The placebo effect and battery starving your controller

[Voltron]

Goes to show the power of expectations...built a booster pack for long trips, got it hooked up and went for a quick night right, and it was great! Lots of power, no heating on full blast pull outs, I was psyched!

Then I got to charging a few days later, and the new battery was still at full charge! I realized that I had put a 10 amp fuse in during the build, planning on switching it out for actual running, so all the extra good feel was in my head, as the 10 amp must have immediately popped... derp.

So now I really appreciate the power of my basic pack again anyway, so got all charged up again, swapped in a 40 amp fuse, and wow! Now I know it's not just in in my head, top speed went up from 36/37ish to a solid 41mph, and I just got back from a 40 miler of blasting around...still with the 40 mph top end on tap, no feeling of winding down at all.

So I learned two things...the placebo effect is real, and that your system can do more than you thought when it's being limited by the battery output, so make sure you're giving your controller all the amps it wants...Maybe it's hungry to go faster too!

 

[skeetab5780]

That Battery looks huge in comparison to the bike frame hah. Well done

 

[Voltron]

It's not small, that's for sure. Soon it will be getting rebuilt into the front triangle and be a little sleeker. That frame is rated for about 400lbs, and feels great at top speed, no shimmy, no flexing. I like to wedge my grip against the throttle to lock it in position, so I know it will ride hands off at 40 for miles and miles without a wobble.
Edit... also its in 3 20s sections, and can be run with any combo of the 3, or any single block by itself, but you have to limit the hard pull outs on a single pack to not work the c rate too badly.

Rolling light in this pic

 

[MadRhino]

Placebo effect is real, when those who put a 500w sticker on their bikes start to complain about lack of power

 

[Voltron]

Just back from another tester... pointed uphill and ran it as hard as possible. It was great... cool battery packs, and barely warm controller and motor.

Then on the way back the fun really started...passed a Tesla Roadster, whipped a u turn, and had a terrific canyon run. He was limited on top speed by the curves, so we went for miles pacing each other, I was wide open and in an aero tuck 90 percent or so of the time, then he finally got some straightaway and dropped me. It was so pleasant being behind or beside a silent non stinky futuristic car as we ripped thru the hills on a beautiful evening with a little tire scrubbing and the rumble of his regen braking being the loudest sounds....

 

[dogman dan]

Sorry to be so critical of a respected member. But dude, so good on the bike, so bad on protecting your battery if you lay er down.

Just one of my peeves, naked batteries strapped on.

 

[Voltron]

Yes, I dont love it like that either.. but now that these cells have been proven to function well, a more permanent case is in the works.

 

[Voltron]

Testing it was so tempting that it was worth riding it ugly... Did you see I have another dogman style longtail small wheeler in progress on that second Yuba? Just got my new super tire for that one.. Scwalbe 20x2.4 solar race car tire... 60 mph rated!