Hello, and newbie needs advice

[Mrnewbie]

Hello All,

A few months ago I happened upon 2 Shwinn electric scooters, they we at a local dumpster.
I grabbed them both, I thought they were bicycles at first glance, till I got close.
One is the Shwinn 4.0 the other is an S-400. They both look like they are in pretty good shape, someone just did not want to take the time and monies to get new batteries.

After getting a pair of 12V batteries (24v systems) and a charger, I tested both and they both seem to work just fine.

I have a dream...I am a hunter and have permission to hunt the woods that are 900 yards behind my house. That's a long walk for an old 220lb guy like me. In the past, I rode my lawnmower to get back there.

Any how, the project is to get more torque out of the scooter, I could care less about the rated 15mph on the S-400, rated for a 120lb kid I'm sure.
I want more torque, 5 mph is just fine. It a bumpy farmers field any how.

At this point I have added a knobby tire, a 90 tooth sprocket and chain is on the way to replace the 54 tooth original sprocket. I figure it should give me more torque, and less speed, I would guess at 7-9mph.

The Motor is a XYD-6D. I'm under the impression that this unit can handle 36 and even 48Volts.

I have about 100 bucks in this project, and would be willing to put another 100 in it if it can work.

What do you guys think? Options to get more power?

 

[arkmundi]

What do you guys think? Options to get more power?

Welcome! Only way to get more power is to deliver more amps. A higher voltage battery is only part of the equation. The other parts are controller and wiring. Each component will be rated for certain maximum amps, including the motor. But electric motors can be robust and handle the additional power, sometimes.

You need to determine what kind of motor it is first. Whether brushed or brushless. Direct drive or geared. Once you've done a bit more research, let us know and we'll give you some information and/or opinion.

 

[Mrnewbie]

What do you guys think? Options to get more power?

Welcome! Only way to get more power is to deliver more amps. A higher voltage battery is only part of the equation. The other parts are controller and wiring. Each component will be rated for certain maximum amps, including the motor. But electric motors can be robust and handle the additional power, sometimes.

You need to determine what kind of motor it is first. Whether brushed or brushless. Direct drive or geared. Once you've done a bit more research, let us know and we'll give you some information and/or opinion.

XYD-6D - XYD-13 24V
Brushed 450W Motor
Rated Power: 450W
Style : Brushed Motor
Reversible: Yes
Current Draw: See Chart
Rated Speed: 2600 RPM
Efficiency: Greater than 75%
Number of teeth: 11, Pitch 6.35
Weight: 2.45kg

This info comes from this page...there is more tech info there.
http://www.motiondynamics.com.au/xyd-6d-350w-24v-2600-rpm-with-chain-sprocket-clone.html

In short it looks like its a good little motor

 

[arkmundi]

I doubt that the controller will let you run anything but 24 volts. So going to 36V would likely be a waste of money. You could probably get away with putting 36V on it without melting anything, though. Since your investment is little, there's little to loose in any case. The extra voltage would effectively mean extra amp-hours, so you'd get more distance. A 450 watt motor should handle 36V just fine. If you give it a try, the motor spins OK at 36V and you end up no additional power, you could then try upgrading to a different controller.

 

[John in CR]

You're looking for more torque at the wheel and are willing to sacrifice speed. That little brushed motor can't take big power, but I seen them run at 36V just fine. Simply gear it lower for proportionately more torque at the wheel.

 

[Mrnewbie]

You're looking for more torque at the wheel and are willing to sacrifice speed. That little brushed motor can't take big power, but I seen them run at 36V just fine. Simply gear it lower for proportionately more torque at the wheel.

That is where I'm at right now.
It had an 11 front tooth to 54 or 55 rear sprocket, so its about 5 to 1
Upgraded rear to a 90 tooth so now its about 8 to 1 ratio

I could not find a smaller front, nor anything larger than 90 on the wheel.
I don't know if it will be enough, but the 90 tooth showed up today, guess I will know in a few days.

I don't think it will do it, so I'm looking at options, I'll take a look at that motor controller and figure out its specs

 

[Mrnewbie]

First off, you should watch this. Enjoy my folly, it was fun and beer was involved!
http://youtu.be/T406D53vhmI

Ok, The 90 tooth is now on rear wheel. It does give it quite a bit more power, but still not enough. I took for a ride down the driveway and it has more torque than it did before. I'm in Ohio and we have a few inches of snow on the ground, It dies trying to go through the snow on the lawn. The speed was fine, maybe 7-10 mph on driveway.

Ok, so I looked at the Controller, it is a 24V 30A unit.

Now wait a minute, I now have 2 12V 10A batteries in series, Does this not just give me 1 24Volt 10A battery. The voltage doubles, the current says the same, right?

Would adding another pair of batteries in parallel, give me 24V 20amps?
And the biggie, Would it help?"

 

[amberwolf]

12V 10A. or 10Ah?

Huge difference. Ah is capacity, A is current or current capability.

Then there is C-rate, which means how many times the capacity of the battery the max current draw is (complicated-sounding, but really easy actually).

You may want to read up in the ES Wiki on terminology, etc., and over in the Technical Reference forum for various such threads.

WIll help you understand more about why what you do works or doesn't, and which direction to go from there.