Pocket Rocket w/ Outrunner

[Metallover]

I just went out for a little testing. It was just going to be a short one, but it became a 20 minute joyride.

I got a battery monitor/lvc for my lipos. When I got it, I figured it wasn't really necessary. Man I love the thing!

A blue light that shines if the pack is above or at nominal (3.7v/cell)
The blue light flashes at 3.4-3.7v/cell
A red light will shine at 3.3-3.4v per cell
A beeper and flashing red light starts if the pack goes under 3.3v/cell

I started at solid blue (never checked voltage, but last night I was at about 4v/cell after the initial 30-minute partial .5c charge) and it was sold blue for the first couple miles. It then was blinking blue until I accelerated hard out of a turn when the beeper and flashing red light came on for a second. I just happened to be right by my house so I just 1/4 throttled it back. It went back up to flashing blue, meaning above 3.3v/cell.

I went a total of about 5.5mi, + 1.4mi last night off the same charge. That is a 7 mile range off a not even full charge and not full discharge. I bet I can get 10 miles easy.

Top speed was 20.5mph, average speed was 15.2 according to gps. I could cruise around 19 all day. I put thermal grease between the motor and the primary mount and the secondary mount(the aluminum plate with bends in it). I also added a small heatsink to the end. Temps were wonderful. I checked periodically throughout the night and they never got over 140 on the windings. It was usually a tick over 130. The case was well under 100f. The controller is cool and batteries are ice cold. I am very pleased with temperatures.

new heatsink

battery monitor. The black thing above the light is the beeper. The light is pretty dang bright and the beeper is easily audible.

My battery nest and Parallel balance harness

I also soldered a jst plug to the main parallel connector, and I have a bec plugged into that. I had problems with too much voltage goinng to the servo tester; I hope a fully charged lipo isn't too much for the 22.2v input on the bec.

I may get a video soon..

 

[Metallover]

I got some shots of the new lipos, out of their "nest"

 

[RWP]

Cool projects!

Looks like the battery monitor/lvc you show has two wires. How does this unit measure cell voltage in a multi cell pack?
HC has one that seems to measure pack voltage (it does not seem to have all the bells and whistles your unit has) but as the cells in a pack vary and under load I have cooked a cell in a pack while other cells have been fine. It's a pain replacing cells...

Where did you get 'um? I like the blue, red, sound indication.

Thanks!

 

[Metallover]

This is the battery monitor - http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7227

It doesn't take induvidual cell voltages, only the whole pack voltage. The wires go one on each end of the included balance connector.

These packs being 20-30c, they are under very little load in an e-bike. Even if they weren't, if you take good care of your packs they shouldn't go too far out of balance. Mine stay pretty balanced, and I have a balance charger. That balances as it charges and I also have an astro blinky balancer for balancing off the charger.

Last night I couldn't go past about 7.5a on my charger without the power supply making bad noises. I took the ole computer fan out of the spud gun to cool it down and it worked pretty good. I ordered 4 computer fans off newegg and I'll put one or two on the power supply to cool er down. It works great because the power supply already has a 12v output. I'll post pics when I get the fans. Hopefully I can go up to 10a then.. It's rated for 13.5v at 11.5a.

 

[grindz145]

This is an awesome project. I would have killed to do a project like this in high school! Very nice clean work.

 

[Metallover]

This is an awesome project. I would have killed to do a project like this in high school! Very nice clean work.

Thanks! I've wanted to do this for awhile now.. This has a good chance of being my lifetime hobby/career. I'm really liking this!

I got a good run in today. I also made a spreadsheet as a log - http://spreadsheets0.google.com/ccc?key=tWB2k9T04jVtxrwvJ6qocwA&hl=en

Todays run -
Time - 26:15 of full throttle
6.95mi
15.9mph average speed
22.1 top speed [New Record!]
Pack started at 4.14v/cell, ended at 3.4v per cell.

It was 35f with a 22f windchill. 23mph NW winds. Forecast said snow. Excellent weather...

I think it's safe to say the range is around 7 miles. I could have put another .06v into the pack and also I had a wind to deal with. In the future I won't plan trips much more then 6 miles, unless I can go over 7 on a future range test... 6 miles will get me almost anywhere in town and back so I'm happy with it.

 

[Metallover]

Little update here. I ordered a new charger. It's a Hyperion EOS0610i charger. I was torn between this charger, which does 6s packs at 250w and the EOS1210i which does 12s packs at 180w. The thing that sold me on the 250w charger was the wattage adavantage and the price. It was cheaper and more readily availible then the other one. I got mine used for under $90 shipped. I figure I can charge my two 6s 5ah lipos in a parrallel at 10a, which will dray 222w. I think the load on the old charger is what caused it's death...

I'm getting my rc fleet up and running for spring also, so that was another reason to pick up a charger. I have two 18th scale vendettas that will need around 3ah packs and a lil 1/36 scale custom micro t that I hope to run indoors. I have two outrunners directly driving the rear wheels. I rewould one motor today and all went well; I hope to rewind the other one and work on the chassis when my charger comes. I have my e-jato and crt .5 to sell so I'll have about 150-300 that can go into the next e-bike I hope to finish by spring.

When I get my charger I might take the scooter out for a run, but it won't be the same. We got 7" if snow a few weeks ago, and most of it is still there. The temp often stays below 10*f this time of year so it will be a cold ride if I get one in at all.

I also found an 80mm computer fan "blade" fits great on the end of the motor. I might replace that little heatsink as I ordered 4 and only zip-tied one to my computer processor. :lol: