Winterizing your ebike

[alsmith]

It may depend on battery chemistry but I recall reading that for storage 50% of capacity being recommended.
Check battery voltage every month, some posts here reveal batteries with a BMS drain the first cell only, so watch that if you have a BMS like that. Others may be able to help identify them but all I can think of is to check at cell level. Or disconnect the BMS for storage.

 

[MadRhino]

Here, winterizing your ebike is making it able to ride everyday in the salted slush

 

[cal3thousand]

Here, winterizing your ebike is making it able to ride everyday in the salted slush

That's what I was thinking when I saw the title. I thought he wanted tips on keeping it rideable through the cold.

 

[lotrwiz]

Here, winterizing your ebike is making it able to ride everyday in the salted slush

That's what I was thinking when I saw the title. I thought he wanted tips on keeping it rideable through the cold.

Exactly my thoughts too, very odd.

 

[iovaykind]

With the low temperatures, I see my lipo suffering badly. It suffers almost as much as I do in the cold.. I still ride it every day, but I know that once it starts snowing I won't be riding anymore.. just too dangerous with NY drivers around. But it seems like all I have to do is check the voltage every so often to make sure the cells are ok

 

[cal3thousand]

With the low temperatures, I see my lipo suffering badly. It suffers almost as much as I do in the cold.. I still ride it every day, but I know that once it starts snowing I won't be riding anymore.. just too dangerous with NY drivers around. But it seems like all I have to do is check the voltage every so often to make sure the cells are ok

It's funny how we need to keep heat on the batteries and off from the motor. Too bad there isn't an easy way to just transfer the heat as necessary.

But I guess your question is more geared towards storage. As long as it doesn't get freezing and doing physical damage to the cells, I don't think it matters at all. Your batteries need to just be in a storage voltage (somewhere near nominal).

and of course, check them occasionally as you have stated.

And if you're really concerned, you can send them to me in California and they'll stay nice and warm until Spring

 

[iovaykind]

I've thought of a system to water cool the hub and use the batteries as a heat sink. But this only works when the temperatures are low outside. Here in NY, our summers are too warm to make that system possible but if I lived in Canada or something I'd do that to allow the use of lipos.

 

[SamRam]

If You are going to let Your bike sit, prevent wheel rot by moving the wheels to a new resting place once and a while. Or get /make a stand to keep the wheels off the ground. A carpet or wood block would work too.

Or just ride all year! Did 10,000Km winter riding last year. It was great

Studded tires this year are fantastic addition.

Cheers

Sam

 

[iovaykind]

I love ebiking a lot, its just that commuting I need something that is convenient. It's a lot more convenient to hop in a car in the winter. In the spring, summer, and fall, I love ebiking and how free it leaves me.. not to mention not having traffic to deal with is awesome.

I won't be having wheel rot because I plan to at least ride it a block or two every so often. Guess the only thing I have to make sure is that it never gets too cold for the batteries. I'll keep them at 40 degrees so it doesn't freeze over the electrolytes inside the cell.

 

[MadRhino]

With the low temperatures, I see my lipo suffering badly.

Mine are happy in the winter. That is because they never rest in the cold very long, most of the time I travel from the garage at home to the garage at work, or back and forth. Then, I pull a lot of Amps off them and they get hot, so the cold is welcome to a certain point.

I am suffering much more than them batteries, and so are the bicycle components that really don't like the salted slush. For this reason I don't ride near the mileage that I do in the summer. Yet I ride every single day of the year, rain or shine, hot or cold, even with broken bones. :wink:

 

[iovaykind]

Is your garage heated? I think that's a big deciding factor. If I could have a place to keep my bike that would keep the batteries warm, ready for riding, I don't think I'd have the voltage sag issues that I see from trying to pull 3kw from a 72v10ah pack when it is 40 degrees out.

I noticed that even a 15 degree difference is a big one, as just yesterday I rode and it was almost 60 degrees out.. I ended up using 1/4 of the Ah's to do the same round trip of 8 miles. Instead of using 7ah, I only used 5ah! Maybe this has to do with colder air causing more wind resistance also..

 

[MadRhino]

Yep, both garages are heated.

 

[trav]

I am preparing for my first winter on my first eBike, and I thought we could share some ideas about winterization. Here is what I have been getting around on lately.

As far as mounting the controller goes, this was my first option. It has been reliable so far; by that, I mean that rain has not yet destroyed anything

I wasn't entirely satisfied with this solution though, and at some point, I realized that a cover would be ideal. My mom is really handy with a sewing machine, and her and I worked together to make a really functional and waterproof cover out of tarp material.

For the computer that came with the yescomusa kit, I cut a large, heavy duty Ziploc freezer bag, stuck then computer inside it, and zip tied it off. There is a small opening, but it faces down so that any water that might get in should drain out.

I put on a pair of Schwalbe marathon winter tires (not pictured), and tightened the bolts up. I need to figure out something for the throttle.

So what have you guys done? I am really hoping that some experienced winter eBikers will chime in with some winterization tips or safety advice.

 

[amberwolf]

I moved the above post into a thread that's had a few "winterizing ebikes" type threads merged together to consolidate info and make it easier to find without reposting it all over each year. ;

It's stickied for now in E-bike General Discussion, can be unstickied whenever people feel it's not needed (but it's always winter or cold enough to need this info *somewhere*).

