left now is to go by MIT tomorrow and grab my entire project and I can have this nice and close to me so I can work on it whenever I have the time instead of going around other peoples scheduals one town over.

 

[etard]

Awesome bro,
I felt the frustration from your last post ( did you just say keybump? Hmmmz) and know that I have been there. Although, I thought you lived in an apt or something, now all you have to worry about is neighbors complaining when you are grinding metal at 3 in the morning.

I had a set of jr T's and believe me when I say, they were soft and squishy! Not good for street riding, so if you get some, try to get thicker oil and heavy springs. I think the el cheapo forks you have might actually be better for street riding. But if you still want DH forks a good place to find those forks used is ridemonkey.com. I will keep an eye out locally for you, ok? Glad to see you back in action, would love to see a pic of your ass riding around with those fences on your back! :lol:

 

[gestalt]

I do live in an apartment actually, on the first floor and my back porch aka fire escape out back is right next to the dumpsters and garbage constantly ends up on it from the a-holes that throw their garbage from the third floor. so no more of that, I got reeds bitch! as far as the fork goes you are probably right. I thought that the DH forks would add a nice rake to the bike giving it a somewhat chopped look. though I think I will just wait to get a choppersus.com extended springer when money allows if something better doesn't come around before then.

 

[katou]

It sounds as if you are starting to make some real headway to a little home shop! I really like your idea of using a strong metal box as the "workbench" and platform for the vise. This is classic double-use thinking. Box keeps stuff dry. Putting stuff in box makes it heavy. Heavy box is good for vise. Bravo.

Love that little welder, I have a stick machine (cheap option) and it's okay I guess.... Who am I kidding, no it's not. It blows holes in anything thinner than about 1/16 no matter what I do.

Reed mats are a nifty idea. Everyone else just thinks their decorative. Hee hee.

I wouldn't worry too much about the fire blankets. Worry more about screening off the light in case some kid comes up and decides to watch you from the cracks of the reeds. You don't know he's there, he watches...

Of course, fire blankets (while expensive) would do a similar thing. Keep us updated, I'm on my 3rd shop now, and I've revised it nearly completely at least 2x. I like the bench BTW, that's quite a hunk of wood.

Don't forget sawhorses, pretty solid, easy to store. Separate toolboxes for different tasks would probably be good for you, portable to take inside, waterproof if you forget one outside.

Katou

 

[gestalt]

glad you like the bench. you know, about four years ago I worked as a labor foreman at a fairly large housing development and I had access to all the scrap from about 20 houses being built. I saw that chunk of glue-lam beam and had to have it even though I didn't have a use in mind at the time. I hauled it 4000 miles when I moved from seattle to boston and still didn't use it for a year. it had a brief stint as a kitchen table and now resides in the shop of bamboo, formerly dumpsterville.

hopefully I'll be picking up a job box on friday and then I'll have to see if my boss will put me on the payment program for the small drill press and metal chop saw he said he would sell me for $300. things will be pretty respectable then, I'll just need a tube bender and a bunch of practice notching tubes to become the next greatest evil frame builder

/still just a lowly dreamer

 

[katou]

Dude, if I can save you from that chopsaw, I must try.

If it's a toothed blade device (called a cold-saw around here) then go for it.

If it's the kind that uses an abrasive 14" blade, avoid it like the plague.

I put mine on the curb, I hated it so much. It takes 1/4" bite out of whatever you cut, it shoots sparks like 15 feet and it's terribly inaccurate to boot.

Find a used 4x6" metal cutting bandsaw, or even new they can be had for around 200-300. Seriously, money spent on that abrasive saw, you may regret, I know I did.

The cutoff bandsaw on the other hand, is the best thing since sliced bread when it come to cutting metal. Accurate, cuts unattended, very precise (1/16" kerf), QUIET, cuts from 1/16 thick to 3" thick steel.

Katou

 

[gestalt]

I'm thinking of getting this tube bender here http://cgi.ebay.com/PORTABLE-1-3-BE...NG-BENDER-HD-/160465435373?pt=BI_Pipe_Benders
I need to have a bender to do the rear end of the frame. This one would be able to do a variety of diameters and mount nicely onto my work bench. Though the price is great at 100 bucks shipped I still can't afford can't afford to buy something that isn't going to work as I have yet to find and fill a co2 tank. Thank god I already have the regulator.

I have almost all of the non electric parts and sheet metal at the shoppa cabana. I'm going to remove the head tube and notch the frame for th larger tube where it is now. I don't want to try welding with that flux core stuff when it comes to the frame.

 

[katou]

I do not think that this unit comes with the dies to bend pipe. The dies look like a disc (for the pivot) with a groove for the pipe, and a straight piece (movable piece) also with a groove. If it has pipe dies, it will probably work fine for smaller dia pipe.

What pipe are you bending? Wall thickness, material, etc. Chromoly is way tougher than conduit. I bent some chromoly bike pipe one time. It did nothing until I seriously whaled on it, then it kinked. I gave up.

The pipe benders that use a hydraulic ram look more like success to me. I've only used the kind below on solid material, never tried pipe. I've never tried the hydraulic kind either, just an automatic bender that used three wheels, and that was for seriously thick wall square pipe (like 1/8").

I'd suggest finding a local hot rod or performance auto shop, they might have some contacts or ideas. Can't hurt to ask! :wink:

Katou

 

[gestalt]

minor update, I needed an excuse to fire up the new welder for the first time and wanted it to be something I felt comfortable using the fluxcore stuff with.

so here is my old controller enclosure

and here it is after giving it the shoppa cabana treatment

I tapered the rear end of it, added some expanded metal sides and moved the air scoops to the front. now the controller with definitely get tons of airflow.

 

[zap]

That really looks nice gestalt!
Paint or chrome?

 

[gestalt]

I'm thinking some kind of clear coat. the frame will be getting a clear powdercoat but I don't think that expanded metal will coat real well that way. I really love the look of raw sanded metal and want to have as much of it in my build as possible. btw, I just used a flap disk for the first time and it was glorious. much better than one of those brillo pad style buffing disks by far. all the things you love about a buffer with the material eating power of a sanding disk, I can see now that I'm going to need to buy a box of a hundred some day.

I've been going back and forth on how to put a lid on this thing as it were. originally I was going to with steel but now I am leaning in the direction of a nice veneer and brass fasteners I'm trying to keep it simple on top with everything controlled by toggle switches. still trying to find the best old time style speedometer that can be adapted to a bicycle wheel.

 

[katou]

Dude, that looks awesome. If they can powdercoat clear, that's the way I'd do it. Powdercoat is soooo much tougher than anything else I've found (short of true 2 component epoxy or polyester paint)

Very cool shape, welds look nice too.

Katou

 

[amberwolf]

Didja ever get it clearcoated?

 

[RallySTX]

I agree, nice work. Thanks for the plug on my thread, any progress here? I'm renting an upper with no outside privaledges at all. I either do it in the living room or it has to travel.
Brian L.

 

[teddillard]

gestalt, I just read through this entire thread, great work! This tank is inSANE!! (...and eerily similar to my thoughts on my cafe tank )