Finally getting the bike on the road

[Psycosis]

Since my batery has arrived i need to get my bits all tidied up and put in bags. I seem to be one of only a handful of people that have this kit on the board so i thought it can't hurt to have some more pictures.

The Controller looks like this, i figured i would post this up again in case its useful for reference in the future. Its dimensions are 15cmx13cmx6cm

The other side of the controller

I am a bit rubbish at tinning wires and it took me a couple of goes with my old soldering iron but i have a nice 40amp fuse with yellow spade connectors on the end.
I may change these for something else or i may find some other way of connecting them together. Not too sure yet if there is any point in having multiple connectors, since the battery can be unplugged from the existing power connector.

I will need to add my turnigy meter so i thought i should allow it to be disconnected at some point if i need to.

I was also told to use one of these things on the power lead, but i have no idea if its actually required. I took a picture anyway incase someone recognises it. I think people use them in amplifiers.

I need to aquire a bag now for the controller and connect the wires all up in a permanent way.
I'll post up some more randomness when i get round to it.
The clock is ticking as my travel card runs out in 7 days time, so it needs to be tested and roadworthy in that time.

 

[NRG]

35amps @ 50v is a lot of power!!! Go careful

I maybe wrong but that last pic looks like a 10w 300R wire wound resistor, who recommended to use it and why?

If it is a resistor you definitely don't want it in-line with your power line

 

[Psycosis]

Thats the strange thing, i was told to put it in-line so it would smooth out the current flow. My knowledge of electronics is very patchy at best, but they cost me £10 for two of the damn things and when i used one originally with my SLA's nothing worked, so i guess its not worth using them.

 

[NRG]

OK I'm guessing that they are to be used as a precharge resistor for when you first connect up the battery. If you have a on/off switch they are usually wired accross the switch to allow the capacitors in the controller to charge at a controlled rate before main battery power is applied.

This stops any large sparking from happening when you connect up the battery each time. Large sparks eventually errode the contacts either in the on/off switch or whatever connectors you use to connect the battery.

I'll try and knock up a quick diagram to show how they are wired....one thing though £10 for two!

Maplin have 100R for 48p, a couple of those in series would have good enough

 

[NRG]

OK hope this comes out OK.

You'll need a DPDT switch with contact ratings of at least 20amp. Wire the contacts up in pairs so the current rating is effectively doubled (40amps) this should be enough to cover your 35amp controller....

Feed the battery supply to the center pins and wire the resistor from one side of the switch to the other. Insulate all exposed wires, use heat shrink....

To use place the switch in the position that connects the resistor in-line between the battery and controller. Connect the battery, the resistor will limit the inrush current to the controller, after about 5 seconds you can flick the switch into the opposite position to connect the battery directly to the controller.

Note, there is no effective isolation of the battery in this set up, you could if paranoid place a single suitably rated switch up stream to provide full isolation...

 

[NRG]

Rapid Electronics - Electronic Components

 

[Psycosis]

Thanks for this, i guess i should use something to stop the sparks when its disconnected/reconnected every evening (i assume there will be big sparks).

Do i even need that resistor if i fit some switches?

 

[NRG]

The switch will still arc over without the pre-charge resistor due to the inrush current. Its up to you, the switch will last for a while but then start to give you problems at which point you just replace it...OK as long as those problems don't happen when you're out on the road....

 

[Psycosis]

This is my less than pretty drawing that looks like a child drew it. D- for efforts.

This looks like what i will end up with.

 

[Psycosis]

I have the first test data now from my new battery with this motor. I haven't added the switch and fuse yet since i got impatient and wanted to test it.

here is a short test i did. I cycled a fair bit rather than pushing the bike, but man alive its heavy now.
I had to stop twice due to overheating of the motor, but i carried on cycling once near the end, i need to address this since stopping every 2.5 miles is going to suck, i obviously need to not throttle so much but for testing its fine.

Quite happy with the performance, quite hairy but fun none the less. especially when my shoelace got stuck in the pedal

Here is the video of the Turnigy meter with the output of the run (as soon as i can get it off my phone since its encrypted it)

 

[Psycosis]

here is the video

YouTube - Turnigy Output

 

[NRG]

OMG!

50amp peak @ over 52v is +2.5Kw, no wonder the motor is overheating! Also your wiring as we discussed via PM is now seriously underrated. What motor do you have? Also it maybe worth checking with Ping what C discharge rate your battery is capable of, it should be 3C or more...your pulling 2.5C at the moment.

 

[Psycosis]

i think all the ping batteries are 2C aren't they?
The wiring is rated for 27amps, although i can replace it with something better without any trouble.

That motor i am not 100% certain what one it is, i think its the 900w motor at 36v, and 1200w at 48v, something like that.

 

[Psycosis]

Here is the most recent run, using a lower gear.
Only overheating once on the way back, which may have been after a quick blast by me when overtaking a regular cyclist.
So far so good:

here is the meter output. i haven't reset it since the last run, so far the total is 13 miles with no pedaling.
YouTube - Turnigy test 2