New 14S7P & 14S5P packs need advices (to climb high mountain)

[ichiban]

The JBD 14S60A BMS also never disappointed me, considering its $$ - reasonably worths it. All perfect except the Xiaoxiang app connecting time is sometimes more than several seconds or several connects. I heard from a friend who uses low-end BMS that they fail oftenly.

Xiaoxiang app on phone did crash several times along the way and did not functioned. I just removed and reinstalled from Google Play store, data (like charges cycles, parameter settings) intacted. I just want the Bluetooth to be with longer range since I do not hang around the bike+charging station that much.

Someone knows a solution ? Wi-fi/net-base may be ?

 

[ichiban]

My pack installation is as low and close to the CG as possible thus make the bike stable and easy to handle. The (ugly) fiberglass shell wrapping the batt pack is there for 8,500kms since the 3rd quarter of 2018 until now 2020.06 and never give me any problem, except some squeaks here and there – I re-tightened and it is as good as new. The design/build was shared somewhere here in ES.

Will make it look nice once I have time – that’s not a promise though, :lol: :lol: !

 

[ichiban]

One good practice that I always do is to use shallow-cycle charges & discharges, except for very few occasions, I charged the pack to 4.0x V per cell (85-90%) and drained it down to 50% (3.5-3.7V) or so. My Xiaoxiang app on my phone shows 69 charges for 8,500km, that is = 123km/charge >> wayyy too good.

My normal rides have been 30-35km / charge >> 123/35 = 3.5 times exaggerated. I noticed that the charges counter on Xiaoxiang app shows an increment after several charges for the past year.

So, I have extended the “official charge cycles” by factor of 3.5X !

From LG18650MJ1 ‘s datasheet >> after 400 cycles of full charge/discharge (cut-off at 2.5V) the cell should still be at >= 80% of initial Cmin 3,400mAh capacity.

So, I can expect 400cycles * 3.5X = 1,400 cycles and still have 80% capacity left in the pack. 35-km/trip * 1400cycles = 49,900kms (should be almost 9 years) >> not bad at all for a bike.

I believe my actual stats are large enough of sample size and accurate (at least for me).

 

[ichiban]

However, the m(echanical)-part have been a different story. Along the way, I replaced :

1) Several sets of tubes and tires from punctures, flat, leak, worn-out thread, etc.

2) Broken few spokes especially on the rear. Replaced the whole set of 32-spoke on rear wheel. If anyone need to replace their spokes (32 or 36 counts), recommend bigger wire gauge to make it more durable. Additional weight is negligible compared to the benefits received.

3) Been hit by a motorbike head-on (the guy ran the wrong way against traffic) cause bent front rim and need to replace. Luckily that just the front rim was damaged, if I took off 0.5sec sooner, I would have been seriously injured.

4) 1 rear hub (worn-out), 1 chain, 1x 9-spd cassette

5) Brake discs : front and rear, worn-out, bent, squeak, etc. I ordered a whole set of F+R Shimano 4-piston MT520 calipers, MT501 levers, metal pads, hoses, oil, and replaced with my old entry-level 2-piston Shimano M3XX set. They are for my front 203-mm and 180-mm rear discs. These new brake set have proven on several occasions that they worth their quite high $$$, especially when I needed that emergency stopping power. Hope I don’t need them that often, LOL!. Been using them for about 1.5 months and 1,2xx km now. BTW, need to manually tweak the magnetic sensors for the new hydraulic brakes L+R too. I used small 10-mm neodymium buttons to do this, proven reliable as my 1st set of the very similar thing.

6) 2 broken chargers : 1 sudden death charger from Lunar Cycles after only few months of usage and the second one YZPower 58V4A is just yesterday after about 1.5yrs and 200+charges.

7) Install new wattmeter with shunt resistor near the motor & batt pack. So I run only small 4x0.25 wire to the dash board. Compare to those main current carry Turnigy/GT power in-line watt meter that require 4x6sq.mm. wires. Much tidier now.

8) I did a complete re-grease the BBSHD @6,400km ,everything inside was intacted. Using the Mobilgrease-28 even before the 1st ride, that nylon gear was still in perfect shape. Adequate and proper maintenance really matters. One thing I see need improvement is the silicone putty separating motor internal, controller and wires connection chambers. That silicone needs complete clean-out to remove phase wires before accessing the motor to re-grease that nylon gear. This is troublesome. Someone has a better solutions ?

9) New comfortable saddle – for better care of my rear end

10) Smaller mechanical problems wears & tears, here & there.

 

[ichiban]

My rides have been normal (rather gentle), hardly harsh and on flat land. It seems to me that the bike quality is not that good and they require frequent maintenance (or replacement) of the parts. My bike is entry level Bianchi Kuma 27.1 if not really low-ends. I think that if someone is converting an existing bike into an e-bike, better choose a reputable durable donor bike OR expect to ride and fix/pay along the way as part of the routine. People (in bike biz but outside e-bike circle) always said that because we re-purpose the bike not as it was built for – that is partly true but not all. I think the factory simply build the bikes commercially affordable but with very lean tolerances. Of course, an e-bike is heavy and powerful but not that much (if you don’t ride harshly). They just do not build them to last anymore.

 

[ichiban]

Bored with the ride & repair routine, I plan to build another e-bike from a second-hand 26” down-hiller I recently bought. Hope to get a more durable quality from it. Will share when I made some progress.

 

[ichiban]

:thumb: :thumb:



Gizmosis350k, I encourage you to do your e-bike build, not only to save the environment but also your wallet as well. You will learn a great deal from the build. I still learn new things all the time. I do not see any negative-effect to use an e-bike for commuting, except for some safety when riding on public road. Use proper & adequate protection gears. It is simple but highly efficient. You will hardly find any transportation means to beat the consumption/effectiveness of e-bike.

Hopefully, people (especially the newbies) get some benefits from my experience / share here.

Stay safe, keep safe social distance, ride safe, and enjoy life.



:wink: :wink:

 

[Gizmosis350k]

:thumb: :thumb:



Gizmosis350k, I encourage you to do your e-bike build, not only to save the environment but also your wallet as well. You will learn a great deal from the build. I still learn new things all the time. I do not see any negative-effect to use an e-bike for commuting, except for some safety when riding on public road. Use proper & adequate protection gears. It is simple but highly efficient. You will hardly find any transportation means to beat the consumption/effectiveness of e-bike.

Hopefully, people (especially the newbies) get some benefits from my experience / share here.

Stay safe, keep safe social distance, ride safe, and enjoy life.



:wink: :wink:

...Yes, thank so you much - I am already experiencing some issues with bent rotor myself, I got the tool that may be able to straighten it, since 203mm is not the cheapest during pandemic times.. LOL and harder to source.

I will be posting and linking a mega-thread with my journey soon- it will be exciting I think. Thank you all so much for sharing


EDIT: I found a bluetooth BMS on ebay, most of them are still in china, not to mention BMS with active balancing, a nightmare...

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...i-Ion+Battery+Smart+Protective+Board&_sacat=0