Upgrading my 2008 Ezip Trailz bike

[garyhgaryh]

I'm starting to bike to work. Although I've owned my 2008 Ezip Trailz bike for about 1.5 years, I haven't actually used it for what I wanted to do - commuting purposes.
I rode it every week with my wife (also bought her a woman's ezip bike) until we got 4 flats in one day. Since then it's been sitting in the garage. After 9 months I fixed one of the bike because I will start communting with it tommorrow.

BTW, here's how I change the tires at the rear. I take off the motor cover and then remove the entire rear wheel assembly. I hear about people having a hard time removing their rear wheel, but that works for me. Only trick part is to be able to get the cover back on with the four brushes sticking out (I used telephone wires to hold the brushes in).

Anyways, I want to upgrade my bike with Ping's 24 volt 20ah batteries, but then I'm wondering, why not 36volt 20ah?
If I do the latter mod, I'm thinking about upgrading to the 36volt motor:

MY1018Z
http://www.tncscooters.com/product.php?sku=106130

Is this a drop in replacement for my 24v 450watt motor?
I don't have the specs but what do I get in terms of performance with this motor over my 24volt 450watt motor?

If I go with the 36volt 20ah ping battery and the new 36volt motor, do I need to worry about the stock 24volt controller?

If I want to keep my cost down, I'm thinking of just sticking with the 24volt 10aH battery from ping and be done with it.
What will fit the curry battery box? 24v 10ah? 24v 15ah? 24v 20ah? How about the 36v configuration? Which one fits the
battery box?

Thanks!
Gary

 

[jondoh]

most of the time a 24v controller is ok with 36v (is the controller inside the motor? if so, might as well get a separate 36v controller).

you can see if things are going to be ok by checking the temperature of the controller with your hand. If you run it hard for a few minutes and the controller feels very warm or hot, you should upgrade the controller.

 

[dumbass]

Non of the 09 Ezips can take 36v nor can most of the 08 ezips. They installed a voltage limiter so you can do it anymore. I think the last full year was 07. As for your battery pack I bought Thunder Sky lifepo4 20ah 12v packs at http://elitepowersolutions.com/products/product_info.php?cPath=16&products_id=74 I then made my own plastic cases so I could still mount them on the EZip rear tire rack the same as the Currie SLA packs. So I am now carrying 2 - 24v 20ah packs. I normally run 20 to 25 miles on 1 pack and still have power to spare. This is at an average speed of 15mph on bike trails with 50% of the time I am assisting.

For added power/speed I relocated the motor to the "V" of the bike and installed a second motor. I then drive both motors directly to a Nuvinci CVS hub. The motors can run together or independently. I have the pulling torque of a clydesdale and the speed of a vett. Yeah, your right I had nothing to do last winter...... WaHoo !!

 

[mwkeefer]

Anyone have a stock 24v controller from one of these? I specifically am looking for a newer style voltage limited type, just to see how hard it would be to re-purpose it for 36 or even higher voltage?

Will pay somthing for it (not worth much I suppose, except I want one)... + S&H - I don't even have an eZip but so many people do and the newer ones, would be nice to know the actual limits...

-Mike

 

[garyhgaryh]

Is there an easy way to tell what year my ezip is? I'll guess I'll go into the garage to find out since I still have the ezip box.

I'm commuting to work tommorrow so I'll tell you how my sla hold up. I really want the lifepo4 batteries though.
Anyone have the 36 volt currie motor?
Gary

 

[mwkeefer]

Gary,

If your going to do a 36v upgrade... push to 37, move to LiPo look into HobbyKing 5S5AH 20C packs... build up a 10AH 10S 37v nominal pack first and progress from there... Much more current capabliity..

Last I checked LiPo 5S 20C were at 42.00 each so you would need 4x to build a 10S2P(parallel) which would be 168.00 + S&H for a 10AH pack ... and oh yea it would weigh 20 (cells total) * .30lbs = 6lbs.

If you upgrade your controller, I will buy the stock one from you...

If you can open the controller and shoot pics, also of the throttle - we can find the speed limiter maybe.

I have a 24v and a 36v motor here (been collecting parts from Razor products for 6 months) but only OLD 24v controllers.

