New Build with EGO 56V Home Depot Battery - Wow

[dephrag]

Well it's been a month now since I've had my Build together, a Giant Trance X3 Full suspension with a BBS02. The system was SUPPOSED to be powered by a LUNA Cycle, 52V Might Mini Cube. While this looks like an awesome battery with 6ah of capacity in such a small package, due to an issues with Luna not shipping me the proper charging connector, I still cannot use the battery! Argghhhh (it's in the mail now)

Here's the bike with it:


As not being able to ride it was killing me, this required some improvisation to test out the BBS02. While at Home Depot I came across some of the EGO 56v power tools. As the battery is only 4v more than the Luna one, I thought I'd pick one up and give it a shot to see if I could finally get my bike working.

Well I had to destroy the string trimmer that came with it to take the battery connector out, but sacrifices need to be made..



Now it's not pretty (and not safe!) But it works, and it works well! This battery gives me even a little more power, and my bike managed to hit 50kmph full out.



Now the issue becomes proper mounting. As you can see this isn't a safe setup (although no problems the past month), and although the pack (I think) is mostly water resistant, it's not something to use in the rain)

Now I just wish I had a better/proper way of mounting this battery pack. My three options are:

1. Cut the whole mounting piece from the power tool and mount it to the bike somehow. (Ugly)
2. Find a seat bag big enough to fit this thing
3. Custom make a mount
I like the idea of the battery on the seat post as it gives me room to mount my lock (currently you can see it below the battery). I had this water bottle mount which you can see on the seat, which I broke apart a bit to see if I could make something work.



Now that doesn't hold at all, but gives me an idea of what could work. It would be amazing if I could use a similar mount that I could screw in some sort of small battery cage, then I'd really be set.

The pro's and con's vs the Luna pack so far:

1. Cheaper - HD special gave me 2 of these with a power tool for 275. Now these particular batteries are only 2.5ah (vs6) It's all I need with a <5km commute. Versions up to 7.5ah are available.

2. Safer?? - Luna pack has no protection surrounding the battery, and the warnings about it scare me a bit. The EGO batteries are built rugged, and I'm sure could handle a minor drop or two. If they couldn't, I'm sure HD would not take chances selling them. Also nothing against LUNA batteries, I'm sure their quite safe, however I just feel a little safer charging these ones with less likely chance of something going wrong and my house or garage burning down.

3. Quick replacement - Need a new or bigger battery? Defective? Run to Home Depot. Done. Replace it for free from HD in 15 mins! Also a 3 year warranty included!

4. Temperature - I'm going to be using this thing in some cold winters. The luna pack I would have to put some sort of Gel pack around to keep it warm in -20c. The EGO pack will actually detect the temperature and vibrate to warm itself up to proper operating temp first! Also it has some fancy overheating protection built in that converts a a solid protection barrier to a gel or something fancy like that.

5. Colour/size - Ok this thing stands out.. and not necessarily in a good way. The Luna pack is much more stealthy and smaller and fits nicely in this pack I found on Amazon:
(If anyone knows a pack that will fit a EGO battery the same PLEASE let me know!)



I would love feedback if anyone can suggest a proper mounting solution for the back of the seatpost similar to how I have the Luna battery. (I don't want a rear rack mount) Also if anyone would know how to build a proper battery connector/mount for one, that would be amazing!

So why aren't more people running these EGO batteries??

Let me know what you think!

Here's also hoping that Luna battery charger connector will finally arrive :/

-James

 

[drew12345]

Nice build. Creative how you used the ego battery. I saw those a year ago and knew someone from here would use it.

I almost have same build. I have the mini cube and rode for first time yesterday. I got the one with 30q. It's got some good punch. But did heat up. I would stick with the cube. I think it would handle more current. Just a guess.

I also had to change my connector to match my charger.

 

[craneplaneguy]

Just riding it in the winter will warm up the battery, no? Once in operation, cold weather won't matter that much. IN operation is the key, less power at first but that will quickly "go away" as it warms internally.

 

[ScooterMan101]

Be Careful with your continuous amp draw from any battery, Not from a thermal runaway scenario , I mean in regards to you getting any reasonable of service life from a battery pack.

Reading through the Battery Section, I recently found out that the new GA 3500/3400 mAh Cells are rated at 6 amps per cell, but , someone who has tested them say they can get hot at 5 amps per cell.

What that means is that , any , mini battery, from any place should only be operated at the rated amp rating per cell , so in the case of a mini cube battery that is made with GA cells, and has only 2 parallel
configuration , should be run at around 10 amps continuous, and most of us run at or near continuous amp draw when we ride.

