Search results

  1. H

    18650 cell types & recelling battery pack

    Couple of years ago I tried to make a capacitive discharge spot welder to help rebuild one of my old ebike battery packs, but to cut a long story short I couldn't do it and someone I knew who's an electronics engineer had moved away making it too difficult to get help from them. So I spent...
  2. H

    Smart batteries

    I got a brand new, only built last month, battery for my Urban Mover bike last Friday and the base has 4 connections instead of the usual 2, turns out the extra two connections are because it has 'smart' circutry inside which keeps track of the amount of energy put in / drawn out and those 2...
  3. H

    18650 li-ion cell source?

    In a few weeks time I hope to have enough money to buy a bunch of 18650 li-ion cells to re-cell one of my ebike batteries, I intend to build a circuit before I get them so I can do charge/discharge capacity tests to match cells when putting them in parallel and weed out any 'bad' ones. Does...
  4. H

    Locking your bike

    When you lock your bike up, don't copy this example: http://cheezpictureisunrelated.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/wtf-photos-videos-no-need-for-a-bike.jpg Also, I'd love a speedometer for my bike that looked like this...
  5. H

    Determining actual capacity of battery?

    How can I find out the actual capacity of an ebike battery? Could it be done with simply using a couple of 12v car bulbs and continually measuring the volts+amps until the battery turns itself off, then adding up the resulting numbers?
  6. H

    My second ebike

    Spotted this on eBay and decided I had to have it: It came with an internal 20x D NiMH battery pack which held very little charge (no suprises there) so I made a lead to plug in my normal Urban Mover 26v li-ion Panasonic battery strapped to the luggage rack. The motor wouldn't run properly at...
  7. H

    Longest cycle lane in Britain

    I think this wins hands down: New cycle lane in Wales (telegraph.co.uk)
  8. H

    Faulty freewheel

    Over the past few weeks I noticed when pedalling moderate to hard that occasionally the sprocket would jump, I thought it was the derailer not aligned properly and the chain jumping gears, but today I discovered what the real problem was - cycling home in near freezing temperatures (it's now...
  9. H

    Rims worn through

    The rims on my 2 year old Urban Mover UM36 have finally worn through, front rim is very worn but ok whereas the back rim has worn through to the point where it's slightly buckled and the tyre has at one point pushed the metal out so far it was scraping against the brake. Had to unhook the brake...
  10. H

    Sympathetic vibrations (noisy motor)

    At certain speeds the back end of my bike amplifies the vibrations from the motor and it sounds pretty loud, is there any way to detect what's sympathetically vibrating and stopping it?
  11. H

    Drill powered bike

    How cute is this? looks like a lot of fun: YouTube - DPX Systems cordless drill powered mini bike If you added the ability to pedal it, would it be road legal in the UK? More DPX drill-powered videos: YouTube - Drill-Powered Bike YouTube - DPX Systems Drill Powered Bike YouTube - DPX...
  12. H

    Derestricting Urban Mover UM36

    In the last few days my UM36 had been occasionally cutting out on full and empty battery, throttle and pedal sensor, so today I opened the section below the battery pack on the bike and set to on disconnecting & re-connecting each of the controller connectors (apart from the battery & motor...
  13. H

    Petrol prices

    When playing pool in the evening there was a tv on in the background with the news, couldn't hear much because of the 'dance' music filling the building but did catch a few words along the line of £1.50/litre by the end of the year ? Then cycling home I heard a loud whistle, a friend calling...
  14. H

    Just how waterproof are ebikes?

    Doesn't lithium become extremely volatile when exposed to water ?
  15. H

    Got my new battery!

    At last, I have managed to get a new battery from UrbanMover :) It turns out the original 12Ah li-pol battery wasn't all it was cracked up to be - apparently the battery manufacturer (GE) admitted that it wasn't a full 12Ah and that there was a problem with the flat wire connecting the cells...
  16. H

    Solar power, any tinkerers out there?

    Last weekend I got a weatherproof 30 watt polycrystalline solar panel, it's 25 years old and looks like it was made last week. I've been quite busy so haven't had much time in the day (when, obviously, it produces power) to fully test it's power capability, though it didn't have any trouble...
  17. H

    Homemade *bright* LED light setup

    I have added homemade LED lighting to my Urban Mover UM36 which are 'stealthily hidden' in the bike's reflectors and power off the bike's battery, without having to alter anything on the bike to tap the power from the battery: It was easier to do than I first thought so I'm writing up here...
  18. H

    Rain killed my pedal sensor :(

    Rain killed my pedal sensor :( (for 3 days) My Urban Mover UM36 is now a throttle-only assist bike, yesterday's downpour killed the pedal sensor :( The battery was inside being charged and the bike locked up outside, I'd left the bike out in worse rain before with no problems but with the...
  19. H

    Throttle usage

    Those who have a throttle, how much do you use it? Half the reason I got my Urban Mover was so I could use the throttle on the rare chance I'm on the flat (big hills everwhere here), but UM didn't make their throttle as good as I'd hoped. Of the full twist the throttle does, the first half...
  20. H

    USB charging socket idea

    When I'd set my mind on getting an electric bike at the beginning of this year the thought of having access to a high capacity battery gave me a few thoughts, one of them was that it would be nice to have a USB socket somewhere on the bike to charge my mobile & mp3 player, no connection on the...