-Mike

 

[dogman dan]

How long a commute? Charging lipo at work will not be good, too much monitoring needed. But a ping you can plug in and forget about it.

Thicker tubes, not pre filled with bike formula slime, and lots of the slime formula designed for 4x4's is the secret to not getting so many flats. Also rim tape if you don't have any. :wink: That will see you through small nails and large thorns, but not glass cuts of course. I got a flat on the way to work once in 2 1/2 years, on a tube that I hadn't put slime in yet.

 

[dumbass]

Is there an easy way to tell what year my ezip is? I'll guess I'll go into the garage to find out since I still have the ezip box.

I'm commuting to work tommorrow so I'll tell you how my sla hold up. I really want the lifepo4 batteries though.
Anyone have the 36 volt currie motor?
Gary

Gary, Some of the Currie bikes have the date on the ID tag. the ID tag is usually found on the seat post at the bottom by the kick stand or some of them have it on the handle bar post in front. Like I said only some have the date on it though. the other way is to call Currie with your ID # and they should be able to tell you. I know Currie was charging the color of the bikes and you can sometimes tell by that. For example a black bike wit red or white is normally a 07 model.

Are you trying to get more speed or distance. I run twin Thunder Sky 24v 20ah packs and I can mount them in the Currie rear tire rack the same way the SLA pack fit. I had to make my own plastic cases though. But they work well. Distance is no problem for me. Nor is speed because I have twin motor too and they are modified to run through the bikes gearing. If you need to have the 36v you could make 2 18v TS 20ah packs that would mount in the rack with no problem. They could also be charged at work too. These are what I am using http://elitepowersolutions.com/products/product_info.php?cPath=16&products_id=74 Bob

 

[garyhgaryh]

DA: thanks for the info.

I just got into work today and my batteries are basically toast. EIther that or my gain of 20lbs really affected the batteries.

I need to buy the lifepo4!

During the start of my ride I accidently zero'ed out my bike computer. Can anyone tell me what they are using for the currie tire diameter for their comfort wheel of 26x2.0? I get conflicting #'s when googling.
Some say 2099 and others say 2074. What are you guys using? Want to set it correctly before I leave for work today.

Battery is charging compliments of work .
Gary

 

[dumbass]

DA: thanks for the info.

I just got into work today and my batteries are basically toast. EIther that or my gain of 20lbs really affected the batteries.

I need to buy the lifepo4!

During the start of my ride I accidently zero'ed out my bike computer. Can anyone tell me what they are using for the currie tire diameter for their comfort wheel of 26x2.0? I get conflicting #'s when googling.
Some say 2099 and others say 2074. What are you guys using? Want to set it correctly before I leave for work today.

Battery is charging compliments of work .
Gary

I just messured the tire for you. It's 81" or 2057.40mm I did the mesurement by making the tire and floor and moving the bike forward until the mark hit the floor again.

 

[garyhgaryh]

How long a commute? Charging lipo at work will not be good, too much monitoring needed. But a ping you can plug in and forget about it.

Thicker tubes, not pre filled with bike formula slime, and lots of the slime formula designed for 4x4's is the secret to not getting so many flats. Also rim tape if you don't have any. :wink: That will see you through small nails and large thorns, but not glass cuts of course. I got a flat on the way to work once in 2 1/2 years, on a tube that I hadn't put slime in yet.

My commute is 15 miles. I replace my tubes with Performance branded puncture resistant tires. I bought the Slim puncture resistant lining, but return those because of reviews that mention possible pinch flats due to them. Hope I don't get any flats from now on.

Gary

 

[garyhgaryh]

DA: thanks for the info.

I just got into work today and my batteries are basically toast. EIther that or my gain of 20lbs really affected the batteries.

I need to buy the lifepo4!

During the start of my ride I accidently zero'ed out my bike computer. Can anyone tell me what they are using for the currie tire diameter for their comfort wheel of 26x2.0? I get conflicting #'s when googling.
Some say 2099 and others say 2074. What are you guys using? Want to set it correctly before I leave for work today.

Battery is charging compliments of work .
Gary

I just messured the tire for you. It's 81" or 2057.40mm I did the mesurement by making the tire and floor and moving the bike forward until the mark hit the floor again.

