5000w Norco dirt jumper

Hyena

10 GW
Joined
Aug 13, 2008
Messages
6,222
Location
Sydney, Australia
Hey guys,

After snapping the frame on my kmart dual suspension bike last week I decided to go for something sturdier.
I picked up this Norco Ryde dirt jumper cheap on ebay and bolted on a 1000w rear GM hub.
It's basically a big BMX, which I kinda like and I think I'll fit BMX handlebars for comfortable cruising and to complete the look.
Unfortunately for higher speed ebike use the front crank is a BMX one so it's quite small and looks to be only 22t odd. I can't fit anything much bigger either without making up some sort of spacer or using a longer bottom bracket because as it is the little chainwheel just clears the stays.

norco1.jpg


I'm using one of the new ecity power / BMS battery 500w 72v 12 fet controller. Because it's rated at 500w it came with a pissy 12a current limit.
Needless to say that wasn't going to cut it so I soldered in a strip of wire along side the existing shunt (about half the strands from a piece of 14ga wire which looked about the same size as the existing shunt.

I strapped on 18S of turnigy 25C lipo (75v hot) and went for a quick test ride. I quickly found that the shunt mod has boosted power significantly - 71 amps and 5200w peak! The fets are only rated at 75v 75a so I don't think they'll last long like this. I think I'll back it off a bit to around 50a - even at that level the torque and acceleration was hugely impressive. I can only imagine how much of a ball tearer methods et al bikes must be with 30% extra voltage and current.
If the fets do blow it'll be a good excuse to throw in some 4110s.

So very impressed I started heading home and then I decided to do something silly. I stopped and gave it full throttle to see if it'd do a wheelie. What it did was rip the axle from the drop outs, rounding them slightly and snapping off the derailleur hanger. DOH! :x

I picked up some 5mm steel plate this afternoon and I'm going to make up torque plates for both sides. I may have to ditch the rear derailleur but I guess I can fit a single speed freewheel if needs be. With the little front chainwheel pedalling will pretty much only be an option for starting off the line or if I have to pedal home with flat batteries. Either way this bike is largely going to be my offroad basher so I'm not too worried.

Updates to follow.

Plans are:

* Make up torque plates
* Fix derailleur if possible and look at options for fitting a larger chain wheel.
* Make box for lipos and neatly house the turnigy watt meter
* Drill hub for air cooling
* Upgrade phase wires to 12ga. I was going to use 2 lots of 14g and do star delta but I don't think I need it now (I may change my mind and want more power after riding it for a week :p ) The controller ran well sensorless so I can probably do away with the phase wires.
* fit 4110s to controller if the stock fets blow
* cut sick and make a cool video :p
* maybe paint the frame
 
Oh yeah! Very nice! Where are you going to tuck the lipos? I was just coming up with my box plans tonight. The geometry on your bike is almost exactly like my LeToy.
 
johnrobholmes said:
Oh yeah! Very nice! Where are you going to tuck the lipos?
Thanks.
I'm probably going to put them in a PVC enclosure along the top tube like this (that's a 12S pack, so the 18S would be about the full length.
Unfortunately they don't fit in the frame. I can fit 12S2P in there in different orientations but I'd prefer to keep it neat so I'll probably go with the top tube. I can build my turnigy watt meter into the top of the box this way too and have it angled up so I can clearly see it.

norcobatts.jpg



Also this is todays failure. Reinforcing around that area is going to be tricky if I want to maintain that hanger...

dropout1.jpg


I've started work on the 5mm steel torque plates this afternoon but ran out of day light. It's hugely time consuming, atleast with the tools I have. A drill press would make life easier, but I had to make do with my 18v battery drill meaning each hole took aaages to drill. I thought of of AussieJester and how long it must take him to make all those perfect looking bits he fabricates.

torqueplate.jpg


Sorry AJ, no lightening holes :p
 
Check out this guy will ya, he can't help himself :lol:

I only managed a little bit of progress today, not bad for christmas day though. It was a welcome break from dealing with the extended family :p

torqueplates.jpg


I think the bits I've made for the deraileur side are good, and tightening the nut right up (as you do) the 2 plates actually jam the broken hanger arm in place and keeps it there. I dunno how it'll hold up with all the tension on it and being bashed around, but I hit it with a hammer a few times and it didnt move so I'll see how it goes. If I need to to get a new hanger I will but at this stage it might be ok.

torqueplatestestfit.jpg


I'm not sure if the other side needs a second plate - I guess I proably should given the one plate i have made so far bolts to the inside of frame so the nut on the outside will still only be tightening up against the QR drop out...
 
