Re-charging on the go

[gensem]

Shelley.. I dont know as much as the gurus here.
But the special outlet is needed only when you are using too much current.
A regular 110v outlet should be good for a 1200w charger wich is close to 45amps at 24v.
220v shoulda handle twice as much.
Fast charging outlets arent really need for ebikes. Eeven if you had 24s(88.8v nominal) 20ah lipo battery completely empty a 1200w charger would still charge it in under 2 hour.

I guess that a 350-400w charger ll fit the bill for you, but check if your bms can handle that charging current first.

 

[Shelley]

News just came out that Walgreen is offering Recharging stations.

Wow, charging stations at Walgreens, that is super. I just read the link that AmberWolf posted. This is great news. I wonder how many years it will take to get those in NM? We always seems to be just about dead last in everything. Although, we are one of the most bike friendly cities in the USA. Plus IMHO we have a longer riding season compared to some of the northern states.

 

[scotticeberg]

I live in Michigan, and my riding season never ends.

 

[auraslip]

So, who has the most efficient bike here? I'm thinking of building a standard duty road bike with a geared cell man kit and a 36v10ah battery. I want a bike that rides like a bicycle, and can go all weekend with out *needing* a recharge. Because I hate having to be tied to the outlet if I'm going to be running around to shows, house parties, and bars on a friday or saturday. It'd be nice to have a bike I don't have to ever worry about running out of juice. Also, I want a bike I can ride when I'm getting tired with all the attention; like, "WHAT IS THAT THING? CAN YOU CHARGE IT BY PEDALING?"

 

[Hillhater]

So, who has the most efficient bike here? I'm thinking of building a standard duty road bike with a geared cell man kit and a 36v10ah battery. I want a bike that rides like a bicycle, and can go all weekend with out *needing* a recharge...?"

Probably this one .. 9.7wh/mi at 9.8mph, 100+ mile range
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=27165

 

[amberwolf]

So, who has the most efficient bike here?

That's sort of a loaded question, as the most efficient ones may not look much like a bike, with velo shells and low-down designs. But it depends on what speeds and distances at those speeds you intend to go. Lots of starts and stops and not much cruising at higher speeds >15-20MPH and the velo shell won't make much difference, or even make it worse due to teh weight added for startups.

Most efficient *typical bicycle*, presumably without pedalling, is probably more like what you're asking.


For instance, CrazyBike2 with it's DD 9C hub, and about double weight of the DayGlo Avenger with the Fusin geared hub, is still about 1/3 more efficient than DGA, run without pedalling at the same speeds over the same route, using the exact same battery pack. Not what I expected at all, but that's been the results so far.

CB2 is 25-30Wh/mile, DGA is over 40. If I pedal DGA a lot, that goes down to around CB2's midrange usage. I expect pedalling CB2 would decrease it's usage, too, but I am not sure by how much. (the results of that iwth older motor schemes are on the build thread and/or blog, but I havne't gone back to check).

The Velcro Eclipse with the 9C and Lyen 6FET and an 8Ah 36V NiMH pack
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=301791#p301791
got about 13Wh/mile, while pedalling a fair bit. I am not sure if I tested it without pedalling; I can't recall and it isnt' noted down. But it is a very normal bike.

 

[Shelley]

I live in Michigan, and my riding season never ends.

Good for you Mr. Michigan! However, I am not as young as I used to be and tend to freeze quickly even with pedaling. :wink: I know I can usually ride here in NM up through mid-November. Then late February or early March is good.

 

[auraslip]

That's sort of a loaded question

Yes, yes it is

While I'd love to build some crazy aero recumbent, it's probably not the most practical thing for me. Price wise, or build wise.

I'm wanting something very simple. After building my new, high powered bike, I just want something easy, reliable, and inexpensive.

 

[CrazyJerry]

"Thanks everyone for your replies, it is fun reading where you re-charge on the go!"
-- Like some others here, I can charge via 110 volt outlet, or, can recharge directly through the external regen brake circuit.. All I need is to be within 10 feet of the vehicle's battery in order for the cables to reach. Hi voltage cut-off prevents over voltage charge - neat!
~CrazyJerry

 

[amberwolf]

I just want something easy, reliable, and inexpensive.

You can probably have any two of those.

 

[scotticeberg]

It is simply a matter of finding and purchasing the requisite apparel for winter cycling. It can get pretty expensive. Nokian studded tires help too.

I'll take snow over rain any day. I don't know how cyclists in the pacific NW manage. Probably lots of good rain gear.

I'd probably take snow over sweltering heat, as well.

 

[dogman dan]

Shelly, like everything in NM, it will come 20 years after they have it in California. :lol: Actually, these days things really are happening fast, and the charging stations may be included in new Wallgreens stores. They don't seem to be working on anything at the existing stores localy. However, they may have a plug on the building you can use for charging a bike,

At 24v, you could easily use a 10 amp charger on a 120 plug, if you battery bms can stand it. Typically 5 amps is max for the bms on many bike batteries. So you're not going to see all that fast charging, 140w is 5 amps at 28v. But it will be faster if you have a lame 2 amp charger now. A typical 120v plug has somwhere between 110 and 120v and a breaker set to about 15 amps. Theoretically that's 1800 watts. But the plug you are using is NEVER the only plug on that circuit. So figure on about 1000w being the max you can pull. If you had a meanwell charging setup such as often used for lipo, a single S350 power supply is going to pull at most, about 400w. So a pair of those could work as a fast charger on the road.

One option would be to bypass the bms entirely. But then the cells themselves may not like charging really fast, and it could cost you some cycle lifespan. My advice would be to get a 5 amp charger if you don't already have one and just live with that for that battery. Other types of batteries can be charged much faster, such as the RC toy lipo.