Wow thanks DA! I really appreciate this!
Gary

 

[dumbass]

I just messured the tire for you. It's 81" or 2057.40mm I did the mesurement by making the tire and floor and moving the bike forward until the mark hit the floor again.[/quote]

Wow thanks DA! I really appreciate this!
Gary[/quote]


No problem..I'm retired and it gave me something to do so I could tell my wife I was busy and couldn't go shopping with her.........LOL just kidding (like hell I am!)

 

[garyhgaryh]

DA: your # (the tire circumference) resulted in numbers (distance, avg speed, etc) that matched my garmin GPS very closely.

I biked 14.2 miles today (down from 14.8 as I found shorter routes when I was going to work on my roadbike and mountain bike the last 2 weeks). This is the first time I rode the ezip to work.
The battery was weak after not being used for 9 months. I charged it the night before but it turned green in about 5 minutes. Not good! First 5 minutes of my ride this morning, I knew I was going to have
to struggle to get to work on this heavy bike (70lbs). I rode my 16lb road bike the week previous and it was an almost effortless ride to work. Today I had to work at it to
get where I wanted to go. In the end, I ran the battery to red (with the throttle fully cocked). It took 7.5 hrs for the battery to charge. The currie charger is rated at 1.8A.
With loss, I'd say I'm getting about 1.5A/hr so I got about 11amp into the pair of SLA batteries. After it was charged, it was time for me to ride back home. The bike was peppy
and it seems like I got my power back! But I realize something, riding around at 15-17 mph is a bit boring. I was able to use the motor more often than on the way to work so
I was happy, but after about an hour and 14 miles, my battery was once again depleted (down to the red at full throttle). In fact, I purposely ran it down (i know it's bad
for the battery) and by the time I got home, it would barely pull me along.

As I was riding, i kept hearing a ringing noise and I found out that the ring nut on the crankcase came off! Glad nothing catostrophic happened on the way home.

I was all set on getting a ping 24v 20ah battery, but I'm really tempted to go with the 36volt 15ah LIFEPO4 for the speed. I know I'm risking burning up the motor, but if I don't
give it full throttle and do some simple cooling mods, I should be good right? 15mph is sooooooo slow, but I must say after mapping my ride, my ride time was actually comparable
to when I ride my road bike and faster than when I ride my mountain bike to work.

So what do you guys think of upgrading a stock ezip from 24v to 36v lifepo4 battery and also the much talked about motor gear change to up the speed (and decrease torque).
I figure with the extra current and voltage I'll have my original torque back!

How fast have you heard anyone run their ezip reliably? There is a guy on you tube that ran 27mph on 36volts, but it was a short run.
Gary

 

[dumbass]

DA: your # (the tire circumference) resulted in numbers (distance, avg speed, etc) that matched my garmin GPS very closely.

So what do you guys think of upgrading a stock ezip from 24v to 36v lifepo4 battery and also the much talked about motor gear change to up the speed (and decrease torque).
I figure with the extra current and voltage I'll have my original torque back!

How fast have you heard anyone run their ezip reliably? There is a guy on you tube that ran 27mph on 36volts, but it was a short run.
Gary

Gary, To answer you question I have heard of people doing 30+ on EZips. The real question is what is the fastest safe speed for an EZip? Remember you are riding a hardtail and one little bump at 30mph could have you kissing the pavement. So you need to decide your goal on speed and then decide how to get there. Next question is how much do you want to spend to get this speed? How much work do you want to do to (bike setup) acheave your goal? And finally are you any good with tools?

For example you could do like you talking and go 36v. To do this you need to buy batteries (maybe BMS or something to protect the batteires), charger, controller and throttle. If you use your 24v motor you will go faster (maybe 27mph). Some claim the motor lasts fairly well others say it burns up. Keep in mind your doing 150 miles a week on this thing. You could charge to a 36v motor too. But this will not really add you much if any speed.