Nice job mate, i did some metal work yesterday AND no lightening holes i'll
have you know!!! Rear brake caliper mounts so had to be strong and no
i didn't sleep well that night as a result :mrgreen:

KiM

p.s-->

torqueplates.jpg

:mrgreen:
 
AJ, you'll be pleased to hear tonight I drilled some holes :p
Not so much for looks or lightening, but for air cooling so I can ride the bike like I stole it :mrgreen:
Every second hole is a bit smaller and a bit closer to the centre but it doesn't really look that noticable. I'd like to make the bigger holes a little bigger but that's teh largest side drill bit I had. Meh.

coolingholes.jpg


I haven't done the otherside yet, and I need to get a freewheel tool to get off the 6 speed that I fitted.
I bolted the wheel on today and my plates look to hold the busted deraileur hanger in place OK but one of the bolts *just* hits the chain so I can't use top gear (which I really need with such a small chain wheel) The wheel is laced with the motor right in the centre too so it sits really offset with the 6 speed cluster on there. I'm going to chase around for a 3 or 5 speed to replace it, or at worst a single speed.

I've also upgraded the phase wires to 12 gauge using the liveforphysics heat shrink method.
You can see the difference here between the pissy stock wiring and the new stuff
phasewires.jpg


I'm using a sensorless controller so I cut out the phase wres but then decided to add them back in at the last minute just incase there ends up being problems with the whole sensorless thing. In my test ride it was great though and I wouldnt have even known the phase wires weren't connected.
 
Great job!
 
Well... i just got back from Motoplex im half cut and 1/2 deaf AND i took my ear plugs! Nitro funny Cars FTW... so no photochopping the frock motor with lightening holes tonight BUT be warned come tomorrowz ill swiss cheese it up like it should be Hyena. :mrgreen: ..me and you will have to have words about this hub motor obsession i thinkz, seeing im building a frame 4U i cant see any reason WHY it cant include mounts for reduction drives chain tensioners and the like so you can get a mans e-bike happening :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Seriously though, Your doing great there mate you know im just playing ;) Look forward to seeing some vid of this build in action...Best of luck

KiM

EDIT: :: Yaaaawn:: these late nights get to this 'ol timer hehehe-->

coolingholes_AJ_Stylinz.jpg

^^back to the drill Hyena :mrgreen:
 
Sweet ride!
My golden motor just like that one overheated and blew some sensors at around 1500 watts, not that you going that High but if you do be weary. Other than that they are tough, youll be golden with the sensorless controller.

If that battery fits in the frame I would go for it there, it would really improve the ride.

Mike
 
haha nice swiss cheese work on my hub motor AJ. You'll keep :p
I like the chain drives but they're a tad complex for my liking. The way this bike performs now is good enough for me so I figure I may as well keep it simple.
I removed my extra shunt and replaced it with a thinner wire and I just took it for a test ride now and that's dropped the peak current down to 55a so that's a bit over 4000w peak. It still has plenty of get up and go with good torque on the hills so I'll leave it at that for now and it should be easier on the controller until I upgrade the fets. The motor got a bit hot but I could still keep my hand on it and I've felt my old one get hotter with only 2200w going through it.
The motor has a bit of stutter in it under hard acceleration that sort of feels hall related so the controller may not run as well sensorless as I thought. It did it on my first test ride but only at full throttle and I thought it may have been the fets getting a bit unhappy running close to their max rating. But it still does it now with the current turned down a bit so I'm going to connect up the halls and see if that fixes it.

