Heavy cargo hauler project

Red on gate, black on b- : voltages read 5.9 ish volts.

The only thing I did was to move the bms pcb around for testing. There has to be an intermittently open circuit somewhere for the results to change like that. Its driving me crazy!

The old one will get fixed afterwards.. I owe it to myself to learn from my mishaps. That it has no obvious purpose afterwards is somewhat irritating, but such is life.
 
the voltage will climb as the pack charges up. having the other one fixed is good insurance to prevent one of these from breaking.

my theory about having spare parts. always have spare parts ready and the one in use will never fail.

if you have something with no spare, that is what dies. they know how to make life hard for you.
 
Charging completed. All hvc LEDs lid up within a span of 10 seconds.

So to debrief:
- brand new bms failed to initiate recharge operation after one successful cycle.
- Initial attempts consisted of checking and rechecking integrity of charger and continuity of wiring.
- I then cut the top of the shrink wrap off to inspect and continuity check solder joints and multi-pin wiring.
- BMS inspection step 1: check forward bias and body diode function of charging mosfets.
- BMS inspection step 2: check anode/cathode voltages of outer row of octocouplers
- BMS inspection step 3: check octocoupler collector emitter traces for shorts, be mindful of flux/shellac covering component terminals.

As I understood your responses dnmun, most things checked out, save from some initial weird inconsistencies between mosfet measurements.

I still suspect there might be some sort an intermittency issue between the charge XLR plug and the BMS board, as this can still explain why charging fails while discharging is fine. If problems reappear "unprovoked" I am tempted to just replace that wiring as an initial repair attempt, then strip off all the insulation of the replaced wires and do a visual continuity check.

As for the old board I started my repair attempt by replacing the charge mosfets as they had physically cracked. when that failed to rectify the situation I straight up quit and express ordered a replacement from Ping.

According to local custom I at the very least owe you a case of Beer dnmun. I am dead serious :) Thank you for your patience and detailed instruction.
 
nope, don't drink beer. if you still have those old kingpan chargers i will help you fix them too.

i know more about how they work than when you first had that problem. actually i know now that the most likely reason it did not work after you replaced the npn switching transistor is because the base resistor also blows out at the same time so you have to replace them when replacing the npn transistor. i have a bunch and can mail you some to fix those chargers. i also have some of the regular size J13009 transistors now too. i was pretty green back then and was just learning how the chargers work.

but i was thinking about how i had seen what i thought was a black colored capacitor between gate and source on this v2.5 signalab i was looking at when directing you.

it was all black and i could not read a resistor value on it even though i kinda expected it to be the gate source resistor. when i measured it with my harbor freight meter, it never registered so i figured it was a cap. but it was the 515 on my hi current BMS when i looked. and 515 on some other v2.5 BMSs i looked at.

so i just got my other meter with a 20 megohm scale and measured the black colered one and it reads 5 megohm like yours.

i have found small flecks of solder sometimes laying on the completed pcbs. they stick in place i suspect until they get jostled and then fall somewhere else so that may be what happened to you. something shorted the opto output traces somehow and then when you were manipulating it the debris was dislodged again and the short fell open. maybe.
 
Time for an update of sorts.

The old bike has seen lots of use, but a month or so ago, I started losing spokes on both front and rear wheels.

I used the stock 16" 9C 2812 wheel, and the radial lace with the 14ga spokes has started failing after a good year of heavy cargo duty at 79-80V.

The non-powered rear wheel has 12ga spokes in a 19" rim. This has held up for 4 years until I hit a nasty pot hole and started experiencing cascading breakages, losing spokes as fast as I could replace broken ones.

So the old girl is on blocks until I can get new wheels built for her. I got my hands on brand new 2"wide Longjohn rims, that are built like tanks, but suffer from poor quality chrome finishes that tend to flake off pretty quick. So I took two sets of these rims down to my local automotive paintshop, and have had them sandblasted, Zinc coated and painted up in Ratrod red. Paired with whitewall moto tires and the black frame, I hope that it will look the part :)

I've got my local bike mechanic working out the spoke sizes for 4 wheels of varying configs, and will be ordering 200 spokes from JRH asap.

Should I keep the 9C hubs black, or get em painted red to match the rims?
radrodmockup.jpg

Cheers
-tom
 
I always say make it ugly, so they won't steal it. But your bike might be so big it's theft proof. 8)

Why not paint em?
 
Linkage steering on a 200 lbs, 8 ft long bike with a weird split saddle tends to draw lots of attention, but few people willing to test ride it when given the chance.

And I reckon you are right... red hub and red rims will look good together
 
do people steal bikes there like they do here?

do you guys have armies of homeless men living in every nook and cranny of the city? sleeping and camping in all the downtown city parks?

does the guvment try to keep people from selling bikes for scrap metal there to eliminate the ability of the the guys who steal them from selling them for scrap metal?
 
Bikes are stolen, sure. But mainly lycrabait and DH branded stuff. My gigantic cargobike with a locked, reinforced flightcase for cargo bay is not at risk unless you have a flatbed getaway vehicle and two strong men to lift the damned thing. I have locks on both wheels and a locked compartment for the electricals, so I feel pretty safe.

We have homeless people, but most of them are benign drunks, and the local park dwellers have been won over with the occasional case of beer, so we get along great and they watch my stuff :)

Edit: And the local gubmint collects abandoned and stolen/unclaimed bikes and sells them back to the public through auctions every two months. A bike is worth more as a vehicle than as scrap. Hence the lycrabait preference, among thieves.
 
