jonescg's NEW electric racebike BUILD thread!

[Farfle]

I would Throw marine heatshrink (the stuff with the glue on the inside) on the tail ends of the crimped anderson terminals before they go into the housings.
AND get the rubber anderson external boots,
AND put the connections in a waterpoof interconnect box,
AND be really effing careful.

Wear Insulated gloves, insulated tools; a good polycarb face sheild and maybe a lightweight welders apron.

Most importantly, and this is my favorite method for the last step connections. Get some beer, and have somebody else there, While you are doing things, Explain to them what you are about to do, and why you are doing it, they dont have to really listen, but it uses a different area of the mind to explain why rather than just assembly. I have caught myself making errors (some that could have sucked) multiple times usig this technique.

 

[jonescg]

I would Throw marine heatshrink (the stuff with the glue on the inside) on the tail ends of the crimped anderson terminals before they go into the housings.
Done
AND get the rubber anderson external boots,
Done
AND put the connections in a waterpoof interconnect box,
Not so easy, but they will be shielded with a guard
AND be really effing careful.
Always
Wear Insulated gloves, insulated tools; a good polycarb face sheild and maybe a lightweight welders apron.
Got them
Most importantly, and this is my favorite method for the last step connections. Get some beer, and have somebody else there, While you are doing things, Explain to them what you are about to do, and why you are doing it, they dont have to really listen, but it uses a different area of the mind to explain why rather than just assembly. I have caught myself making errors (some that could have sucked) multiple times usig this technique.

Sorry, you lost me at beers...

I have a good procedure for assembly and disassembly, so that's well covered. Once the battery is built, I will have a personal policy of not working on the HV side of things unless another person is watching.

 

[jonescg]

This weekend I bled the brakes while the front end was off the bike. It makes it a lot easier, but I still managed to get brake fluid over everything :lol:. I need to flush this fluid out with a fresh batch of fluid since this batch was a bit old and wet. I think there's still the odd bubble in there which needs forcing out.



I fitted the Davies Craig radiator too. I don't have much clearance between the front fender and the radiator, so I was reluctant to go much bigger than this. Perhaps a very narrow radiator for the inverter can also go up the front?

 

[Farfle]

I know what you mean, I always mak a colossal mess bleeding brakes... I am going to have to bleed the entire system on my suzuki (suv). Probably going to get a pair of sacrificial coveralls to burn afterwards :lol: .

 

[Arlo1]

Guys a few tricks as I do this almost daily as part of my living. 1 If you are bleeding you can take some fuel line and run the brake fluid into a container to save mess. 2 you can bleed at the banjo bolts to get the process started when the system is full of air I start at both banjo bolts. 3 you can apply vacuum to the bleed nipple and crack it and pull the lever part way and the fluid will suck through. 4 you can run a hose back into the reservoir when you have the system completely clean I had to do this on a gold wing once that had a linked braking system and it took a couple hours to get working properly. 5 when you get stuck or part way and need a brake... You can put a zip tie or rubber band on the brake lever holding it part way on and make sure the reservoir is uphill all the way from the caliper air works its way to the high spots so make sure its a steady uphill slope to the master/reservoir. I will quite commonly do the zip tie trick on a front brake because I can leave it over night and it uses no time at all. I have seen a lot of MX bikes from factory that benefit from this. In fact my 2005 crf250r was a touch soft and we were in a rush to get to a race so I put tie on it for the trip and it was way better once I unloaded the bike at the track.

 

[jonescg]

Hey all,

Well the most exciting news yet. The bike will be ready in about a month's time for some decent track testing and will definitely be at the first Australian Electric Superbikes Championship in Queensland in late June. Some very exciting news which I shan't fully disclose just yet, but it's fair to say Voltron Evo is going pro 8)

So we've decided to hold off on publicising developments on my build thread for a bit, particularly as it now looks frocking horn and we want to wait till the time is ripe. Hold tight!

The italics should give it away

 

[SplinterOz]

Grest news Chris!

 

[RIPPERTON]

Voltron Evo is going pro

You do realize that "pro" means that all that happens to the bike when it comes in off the track is it gets cleaned, not rebuilt or extinguished or dragged out of the tender vehicle in a wad.

Il hold you to that....