A 54 Volt battery pack with 3p ( 3 parallel configuration ) would better, 4 p would be better yet and would be the necessary pack for many e-bike riders, especially if buying a pack with GA cells.

 

[Hillhater]

I run a 10s, 4p , GA pack with a max load of 28amps, so 7 amps per cell.
They run warm under max load but never "very hot" .
However, in the bottom half of the capacity ,under load, the voltage is down to 3.1 - 3.2 volts per cell which is very noticable since you are losing near 30% of the power from fully charged .
For someone used to using Lipo pouches, under the same circumstances, the difference is very noticable.

 

[spinningmagnets]

Just for laughs, I'd like to mention that both of those batteries have the same voltage. I have an EGO string trimmer, and its awesome. they call it a 56V system, but it is definitely 14S (14 lithium-ion cells in series)...the "58V" batteries from Echo yard tools are also 14S...

The "50V" battery packs from EM3ev.com are also 14S, and the "52V" battery packs from Luna are 14S.

If you set your Low Voltage Cutoff (LVC) to 3.3V, then the controller will cut power when the battery sags down to 46V. The "nominal " average voltage is 3.6V per cell, and some people charge their Lithium battery packs to 4.1V per cell. the common charge limit is usually 4.2V per cell.

The system voltage has nothing to do with how many amps the pack can put out, that is affected by other factors...

14S X 3.0V = 42.0V
14S X 3.3V = 46.2V
14S X 3.6V = 50.4V
14S X 4.1V = 57.4V
14S X 4.2V = 58.8V

 

[MadRhino]

What I think is really exciting about these commercially made large battery packs is that they are made by large companies who have a deep understanding that their customers will absolutely not tolerate these things catching on fire left and right.

We have plenty of examples of big companies making products with Lithium cells that did catch fire. Then they are forced to recall their products after so many accidents happened. Nevertheless, tool packs are a good battery solution for Ebikes. The rising of higher voltage and more powerful packs can only facilitate their usage for this purpose.

 

[WoodlandHills]

If you use the entire seatpost to mount the battery, you will have to make your own fender to mount on the swing arm. All the ones I've seen for sale mount to the seatpost and extend back to cover the tire. Riding in mud or rain without fenders gets old pretty quickly.....

 

[Dominic49]

How is your range?
I'm hitting roughly 5 miles on a 2AH pack on my cargo bike

What do you have your Low Voltage Cutoff set too?
I set mine to 42v

 

[Pinesal]

What are your thoughts on this battery after a few months?

What do you use to charge it?

Does modify it to work with the bike void the warranty?

Does it have a built in bms?

Can you run a few of these is parallel to get 15 or 20ah?

I may go this route for my next battery which I plan to buy very soon.

 

[markz]

I would contemplate using the EGO pack from Home Depot, but I would price it out and it was never really feasible for my liking because it was too expensive. You get a lot of bonuses otherwise, warranty, return policy and more. The extra cost would also be in the charger buying the EGO charger. Its still a great way to instantly be able to ride. You could fly somewhere with your bike and small battery pack, then go to HD and buy that pack, and if you so choose probably return it with no problem.

 

[dogman dan]

I say well done!. Now all you need to do is re hack the trimmer, to use your new plug.

 

[Zbikenut]

Where I ride a lot a couple of the trails always need trimming

Could you give us a hand?

 

[markz]

In cases of problems with "big Company" packs, the batteries were recalled, designs were improved, customers were made whole. How many e-bike pack makers have done these things? maybe 10-20%? If that?

Another case for buying the EGO 56V pack from HD.

Be cool to buy one used for a fraction of the price new. Maybe the seller has a mower trimmer battery and charger all in for a hundred bucks or slightly more. Find a "Moving Sale" or something.

Gardena is 36V 3Ah $129(CAD) and DeWalt is 20V 4Ah for $99
36V 9Ah for $390 and 40V 8Ah $400 while EGO is 50V 7.5Ah for $559 - 4Ah $230 - 5Ah $300 - 2Ah $190
So paying a little premium for an all in one package from EGO. 4Ah $230 is $60 more. All CAD prices.

While cells are $3.20 for 2.9Ah @ 13S 50V so $42 for 50V ~3Ah, ~$90 for 6Ah ~$130 for 9Ah, plus cost of putting it together and a BMS. So again you are paying 5.5 times to have a ready to go package.

