Welcome to the Electric Horsemen

This is the Mayor of old Hobart Town, and I, and the GT - from the recent Sustainable Living Festival.

Mayor.jpg
 
Amazingly beautiful build with fantastic details.
Did you keep a record of all the man-hours that have gone into this bike?
 
SlowCo said:
Amazingly beautiful build with fantastic details.
Did you keep a record of all the man-hours that have gone into this bike?

Thanks Slo. man hours -can't say, but in the 100's of. A lot of time spent in preparation - making templates and molds. Could do it second time around now fairly quickly.

still some to do though before I deliver it.
 
Definitely the most complete cruiser on the sphere!

Is that the standard barrel housing on the key switch? its the only one I've seen that doesn't look like it belongs on an elevator switch panel.
 
How's the pedelec rego coming along Willow? I am really in awe of you going down this road - its a much needed step methinks.
 
Samd said:
How's the pedelec rego coming along Willow? I am really in awe of you going down this road - its a much needed step methinks.

Thanks Sam.. will be heading to the Engineer next week with paperwork in-hand. I've got it running, and put the chain on. Pedals clear the ground but not by a lot... if you go round a corner with pedal down it will hit (...scratches on pedals now - with a new set to put on before the new owner gets it) but you can effectively pedal it. 27km/h mode still pulling 1500W - heavy bike, and big hills. 250W is just stupid... speed limiting is the only way. I've no concerns about the other stuff - all covered. Brakes work very well, and the speed limiting is very effective. Feels great at high speed - had it to 80 down a hill and felt comfortable doing so.

Filming a clip next week. Post it when done.

S.
 
been testing the bike again today...

Mini-E driving a Cro-motor on a very heavy bike. It fails to make it up the last pinch (very steep section) of a long hill - power cuts back as the controller warms up. Controller has some ventilation but could do with some sort of cooling... next time use the Midi-E or Max-E for heavy builds. 30Amp Charging coil gets very hot (hold your finger on it for a while but you can't keep it there)... I'll see if I can fit the 70Amp in there.... not much space though. Might need to put a fan inside the tank to draw some more air me thinks.

After a lot of tweaking I'm still yet to tune it 100%... think I'm close now though. Does anyone know what the WIre PHC - Yes or No option does in the advanced settings??
 
Any chance to heatsink the mini to the frame, with FET bar touching directly? Thats a lot of surface area you gained if you can....
 
the FET side is hard up against the fiberglass.... which is not ideal. There is some space below it for cables to run through, so might drill some holes to mount the controller the up-side down so FETS were in the void, and get some alu. angle to lay over the controller as a heat sink.

The controllers have a very fine temperature operating range, but saying that if they are running properly they should run more efficient and cool. Think I've nailed the tuning after a ride just then. I think.
But the heat from the charging coil is quite surprising... have turned it down from 1.5kw to 1.0kw charging to err on the side of caution.
 
"80 x 6mm aluminium angle, cut down to fit, with thermal paste on contact faces. will be much better."

Not the case, in fact trapped the heat as a large thermal mass and effectively kept the controller hot and would not cool... Need to have lots of surface area ie. fins, rather than mass.

so, I try again. This time I'm going to do the opposite, by suspending the controller, and getting an air gap all around it.

....so DON'T do this.

 
Clip from "The Axis of Epic" crew of an e-bike event earlier in the year... Tak'n over the streets on some charged up steeds. Thankyou Willie. Epic.

[youtube]rSpUxJWFJH8[/youtube]


cruisn.jpg
 
pic of the torque arm and the chain tension-er. er. er. Chain slackens on lower side when pedaling though with the tension on-top allowed to spring upwards when the chain is under tension. No dramas though.

Bike is now fully functional, tweaked and complete. Bought a box of cold (really good heat sinks) and the mini-e is now covered in them and running cool. er. er. er. and very smooth.

Did the braking tests required for Engineer - from 50km/h bike will stop in 11.2m - got to trust in the front brake. Put new vented pads on the Zee's for the new owner - resin pads held up extremely well after 300km of testing... and would be good for a few thousand km more.


chain..jpg
 
Battery pack - enclosed in the big blue heat shrink, then cased in foam-backed polypropylene. A robust and simple method for casing. The fiberglass tape makes for some simple handles too.

Main plug has the emergency disconnect tag, and has the BMS and pre-charge plug - pre-charge resistor is on the bike side.

 
Incredible work Simon, it will be an impressive feat getting this bike registered as a Moped, all the best with testing!
 
Have made the delivery run to Canberra to the GT's new home at the National Science and Innovation Center.

Keep your eyes out if you are ever in Canberra - you might see it overtake you.

 
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