I am in the same boat as you when I started my trike build last year. My knowledge of lipo was small scale pro 4wd racing and flying drones.
But if you think logically and take a step back you can see the bigger picture and how all of it comes together.
I guess first question is do you have a way to tell how much amp your current system max draw is? like a wattage meter or a cycle analyst.
Most basic DD/mid drive kit only needs a 10c lipo setup to keep them happy. I only asked because you stated you need high C rated lipos.
sketchism said:
So for my 96 V bike, 4 of those 6s 16ah 15c packs in series will give me a battery of 24S 88v/100v 16Ah 200Adischarge?
if i want to run it on my 48V then i could run them 12s2p for 44v/50v 32Ah 400A Discharge?
Remember the voltage they display on the website are the rested voltage not the max charged voltage.
24s @ 3.7 rested voltage = 88.8 volt. Rested or stored voltage is where you want to keep them when you are not using them for long periods so they do not get damage.
Once you get the pack and charge them to full capacity will give you
24s @4.2 volt = 100.8 volt full pack.
So as long as i install a low voltage buzzer on each pack and walk home if it goes off, don't drain them below 20% or 3-3.2v per cell or pull more than 200A from them, and balance them when i charge that should be all i need to do to not explode?
You can find alot of information about using lipo for ebike on this forum using the search function but to give you a short answer to get you started. I was told never to charge each cell more then 4.1 you can but you have to burn it off right away and do not let them sit at 4.2 for long period. Something happens inside the lipo that builds up and cause the lipo to decrease capacity the longer you have it sitting at 4.2. Also from 4.1 to 4.2 the benefit is very very small and the down side is you will be waiting longer if you have the charger balance charge all cells to 4.2 instead of 4.1.
Draining is the same, you never want to drain the lipo lower then 3.6 (I only drain mine to 3.7).
The more expensive the pack the better they are @ keeping balance once they drain close to the "cliff".
My turnigy lipo cliff is right around 3.7 to 3.6 any lower and each cells start to get out of balance and it takes longer to get them back in balance when charging to 4.1.
i currently have this 4 port 6s charger for my RC stuff, is it acceptable?
http://hitecrcd.com/products/chargers/acdc-chargers/x4-ac-plus-4-port-acdc-multi-charger/product
I have not direct experience with this charger but I have used 2 imax b6 charger to charge my 22s.
Since then I have upgarded to a larger charger that can dual charge @ 30amps each channel.
The b6 was only pushing 5amps.
I guess any balance charger is fine if you have the patience.
Reading the data on your charger it max out @ 22amps.
sketchism said:
Would these 6s 16ah 10C ones be too low dicharge compared to the graphine 15c?
they are much more affordable (half the price) but 10C not 15 (160A but i would only be drawing 60-80 max) http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=69143
what are your thoughts strewn the two, in short is the 5c difference worth $700?
There are quite a few members on this forum that use the multistar line for ebikes to escooter and eboards.
But you have to understand that the 10c rating is overly exaggerated. They are more 1/3 the listed C rating so maybe 3-4C.
But in parallel they would make a fine setup.
You should look up member
icecube57 he has a 4t mxus build running on these multistar and he is a heavier set person like I am.
Side note: Today I took my trike for a ride after changing some of the controller settings on my 12fet lyen controller pushing a 6t mxus motor with a combine weight of 320lbs.
I had change the speed setting from 99% to 120% and phase/ batter amps from 40 to 60 amps.
My max amp that I pull on the block in front my house before the modification was 40ish amp to max speed of 29.8mph.
Since I have made the changes to the controller I now push 34.6mph with a max amp of 52.
My battery are hobbyking turnigy 20c 6s 5000mah and 20c 5s 5000mah.
I have 6s x 4 in parallel giving me 6s 20000mah @ 20c and 5s x 4 = 5s 20000mah @ 20c.
I have 2 of the 6s4p and 2 5s4p = 22s in series @ 4.1 volt each cell 90.2 volt total pack, my lyen controller is rated max voltage 96-100.
Using those numbers conservatively and only half the C rating 20ah x 10c = 200amp my pack can easily handle the controller requirements.
I hope I helped more then confused you.