bought a Phoenix cruiser hub and now have questions

[diver]

I bought a phoenix cruiser hub kit. It should be here any day. i use to bike a lot before my hips and knees went bad. Im hoping this will give me a new way to exercise and get around town. I just don't know how far this thing will go on a charge. and how hard it will be to pedal to get back in case i run the battery down. do you guys run two battery packs ? we have a super bike trail that goes for miles here and is mostly flat terrain.
I bought the 48 volt kit. Its going on a 26 inch bike. the battery's are the sla ones i think. Ive been reading here and you guys are are so tech savoy on electricity its just not funny. Im lost after the first sentence..
thanks butch

 

[fechter]

How big are the batteries? What it their Amp-hour rating?

Yes, you can run two sets of batteries. It's generally better to have both sets connected all the time vs. switching between them.

 

[Drunkskunk]

welcome to the world of Ebikes!

The kit you bought is branded as a phoenix cruiser. the actual motor is the Crystalyte 5304. Just something handy to know. Saying you have a Phoenix Cruiser is about the same as saying you drive an Impala. Telling someone you have a 5304 is the equivilent of telling someone you have a 350 cubic inch Stroker motor.

2 batteries are better than one, but 2 batteries are also heavier than one. with SLA batteries, thats a bad thing. your kit should have 4, 12 volt 10 Amp hour batteries. Amp hours is a rating of how long they will last. the thing about SLA is they are only good for about half to 2/3rds of that, so count on having 6 amp hours of power, with a little reserve. that should get you up to 20 miles at slower speeds. maybe farther.

 

[diver]

Thanks for the info. i don't know how big the battery's are. I have to study up more on battery's so i will be able to talk to you guys.All i know is that there are four of them at 12 volts each. FedEx delivered the set up today. My buddy and i put it on the bike and he got on it first. He had a smile a yard wide. that thing spun it tires on dirt . tomorrow he wants to put the radar gun on it to see how fast it goes. Me i will wait till he makes sure all is well before i get on it.lol I must say i was impressed at how easy it went on the bike. Heck they even gave me cruise control. Its just amazing how much tech is in this set up for the money. i think i will like it
butch

 

[mvadventure]

As a fellow owner of a 5304 that now has 1,500 + miles on it I can vouch for it's dependability. With four 12 volt 12 AH batteries, on flat terrain, at my weight of 225 pounds and a heavy steel framed bike, I could get ten miles at 25 - 30 mph (your top speed will be in the 28 - 30 MPH range).

Increased range requires slower speeds and 15 MPH will give you a comfortable 14-15 mile range, again though you are weight dependent. More weight = less range and vice versa. Hills kill batteries, speed kills batteries.

For the past week or so I've been running LiPO4 batteries, 48 volt 20 AH and have found more than three times the range and have yet to test them to the limit. I fully expect 40 miles at 20 MPH or less and have gotten 20 miles at average speeds of 24 MPH with lots of battery left.

A watts up meter or a cycle analyst will prove valuable in you being able to determine your individual range. You will wind up learning about the Peukert effect (spelling?) and the other characteristics of SLA batteries.

The big thing though is the EV grin. It's addictive. So is sitting up straight, barely peddling and passing a Lycra!

Good luck, enjoy the experience and don't lose patience.

Mike

 

[fechter]

Make sure the axle nuts stay tight! Check the spokes after you ride it a while too. They tend to loosen up at first.
That should be a good ride.
Post pics when you get a chance.

 

[diver]

I have , probably a dumb question to ask. I want to add one more pack of battery's. I can get 8 , 6 volt 14 amp hour battery's es12-6. would this be better then 4 12 volt 12 amp hour battery's. Do i just wire these into my other 48 volt power pack and let the charger charge both packs at once.

boy this bike is so much fun. I need a higher handle bar so Im not bent over as far. i will get a couple of pics up Tuesday
thanks butch

 

[vanilla ice]

Eight 6-14's would have more range than four 12-12's. But beyond the labeled 20hr. ratings the gap gets larger. Maybe because the 6v batteries have larger cells? I'm not sure.

For example my 6-12 is rated at 9ah at the 1hr. rate (75%), while my 12-7 (similar Wh but physically larger) is rated at around 4.2ah at the 1hr. rate (60%) The 12-12's do the same 60% 1hr. vs. 20hr.

