8400+-mile update
I have been commuting with the 1000w bike this school year, which started August 5th, and have 2000 miles in to work (40 x 50 miles) and another 400 or so miles around town this summer (72 days off). No changes have been made except for the bigger (1000w) motor.
I am still using the 48v 15ah Ping and have another 150 cycles on it (over 350). I know I am pushing its limits as far as max amps, but it seems to do fine. 14 months after my first ride (500w motor/Ping 48v 15ah battery) and over 6k on this battery, I made it home 25 miles using just the Ping and 1000w motor by just keeping my speed around 25 mph.
To get me to over the hill, I am using my 14s 10ah hobby king pack in the front bag. I really like the old car DVD case for the front because you have a nice workspace for checking/balancing.
I finally made it in to work in under an hour but I have been red flagged (banned) from the bike-tracking app “Strava” on just about every ride because I have not figured out how to make rides private on my phone (need to log on at a regular computer). Apparently, I am “king of the mountain” on all my sections until I get to a computer and check my ride “private.”
So, I downloaded a stop motion app for my camera and recorded a ride home one day:
Here is the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agXeBsxXZe4&feature=c4-overview&list=UUHsKsebH1QlCft8iXRtevPg
Kind of boring.
Also, my 5amp Ping (king pan) charger started spewing out white smoke (it had been getting hot) and stopped working, so I have been using the charger that came with the 500w kit to charge the Ping at school.
View attachment 1
This charger tops out at 58.7 volts then shuts off, so there is no balancing.
At home, the 2-amp charger that came with the Ping also stopped working. It was getting really hot and I was expecting it to go on vacation. Both lasted about a year, maybe 150 charges each.
I ordered a few more cheap Mean Well type clone adjustable power supplies: 60v-6amp, 60v-10amp, and 72v-5.5amp. They all seem to work fine, have a wide range of settings (+ & -15%) and cost less than $200.00 shipped for all three. When I get an amp meter, I will post reviews.
In addition, I ordered 14 Makita packs from Doctorbass a few months back and have been slowly constructing a battery pack.
I started by ordering a batch of buck step down power supplies so I could easily set the voltage at what I wanted. I ordered 2 sets of these off ebay:
I just hooked 8 of them up to a 12v power supply and set the voltage at 3.8. I can charge 8 batteries at once.
I also have been having my students check and charge old laptop batteries with this charger:
They seem to work well and the ones we tested all are right around 4.2 volts
I have used them both to balance my 14s pack by hitting a low cell for a few minutes to bring up the voltage. My HK 14s pack stays in balance well so I usually only spend about 5 minutes a month checking and balancing.
I can also give a full review of the 2.4" Cyclops tire. Mine is finally shot after 2000 miles on the front (500w bike) and 2000 miles on the back (1000w bike). Thats 4000 total miles which is excellent for the price. I have had a new Cyclops for a few weeks but have not had time to chage it yet. No loose spokes either. I will post pictures later