Oh yeah, I took my GPS today - top speed was 61km/hr and it powered up the hills. That's fast enough to keep up with the traffic on all the roads around here bar the highway, but even that's only 70ks. I better be careful around the 50k backstreets with the cops enforcing double points until the 3rd of Jan :p

After fiddling with battery configs today I CAN actually fit the 18S2P pack + the controller inside the frame but I'll have to make up a custom box rather than the PVC I was going to use. I think I prefer to have one neat long box along the top tube and it'll make it easier to integrate my watt meter neatly, but I'll see how I go with the rest of the set up.


mikebikerad said:
My golden motor just like that one overheated and blew some sensors at around 1500 watts, not that you going that High but if you do be weary
1500w ? Dude I've already been pumping 5000w through it!
They shouldn't fail at 1500w, they do that out of the box on 48v with a 30a controller. My old GM 500w front hub took 2000+ watts (60v 40a controller) on a daily basis without the slightest hint of failure (it got warm but that was it)
 
Hyena said:
1500w ? Dude I've already been pumping 5000w through it!
They shouldn't fail at 1500w, they do that out of the box on 48v with a 30a controller. My old GM 500w front hub took 2000+ watts (60v 40a controller) on a daily basis without the slightest hint of failure (it got warm but that was it)

You have to remember that the quality of these GM,s vary from motor to motor. Also, There is a good chance I was riding longer, steeper hills on a daily basis, where heat builds up. My nine continents take up to 7200 watts peak but the motor gets blistering hot when I ascend 5,000 feet.
 
haha Kim, I saw your post before the edit. Now what are the rules about drinking and posting :lol:
Tis all good, I didnt reply earlier because the post christmas sales are on and I was out shopping for a new skirt :p

No real updates today other than I soldered on some hall leads and connected those up and it solved my stuttering issue. So as I suspected the controlled doesn't run perfectly in sensorless mode. Mind you in the event of a hall failure while out and about it'll still easily get me home.
With the stuttering fixed I was able to give it full throttle off the line and surprisingly I couldn't get it to break traction, even on the grass - it just launched away. I tried again and it lifted the front wheel a little, so I decided to try a wheelie given I've got my big chunky torque plates on there now. I yanked the bars a little as you'd usually do on a pushy to get the front up and gave it full throttle and I went straight off the back. :lol: :mrgreen:
I spent the next 10 minutes practising and then decided to call it quits because the motor was getting mighty hot. When I got home I could still keep my hand on the case but it smelled hot. It'll be interesting to see how the windings look when I take the other side cover off in a week or 2 to drill the holes.

Mike pumping 7000 watts through a 9C climbing 5000 feet is a pretty tall order!
I won't be doing much climbing with this one but i will have it offroad which will heat it up a fair bit.
 
Sweet! You'll get the e-wheelie down. I have a video on Youtube of an e-wheelie. Search for (Rad Power 36volt lithium e-bike wheelie).
 
Im not sure how the air flow works on your motor with holes on one side but my motor it works rather well. While the wheel is moving it can somehow suck air in on one side and sling it out the other. I have holes near the axel on one side and near the windings on the other. The GM has a jacked up plate/stator that really can restrict airflow through the motor. As long as the wheel was moving the motor stayed 15-20F cooler than actual temp. When I stopped the temperature would rise and crest 15-20F and fall down pretty rapidly compared to now air cooling at all. I think my air cooied could easily shed 1500-2000w continuous under normal level conditions. Even with mixed riding If i noticed it was getting too warm... a mile or two at 20mph which would equal less than 500w sometimes 2-300w. The motor could shed more heat than it was creating so it could cool it down even while under load I could then be back giving it hell. When temps were 90-95 My motor would hover around 130-140 while moving with mixed riding on level ground. When I stopped it would rise and go OL of the reading on my temp probe... only by 10-15F at most. It would come back down with in range and fall to about 115-120 after 10 min. Now that winter is offically here temps are around 45-55 when i ride and i can barely get it above 100F. At 88v nominal and 45A I know im doing atleast 4000w. Air cooling doesnt prevent overheating from happening but it really does prolong your riding experienc a great deal befor you have to give it a brake. A completely sealed GM would overheat and would damn near burn my hand after 10 min of heavy riding now its barely luke warm. My motor hasnt burned up or melted phase wires or sensors. Ive got it toasty 3 times .... where i started to smell varnish around 200F but no smoke or anything. If you have the correct information like MOTOR TEMP and Watts... you can regulate your riding to keep the motor happy and have fun at the same time. Ive sorta been the canary for GM stuff as Hyena put it to me once. As long as Im still rolling then its safe to push the limits. Once I stop chirping you need to review my mistake and proceed at your own risk.
 
icecube57 said:
Im not sure how the air flow works on your motor with holes on one side but my motor it works rather well.
The one sided thing is very temporary, I plan to do both I just haven't gotten around to doing the other side yet and impatiently wanted to ride it.
I probably should get a temp gauge but if I don't abuse it too hard I should be right. It's good to know yours took 4000w odd and survived fairly well, albeit getting toasty. Do you think you were pulling 45a for alot of that time or only in bursts ? I found yesterday I was riding WOT quite a bit and sucking 50a odd for long periods of time.