LMFAO I've done the comparison countless times and I think I just like the fact that its ready to go, from a major store, major brand, return policy, exhange policy, something you dont get from a pack bought off fleabay. Just find out what contact points you need and you are ready to go.

But I do wonder how hard the retailer would scrutinize the pack if you were to return it in 89 days. A good excuse would be, purchased for a gift, bought the wrong pack. Be hard not to mark the pack up though.

 

[charlie hepler]

I have been a member here for several years but never posted before. I had to replace a mower this year and ended up with the EGO mower. Once I used it for a little while I was sold and ended up buying the whole set of tools so I am very interested in this topic as I have the EGO mower, trimmer, hedger, chainsaw and blower! I have 6 batteries of different AH from 2.0AH up to the 7.5AH.

I just purchased a used Townie bike and a Bafang BBS02 kit from Lunacycle and am looking forward to finding interesting ways to make use of the EGO batteries.

I will definitely stay tuned to get your ideas and suggestions on the best way to make use of these cool tool batteries.

I considered buying the backpack blower just to make use of the connection for the Battery to the backpack setup.

 

[charlie hepler]

Here is a picture of the backpack blower that I think would be cool to mod to use with the ebike.

 

[craneplaneguy]

As added thrust?!

 

[charlie hepler]

As added thrust?!

Yes! Just aim the blower behind you and gain at least another 1/2mph! LOL

I was thinking of modding the backpack to remove the blower portion and add connections so you could use the backpack portion as a battery holder when riding. Maybe also hook up your tools for extra long run time on the weed eater hedge trimmer or chainsaw?

 

[charlie hepler]

Well I bought the backpack blower and the harness was going to be too heavy to modify so I used an old EGO Charger to make a mount for the battery and mounted it to my rack.

Not the prettiest setup but it allows me to use my various EGO batteries from 2.0 AH to the 7.5AH for testing until I can come up with a better mount for them.

 

[charlie hepler]

I got tired of the "STAR WARS Wings" on the side of the old charger mount so I modified the mount and removed them! Now all you see when the battery is connected is the very end of the charger mount with the EGO Logo and the back side of the mount.

I rode the bike with the 2.5AH EGO Battery shown till I hit the 42volt LV setting I had on my system. I was able to ride mostly PAS with some 10 sec bursts of throttle for a little over 7miles before reaching the LVC threshold.

 

[deepfraught]

Charlie that frame space looks ripe for a BB apex vertical drop-in battery case and spring lock top of the battery like the lawnmower has.
The vertical railed box is probably a shape that could be crafted with thin plywood.
A manual wood block latch for the lock until evolving to a spring load.
An additional cavity fore and aft with edges to follow the frame tube contour, allow the frame clamp bolts into the cavity, separate from the middle battery case cavity.
A lid with an old pool cue base (for the nice woodwork artistry and finishes you can find on them) with ends miter cut to the frame tube, could work as a slim handle and tube-like finishing line softening the harder top edge of the box.
I've now obliged myself to draw this up for you. I have the Ego mower and 2Ah and 4Ah batteries here, I know they can't be flat for clearance from the chainring, vertical would be enough room though.

 

[markz]

Whats the model of the Townie?
I see a 7 on the crank bar, so maybe its a 7D, meaning single front crank and 7 gears on the back.
If it had a front derailleur that crank bar would have a 4" tube straight up between the seat bar and the down tube.

 

[charlie hepler]

I am always interested in ideas to give a try! I like the idea of keeping it simple but getting the battery off the rack and inside the frame would be awesome.



The townie is a 7D and has been a blast to ride. I am not in the greatest of health but with the assist of the BBS02 and EGO batteries I have been getting in some fun 10 to 12 mile rides using the 4.0AH Battery.

 

[Gregor]

Have you ever measured the voltage of the Ego pack after you have reached the LVC of your system? It may be best only to run them down to 49V to prolong the life of the cells.

 

[charlie hepler]

The battery cells in the 2.5AH,5.0AHand 7.5AH Batteries are the Samsung INR18650-25R. They have a maximum rated voltage of 4.2 V, min rated voltage of 2.5 V and a max discharge current of 20A continuous.

I have run them to red on the indicator till the mower or other tool has stopped working and they usually measure around 45.3V (3.24V/cell).

I have my bike set at 42volts LVC and only had it start cutting out 1 time but I think it was the LVC on the battery cutting out andby the time I quit running it and got it home to measure it had climbed back to around 45volts. I guess it was sagging due to the load and I was using the 2.5AH battery.