More info can be found with these searches, which turn up other stuff that didn't quite go in this thread (but some of it probably could be consolidated into single threads, too, like one about cold weather clothing, one about batteries and cold, studded/etc tires, etc).
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/search.php?keywords=winter*&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=titleonly&sk=t&sd=d&sr=topics&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/search.php?keywords=cold*&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=titleonly&sk=t&sd=d&sr=topics&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/search.php?keywords=stud*+-study+-student*+-studEbiker*&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=titleonly&sk=t&sd=d&sr=topics&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/search.php?keywords=weather*&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=titleonly&sk=t&sd=d&sr=topics&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

And I'm sure there's others I missed.

 

[trav]

Thanks for merging the threads, it was a great idea!

Here in Michigan, we just got a pretty ridiculous amount of snow. It's icy as heck out, but the studded tires seem to be doing their job. What do people do about throttles in the winter time? Is their any risk of shorting it out in the snow??

 

[The Stig]

I'm wondering if these will work... I put a couple one in with superglue to test them

 

[Offroader]

What do people do about throttles in the winter time? Is their any risk of shorting it out in the snow??

I came to post just about this.

I took my ebike out when everything was mostly dry but there were spots that had melting snow. The melting snow mixed with the salt that they put down on the streets. It was just a little wet areas from the melting snow I drove over, but that was enough to kick this salty water up everywhere.

A big problem was I didn't have a front fender, but even with that you're still going to kick up salt water eventually on everything.

The first problem I had was it shorted my hall wires I believe. I was still able to get home with limited power.

The 2nd problem happened later when I turned my controller on my bike was in full throttle! and the bike launched through the garage. I was able to turn it off with my on/off switch that is easily reachable near the throttle.

The salt water eventually got into my throttle and shorted that out.

When everything dried out it went back to normal, but I never cleaned my throttle.

Salt water in the winter is the worst possible thing. I won't ever take my ebike out again when there is any sign of wet areas and obvious salt everywhere.

It will spray up and short anything it gets into.

 

[trav]

That is a good point about the salt water. Aside from the problem with electrical shorts, salt water tends to rust things awfully bad. It seems very important to rinse off, or at least dry off the bike after each ride. The cover I made for the controller is working great though, and the box that it sits in remains totally dry under any condition.

I haven't had much of a chance to ride so far here in Michigan. We got absolutely hammered with snow the other day. I took a 5 mile test ride down to a local Walmart the other day, and I discovered a few things. Firstly, the studded tires work great on ice, but they definitely have higher rolling resistance and my speed is significantly reduced. However, I don't think I really feel comfortable going more than 20 MPH on ice anyway.

I also discovered that these tires (Schwalbe Winter Marathon) handle very poorly in deep snow. It could be due to my rear-wheel kit, but it tends to fishtail in the deep stuff, and it's pretty scary. I'm thinking that a front-wheel kit, or dual wheel setup would be ideal in the winter.

 

[The Stig]

2wd would be best I think, with most torque and power in the rear.


For Deep snow, what you really need is fatbike tires...

 

[DrkAngel]

Winterizing bike
Thin studded tires for cutting through snow.
Wide aggressive tread for riding on top of snow.
Armor All protection, or similar, on tires, rubber etc.
Wax frame.
Cooking spray oil on inside of mud flaps-fenders. - or WD-40?
"Wet" chain lube. Hair dryer to warm chain and help lubricant seep in.
Studded tire on front or best studded tire on front.
On treacherous ice, lower seat to allow "skiing" feet .
Stay visible! Strobe headlight-flashing red tail light.

More Tips
Keep battery warm!
Let warm wheels cool before touching snow.
Goggles, or glasses, snowflakes hurt when they hit your eyeballs at 20mph+!
Too warm is much better than miserably >> painfully cold!

Also see - Winterized

 

[vskid3]

I got Bar Mitt brand pogie handlebar mitten things (not sure if there's a universal name for them) about a week ago. They do a pretty good job keeping the wind off my hands. Even after a 15-20 minute ride at 28MPH in 30-40F temps with light gloves, my hands are no colder than if I had just been standing in the cold with the gloves on. Before my hands were almost frozen by the time I got to work. They seem like they would do a pretty good job at keeping road spray and rain/snow off the throttle.

 

[The Stig]

Winterizing bike
...

More Tips
....

Also see - Winterized

+1 !!

I got Bar Mitt

Bar mitts are prob the best for bike trail riding, or real bike lanes that dont have cars right next to them...

For biking around a lot of traffic I would recommend:
Super heavy gloves OR 3-finger mittens like those for snowmobiles
Heaviest jacket possible as core body temp keeps the hands and feet warm.
Use the hood on the jacket, or something else that seals your whole head/neck area like a headsock.

 

[Doctorbass]

I'm wondering if these will work... I put a couple one in with superglue to test them

I confirm I have bought some and these work well but these will not last so long.

I was sceptic about how great they hold on the tire and don't fly apart... and after I have installed some on my E-trike and did couple of drift and saw they hold pretty well I had no more doubt.

Doc

 

[farbike]

The best thing to do is keep your battery inside when not using it, and make sure you use the bike or at least discharge and recharge the battery once a month. I get a ton of customers who dont ride in the winter and loose battery capacity because they left their bike uncharged in a cold garage for 6 months. With the controller muake sure the area it is in is sealed. I even heard of one guy putting a sandwich bag over the controller.

 

[tahustvedt]

Here's my winterized commuter bike. I don't ride on salty roads if I don't have to. I also have bar mitts on it now. The picture was taken before it started snowing. In the summer I move the Bafang motor over to a cyclocross commuter.

I take my lipos (10S 12 Ah) indoor when I don't ride. I have ridden in colder than -20°C temps several times without problems, but the range is almost halved.