I made a poor mans dual current mode last night by removing my second shunt and soldering some 12ga wire off it going to a switch. With just the stock shunt it does 20a but by flicking the switch it goes up to 45a. I suspect it's the contacts in the switch that's limiting it so I'm going to try a heftier switch and see if it enables more current. Ideally around 55a would be nice. I rode 15km to work this morning in 20a mode and it was pretty good and only used 4.8ah. I think for getting the most range from it if I leave it in 20a mode and then just flick over to high current mode when I need it to overtake or keep up cars up a grade would be the way to go.
 
I was horse playing with the motor whenever it gets toast. I still have stock phase and hall wires too. There is a long hill to get out of my neighborhood. After about 4-5 times of going up that hill and around the block at WOT it will get toasty. Only level ground you can play around with it because the EFF is a lot better! On level ground i could horse play all day with the weather in the 60s or 70s. But the thing is about high voltage and high current on this motor is that the current never tapers off even when approaching 50+mph its still pulling whatever the controller feeds it.So thats 3800w to 4200w constant under any WOT at any speed almost except unloaded. Since I have the speed switches I find myself in my speed two mode which will cause the controller to throttle me back around 27-33mph depending on SOC of my battery that will restrict the motor to about 800w-1200w cruising. It can do that all day. I suggest that you have your WOT to play around with for extra power and have a mid-low power so that the motor can cool but you still have impressive speed.

But I also went around the block one day just to see how it would hang in real traffic. I was gone 12 min going about 38 AVG 54 Top Speed. Went 4.3 MIles. Consumed 4.7AH i think my WH per mile was like 89 or something really retarded. This was with air cooling Constant WOT. When I got home you smelled nothing but varnish coming off the windings... It wasnt smoking or anything. But the motor got hot enough to where it affected the clearance of the side covers to where the spacer washer wasnt enought to keep the torque arm from ever so lightly scratching the side cover of the motor. But i dont think ive taken the motor past 200F tho.
 
icecube57 said:
But the thing is about high voltage and high current on this motor is that the current never tapers off even when approaching 50+mph its still pulling whatever the controller feeds it.So thats 3800w to 4200w constant under any WOT at any speed almost except unloaded. Since I have the speed switches I find myself in my speed two mode which will cause the controller to throttle me back around 27-33mph depending on SOC of my battery that will restrict the motor to about 800w-1200w cruising. It can do that all day. I suggest that you have your WOT to play around with for extra power and have a mid-low power so that the motor can cool but you still have impressive speed.

Yep that's what I found on a test ride the other day. It still goes pretty quick when limited to 20a but it'll flatten the battery in half the time in higher current mode without being near twice as fast. Until I get an infineon that I can program the current on I'll have to make do with my home made 2 speed switch. I think how I'd set it up is a 15-20 amp economy mode, a normal mode around 45a and then a boost mode of say 65a. Oh and if 4 speeds are available, a 10 amp 25 km/hr police mode :p

I saw 4 cop cars while out yesterday and 3 of them had a good look. I quickly pretended to be pedalling fast but realised afterwards my chain was hanging off around the crank about 1/2 " off the ground... :lol:
 
Ask keywin for the 70A infenion. That way the unrestricted would be 70A and then you can program the other settings to simulate lower throttle positions/speeds at WOT which would give you a lower controlled current limit. But i do have to warn you. This is great on the flats but when you encounter a hill or accelerating the controller will still feed whatever the motor needs to maintain that speed. So you can be in a programmed lower speed but it will still have FULL AMPS on launch and acceleration but when it approaches the set speed that you programmed it will only then back off the amps and only give the motor enough current to maintain that speed. When its doing that it feels like an automatic transmission. You are cruising you go into a slight incline the speed drops by 4-5mph below the set speed limit. It will modify the duty cycle and send more current to overcome the hill you feel the jerk and acceleration like its shifting or whatever and once you crest the hill and you meet the speed target speed it will throttle back to maintain that speed. The only programmed speed that doesnt really do that is the SL mode which i programmed to limit the speed to 20mph. It has an odd ramp curve that i think throttles back before it reaches top speed. So there is the acceleration and when it gets to about 15-17 it throttles back and ramps slower to top speed. But I notice mine pulls 15-20A tops in the mode and when its cruising at that speed it can consume anywhere between 3-8A depending if you are pedaling along or not.
 
