Connection block/plug between controller and periphal components

[The Maestro]

Hi,

I'm thinking of putting as much of the electrical components of my bike into a trunk/rack bag on the rear carrier at the back of my bike. In the bag would be:

Battery
Controller
Charger
Excess wiring bundled up

That way as soon as I get to work I can lift the bag off, stick it under my desk, and pull the charger plug out of the bag and plug it in to recharge.

Other advantages would be not having the controller dangling off the bike frame as it is at the moment and making the the whole bike undetectable as electric other than the motor.

To do this I need to devise a plug/connection block that incorperates all of the controller connections: motor, throttle, charge indicator, brakes etc. It needs to be easy to plug and unplug. Can anyone suggest the kind of electrical component that I would need?

Edit: Another quick question if anyone knows - Can any damage result to either charger or battery by using the bike while the charger is still plugged into the battery (obviously unplugged from the mains).

Thanks,

Dave

 

[john]

That way as soon as I get to work I can lift the bag off, stick it under my desk, and pull the charger plug out of the bag and plug it in to recharge.

I would be concerned about the charger overheating if used inside a bag.

Edit: Another quick question if anyone knows - Can any damage result to either charger or battery by using the bike while the charger is still plugged into the battery (obviously unplugged from the mains).

Current cannot flow from the battery to the charger due to its rectifying diodes so no damage will result.

 

[The Maestro]

I would be concerned about the charger overheating if used inside a bag.
.

It could be opened when charging. Just convenient to carry it along with the battery in the same carrier and connected all the time. I'm more worried about the controller heat wise as that can get quite warm if the motor is under load.

Thanks for the other advice. I think I'll have to browse something like a Maplin catalogue to try and find something suitable for the plug.

 

[Jeremy]

Current cannot flow from the battery to the charger due to its rectifying diodes so no damage will result.

Quite a few chargers have their voltage sensing circuitry directly on the output and will draw a small current from the battery when they're not actually charging.

In the case of one of my lithium chargers, that current seems to be around 10mA or so, not enough to worry about if the bike is used regularly, but enough to kill the battery if the bike is laid up for a long period of time.

Jeremy

 

[Jeremy]

Sorry, I missed off a possible answer to the original question.

Probably the cheapest and most reliable connectors for the low voltage connections (not mains to the charger) might be the Anderson Powerpole modular ones. These have a current rating that's well up to the job and are single pole modular units that can be easily slotted together to make multipole plugs in several different configurations.

Take a look here for details: Standard Powerpole® Family

The 30 amp ones are probably best suited to this job, even though they are overkill for the peripheral connections, as they are compact yet robust enough to take the take the handling loads. These are often available on ebay in small packets. See here for an example of an ebay shop that sells them for about 50p each (about £5 for a 5 way mating pair): eBay UK Shop - PLANET connectors and terminals: Fuses, Terminals, Masking Tape

Jeremy

 

[The Maestro]

Thanks, they look good, I ordered some of those from US ebay, the UK ebay sellers seem to want about £5 for 10 no inc. postage.

Anderson Powerpole Powerpoles 15-30-45A Assortment on eBay, also Power Supplies, Ham Radio, Radios CB, Ham Shortwave, Electronics (end time 14-Sep-08 04:01:31 BST)

They seem a lot dearer in the UK although I also found these unbranded ones which are £8 for 20:

UNBRANDED | 21-3300 | Multipole Power Connectors | Cable, Wire & Connectors | CPC


I think I'll also try and use these to make a plug and socket in the wire going to the motor so I can take the front wheel off easier. Probably user the 15 amp ones for the 5 hall effect wires to keep the connection block smaller.