Ric's Next Project Bike? Build Thread

[joystix2]

I thought the same thing about all that weight right above the rear axle but I guess with my 215lb body up front and leaing forward it doesn't feel squirrely at all.
John's ridden it up to speed maybe he can chime in on the ride of it since he weighs a lot less than I do.
Another thing to consider is that just think if I put 4 Hawker 13ah back there in saddle bags. 48lbs SLA's compared to 22lbs Nimh. With Nimh it makes a huge difference compared to SLA's and when Lithiums get cheaper which I see they are already I'm sure I'll be getting a set. My brother is putting up a Puma motor setup and 8 Milwaukee packs together. I really can't wait so we can compare the two.

 

[xyster]

With 7 cells each, three of those emoli V28 packs in series would have a peak voltage of 88.2v, and 80.5v @ 50% SoC -- just perfect for an unmodified 72V controller

 

[joystix2]

Xyster, So what is the max voltage the unmodified Crystalyte 36-72v 35amp controller can handle. I thought their were issues at 72v because the peak voltage of a 72v pack straight off the charger is much higher. I'm already thinking of purchasing another 12v 13ah pack for 60v action on my bike. I still need to get some videos uploaded. Here's a quick 30mph fly-by...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmtqV5u2vSA

 

[xyster]

A short but sweet vid

Xyster, So what is the max voltage the unmodified Crystalyte 36-72v 35amp controller can handle. I thought their were issues at 72v because the peak voltage of a 72v pack straight off the charger is much higher.

The components are rated to handle 100 volts. There's been at least one report, I think from Knoxie, of a controller getting fried below 100v. I've had no problems at 84 volts (max) with my 20-S pack. Dom from the old V used to run his 72v20amp crystalyte controller at something like 99.8 peak volts; I remember he tried it at 116 volts. He said the controller didn't blow, but just wouldn't turn on until he went back to 99 volts.
Hot off the chargers, three emoli V28's in series should be 88.2 volts, well within the safety margin as long as the controller doesn't have something wrong with it.
I was thinking instead of eight V28's, nine in a 3s3p config would be really sweet with the x5. Unlike lithium cobalt, the emoli's can be run down all the way (though the Milwaukee V28 charger won't recognize them until they're recharged a bit with some other charger), so those 9ah is like 11.2 ah of regular lithium with its 80% discharge limit.

 

[jondoh]

Just for the record, my ride was only up to 38 mph (Ric got to ride fresh off the charger). There were no problems I could tell. No shakes or rattles or vibrations or noises. Just a smooth and silent build up of power up to the 38 mph point. Sweet!

 

[joystix2]

The lesson learned was to make sure all connections are connected when charging. I guess one of my 4 battery chargers from Batteryspace was not connected properly when I charged the night before. The 48v Nimh pack from Bspace consist of 4 strings of 12v so proper charging is using 4 individual 12v chargers which was included. I rode to work fine and at lunch I went to the gym and worked out. But on the way back to work I noticed power getting weaker and weaker. When I looked down at the drainbrain it was reading 29.6v on a 48v pack. I kinda new exactly what was up and sure enough I have one of the strings of 4 reading only 11.4v and the rest were still at 12.9v. So I had to freakin peddle home. My commute is only 4 miles but when your used to going 30+ mph all the way home 10mph average is a strain. The underpass I usually fly down and up with easy was a pain on the upside. Every little incline was a killer and I even had to use several of the granny gears because the legs were burning. I don't think I've ever use the granny gears on this bike before.... Boy are we "SPOILED"...By the time I got home I was sweatin bullets and drippin all over. It really sucked and what sucked more was that on the way home my wife and daughter passed me up in the car coming home from school. My daughter had the window rolled down and said "BYE" with a grin on her face..
After drying off I check the charger connectors and found the one that was bad. They use some cheap small Tamiya looking things. I usually use Anderson connectors on everything but the charging wires are very small. I am open to any small connector suggestions....

 

[Ypedal]

Use the andersons .. on small wire i strip double the lenght of insulation. fold the wire in 2 . sometimes 3 and crimp.. then heat-shrink the conector to the wire, or my personal favourite Hot-Glue !

You could create a block of 6, 2 wide 3 tall for all the packs to conect to the chargers in one shot !