Basically what Im saying is the controller doesnt limit the current it just simulates max throttle positions for a given mode that you are in. If you happen to be on a flat and it only calls for 15A to maintain 25mph. When you go WOT it doesnt really sense or get get feedback it just limits the throttle voltage range so that it can govern your WOT speed and if your on a hill and it takes 50A to get you over that hill the controller will send whatever it feel it needs to get you back to that target set speed. Its almos essenttialy with the CA does. It drags down the throttle hall voltage to limit amps/speed.
 
Ah that's no good, I thought you could limit the current too. I'm more concerned with limiting current than speed so I can preserve the battery as described above. I want an economy mode that you can ride WOT from the get go and on hills and it won't draw any more than say 20a.
My shunt hacks might still be the way to go then...
I recall metods saying the new CAs can actually limit current rather than just speed / throttle, but I don't have one anyway so that doesn't really matter in this case!

I'll still keep that kewin 70a controller on the wish list though. Do you know what sort of fets he's using in it I'm guessing ? 4110s or similar if you're up around 100v
 
When im going for long distance I keep it in the 20mph mode and maybe pop it in the 27-33mph mode for that extra burst of speed and torque and I can get close to 30 miles off my pack pedaling along or 20miles if im just riding it like a scooter. Current doesnt go retardedly high just on unassisted starts where it maybe peaks at 2kw and drops within seconds. This is a 88v 6.6AH pack. Im a fluffy rider. Ive gained my winter coat and hover somewhere in the low 3 range. This same pack barely can last 6 miles under heavy playing. But i suppose actually having a true limited controller would almost be lack luster to me. Anything less than 30A at any voltage I would be trying to solder the shunt in a heart beat. I would still rather have the full torque at the low end speed at the snap of a throttle for emergencies and have it taper off on the high end like a motor would "normally" do. This motor only tapers back at like 48v going about 35mph thats when you start seeing a noticeable drop off in the amps. The free wheel speed is like 44mph on this motor at 48v so it makes sense. When your free wheel speed is 77mph fresh off the charger at 95-100v and you im reaching 50 ish tops.. you arent close enough for the BEMF to match the input. These speed modes are nice but nothing beats your hand on the throttle to control how much effort you want when you need it the most.

You might want to consider a contactor/ dual voltage setup like doctorbass. I will soon mod my controller for the full voltage range 24-100v. Doc has contactors to switch between both his packs in parallel for range and series for speed and power. I dont want to be able to switch on the fly but I do believe that running lower voltages gives your better effiency. So when speed isnt my priority and distance is I will wire my packs to 48v 15AH but when speed is priority I will rewire my packs to 88v 8.8AH. To make the controller change between high voltage mode greater than 60 I would leave my controller un jumpered but for low voltage.. less than 60. I would jump a wire inline with a resistor to lower my input resistor value to be able to run lower voltages. Theoretically either way the pack is the same WH so it would be the same distance if you could precisely regulate it at the higher voltages but at 48v the GM does 30ish mph and its operating in its most effienct zone. Check the simulator. Especially swblutos... the GM sucks balls at higher voltage but its at home at 48v. So much energy is lost as heat in higher voltages because its operating out of its efficiency zone. sometimes as low as 40-50% ...like on hills and such. Also consider dropping it to a 20Inch wheel that is if it can still have pedal clearance. Perhaps a 24 inch whele is plausable. But i do believe the motor is better that a 406 and 408 crystalyte in speed and torque. Something to think about.
 
