First E-Bike build - Full suspension, geared & DD motor

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Just got the email that my andersons have shipped!

Still tweaking the case design, and planning out an assembly process that will keep fasteners to a minimum, as well as keeping the fasteners away from poking the LiPos.

Have not been able to do a simple maiden due to wet and crappy weather conditions. Hopefully things will dry up in the next couple days.

To answer you questions about flying, I fly all over the place, there's a huge soccer field right by my house that I can walk to for the Heli's, but during the summer month's we have a good group of 10 or so pilots that meet up and fly here:

42.663172,-82.864369 (put into google maps) Everything from nitro trex 700's to simple foamys, no restrictions other than be safe and have fun.

I received some new servo's from my dad for Christmas, so one of my 450's is getting some upgrades during this winter too.

For planes I build foamy kit's nowadays. It's been a couple decades since I went the balsa and skin route

Ahh now back to my dungeon to tend to the Ebike needs...

 

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Decided to order 3 more matching LiPo's while they are still on sale.

Decided to go for a final configuration of 12c5p for a grand total of approx 13 amp hour setup.

 

[kfong]

Cool, we will have to do some long rides this summer. You should have plenty of room with that larger frame. About 20-25miles with that capacity on the streets depending on how much you plan to pedal. A lot further if you keep the speed below 15mph.

 

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Looking forward to meeting up one of these days. This bike was built for the street, and efficiency, so it has very low rolling resistance tires, and lightweight build parts, which should help out the range considerably. I also plan to pedal most of the time for exercise (haven't forget the original purpose of the bike) so hopefully I'll get some good range. Only time will tell! In-Laws gave me $150 for Christmas to spend on "anything" so I'm thinking a cycle analyst may be in my future.

Just got to figure out where to mount it since I also plan on running an initial GPS unit, which run my favorite GPS software; iGuidance!

 

[kfong]

The CA is pretty darn useful for seting your current limit and cutting off when lv is near. Having rpm, distance, and all the other stats as well. Methods sells them at a good price. One place is directly on the steer tube, but you would need a special mounting bracket. Metro parkway has a good long bike path. I've ridden on it from my house to metro beach. Paint creek trail is another long bike path. I'm hoping they put priority to networking all the bike paths. That would really make the ebike useful for travel. I like to pedal as well and hope to do a 100 mile century ride next year with only 24amps. Would have to keep it under 15mph, but I think it's doable.

Looking forward to meeting up one of these days. This bike was built for the street, and efficiency, so it has very low rolling resistance tires, and lightweight build parts, which should help out the range considerably. I also plan to pedal most of the time for exercise (haven't forget the original purpose of the bike) so hopefully I'll get some good range. Only time will tell! In-Laws gave me $150 for Christmas to spend on "anything" so I'm thinking a cycle analyst may be in my future.

Just got to figure out where to mount it since I also plan on running an initial GPS unit, which run my favorite GPS software; iGuidance!

 

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Woo hoo! First ebike maiden successful!

Testing conditions, Dry, 44*F

Well without even being fully charged (started at 23v per cell) the 12c1p testing setup took me 3 miles and when I returned home was still 44.1 volts, or .1 volts short of the LVC. Was pretty amazed at the range considering my front tire was nearly flat, and I only pedaled half of the trip. Top speed as reported by my cheap bicycle computer was 20 mph. Again I was not pushing it very hard since this was the maiden. Overall I'm impressed with the frame, it handles bumps fine and give a cushy ride!

According to my android runkeeper data, which is slightly skewed since I started it after about a half mile:

2.57 miles | Average Pace 3:22min / mi | Average Speed 17.85 mph | Elevation Climb 48 ft

So yeah, I am officially addicted! I've already started to look at more hubs for my other bike and the wifes bike

I did discover some mechanical issues with the bike which have been fixed since the maiden. Mostly just bolts and a pedal coming loose which have been locktited now.

Best part...

On my way home I popped the chain off the front sprocket on accident (may need to customize some sort of chain guide) and normally I would be stuck fixing it on the side of the road, but not this time. Just twisted the throttle and got home without pedals

Another observation...

My Thunder AC6 charger gets pretty warm charging a 6 cell lipo at 3 amps. May have to add a fan, but probably a better option is upgrading.

-Joe

 

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Some pics of the battery array. I'm assembling with stryofoam under and in-between cells, and electrical tape to hold it together. I tend to get aggressive in my riding on occasion, so the styrofoam will add some cushion. It also weighs nearly nothing.

 

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The solider is flowing tonight. Double shrink wrapped connections. I decided to solider the banks to conserve Anderson connectors. Also added a 30 amp sae fuse to the circuit.

 

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The key.

 

[neptronix]

Permanent parallel.. that's gangster, especially for a first build I hope you did test all the lipos first to rule out any duds.

