Power Wheels (Kid's Jeep)

[DragonShout]

My friend dropped a power wheels jeep (small plastic kid car) off at my house last year to see if I can get it running. I did a quick search but didn't see anything.

I'm big into RC and have followed ES on facebook for about a year.

Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.

I tested the motors, and it appears the foot switch is just an open/closed switch. I checked out the relay a few months ago. I really just decided to give it one last try before I give up & get this thing out of my way...

 

[Ypedal]

They use brushed motors with plastic gearboxes, simple contactors.. you can strip it down and re-wire it easy to get rid of rusted relay's and fuses , temp sensors, etc etc etc....

I don't like modding stuff for kids, for safety reasons, but when dealing with some family members who i know well and trust to take full responsibility of whatever happens.. i mess with'em ..

Most run 12v, ( some are 6v ) you can over-volt them to a point until the gears melt or strip.

Reverse is just reverse polarity to the motor, can be left out.

plastic wheels can be covered with cut up strips of old bicycle tires and some screws for better grip but will make it harder on the gearboxes ( problem if the kids are older and heavier )

I've had one pulling my 200 Lb ass up the street !

 

[DragonShout]

Maybe that's what I'll do - I tend to make things too complicated sometimes, I thought about having a high/low switch as well as reverse.

I wasn't sure about the speed controller. I also don't want to be responsible for LiPo, for them so I'll probably just rig an old car battery to it.

Any rec's on a high/low speed? Some sort of resister? It's probably not worth it in a machine that slow.

Thanks for the reply.... I feel I can be a hero with just a little time instead of a frustrated friend

 

[Ypedal]

i would not bother with 2 speeds as long as the user is old enough to handle the straight battery voltage rpm... if you absolutely must have it run slower, consider a 6v battery.

Yeah, lipo is out.. no way... unless the parents already use Lipo and know how to care for it, and with a BMS etc etc etc.... basically not a chance in hell.

I would also not bother with reverse on a junky machine.. forward all the way, get out and push if you get stuck. :wink:

 

[MrDude_1]

the best mods I have seen for powerwheels is to convert them to run off a modern cordless drill.
that lets you use the drills trigger as an adjustible throttle, it increases the torque and speed... and best of all, even a little kid can unplug the pack and plug in a new one. the chargers are foolproof.

 

[DragonShout]

I thought about using some RC parts (brushless motor) & an ESC but I had no idea what I'd use to control the speed in place of the Radio Control.

I'll probably take the easy way out - I have plenty of projects of my own.....need to tear into my real 4x4 etc for winter.

 

[MrDude_1]

I thought about using some RC parts (brushless motor) & an ESC but I had no idea what I'd use to control the speed in place of the Radio Control.

I'll probably take the easy way out - I have plenty of projects of my own.....need to tear into my real 4x4 etc for winter.

unless you're committed to it, take the easy way out. keep the stock motors and gears and switches... point to point wire everything and use deep cycle lead acid under the hood. (much cheaper than "power wheels" brand ones, same size and more amp hours)


just check it the easy way.. make sure the motors work, then make sure the switches work. FWD/REV switch should be a 2PDT switch, set to revers the motor polarity.... and high/low should swap the batteries between series (6v) and parallel (12v)

There are atleast 6 versions of this truck, and I dont know them all, but pics would help. they're pretty simple to figure out for anyone that understands enough about electronics to setup RC parts.


btw, RC brushless wont work unless you can machine a gearbox. they spin too fast, and if you get a larger one that spins slow, it chews up the plastic gears.. so then if you get the gearing right and everything right, the tires are hard rubber so they just spin... its a real HUGE project that amounts to making a electric gokart, with a plastic crap chassis. remember, kids dont need that much power.. but it is nice when they have a more realistic throttle.

 

[Simonvtr]

My friend dropped a power wheels jeep (small plastic kid car) off at my house last year to see if I can get it running. I did a quick search but didn't see anything.

I'm big into RC and have followed ES on facebook for about a year.

Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.

I tested the motors, and it appears the foot switch is just an open/closed switch. I checked out the relay a few months ago. I really just decided to give it one last try before I give up & get this thing out of my way...

