Endless Sphere

Have you tried kicking? I have a similar 36V scooter and the motor doesn't quite have the torque to go up steep hills quickly but kicking helps it immensely, just like pedaling a lower-powered e-bike helps it accelerate and go uphill.

Since there are many electrical engineers (professional or hobby) here, maybe someone here can figure out a strange problem I have with a new amplifier I bought. When riding my motorcycle I stream music through Bluetooth to a receiver attached to my helmet, which outputs to a tiny amplifier which in...

Conventional flashers flash from the current being drawn by the bulb heating a litte Bi-metal strip which flexes away opening the circuit after a moment of the light being on, then cooling and closing the circuit again. This requires matching the currrent draw which the flasher was designed to see ...

My primitive caveman brain is having trouble with that 'simple' circuit. Here's a crude illustration I came up with. This uses a DPDT toggle switch but I'm only using three of its four output poles. The timer is represented as a SPDT switch because that's what I'd like it to function as. This drawin...

This is an embarrassingly simple question because I'm so inept at electronics, but given two lights that each have a ground and a +12V input, can someone help me figure out what circuit would allow them to, at the flip of a SPDT switch, alternate between left and right? Specifically the left light s...

I asked this question a month or two ago and was told it would be extremely difficult to solder to the sheet because it'll conduct the heat away too well. If you really want the best possible connection, you can attempt spot-welding.

The last paragraph is key: mild hybrid conversions of existing models. Yawn. Doomed to failure.

The cells in the 8-cell pack are 18mm diameter, not 26mm diameter. They're 18650 cells and are only 1.1 Ah. So you can't use those end caps for the 26650 cells. 10s3p can be done with the original plastic holders, by taking three 10s packs and running 11 insulated wires between them to connect the c...

It says A123s explode if exposed to flames, not if crushed. There have already been tests where they've been drilled into, hammered, etc., and been safe. I don't know if anyone here has tried lighting them on fire. Of course this is a nearly impossible circumstance. Regarding Headways, they're right...

That segment was aired months ago and this has already been discussed to death. The first time, they ran the car til it was fairly low, but not 'empty', and the car automatically impaired its performance at that point to run efficiently, so they couldn't continue racing on the track until they charg...

I know very little about electronics, but if I were using lithium-polymer, I would want a circuit applied to each bank of cells that cuts off power if they get too low or too high, designed in a way that more than one circuit could be applied for redundancy. Yeah this'd be a pain to do by hand, I'm ...

Why do you use a belt for the primary gear but a chain for the secondary? And why use that chain tensioner instead of a shorter chain? Is it so the chain wraps around more of the gear to spread the load around?

The guy built his own motor. That's hardcore.

This tool crimps those 45-amp contacts well, in addition to the 15- or 30-amp ones.

It's true. A bunch of women hand-wind the motors.

I don't know. Two-pole andersons insulate the connections, prevent reverse polarity, are rated for many make/break cycles, and they have screw holes for mounting if desired. They also have large plastic grips for uncoupling. I guess those other contacts would be OK if you don't actually plan on disc...

I run around 50 amps through 10-gauge wire. It's rated to handle it. Unless you're using very long wires, which you aren't in an e-bike, I don't think you'll benefit from using a larger wire than 10-gauge for 50 amps or below. The powerpoles, on the other hand, are more useful, since they do have si...

The problem with using the charger without a balancer is that it only knows the total pack voltage. So if it essentially stops at 28.8V, that doesn't mean every cell is 3.6V; you can have seven cells overcharged at 3.8V with the remaining cell at 2.2V, for example, or seven cells at 3.5V with the la...

It would be great if something like that gets released in the US but I'm not hopeful. Also 60 mpg UK = 50 mpg US, but that still seems really optimistic and unrealistic to me. But maybe it'll be very light, like 2000 lbs.

So weird to see a motorcycle with a hub motor. I wonder how the high wheel weight affects suspension and cornering? Have you tried it? Please post impressions once everything is working fully.

I also am wondering about the voltage limit of circuit breakers. I have a few that are rated for 30VDC, 42VDC max (which I guess means it works up to 42VDC but not as precisely as under 30VDC?) and I am wondering if they can be used at a higher voltage by putting them inbetween the series-connected ...

Why would the CycleAnalyst have anything to do with it?

As oatnet said, you're comparing your wild guesses with people's actual real-world results. Consider: Typical e-bikes, such as mine, average 35-40 Wh/mile, they weigh 80 lbs, they have an extremely small frontal area, and they usually don't go much above 30 mph, so air resistance is negligable. You ...

Can you post better pictures of those deutsch connectors and whatever receptacles you're using for them? I may buy those. They look like a good 12-pin connector, albeit pricey.

A123 has zero support. The only way to get the M1s is to take apart DeWalt packs and you'll get no support from DeWalt or from A123 if you get a bad cell. 0.5C charge rate is quite a lot for a car-sized pack. That would be 192V 50A to charge a 192V 100Ah pack, or nearly 10 kW. You can't draw that ki...