Same Price: Luna 52v 13ah GA Dolphin/52v 20ah 26f Triangle

[Stu Summer]

I would love some feedback on this decision.

At Luna right now the Dolphin 52V 13ah GA pack is listed for $545 and the Triangle 52v 20ah 26f pack is $539.

What should I know to compare these? I already have a Dolphin 52v 11.6ah pack and it runs out on me too soon. So I want a second battery. Which one is the better deal? Certainly the triangle pack is better on the face of it, 1040watt/hours vs. 676watt/hours.

 

[Jon NCal]

How many amps are you pulling typically, and peak?

 

[999zip999]

Your battery must meet your controllers demands. So want motor and controller do you have ? Hills, weight ect. Don't over tax your battery.

 

[ScooterMan101]

The 20 amp one is more weight, and when I looked at it for myself , it would not fit into my frame.
Then factor in you would have to build your own battery box ,

Batteries are expensive, ( not cost effective for those of us who live in California and have to pay to the High Sales Tax ... on an already expensive battery pack )
If you are out of state then Luna could be a possible vendor for you.

what can you do to improve efficiency on your bicycle ?

What bike do you have ?

What tires are you using ? and the pressure ?

How is your riding position ? ( aerodynamic's )

What motor and controller ?

 

[Stu Summer]

My motor is Bafang bbHD, 700cc tires, soon with fairing.

 

[ScooterMan101]

So you have a 676 Watt Hour Battery , and still not going far enough for all those watt hours ?

I am guessing that you are going very fast, and / or far ?

I am interested to hear from you the speeds and distance , since I am now doing faster speeds and longer distances myself. ( you can PM me those figures if that is better for you )

If you are going far, then you could then figure out how many more watt hours / amps you need, and just carry a small 52 volt pack.
Most people stop after so much time in the saddle, and just unplugging one battery pack and plugging another is very simple and quick.
I used to do that ,
until I just paralleled my two packs together, when going on longer and or faster rides.

 

[rborger73]

So you have a 676 Watt Hour Battery , and still not going far enough for all those watt hours ?

I am guessing that you are going very fast, and / or far ?

I am interested to hear from you the speeds and distance , since I am now doing faster speeds and longer distances myself. ( you can PM me those figures if that is better for you )

If you are going far, then you could then figure out how many more watt hours / amps you need, and just carry a small 52 volt pack.
Most people stop after so much time in the saddle, and just unplugging one battery pack and plugging another is very simple and quick.
I used to do that ,
until I just paralleled my two packs together, when going on longer and or faster rides.

11Ah is a lot ? My bike has 40Ah and I wouldn't mind having another 40Ah. lol

Yes the best bet is to run your packs all as one. More AH you have, less sag you'll get, and much easier on the battery pack as well to not get any where close to fully discharged.

 

[Stu Summer]

I'm running 20-30mph through hills. I run out of juice in about 18 miles.

With two Dolphin packs, how would I wire them in parallel?

 

[Marin]

I think in your situation I'd get the triangle pack and use your current battery as a backup on longer rides, you would need to mount both and just switch the wires when the first one runs out.

 

[ScooterMan101]

I believe he said his pack was 52 volt, and, 13 amp hours,

Also he now says he is running 700c tires, which means a Road Bike,

A 52 volt 13 amp hour pack is allot of weight, on a Road Bike, on a Heavy MTB it does not matter as much.

and

Yea we would all like more What Hours, I now am running two packs 48 volts 11 amp hour pack x 2 = 1,049 watt hours, the only thing I , do not , like about that capacity
is the weight , nearly 16 lbs.

So you have a 676 Watt Hour Battery , and still not going far enough for all those watt hours ?

I am guessing that you are going very fast, and / or far ?

I am interested to hear from you the speeds and distance , since I am now doing faster speeds and longer distances myself. ( you can PM me those figures if that is better for you )

If you are going far, then you could then figure out how many more watt hours / amps you need, and just carry a small 52 volt pack.
Most people stop after so much time in the saddle, and just unplugging one battery pack and plugging another is very simple and quick.
I used to do that ,
until I just paralleled my two packs together, when going on longer and or faster rides.

11Ah is a lot ? My bike has 40Ah and I wouldn't mind having another 40Ah. lol

Yes the best bet is to run your packs all as one. More AH you have, less sag you'll get, and much easier on the battery pack as well to not get any where close to fully discharged.

 

[ScooterMan101]

So that is it, running at those speeds, and running up and down hills really uses up the Amps/Watts .
What is the total feet elevation gain for that 18 miles, or what are the real miles if you did not run out of juice ?
A Garmin GPS or other GPS will tell you your total Ascent and Descent for your ride.

Are you using drop bars or a flat bar road bike ?

Making a fairing will help for sure, I have thought about making a small fairing , like the top part of a skinny motorcycle just smaller , like a Kawasaki Ninja 300 / Honda 250 , etc. to see how that would work with aerodynamics ,
but that is way off in the future.

To make a parallel harness, picture two Y's Y Y , Started to explain it but it takes me too long,
Here is a couple of pictures.


Edit : I deleted the first picture , it was a series connection, and I forgot to include the other one, that would be used to do a Series / Parallel harness, which is what I will be doing in the future, ( 2 batteries in series , then another 2 batteries in series, then parallel the two.

I'm running 20-30mph through hills. I run out of juice in about 18 miles.

With two Dolphin packs, how would I wire them in parallel?

 

[rborger73]

I live near Pittsburgh in a rural area. Hills everywhere you go. The key around here is a bit more speed, I set cruise normally at full speed outside of town. I actually get more range by leaving it on full throttle. Hills you just want to shoot up at full speed, then I use regen for part of the way back down the other side of the hill. Leaving off the throttle more seems like you'd save range, but you just end up eating up more amps if you slow down. At least around here.

 

[thepronghorn]

Your first picture is a series connection, the next two are parallel.

 

[dustNbone]

Yeah the top one is series, not parallel. The difference is VERY important.

 

[ScooterMan101]

It was late and I was tired when I posted that , thanks for pointing that out,

I bought two of them ( the first picture, now deleted ) to do a series/parallel combo connection ( 4 batteries ) so I forgot to show the other one, then show how it
would parallel the 2 sets of 2 batteries.

The bottom two pictures ( Parallel Harness ) is what I use, on my 2 battery set up.

Your first picture is a series connection, the next two are parallel.

 

[999zip999]

Make a box the size of the triangle pack if it fits get it. 20ah sounds great and you have a second pack for once in a while.