Personally, I just found building a bike that can carry weight was easiest. Once you have about 60 miles worth of range on the bike, you stop worrying about range. Your battery is not so huge, so you could easily carry more. Not that there is anything wrong with plugging in when convenient, like the hairdresser or doc's office.

We are pretty thin skinned here in NM, really. We get so shocked that it rained we drive that day, etc. I tend to ride to work a lot less in Dec and January too. I'd do it more in cold weather if it wasn't 14 miles. You get pretty cold riding for an hour.

 

[Shelley]

Shelly, like everything in NM, it will come 20 years after they have it in California. :lol: Actually, these days things really are happening fast, and the charging stations may be included in new Wallgreens stores. They don't seem to be working on anything at the existing stores localy. However, they may have a plug on the building you can use for charging a bike,

At 24v, you could easily use a 10 amp charger on a 120 plug, if you battery bms can stand it. Typically 5 amps is max for the bms on many bike batteries. So you're not going to see all that fast charging, 140w is 5 amps at 28v. But it will be faster if you have a lame 2 amp charger now. A typical 120v plug has somwhere between 110 and 120v and a breaker set to about 15 amps. Theoretically that's 1800 watts. But the plug you are using is NEVER the only plug on that circuit. So figure on about 1000w being the max you can pull. If you had a meanwell charging setup such as often used for lipo, a single S350 power supply is going to pull at most, about 400w. So a pair of those could work as a fast charger on the road.

One option would be to bypass the bms entirely. But then the cells themselves may not like charging really fast, and it could cost you some cycle lifespan. My advice would be to get a 5 amp charger if you don't already have one and just live with that for that battery. Other types of batteries can be charged much faster, such as the RC toy lipo.

Personally, I just found building a bike that can carry weight was easiest. Once you have about 60 miles worth of range on the bike, you stop worrying about range. Your battery is not so huge, so you could easily carry more. Not that there is anything wrong with plugging in when convenient, like the hairdresser or doc's office.

We are pretty thin skinned here in NM, really. We get so shocked that it rained we drive that day, etc. I tend to ride to work a lot less in Dec and January too. I'd do it more in cold weather if it wasn't 14 miles. You get pretty cold riding for an hour.

Dogman, I got my BA from NMSU! Nice to hear from someone in my own state.

I was looking into getting the fast charger from Prodeco; it has 5Am compared to the 2Am charger that I have now. They were out of stock when we ordered our bikes. I am getting about 65 miles on one charge so I really don't need to keep the charger with me. My husband just wanted to see how many miles I could get on a single charge. However we were talking about taking our bikes on the Rail Runner up to Santa Fe and ride back down on Old Hwy 14. We would certainly like to have a fast charger for that trip. Plus we would stay in Santa Fe for one night and ride around the town.

Ok, you need to educate me, what does bms stand for? I can only guess, battery meter system

The older I get the less I like the cold and I used to snow ski. I am 53 now (picture of me was last year) and I just told Mike that I want to live in different places where I don't have to own a winter coat! I actually got rid of my winter coat when I lived in Cruces. Then froze when I moved to ABQ. My mom felt so bad for me that she bought me a coat.

You are right that it takes NM forever to catch up to the rest of the nation. But I am starting to look for outlets everywhere I go. I was more frustrated with the bank yesterday, no bike rack! I locked it to the railing but it wasn't easy. Then when I got inside some guy had his bike leaning against the wall. I told the little gal the she needs to tell the manager to get a bike rack, that they just had 2 people in on bikes! Geez, get with the program.

 

[auraslip]

I just want something easy, reliable, and inexpensive.


You can probably have any two of those.

BMS - battery management system. Protects the battery from over charging, over discharging, and keeps all the cells equalized.
Usually they are limited to charging at 5a. You can bypass it to charge quicker, but then you bypass that safety features. It's not a big deal, but not one you should just jump into with out researching it.
Another option is to upgrade the charge FET on the BMS.

But your bike is so efficient, I don't think you really need a fast charger. I mean, 65 miles is a pretty long time to sit on a bike saddle!

I had a 5a charger built into the case of my bike for awhile. Then I did something stupid and blew it up, so now all I have on the bike is a cheesy plastic 1.5a charger meant for SLA batteries. What I've realized is that for practical use, the slower and smaller charger works just fine. If I ride to work or school, typically I have enough time to charge up. It's only 10 miles for me, and that comes out to around 5-7a. Since I'm at school for 4 hours, it fits my schedule perfectly. At home I have a 7a charger I built myself, and for my next bike I'm building a charger that can charge the R/C lipo cells in 30 minutes... but realistically I'm limited by the 1500w breakers in my house so it'll be more like a 1 hour charge.

The only time you really NEED a fast charger is for racing, or if you have an undersized battery pack. The common opinion is you should have DOUBLE the capacity and range you need. If you follow this, then even with a 2a charger your always only 4 hours from being fully charged and you never have to worry about range.

 

[999zip999]

Hay Auraslip What if I only got one of those do I get a second PICK ?

 

[dogman dan]

Gee I hope you at least picked emotionally stable zip.

Shelly, we may have been at enemazoo at the same time. I'm class of 80, ag. You may have met my wife, back then she was the chem dpt "stockroom bitch". She was only a bitch to those who broke a thermometer and didn't want to pay for it though. I got to get two of the three picks, and hell, she looks good to me.

I rode 14 a few years back, trying to link up day trips till I had ridden to colorado. It's real nice, but you will have enough steep hills along that route to need a recharge, so plan on a few hours with a 5 amp charger in madrid, or carry some more battery. I did Edgewood to Santa fe on a 36v 20 ah lifepo4 and a 48v 8 ah nicad pack. For me, that was pretty good range.