Hyena said:
I'll still keep that kewin 70a controller on the wish list though. Do you know what sort of fets he's using in it I'm guessing ? 4110s or similar if you're up around 100v

I have the older 846 MCU Infenion and kewin uses 4310 fets on his controllers. Ive been operating between the lvc of 58v up to nearly 98-100v fresh off the chargers with stock input resistors. With normal 5+ and 12+ rail voltages. Im not sure but his 70A might be an 15 fet or 18fet controller.. Im not sure but it could be modded a little bit more to be similar to methods or steveos controller.

I think he could make a 15fet do 70A if you requested it. It would be pushing the fets a little bit. It would still have 4310s but its a high end entry level controller. What do you expect. He will even send you the usb programmer and the speed selection switch if you requested it... The language barrier with him can be a bitch at times.
 
Have you run yours for long periods of time at 45a and 60-100v ?
I still haven't gotten around to drilling the other side holes yet, but every time I've taken it for a hardish ride lately it's come back too hot to keep your hand on and the motor smells hot. I've dialed it back to 35a for the time being but even so with my 25 minute commute to work it's pulling 30 amps probably 75% of that time and is still pretty toasty when I get there. I upgraded the stock connectors on my 12ga phase wires to 4mm bullets and while I wouldn't have expected it to make much difference (I didnt feel any) I was keeping up with all the traffic today in 70km/hr zones so either everyone was driving slow or it's gotten a little faster since my last GPS run. I'll take my GPS tomorrow and track my ride work and see what it shows.

I have another problem in the mean time, I've managed to lose 2 spokes. By lose, I mean they've pulled out of the nipples and basically fallen out. A few of the other nipples were loose with alot of thread showing and I've hand tightened them up for now which has made them alot better, but I suspect I'm going to have to get the motor relaced, probably into another rim. I think it's largely bad QC on the part of GM, some spokes are slightly loose with no room for further adjustment and others are showing heaps of thread with no the nipples just barely hanging on. The bad thing is the 2 spokes that pulled out had the nipples disappear into the rim. Being deep V style double wall rims It'll be almost impossible to get them out so for the mean time when pushing the bike along or rolling at very slow speeds you can hear then rattling around in there like loose change in a clothes dryer :lol: I guess there's a risk of them puncturing the tube, but while ever they're inside the rim I guess they wont. You watch me have a blow out tomorrow after saying that :lol: The plus side is they're directly opposite each other so I dunno if that makes them balance each other out, but there's no noticable wobble in the wheel and it feel solid enough so I'll keep riding it to work for now I guess. Hopefully I don't have a catastrophic failure and go under a truck at 70 km/hr...

In other news I made up my PVC lipo box.
This is the 6 6S 5ah 25C zippies I'm using, layed out in their configuration ready to be put into the 100x50mm PVC. When I say put, I mean jammed like there's no tomorrow! What a task it was getting the batteries, 10 gauge wires and the balance taps wires and connectors to all fit.

zippys.jpg


I then cut diagonal slots in the corners of the PVC, heated it up and folder them over. I then filled it full of bog (bondo)and painted the end of it in charcoal hammertone. I was originally going to paint the whole box but with the bike being while it actually matches keeping it as is. I've also added a "key" of sorts in the end, it's just a spare 4mm bullet connector set into the bog that A: disables the battery when removed and B: breaks the circuit with the turnigy watt meter, this saving power when not in use.

lipobox2.jpg


I also stuck on the high voltage sticker for kicks, and it breaks up between the while and the black. I might put one down eahc side of the box later too. I hunted around but couldn't find any that said "caution: KFF inside" :p

lipobox1.jpg


I don't have a 75v power supply sorted at the moment so I've soldered the balance taps and discharge leads together to create 3 lots of 6S2P and bought each pair of wires down to the back of the back and have it terminated with 3 lots of Andersons. The plug connected to the controller adds all 3 batteries for 18S discharge and the charger plug charges up to 4P. My other battery pack charges this way, this one is only 3P but that's not an issue.

dischargeh.jpg


charging.jpg


And this is how it looks at the moment. The controller is still ghetto'd on with a piece of old inner tube but I'll mount that properly and tidy up the wiring once I sort what sort of current limit I'm going to run and a neat way of switching it. It's not super stealthy but it doesn't have a massive rack on the back that sticks out like dogs balls either. I prefer it neatly on top like that instead of the batteries all stuck at funny angles inside the frame and because of the low stand over height of the dirt jumper there's still miles of clearance when I step down off the seat.

norco2.jpg
 
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