DIY kit for sale - Tongxin motors, controllers, batteries, chargers etc

Pedalo

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 10, 2009
443
1
I returned to cycling with the help of electric bikes a few years ago and managed to build my fitness levels to the extent I no longer need the electric assist. I built up a fair amount of DIY kit which I've now decided to sell off as we need the space.

If you've opened this thread you probably already know about the pros and cons of the Tongxin motor but to summarise, they are lightweight, quiet and uniquely, with the minimum rolling resistance allow you to ride the bike as normal without too much drag so that you only need to engage the motor perhaps on the steeper hills. They should be used to assist your pedalling and in particular should not be expected to get you moving from a standing start otherwise they can be susceptible to breakage. If you search around on the forum you will find many fans that have used them for thousands of miles without problems when used in the right way. They are also used by the company Cytronex who provide lightweight stealthy bike conversions.

Collection in person from St Albans would be the most straightforward but I can look into postage if necessary.
I would prefer to sell everything in one go but may consider breaking it up if I can't find a buyer for everything. I'm looking for £300 for the lot.

This should only be purchased by a competent DIYer and someone who's confident they can fit it to their bike and use it without blowing themselves up or otherwise injuring themselves. It's all at your own risk.

Here's what I have:
1) Tongxin 36V 190rpm motor fitted into mavic 700c A319 Rim. I fitted this to my wife's bike with the vain hope of getting her into cycling which she never did - It's done a maximum of 10 miles. It has a 3 pin push connector fitted.
P1010632_resized.jpg

2) A123 Batteries, controller, fuse, anti-spark MOSFET circuit, connectors etc.
The batteries are about 3 years old and have only been charged approx. 50 times. They are configured as two 6S packs. They still seem remarkably well balanced and are still charged up after a year idle. They seem to be good quality cells and I suspect have plenty of life yet but can't guarantee this.
The batteries are connected to the controller via deans connectors. Also included in the circuit is a 10A fuse and a MOSFET circuit which prevents the nasty spark many ebike kits suffer when the battery is connected.
There is also a 9-pin female push socket included which attaches all this to the wiring 3) below. Typically you would conceal all this inside a largish saddle bag or rack bag with just the 9-pin connector poking out.P1010650_resized.jpg

3) Throttle control & bike wiring. This is a simple thumb throttle with an on/off switch and battery level gauge. You would attach the wiring to the bike using some cable ties. The bike wiring connects to the motor at the front and the 9 pin connector attached to the battery/controller in 2) above.
P1010638_resized.jpg

4) Spare Tongxin 190 rpm 36V motor. This is unused apart from spinning it up to check it works. It has suffered a couple of small dings in the metal casing which occurred in the shipping from China but they don't affect the operation. It comes fitted with a 3-pin push connector. I will also supply the corresponding push connector attached to a length of lead.
P1010661_resized.jpg

5) Turnigy Accucell 6 battery charger with power supply. This can be used to do a full healthy charge which ensures the batteries are kept in correct balance. You can only do one battery pack at a time with this.
P1010656_resized.jpg

6) "Quick and dirty" chargers. Using this you can charge both packs in series at the same time. I have two of these. One has a cracked case but works fine. I used to keep one at work and the other at home. You could use these for day to day charging but do a balancing charge using the turnigy charger every few weeks to keep the cells healthy.
P1010654_resized.jpg

7) Turnigy power meter. You can use this to measure power usage of the kit in use, or how much power you push into the batteries when charging. Not essential but interesting if you're an engineer like me! The screen looks scratched in the photo but that's just because I never removed the protective film. It's actually in much better condition than it looks.
P1010658_resized.jpg

8) Random hardware - torque arms, spacers. A torque arm may be overkill for a Tongxin motor but should probably still be fitted for peace of mind. You may need to find some additional nuts, bolts & washers to fit this.
P1010664_resized.jpg

9) Various other controllers, throttles, brake lever etc. The controller is a smaller design than the one used in the kit above but I never got round to fitting it.
P1010666_resized.jpg
 

jerrysimon

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 27, 2009
3,292
112
Cambridge, UK
Sent a PM/Started a conversation or whatever it is now lol

Jerry
 

Pedalo

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 10, 2009
443
1
The spare motor (item 4 in the list above) has now sold.
If anyone would like to take everything else off my hands, I would take £200 for the lot.
 

Troy H

Just Joined
Apr 29, 2012
2
0
Hey there!

I'm the guy from the United States that bought your Tonxin motor, Brompton wheel, and fork setup a few years ago. I was pretty busy back then and it took me a year or two before I got around to fitting the stuff to my bike. But I finally built a 2x 6s1p A123 battery pack and have been running it regularly for over a year now and it is FANTASTIC. It turned out to be just what I needed and everything I hoped it would be. I've been using it for my 5 mile commute to and from work nearly every day in good weather.

I ended up mounting the battery and motor controller in a Rixen & Kaul compact bag that I already had been using with my Brompton and it worked PERFECTLY. It has two pockets, one larger and one smaller, that worked so perfectly for the battery and controller it almost looks like it was made for it? Additionally, I actually didn't want to tie up the rear pockets on my C-bag since I was already using them for other things. And by putting the battery and controller in this smaller bag I can use the battery system without having to attach the whole C-bag if I didn't need it. I'll attach a couple of pictures just for fun.

20150806_1053232 (Small).jpg 20150806_103855.jpg 20150806_104607.jpg 20150806_104647.jpg

I would love to have the rest of your gear for spares and such, but I really can't justify the expense since I already have most of the stuff and the shipping is pretty expensive over here.

But I DO have a question for you if you don't mind? I was wondering if you had a wiring diagram for the controller I have? I was thinking I might like to customize the wiring harness a little bit to make it better fit my circumstances, but it would be nice to know what everything does. Do you have anything like that you could email to me? If not, that's okay, I'll figure it out somehow; but it would be nice to have a basic understanding of the wiring before I go poking about.

Thanks, and good luck with your sale!

Troy
 

Pedalo

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 10, 2009
443
1
Hi Troy,

It's great to hear from you and I'm really pleased the motor & kit is working out well for you. Looks like you have a really neat arrangement with the Rixen bag.

Regarding wiring, I did do a circuit diagram in a thread where I wrote up the project. See here:

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/my-diy-electric-brompton-project.6859/

The circuit doesn't show the connectors so may need a bit of detective work with a multimeter to figure out what's connected to what but it should help greatly to understand how it all works.

Hope that helps!
 

Kuorider

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 18, 2014
379
195
Try your request in the Technical thread, more members will see it and may be able to help.
 

Troy H

Just Joined
Apr 29, 2012
2
0
The diagram is a little small, but I think that will get me what I need. You're right, I can do the rest with some detective work. Thanks for the assistance!

Good luck with your sale. I wish I lived closer, I'd love to have some of that stuff for spares. There's a chance I might be taking a holiday to visit England and bringing my Brompton. If you haven't sold your stuff by next May, I may look you up. :)

Troy

Regarding wiring, I did do a circuit diagram in a thread where I wrote up the project. See here:

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/my-diy-electric-brompton-project.6859/

The circuit doesn't show the connectors so may need a bit of detective work with a multimeter to figure out what's connected to what but it should help greatly to understand how it all works.

Hope that helps!