 

[Lowell]

For really small connectors you could use JSTs. For something a little better, but still smaller than andersons, try an auto parts store or auto wrecker. Lots of small, good quality connectors can be found on cars.

 

[TylerDurden]

Every little incline was a killer and I even had to use several of the granny gears because the legs were burning. I don't think I've ever use the granny gears on this bike before.... Boy are we "SPOILED"...

Nevertheless, you wisely kept your pedals.

Imagine walking the rig home...


8)

 

[Lowell]

Every little incline was a killer and I even had to use several of the granny gears because the legs were burning. I don't think I've ever use the granny gears on this bike before.... Boy are we "SPOILED"...

Nevertheless, you wisely kept your pedals.

Imagine walking the rig home...


8)

That actually happened to me before where one pack didn't fully charge for some reason. My wiring is set up so that I can bypass any pack(s), so I simply unplugged the offended pack out of the loop and continued on at reduced voltage.

A flat tire with no patch kit will ruin your day though.

 

[joystix2]

Lowell, The Bspace adapter which I still use doesn't allow that. I tried several different combination with the adapter with no luck. Maybe I will make my own adapter for it for emergency situations. I actually had the wife come by with my 36v pack but I forgot about the 36v adapter which was hooked up to the other 36v pack. So I had to peddle anyways....

 

[Matt Gruber]

i hardwire my chargers and plug it in AC only.
1. can charge on the go
2. permanent connections, soldered.
3. no pedals on my ev's 4yrs, never had to walk

 

[maytag]

Ah come on Ric, put in the extra effort. Rip that BS pack apart and build it into the frame (plenty of room). You know I'm always here to wire it up for ya and once its all done you'll realize how satisfying the results are. Youve been building RC packs for years, the improvement in handling alone is worth the labor. :wink:

 

[D-Man]

Joystix2,

How is the cruise control working? Where exactly does it plug in at? Been thinking about getting one as my friction unit doesn't hold too well.

 

[maytag]

Joystix2,

How is the cruise control working? Where exactly does it plug in at? Been thinking about getting one as my friction unit doesn't hold too well.

I'll answer this for my brother Ric since he's been MIA on the boards lately. Ths cruise control seems to be built specifically for the Crystalyte Brushless controllers, bought ours at http://www.poweridestore.com . Its a simple 1-connector feature. It works great for long trips. Once youre at the speed that you want to maintain just press the "Cruise" button and it will electronically hold the throttle at that power output, speed will decrease at inclines and speedup on the downhills so its not a true speed cruise control but I find it very easy to use. If you want to bump up or slow down the speed a little you can tap the + or - buttons for small adjustments. I find each tap increases or decreases the speed by 2mph. When you've enabled the cruise control a small LED is lit letting you know its holding the throttle open, this is important because when youre coming to a stop you will need to remember to press the "Cruise" button again to disable it (LED off) otherwise if you havent installed controller disable switches on your brake levers, the cruise control will continue to apply throttle even with the brakes applied. This happened to Ric once when he forgot to disable it at a stop, a burned up battery connector was the result and he had to peddle is way back home.

 

[D-Man]

Thanks, I have the controller and safety brakes and a plain throttle. But there's only 1 vacant plug left and its a 2 pronger. Don't know if thats the one or not as my controller is a year old. Maybe the cruise control hooks in-line with the throttle plug or something. Thought maybe if someone knew how it hooked up before I call and talk to moronic sales clerks.

 

[maytag]

Thanks, I have the controller and safety brakes and a plain throttle. But there's only 1 vacant plug left and its a 2 pronger. Don't know if thats the one or not as my controller is a year old. Maybe the cruise control hooks in-line with the throttle plug or something. Thought maybe if someone knew how it hooked up before I call and talk to moronic sales clerks.

It sounds like your controller is not compatible with the cruise control that we picked up at poweridestore, the product description says this:
"The Controller has a separate cable with connector for the cruise control. If your controller does not have this additional cable with connector the cruise control cannot be used."
Our controllers (36-72v/35A) came with an extra 5-pin connector labeled "Cruise". Sorry but I think youre out of luck.

Dave

 

[fechter]

The connector for the cruise control might be present on the circuit board inside the controller. Perhaps they just didn't install the wire coming out for it.