Just popping in to say Hi!
SCO1964.jpg
I'm chugging along on new wheels.
JRH heavy duty spokes
Zinc plated and powder coated 2" moped rims with 2.5" Pirelli moped tires.

It is a solid performer throughout. But I must admit that I'm pining to make a new cargo box.
It should be longer, enclose the front wheel, have a door for the kid and be space frame tubing skinned with diamond plate.

And I still have that 1970s cycle truck frame for my longtail project.

So many bike builds, so little time! :D
 
Cargo_Tom said:
Just popping in to say Hi!
(photo was here)
I'm chugging along on new wheels.
JRH heavy duty spokes
Zinc plated and powder coated 2" moped rims with 2.5" Pirelli moped tires.

It is a solid performer throughout. But I must admit that I'm pining to make a new cargo box.
It should be longer, enclose the front wheel, have a door for the kid and be space frame tubing skinned with diamond plate.

And I still have that 1970s cycle truck frame for my longtail project.

So many bike builds, so little time! :D
Click to expand...

Tom, that's one awesome ride. I'm lovin that big, giant red disc-of-power on the front wheel! Those 2.5" tires are incredible! That's one heavy duty machine man!
 
Wow! One rad hauler. Impressive work.
 
She was stolen from the driveway last night. Locked & 200lbs.

It takes a substantial pair of bolt cutters, 2 guys and a dedicated transport vehicle to do, so it seems I'm a victim to professionals. I have zero hope of seeing it again.

a couple hundred hours and 4500 dollars lost.

Time to plan a new project and start saving up from scratch. Bah Humbug!
 
Cargo_Tom said:
She was stolen from the driveway last night. Locked & 200lbs.
It takes a substantial pair of bolt cutters, 2 guys and a dedicated transport vehicle to do, so it seems I'm a victim to professionals. I have zero hope of seeing it again.
a couple hundred hours and 4500 dollars lost.
Time to plan a new project and start saving up from scratch. Bah Humbug!
Click to expand...

Holy shit Tom....
Now, question for you - isn't it a pretty distinctive looking bike, even if there are a lot of cargo bikes there?
They'll have to take it out of your local area for you not to be able to find it, right?

Two Questions:
Would an onboard motion-sensing alarm have helped any in this case?
Will insurance cover the loss?
 
Cargo_Tom said:
She was stolen from the driveway last night. Locked & 200lbs.

It takes a substantial pair of bolt cutters, 2 guys and a dedicated transport vehicle to do, so it seems I'm a victim to professionals. I have zero hope of seeing it again.

a couple hundred hours and 4500 dollars lost.

Time to plan a new project and start saving up from scratch. Bah Humbug!
Click to expand...
If it were me, I'd have a few more choice words to say. Like those goddamn duodanal thieving assholes, how could they! Trying to get urban dictionary to take this new word - duodanal. You've heard of deep ecology? I figured we needed deep asshole, as in saying asshole just once doesn't quite satisfy. But no, that's not duo as in two. Its duo as in duodenum, the first part of the intestine after food exits the stomach. Can't get any deeper than that.

But really, find that sweet baby. Report it the police. Followup. Post pictures and a reward. Check craigslist, eBay and other thievery sites where it might show up. There are stories of people in your situation who do, find it listed, make arrangements for purchase, show up to pickup the stolen merchandise, and ohhhnoooo, wait a moment, I just called the police. I'd believe that would be a most satisfying experience for a victim. :twisted:
 
jkbrigman said:
Holy shit Tom....
Now, question for you - isn't it a pretty distinctive looking bike, even if there are a lot of cargo bikes there?
They'll have to take it out of your local area for you not to be able to find it, right?
Click to expand...

That is my thinking, at least.

jkbrigman said:
Two Questions:
Would an onboard motion-sensing alarm have helped any in this case?
Click to expand...
It just might. A GPS tracker would be handy as well.

jkbrigman said:
Will insurance cover the loss?
Click to expand...

I'm not at all sure. Some of it, if I'm lucky.
 
Argggggg!!!
 
I hope to base the next iteration on this frame. A 1957 Stretch frame. 1 of only 4 made.
Deal is going down on tuesday for 1500 bucks. can't wait.

album link: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ldkKboUJ8EPpbekrvUSuFXopF-0fe_xIzraS8p4Nocg?feat=directlink
 
My condolences for your loss - heartbreaking....

Homeowners insurance will likely cover the cost, but there's no way to recover the care and effort...
I checked with my carrier way back when (they cover it) then carefully tossed all invoices in a box as the build progressed. I hope I never have to total it up...

BTW - here's an in-line of the missing bike:

SCO1964.jpg
 
This is mostly a joke, but if I lived in certain places, it'd be more serious:


Ya know, it makes me sometimes consider putting a sacrificial RC LiPo pack on my bikes, that is kept fully charged, with lots of highly flammable foam and plastic wrapped around it. A relay with a timer is then hooked to the main output wires of the pack, so that when the timer runs out the pack is shorted by the relay, hopefully getting so hot that it bursts into flames, surprising the thieves....

:lol:


The timer would only be enabled when I'm not actually riding the bike--I could use the same keyswitch that "unlocks" the bike to also lock out the relay so that even if the timer runs out it doens't short the pack.


I'm not sure but I figure the best place for the pack is right under the seat..... :p



Then I just tell the police to look for the charred-butt thieves and ask them where they left the bike when they ran off to the hospital. ;)
 
I would definitely attend this meeting this coming Spring:
http://www.cargobikefestival.com/
To look for your bike, see if it shows up!
 
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