Honestly if I was looking to limit my mods I would consider installing a second motor. there are a lot of people running with 2 motors on EZips....I'm one of them but not the way I would recommend for you. You can install the 2 motors and wire them in searies from a 48v lifepo4 pack. if you use TS cells (20ah) you can mount them in the tire rack and the battery weight is the same as the SLA but have 4 times the range. With the twin motor setup you now change the motor freewheel from a 20t to a 16t. This would also work with a single motor but the low speed torque is crap. With one motor you will get to 20+ mph and with the twin setup something faster but I have no idea what it would be...maybe 24mph or so. With the twin setup you will not burn out the motors and you will have at least the same low speed torque and the added speed you want.

 

[dumbass]

Something else you should consider is weather you intend to assist the motor or just go for the ride. The Currie is equiped with a 44t front sprocket and I think a 13 or even a 14t rear high sprocket. So most people with this setup find it difficult to peddle faster then about 20mph. So if you setup the motor or motors to go faster you would be smart to also charge to an 11t high sprocket. You could also just change the front sprocket to say a 52t.

 

[garyhgaryh]

Something else you should consider is weather you intend to assist the motor or just go for the ride. The Currie is equiped with a 44t front sprocket and I think a 13 or even a 14t rear high sprocket. So most people with this setup find it difficult to peddle faster then about 20mph. So if you setup the motor or motors to go faster you would be smart to also charge to an 11t high sprocket. You could also just change the front sprocket to say a 52t.

Hi DA:

I'll be purchasing a ping battery (or if someone can point me to a good deal some other LIFEPO4 battery) and will be doing the 16T upgrade on the freewheel. I also bought an 11T freewheel. My Megarange is 34T and the new one is 32T so I'll lose some low end. My bike from the factory has a 14-34T freewheel. The one I'm buying has a 11-32T so I'm in essence gaining 2 higher care at the expense of the lower gears.

So basically that's all I'm doing. I put 31 volts on my bike and it does power on, but that doesn't tell me if my controller can handle 36volt. I'll try to connect 36 volts to it this weekend if I have time.

I just opened up the top of the rack and the controller is in a smaller aluminum box marked CB24- YR8. Your or anyone know what controller I have looking at the markings or do I have to take the controller out of the smaller box?

Update: I found a picture of my controller on the ezip website - looks like this: http://www.ezipusa.com/img/p/123-197-large.jpg

Thanks!
Gary

 

[dumbass]

Something else you should consider is weather you intend to assist the motor or just go for the ride. The Currie is equiped with a 44t front sprocket and I think a 13 or even a 14t rear high sprocket. So most people with this setup find it difficult to peddle faster then about 20mph. So if you setup the motor or motors to go faster you would be smart to also charge to an 11t high sprocket. You could also just change the front sprocket to say a 52t.

Hi DA:

I'll be purchasing a ping battery (or if someone can point me to a good deal some other LIFEPO4 battery) and will be doing the 16T upgrade on the freewheel. I also bought an 11T freewheel. My Megarange is 34T and the new one is 32T so I'll lose some low end. My bike from the factory has a 14-34T freewheel. The one I'm buying has a 11-32T so I'm in essence gaining 2 higher care at the expense of the lower gears.

So basically that's all I'm doing. I put 31 volts on my bike and it does power on, but that doesn't tell me if my controller can handle 36volt. I'll try to connect 36 volts to it this weekend if I have time.

I just opened up the top of the rack and the controller is in a smaller aluminum box marked CB24- YR8. Your or anyone know what controller I have looking at the markings or do I have to take the controller out of the smaller box?

Update: I found a picture of my controller on the ezip website - looks like this: http://www.ezipusa.com/img/p/123-197-large.jpg
[
Thanks!
Gary

Yes I see you are also a member of the ebikeforum and have been doing your reading. For EZip owners that's about the best place to get good info. Basicly you are doing the mods that I was talking about. As for the controller they all EZip controllers look about the same. The newest ones now have a double brake connector added whereas, most of the older ones had one one. I think the per '08 controllers were not filled with epoxy. I think after they fixed the voltage so you can't go to 36v they started filling the controller wit hepozy so you couldn't alter it.