Anyway be sure to check the 1hr. rate as its more representative of EV use.

 

[BiGH]

yeah try not to spend $$$ on lead batteries. LifePO4 batteries are much MUCH better.

i went from 48v 17ah of Lead (20kg) to 72v 12ah of LifePO4 (13kg). Much less bulkier and much BETTER in every way.

what controller did you buy? was it one that supports higher voltages ie 72v? also if you can post some pics of ur setup up that would be great!

 

[diver]

yeah try not to spend $$$ on lead batteries. LifePO4 batteries are much MUCH better.

i went from 48v 17ah of Lead (20kg) to 72v 12ah of LifePO4 (13kg). Much less bulkier and much BETTER in every way.

what controller did you buy? was it one that supports higher voltages ie 72v? also if you can post some pics of ur setup up that would be great!

Hi, the controller is a CT 4840, it came with the kit.I did buy a alltrax controller for a cart project,but the heck with that i love this bike set up now.. as far as battery's go Im not to savoy on battery's. i know parallel and series for voltage but i don't understand amp hours and the safe way to charge the new style battery's. i did a search on lifepo4 battery's and came up with these.? Are these the battery's to get and would it be just 4 packages to make 48 volts ?
http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=3940
thanks for helping me folks
Butch

 

[Ypedal]

Think of AH as the fuel tank size... the more ah's you have.. the further you can go ! 8)

10ah = 10 amps for 1 hr

By the time your current SLA's die.. LiFePo4 batteries should be a bit more available and sorted out.. alot of bad units out there at the moment.

 

[fechter]

By the time your current SLA's die.. LiFePo4 batteries should be a bit more available and sorted out.. alot of bad units out there at the moment.

I wouldn't get those Li batteries from Batteryspace. You could buy DeWalt drill packs brand new for less money. There are a lot of new LiFePO4 batteries hitting the market recently. We need to sort out which ones are good and which ones are toxic waste.

A123 (DeWalt) batteries are known good, as are the Milwaukee V28 type batteries.

The Batteryspace Li batteries you were looking at are pretty small, so you'd need to parallel a bunch of them to get the same capacity as your lead batteries.

Either way, Li batteries are going to be expensive, unless you can score free ones from a service center and build your own packs. Lead is relatively cheap and may still be cost effective if you're not a daily commuter.

 

[BiGH]

The only battery packs i'd suggest would be the Dewalt A123 packs or the yesa premade packs.

Dewalt have better cells (A123),
YESA the chargers are way better, and the packs are pre made - a very good turn key solution.

Its up to you which way you want to go.

you could always just got a yesa pack and run that for 2000 cycles while u build up a dewalt pack.

 

[diver]

thanks guys for all the info.
I put the speedo on it . I can go 32 mph with it. its just to much fun.
I have a problem with the charger. I called the company that i bought the kit from and they are sending me out a new charger first thing in the morning. they seem to be a real stand up company .

I cant wait for my dc to dc converter so i can put my air horns on it.
i feel like a kid again. Its so good to be able to ride a bike again
butch

 

[BiGH]

the other thing i've reaslied doing the weights with the comparison between yesa and dewalt is:

dewalt is lighter that the yesa cells.

 

[calinb]

I ran my 5304 on a 48 V / 18 Ah SLA pack for nearly a month. The best thing about the heavy SLAs is they made me appreciate my Yesa 48 V / 20 Ah LiFeP04 pack so much more!

I have a 13.5 mile commute with an 820' climb/descent (7.4 percent grade on one side). My SLAs would barely get me to work with significant pedaling in 35-40 minutes. It was really close in sub-freezing temperatures. The low voltage light would come on, even with a full charge, due to the high loading of the SLAs on the 7.4 percent grade. Obviously, I must recharge at work.

The Yesa pack gets me there in 33 minutes and, based on my charge times at work, I'm probably only using about 1/2 of the capacity of the pack. With pedaling, I scream up the hill at 20 mph! I'm nearly certain it could climb the hill without help, but I've never wanted to slow down to find out how fast it would climb. It's like a new E-bike since I installed the LiFeP04 pack.

-Cal