If i'm seeing it right, you have a very long series connection. One thing you might want to take note of, is that you could end up with the packs disbalanced over a long period of time. The disbalance will work like so:

Parallel group 1 gradually gets lower volts over a long period of time.. parallel group 2 gets a bit higher over time.. this happens if you are bulk charging often.

This happened with my 10S packs consisting of two 5S, so i soldered them in a very short permanent series config.. then designed my parallel harness to draw from the middle of the pack so that the amp draw was even..

So far this bike is good. I like the budget factor.

 

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I plan to balance charge regularly. That's the next step. I was thinking about using CAT6 TO parallel balance taps

 

[neptronix]

As long as you keep the balance leads as short as possible, this is a good idea

 

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I have cat 6 and its 23awg. I think that would be OK with the main balance lead connected to the charger.

For safety reasons, this bank is stored in a 1/8" wall steel box at the monent.

When I connected them the 1st set was at 25v - fully charged. the other 2 sets were at 23v

After sitting for awhile connected via solider the packs balanced out at 23.7v per side. I assume some cureent flowed from the fully charged packs to the other 4 in the bank, finally balancing @ 23.7. Im sad it 10* outside right now

 

[neptronix]

Eeek - you're not supposed to do that man , when paralleling batteries, they must be at approximately the same voltage ( within about 0.5v at the absolute most ), otherwise they will equalize very rapidly. Essentially they will try to transmit a multi thousand amp spike of power from the higher battery to the lower battery in milliseconds.

This has a high probability of damaging the batteries. You might be lucky and there will be little to no damage.

*wishing that all the non-stickied lipo posts containing good info had not fell into the abyss*

 

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Permanent parallel.. that's gangster, especially for a first build

so i soldered them in a very short permanent series config.. then designed my parallel harness to draw from the middle of the pack so that the amp draw was even..

I like this mentality. Thanks for the reminder. There are another 4 packs that will be on the other side of the bank

 

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I hooked up the 23v packs first, then sparked the 25v packs about 10 times.. so it wasn't instant, but I have no worries this pack is just fine. Bank A is on the charger right now, i'm stopping at 24v and moving to the next.

This pack will be well monitored and safely stored for the next 4 months.

BTW my charging setup consists of a 24" box fan blowing on the bank and the AC6 charger

 

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each bank took 800 "units" of AC6 and ended up at 24.1v each.

May have to do some cold weather testing tomorrow...

 

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I decided to order some JST harnesses for balancing instead of hard wiring CAT6.

Interestingly, this also led me to purchase another AC6 charger, and 2 cell level monitors / alarms. I've had good luck with the AC6, so I see no reason not to run 2.

Now I can charge and balance both banks at the same time.

Here's a pic of the monitors with built in alarm. Sounds if the cells go more than .2v out of balance.

 

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Test ran the new bank.
6 miles, 20 minutes, pace 3:23 min/mile, avg speed: 18mph. Climb 174 ft.

Battery started @ 24v per bank, ended @ 22.4 v per bank. Didn't even hit LVC yet!

Here's the kicker.. operating temperature : 29* F -- below freezing + my 200lbs ass bundled up with a hoodie and cargo pants. Probably the lest aerodynamic outfit possible.

I pedaled a good portion of this trip. The 13T gear seems a perfect match for cruising at 20mph. It's simple to cruise at 20, but take that electricity away and it starts getting pretty tough!

 

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Chilly

 

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Current charging setup.

 

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So I did another ride tonight, again batt. only charged at 48v. Did 6 miles, 3 of those electric only, this time temps were 38, at least above freezing, but still pretty cold. No electrical part is even close to warm, even after 3 miles constant (paved trail). Again tops out at about 20mph, which I was hoping would be faster, but ill wait for warmer weather before I write that off as top speed. The part that I was pretty surprised is the entire trip only took 2volts off the pack, ending at 46v.

I got 4 more lipos today, exact same ones. For my 'aux/secondary' bank.

Also decided to used velcro straps to hold the batt to the lower tube for testing, Was using too much tape before!

Lastly, I can tell I'm going to need more transmission and voltage at some point

 

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Went for a third ride today batt starting at 50v. Temps 50*, top speed 22mph. Unreal weather for Michigan winter rite now. Bad news is I need a new crank. Stripped it It where the pedals attach. Now to figure out how that comes apart.will probably just drop it off at the bike shop.

Fabricated first case part today. Pics to follow. I've learned a detachable battery is very handy.

 

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Who'd a thunk the electric drive system would be more reliable than the pedals! lol

Looking at 46T main ring and gearsets. Wondering how compatible cranks are ?

 

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My local bike mechanic is taking it apart and recommending a new crankset with a single 46T chain wheel. For now, more battery / case work.