There are a lot of people that love the Ping batteries but I believe they are pouch style cells and all connections are sodered in place. People also say they have a great waranty. The problem is if you have a bad cell it is hard to replace. And the waranty is only good if you pay to the shipping to China (both ways I think). I think I told you before that the Thunder Sky batteries are just as good (in my opinion much better) and they are prismatic cells with bolt on connections. Therefore, if you need to replace a cell all you do is unscrew a 5mm screw. They are stocked and sold in the USA so if you have a problem the waranty is handled here in the USA. A lot cheaper shipping!! Delivery for me was always with in a week from time of order to my house. I bought them at http://elitepowersolutions.com/products/product_info.php?cPath=16&products_id=74 At $120 per 12v 20AH pack that's pretty damn cheap. You can also buy them with ballancers for $155. So a 24v 20ah pack is only $240. I also make my own case for them so they fit into the Currie tire rack the same as the Currie SLA packs. What more could you ask for?

 

[garyhgaryh]

DA: your # (the tire circumference) resulted in numbers (distance, avg speed, etc) that matched my garmin GPS very closely.

So what do you guys think of upgrading a stock ezip from 24v to 36v lifepo4 battery and also the much talked about motor gear change to up the speed (and decrease torque).
I figure with the extra current and voltage I'll have my original torque back!

How fast have you heard anyone run their ezip reliably? There is a guy on you tube that ran 27mph on 36volts, but it was a short run.
Gary

Gary, To answer you question I have heard of people doing 30+ on EZips. The real question is what is the fastest safe speed for an EZip? Remember you are riding a hardtail and one little bump at 30mph could have you kissing the pavement. So you need to decide your goal on speed and then decide how to get there. Next question is how much do you want to spend to get this speed? How much work do you want to do to (bike setup) acheave your goal? And finally are you any good with tools?

For example you could do like you talking and go 36v. To do this you need to buy batteries (maybe BMS or something to protect the batteires), charger, controller and throttle. If you use your 24v motor you will go faster (maybe 27mph). Some claim the motor lasts fairly well others say it burns up. Keep in mind your doing 150 miles a week on this thing. You could charge to a 36v motor too. But this will not really add you much if any speed.

Honestly if I was looking to limit my mods I would consider installing a second motor. there are a lot of people running with 2 motors on EZips....I'm one of them but not the way I would recommend for you. You can install the 2 motors and wire them in searies from a 48v lifepo4 pack. if you use TS cells (20ah) you can mount them in the tire rack and the battery weight is the same as the SLA but have 4 times the range. With the twin motor setup you now change the motor freewheel from a 20t to a 16t. This would also work with a single motor but the low speed torque is crap. With one motor you will get to 20+ mph and with the twin setup something faster but I have no idea what it would be...maybe 24mph or so. With the twin setup you will not burn out the motors and you will have at least the same low speed torque and the added speed you want.

Hello DA:

I'm great with tools and I can weld. I want to spend as little as possible of course, but I know the major cost is the batteries and I know the SLA won't happen for me. If I buy a 24 volt battery, I can also use it in my RoboMower which uses 2 12v SLA. If I buy a 36 volt battery then that really screws up my dual use reason to buy such an expensive battery, although I'm really looking fwd to 36v on my ezip. I can spend about $600 for this setup.
I don't really want to run two motors on a zip unless one the the original one and a front hub DD version. It seems ezip owners run two of the currie motors. You have a good point in that if I hook the motors in series, I can buy either a 48v battery or 2 12volt battery.

Gary

 

[garyhgaryh]

Something else you should consider is weather you intend to assist the motor or just go for the ride. The Currie is equiped with a 44t front sprocket and I think a 13 or even a 14t rear high sprocket. So most people with this setup find it difficult to peddle faster then about 20mph. So if you setup the motor or motors to go faster you would be smart to also charge to an 11t high sprocket. You could also just change the front sprocket to say a 52t.

Hi DA:

I'll be purchasing a ping battery (or if someone can point me to a good deal some other LIFEPO4 battery) and will be doing the 16T upgrade on the freewheel. I also bought an 11T freewheel. My Megarange is 34T and the new one is 32T so I'll lose some low end. My bike from the factory has a 14-34T freewheel. The one I'm buying has a 11-32T so I'm in essence gaining 2 higher care at the expense of the lower gears.

So basically that's all I'm doing. I put 31 volts on my bike and it does power on, but that doesn't tell me if my controller can handle 36volt. I'll try to connect 36 volts to it this weekend if I have time.

