mikereidis
1 kW
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2008
- Messages
- 343
My ATP Vision R40 recumbent project http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5749&st=0&sk=t&sd=a was suffering from issues: handling, hills, battery space/interference with under seat steering, tire mismatches, LRR tires without adhesion, brake problems.
Note first 4 light switches right where under seat steering wants to go to steer more than 10 degrees or whatever...
I bought a kids mountain type bike for my 6 yr old son for $15 at Salvation Army but he's 1-2 years too small for it, so I put everything on this 20" wheel bike.
It's a "Triumph Rave". I've seen a few selling used for $50-70. Apparently Costco sold them in Canada. Probably made by Raleigh who bought the old Triumph Bike name decades ago. Made in Canada. Seems solid, all steel, 2" knobby tires, Shimano RevoShift 6 speed, Very good brakes, much better than my -bent. A bit of rust, but otherwise fine. I suspect some kid left it outside most of the time and rarely rode it.
Unless I find a good way to at least make handlebar more comfortable, this is just a "prototype" for the adult (24 or 26" ?) mountain type/off road capable bike project I want to do.
With my new comfortable (for ebiking, not long periods pedalling) Shwinn seat installed most of the way up, I can pedal half decently, but arms and handlebar aren't happy. So I put seat back down, which makes me a bit more aero, and my legs go into a tuck and it works OK, but NOT for pedalling. I find it easier to kick the pavement a few times to get to 7 KMH to get pedal first going. Need instant start. And I WONT be happy if I ever have to pedal home, though I could raise seat to help. I CAN pedal, but it helps much if I stand or sit back on or over seat.
Here's the latest converted view from above. 0 amps are flowing and 82.9 volts is showing on the http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=4908&start=195 Canadian Tire YardWorks battery pack made from eight 20v, 6ah batts, total about 960wh, about $1k all told with taxes. Gave me 80 KM of range on recumbent but I'm getting a good deal less on this bike. Bike light is a $30 Stanley Flashlight that bends etc and uses 3/6 or 9 AAs. Got last year or two and it's the BEST cheap bike light I've tried yet. MUCH better lighting on the dark bike paths for my night runs, and helps big time on pothole patrol.
Side view:
Closer view of cockpit:
I changed my ampmeter and voltmeter to these $8.74 clearance (orig $35) Canadian Tire pocket DMMs that only do limited ranges of voltage, resistance and diode test. I converted left meter volt function to amp-meter with a resistor/shunt made of 2 parallel pieces of hanging wire. Seemed to have about 10 milliohms of resistance. Only gives me 1 amp of resolution, but OK for now.
Not visible at front are two light switches for every pair of batteries. I can switch 1s-4s on the fly, for running, charging or discharge testing. I have 8 batteries in two banks, but can switch pretty flexibly. Works well; at current 2 batts are having BMS overheat issues, and I can switch them in or out on the fly depending on uphill/downhill...
At back, first switch is to power XLyte 72v, 20a, PF controller, When switch 1 down, batt goes to very basic, manually switch and dimmer operated, charger integrated into bike.
When switch 2 is on, batteries are charged. Which batts depends on same 8 front switches that reconfigure batts/banks.
When switch 3 is on, discharge testing is possible, using outlet at right.
Voltmeter always shows battery pack voltage (depending on front switches). Ampmeter shows positive when charging and negative when running or discharge testing.
Not shown is old computer power supply box switches and outlet are mounted in. I used original power input for PC power supply to provide 120vac to charger. So to charge, I plug a standard computer 120vac power plug into bike, and my "load center" power bar to the outlet shown. Power goes through diodes, the variable load, switches etc, and into the batts. I monitor voltage and current and manually switch loads down when voltage rises to about 21v per battery. I can do series charging but have to be careful to make sure voltages are balanced.
Discharge testing doesn't use 120vac but uses the same load center and meters to get data to determine battery capacities etc.
With a portable load, like a cheap $20 3 pound heater, and a PC power cord, I can recharge from any place with a 120vac outlet. I can charge at rates up to 2c, or about 12 amps, but full charge takes about an hour, or less, with manual fiddling of current.
Here's bike at charging station: 2 amps at 84v:
Here is the charging station / load center :
At left is big scroll fan to push air through heaters at lower voltage (40v ac) so they won't trip or burn. Main loads are two heaters: $25 ceramic and $20 cheapie. They both have 2 heat settings and 1 fan setting and helps me moderate larger currents at start of charging. 400 watts of light bulbs connected to 5a dimmer helps control lower currents and lets me keep manual "constant 21v per batt voltage", or a bit less, to be safer.
I really like the mountain type bike based ebike. Full suspension, big wide knobby tires, etc. I'm going down roads and paths now I would have avoided before. I've had 3, almost 4 flats in last 4 weeks. First 3 flats of my adult, and even most of my youth life. (!!) I wonder how well these kid bike tires and tubes will last ? I wouldn't be surprised if they're much more resistant than the high pressure tires I've been running. Next flat, I'm going full-on high rolling resistance, puncture proof/resistant tires and tubes.
Gee, possibly close to $2k (with Cdn taxes) of stuff on this "$15" kids bike now. Bet that kid would want it back now !
On the recumbent, people often didn't notice it's an ebike. On this bike, lots more people notice, when they see my bunched up legs aren't moving, they usually figure there's some other power source. I ring the little bell when I get people yelling what seems to be positive stuff; like the high-school girls at the bus stop last night. (Yeah, I wrote bust and backspaced the T.)