 

[Bernel]

Hey all,

Well the most exciting news yet. The bike will be ready in about a month's time for some decent track testing and will definitely be at the first Australian Electric Superbikes Championship in Queensland in late June. Some very exciting news which I shan't fully disclose just yet, but it's fair to say Voltron Evo is going pro 8)

So we've decided to hold off on publicising developments on my build thread for a bit, particularly as it now looks frocking horn and we want to wait till the time is ripe. Hold tight!

The italics should give it away

That is good news, I wait with bated breath!

 

[Martin A]

I've been watching the project a while and now. Your effort, enthusiasm and hard work seem to be reaping the right rewards.

Respect.

 

[Dark Knight]

This is gonna be pretty amazing. What's the media coverage like on the electric super bike championships Chris? How does one who can't be in banana bender land get to watch? Best of luck dude!

 

[RIPPERTON]

This is gonna be pretty amazing. What's the media coverage like on the electric super bike championships Chris? How does one who can't be in banana bender land get to watch? Best of luck dude!

FX website will have live streaming.
Check out last years SMP round.
click on the first screen and fast fwd to 14 minutes
http://www.formula-xtreme.com.au/xtremema.nsf/ae935c889f6af056ca2575b60025ce7e/936d4652859f6356ca257bd0003a68a4?OpenDocument

 

[jonescg]

Thanks for putting the link up Dan. The FX website is still diabolically bad, but their live streams are pretty nice.

Shaping up to be a good year for the electrics eh?

 

[RIPPERTON]

Shaping up to be a good year for the electrics eh?

Yup
had meeting with my rider last night, 60kg 20 year old and great personality. Has his own suspension tuner and can get good used slicks.
Great Dad too, will be paying all entry fees and has even offered bike transport to QLD so I might be able to wing it but Im pretty sure there will be prize money end of year like in 2011.

 

[j3tch1u]

I will let the pictures speak for themselves



Betsie the pitbull modelling the Voltron-Evo frame

chris, we must be in a parallel universe or telepathically connected cuz this shot looks strikingly similar to one of mine:



Pudding the beagle cross-breed modelling the Dogati frame

keep up the inspiring work.

 

[jonescg]

Just a little teaser of the pack during construction

 

[SplinterOz]

That is one awesome battery pack.

 

[Animalector]

looks like 4 awesome packs to me... Very cool.

 

[liveforphysics]

That picture looks like ;power' and 'fast' in rectangular form to me. You did a very nice job on a very difficult pack construction.

I trust there is some insulating material between the pouches? If not, remember that PE layer on the outside of the pouch foil IS loaded with pinholes, and the most tiny bit of moisture between them can start some nasty galvanic corrosion to the foil of the pouch, so keep them dry at all costs.

 

[jonescg]

Hey Luke,
Yes there is a sheet of Mylar between both rows of cells. It will prevent any high potential rubbing from one side to the other. I was super gentle with the cells during assembly, ad the tops are siliconed up so that any solder blobs or whatnot don't fall between them. Keeping them dry should be a breeze in the polycarb enclosure, but I will be tossing a couple of those desiccant sacks in the top for good measure.
As long as I get ~100 cycles from it without too much trouble, it will have been worth it. In future I will be trying to keep the voltages around 350 V now that the motor/inverter combinations are more accessible, and will do away with LiPo for good if possible. EIG are an attractive option but they gotta get their prices down.

 

[jonescg]

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=25&p=898175#p898175

The bike will be unveiled in the City on June 3rd. Come along and enjoy, and let me thank you all for helping me build this massively awesome bike

Oh, here's the battery in fully assembled form:

 

[Farfle]

Heheheheheee . Thats alot of lithium. 130s3p?

 

[Bernel]

Hi Chris,
That battery pack looks very impressive, is the reveal of the bike going to be televised? If not hopefully there will be some video footage. When will you do the shake down tests?

Bernel

 

[RIPPERTON]

Heheheheheee . Thats alot of lithium. 130s3p?

168s 3p, 10.5kWh
705v off charge. ?
this thing better not blow up Chris.

 

[jonescg]

Yep, 168s 3p. About twice as many volts as I'd like, but that's just how you get the power.

It has more isolation than most EVs, so I'm confident about the safety side of things. I'll also be happy to do away with the discharge circuit - bloody thing is just a hazard waiting to happen. I can't believe the rules still require a discharge within 9 seconds or something.

No track testing today - the weather in Perth right now is atrocious.