I just opened up the top of the rack and the controller is in a smaller aluminum box marked CB24- YR8. Your or anyone know what controller I have looking at the markings or do I have to take the controller out of the smaller box?

Update: I found a picture of my controller on the ezip website - looks like this: http://www.ezipusa.com/img/p/123-197-large.jpg
[
Thanks!
Gary

Yes I see you are also a member of the ebikeforum and have been doing your reading. For EZip owners that's about the best place to get good info. Basicly you are doing the mods that I was talking about. As for the controller they all EZip controllers look about the same. The newest ones now have a double brake connector added whereas, most of the older ones had one one. I think the per '08 controllers were not filled with epoxy. I think after they fixed the voltage so you can't go to 36v they started filling the controller wit hepozy so you couldn't alter it.

There are a lot of people that love the Ping batteries but I believe they are pouch style cells and all connections are sodered in place. People also say they have a great waranty. The problem is if you have a bad cell it is hard to replace. And the waranty is only good if you pay to the shipping to China (both ways I think). I think I told you before that the Thunder Sky batteries are just as good (in my opinion much better) and they are prismatic cells with bolt on connections. Therefore, if you need to replace a cell all you do is unscrew a 5mm screw. They are stocked and sold in the USA so if you have a problem the waranty is handled here in the USA. A lot cheaper shipping!! Delivery for me was always with in a week from time of order to my house. I bought them at http://elitepowersolutions.com/products/product_info.php?cPath=16&products_id=74 At $120 per 12v 20AH pack that's pretty damn cheap. You can also buy them with ballancers for $155. So a 24v 20ah pack is only $240. I also make my own case for them so they fit into the Currie tire rack the same as the Currie SLA packs. What more could you ask for?

Whoops i quoted the wrong post. elitepowersolution seems like a pretty good deal. I'll look into this some more.
If I get a 24v 20ah pack with BMS, it would cost me 310 + charger right? How much are they charging for the chargers (I'll check their website later tonight).
Gary

 

[garyhgaryh]

I just verified that the stock controller on my '08 or 09 ezip trailZ (CB24- YR8) will not take 36 volts. Darn.

 

[dumbass]

I just verified that the stock controller on my '08 or 09 ezip trailZ (CB24- YR8) will not take 36 volts. Darn.

Yeah, that's what I've been trying to tell people. Glad you were able to confirm yours though. You never know about Currie. they tend to have different suppiers and sometimes they come upon old stock that they use up. So you never know it's always possible to get one that will run at higher voltage. Of course if it craps out your stuck with an extra 12v pack. And God help you if you bough a Ping or simular pack in 36v. Best I know you would need to buy a new charger and BMS not to mention cutting it apart and un=sodering and re-sodering the cells as needed.

Bob

 

[chroot]

Only way do it by upgrade Ebikekit or Lyen controller able let you run 36 or 48v. Problem is Ebikekit or Lyen controller will not able
fit inside the compartment due size of ebikekit or lyen's controllers too big.

 

[garyhgaryh]

I just verified that the stock controller on my '08 or 09 ezip trailZ (CB24- YR8) will not take 36 volts. Darn.

Yeah, that's what I've been trying to tell people. Glad you were able to confirm yours though. You never know about Currie. they tend to have different suppiers and sometimes they come upon old stock that they use up. So you never know it's always possible to get one that will run at higher voltage. Of course if it craps out your stuck with an extra 12v pack. And God help you if you bough a Ping or simular pack in 36v. Best I know you would need to buy a new charger and BMS not to mention cutting it apart and un=sodering and re-sodering the cells as needed.

Bob

Yes, I am glad I didn't buy the 36v battery only to find out my bike doesn't take 36 volt! That would be an expensive mistake unless I was willing to spend more money to get the bike to work at that voltage.
After a few days of searching, I have not found a post from someone who has upgraded an '08+ bike to run 36v.
Gary

 

[garyhgaryh]

Only way do it by upgrade Ebikekit or Lyen controller able let you run 36 or 48v. Problem is Ebikekit or Lyen controller will not able
fit inside the compartment due size of ebikekit or lyen's controllers too big.

Is the lyen controller plug and play with the ebike connectors? Can I use the same throttle?
Gary