Hi all i have a Urban mover ( this one electric mountain bike on eBay, also, Bikes, Cycling, Sporting Goods (end time 15-Jan-08 13:41:11 GMT) ) , could anyone tell me where i can find the frame number ( if it has one ), far as i know it's chinese made .

Also just behind the chain wheel is a small black box about 1 inch in size with wires coming out of it , what does it do .

 

Thanks Wizard

Sorry I don't know where the frame number, if any, is on that bike. Common places are under the bottom bracket and on e-bikes, on the battery support bracket area.

 

If there's no number, you could get a set of cheap metal number stamps from somewhere like Machine Mart and stamp one yourself on the tubes below the bottom bracket. Alternatively, check with your police whether they operate the "smart liquid" or similar ID scheme. These invisibly plaster your bike with thousands of tiny dots, each bearing a number unique to you, enabling the police to subsequently ID the bike. Application is usually free.

 

The little box is the Hall effect motor's controller. Hall effect motors are different from other types in that they are not complete in themselves. They can only work if they have a controller to communicate with, that controller therefore being a remotely situated part of the motor.

 

The motors work with Hall sensors which magnetically check the position of the motor's rotor. That information is sent to the controller which then decides which of the motor's phase coils to send a pulse of current to in order for it to turn in the correct direction. There's a constant stream of positional information then fed and power pulses returned to keep the motor running.

 

The throttle or pedelec control is in charge of the controller in turn, instructing it when to start and how much power to issue.

 

There are three wire motors which have to be pedalled off the mark before the motor will run, but most have eight wires, three for feeding power to the phase coils, and five thin ones for the positional sensing information, all connected to the controller at one end and going into the hub motor at the other.

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Edited January 19, 200818 yr by flecc

WOW , thanks Flecc , you certainly know your stuff , i didn't have any idea that these ebikes were so complacited , i just thought they consisted of motor , batterys and throttle . Can i assume that if i have a throttle then i won't have peddle assistance as well .

Thanks for the great info .

atb

Wizard

You may have pedelec control. If you have to pedal to get the throttle to give power, it's a pedelec all the time. If you can operate the throttle for power without pedalling, it could be throttle only. Sometimes there's a switch though, normally on the handlebars, which allows you to switch between throttle or pedelec control.

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Hi Wizard,

 

Be careful to waterproof that little box. My bike has a hidden 4mm holeunder the battery cushion that completely waterlogged my controller making it go mad (power/ no power/intertmittent spurts etc)! re sealed with silicon sealant and vaseline.

Urban mover?

 

Hi,

I don't think this is an urban mover. It is not part of the current range and does not have the urban mover battery style that they have been using for a couple of years. Jonathan.

Hi Wizard,

 

Be careful to waterproof that little box. My bike has a hidden 4mm holeunder the battery cushion that completely waterlogged my controller making it go mad (power/ no power/intertmittent spurts etc)! re sealed with silicon sealant and vaseline.

 

Hi Phil , found the hole , good tip thanks , could you or anyone else take a look at this picture Wizards Caravan Repair of my electric box and tell me if i should seal the larger hole and the 8 smaller ones or are they used to get rid of heat from within the box .

Thanks Wizard

Hi Wizard,

 

Defo. The eight holes on mine have screws going through the rubber into the control box. Water will pour in without sealing. In the wet the rear tyre throws water onto the battery which then acts as a 'canal' directly to the control box. I've sealed all the screw heads at the rubber level with a liberal coating of vaseline.

 

Phil

What a great site this is

 

Thanks Phil & Flecc , now fully sealed , good job too it's rain tomorrow .

I will be using the bike full time from tomorrow for work instead of my 4x4 , i'll be doing my bit for the planet , saving fuel costs , and getting home quicker .

Last time i was on a push bike was some 20 plus years ago hope i haven't forgot how too ride LOL .

 

atb

 

Wizard

All the best with your commuting then Wizard. Ride carefully and watch out for the less able drivers.

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Hi all , back from my first ride to work ( well first ride anywhere on my new bike really ) , although i'm pretty impressed with how the bike coped with my weight 18.5 stone , it got me up one short steep hill and a longer not so steep hill approx 1.5 miles long .

My total journey to work and back was 6 miles and by the time i got home the 36volt 10amp hour battery ( 3 batteries ) were flat , is this normal ? i used the bike at full throttle for approx 50% of the ride .

 

atb

Wizard

That's a very short range, and it may be the bike is a bit older than the seller said, and I remember someone said this wasn't a currently listed UM model. Lead acid batteries standing idle over time without use can suffer permanent phosphating which reduces the capacity and ability to deliver current.

 

You may well get some recovery with some more charges and uses though, so see what it's like after a few days.

.

Hi Wizard,

 

Seems kind of short, but using the throttle will hammer the battery/The batteries on mine are 36v @8amp think that is 288 output. So not that much.

 

I use my throttle tomove off fromlights to get up tospeed and then use peddle assist and the gears. This seems to do wonders for the range and I reckon on 12-18 miles depending on conditions.When my batteries are done I will still sla (prob) but up the amps to 12 which should add 50% more range......... I think

 

Capn_phil68

Ah i see looks like i'm riding it slightly wrong , i've been holding full throttle but at times it seamed to have no effect probably because i was up to speed , peddle assist i'm not sure if i've got that , i may have but i'm just getting used to how the bike feels , will have another play on the way to work and see what i can suss out .

atb

Wizard

Just a quick one.

 

Peddle assist kicks in at around 3mph and you feel it as instantly the effort goes from peddling. Best way I can describe it is like you have a strong tail wind.

Gave my bike a bit of a shake down on the way to work today , i've come to these conclusions , full throttle on steep hills , slight hills use peddle assist ( which i've now worked out i've got ) , one thing i've noticed is that peddle assist seems to tail off as the push bike speed increases .

atb

Wizard

welcome wizard, i find a combination of my 17 stones, and quite steep hills really drains batteries quickly,if you look at some of the extra energy tests,often bikes only achieved around 4 miles up a not very steep hill in hill climbing tests,and probably with lighter riders than us.