Note first 4 light switches right where under seat steering wants to go to steer more than 10 degrees or whatever...
I bought a kids mountain type bike for my 6 yr old son for $15 at Salvation Army but he's 1-2 years too small for it, so I put everything on this 20" wheel bike.
It's a "Triumph Rave". I've seen a few selling used for $50-70. Apparently Costco sold them in Canada. Probably made by Raleigh who bought the old Triumph Bike name decades ago. Made in Canada. Seems solid, all steel, 2" knobby tires, Shimano RevoShift 6 speed, Very good brakes, much better than my -bent. A bit of rust, but otherwise fine. I suspect some kid left it outside most of the time and rarely rode it.
Unless I find a good way to at least make handlebar more comfortable, this is just a "prototype" for the adult (24 or 26" ?) mountain type/off road capable bike project I want to do.
With my new comfortable (for ebiking, not long periods pedalling) Shwinn seat installed most of the way up, I can pedal half decently, but arms and handlebar aren't happy. So I put seat back down, which makes me a bit more aero, and my legs go into a tuck and it works OK, but NOT for pedalling. I find it easier to kick the pavement a few times to get to 7 KMH to get pedal first going. Need instant start. And I WONT be happy if I ever have to pedal home, though I could raise seat to help. I CAN pedal, but it helps much if I stand or sit back on or over seat.
Here's the latest converted view from above. 0 amps are flowing and 82.9 volts is showing on the http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=4908&start=195 Canadian Tire YardWorks battery pack made from eight 20v, 6ah batts, total about 960wh, about $1k all told with taxes. Gave me 80 KM of range on recumbent but I'm getting a good deal less on this bike. Bike light is a $30 Stanley Flashlight that bends etc and uses 3/6 or 9 AAs. Got last year or two and it's the BEST cheap bike light I've tried yet. MUCH better lighting on the dark bike paths for my night runs, and helps big time on pothole patrol.
Side view:
Closer view of cockpit:
I changed my ampmeter and voltmeter to these $8.74 clearance (orig $35) Canadian Tire pocket DMMs that only do limited ranges of voltage, resistance and diode test. I converted left meter volt function to amp-meter with a resistor/shunt made of 2 parallel pieces of hanging wire. Seemed to have about 10 milliohms of resistance. Only gives me 1 amp of resolution, but OK for now.
Not visible at front are two light switches for every pair of batteries. I can switch 1s-4s on the fly, for running, charging or discharge testing. I have 8 batteries in two banks, but can switch pretty flexibly. Works well; at current 2 batts are having BMS overheat issues, and I can switch them in or out on the fly depending on uphill/downhill...
At back, first switch is to power XLyte 72v, 20a, PF controller, When switch 1 down, batt goes to very basic, manually switch and dimmer operated, charger integrated into bike.
When switch 2 is on, batteries are charged. Which batts depends on same 8 front switches that reconfigure batts/banks.
When switch 3 is on, discharge testing is possible, using outlet at right.
Voltmeter always shows battery pack voltage (depending on front switches). Ampmeter shows positive when charging and negative when running or discharge testing.
Not shown is old computer power supply box switches and outlet are mounted in. I used original power input for PC power supply to provide 120vac to charger. So to charge, I plug a standard computer 120vac power plug into bike, and my "load center" power bar to the outlet shown. Power goes through diodes, the variable load, switches etc, and into the batts. I monitor voltage and current and manually switch loads down when voltage rises to about 21v per battery. I can do series charging but have to be careful to make sure voltages are balanced.
Discharge testing doesn't use 120vac but uses the same load center and meters to get data to determine battery capacities etc.
With a portable load, like a cheap $20 3 pound heater, and a PC power cord, I can recharge from any place with a 120vac outlet. I can charge at rates up to 2c, or about 12 amps, but full charge takes about an hour, or less, with manual fiddling of current.
Here's bike at charging station: 2 amps at 84v:
Here is the charging station / load center :
At left is big scroll fan to push air through heaters at lower voltage (40v ac) so they won't trip or burn. Main loads are two heaters: $25 ceramic and $20 cheapie. They both have 2 heat settings and 1 fan setting and helps me moderate larger currents at start of charging. 400 watts of light bulbs connected to 5a dimmer helps control lower currents and lets me keep manual "constant 21v per batt voltage", or a bit less, to be safer.
I really like the mountain type bike based ebike. Full suspension, big wide knobby tires, etc. I'm going down roads and paths now I would have avoided before. I've had 3, almost 4 flats in last 4 weeks. First 3 flats of my adult, and even most of my youth life. (!!) I wonder how well these kid bike tires and tubes will last ? I wouldn't be surprised if they're much more resistant than the high pressure tires I've been running. Next flat, I'm going full-on high rolling resistance, puncture proof/resistant tires and tubes.
Gee, possibly close to $2k (with Cdn taxes) of stuff on this "$15" kids bike now. Bet that kid would want it back now !
On the recumbent, people often didn't notice it's an ebike. On this bike, lots more people notice, when they see my bunched up legs aren't moving, they usually figure there's some other power source. I ring the little bell when I get people yelling what seems to be positive stuff; like the high-school girls at the bus stop last night. (Yeah, I wrote bust and backspaced the T.)