Did your friend give you a budget in fixing this powerwheel for him?

 

[DragonShout]

No budget, they didn't have room to store it while preparing to sell their house/remodeling. I pretty much volunteered or was nominated - I forget.

 

[Simonvtr]

Are you looking to keep it stock or modify it some?

 

[Simonvtr]

Here is what I did to my daughter's barbie jeep PW.
I have one of those motorcycle voltmeter installed.
It has been upgraded to 24volt system.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7_0__D8xekIUTNIQmdjUTdTbGs/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7_0__D8xekINFFra2YtT3VFQW8/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7_0__D8xekIVTFaYThwVmNVOEU/view?usp=sharing

Major issue with running a 24 volt system was the gas pedal switch kept melting.
Also the forward and reversed switch.
Spent a lot of money replacing them with PW brand switch until I changed out all the switch and how I wired the system.

I have a different motor in the picture its a 800 series dewalt power tool motor but before that I ran two traxxas 550 motor and it was fast. They replaced the stock motor and the mounting holes lined up just fine.
If you have a pinion puller you can reused the 32 pitch pinion.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Traxxas-397...530792?hash=item2c7ff828a8:g:3L4AAOSwQPlV9GRT

I added a speed controller so I can set the speed.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/301247561012?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
http://www.ebay.com/itm/301679202217?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

How I have it wired now is from battery to speed controller.
From speed controller to 3 way switch for forward and reversed

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160140769301?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

From 3 way switch to motor wired in series.

I replaced the gas switch with
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261884839565?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

The gas switch I had it wired into the speed controller on/off switch.
So speed controller is off until you hit the gas pedal.
The potentiometer in that speed controller if turn all the way down clicks and turn off so all I did was took the 2 wires and ran it to the gas switch.

**Warning**
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7_0__D8xekINGhkMERZemdpV1U/view?usp=sharing

When she rides it I have it set half way on the potentiometer and max when I ride it.
She has a Disney 3 wheel scooter I modified for her.
It only had 1 drive system so I bought another on ebay and made it run on 2 drive.
Same like the jeep it has a speed controller so I can set how fast she can run.
I have two parallel 3s lipos 5000mah in the aluminum box under the scooter.
She can run for 5hrs on that thing before needing a charge compared to 30mins before with the lead acid.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7_0__D8xekIRl85OEVieE1fWW8/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7_0__D8xekIZXJpRDF6dEE1aW8/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7_0__D8xekIR1lNcG1iRHJ4WXc/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7_0__D8xekIbzdMVWxKa0ViY2s/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7_0__D8xekIQnpiOWdDMEUxcUU/view?usp=sharing

Hope this gave you some ideas

 

[DragonShout]

I knew I came to the right place

 

[MrDude_1]

I have a different motor in the picture its a 800 series dewalt power tool motor but before that I ran two traxxas 550 motor and it was fast. They replaced the stock motor and the mounting holes lined up just fine.
If you have a pinion puller you can reused the 32 pitch pinion.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Traxxas-397...530792?hash=item2c7ff828a8:g:3L4AAOSwQPlV9GRT

Its funny. I spent so many years playing with brushless RC stuff, I forget that there are cheap brushed RC motors out there.

Why did you change to the dewalt motor? the the Traxxas motor break, or just wear out the brushes?

 

[Simonvtr]

I have a different motor in the picture its a 800 series dewalt power tool motor but before that I ran two traxxas 550 motor and it was fast. They replaced the stock motor and the mounting holes lined up just fine.
If you have a pinion puller you can reused the 32 pitch pinion.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Traxxas-397...530792?hash=item2c7ff828a8:g:3L4AAOSwQPlV9GRT

Its funny. I spent so many years playing with brushless RC stuff, I forget that there are cheap brushed RC motors out there.

Why did you change to the dewalt motor? the the Traxxas motor break, or just wear out the brushes?

I had the traxxas motor when I had the 11" plastic wheels.
Needed more torque when I switched to the 15" lawn wheels so I went with 800 series dewalt motors with replaceable brushes.
I switched to lawn mower wheel because the plastic wheels would just do burnouts @ 24 volt.