Cuda-E - 4000 watt Shumaker drive upgrade

[katou]

Wow, that is indeed low power consumption. Where did you see 9 wh/mile?

I wonder what a semi faired recumbent would get? I keep wondering whether the best idea for most bang is to fair the front, or the rear.

I'm guessing that the info regarding best rpm/wattage for efficiency came from the manufacturer?

Warren, I re-watched the movie, it seemed as before. Did I miss something? I kept watching for flames or amazed faces on passers-by, but I didn't see anything different.

Katou

PS. I took my actionbent SWB out for a spin last night, only the 3rd time I've had it out since I bought it used. I am very quickly learning why most nice recumbents have suspension!! In addition, the SWB sure is SWB. That thing is so twitchy I feel like a moment's inattention might send me into a parked car. I'll have to do something about that. As soon as I figure out what.

[www.recumbents.com]

The Actionbent SWBs aren't known for their great handling, but give it time, before long it will be very natural.

Maybe it was too subtle. Maybe you blinked.
On the second fast pass by the camera the recumbent is doing a wheelie due to the massive power of the motor as it comes into view of the camera.

-Warren.

[AussieJester]

Maybe it was too subtle. Maybe you blinked.
On the second fast pass by the camera the recumbent is doing a wheelie due to the massive power of the motor as it comes into view of the camera.

recumbent_mono.JPG

(66.86 KiB) Downloaded 3 times

hehehe

KiM

[katou]

Ok, rewatched it, now I see it. It looks like you're getting the front 2' up there? Is that correct? That must have been a bit... uh, exciting?

I bought a 3215 because I didn't think the 3210 would have enough power... I may have overshot me thinks.

Katou

[gogo]

wheelie.jpg (35.07 KiB) Viewed 708 times

[www.recumbents.com]

Ok, before you all go buying 3210 motors, it took me about two hours to fake that. It would be nearly mpossible to get that bike to do a wheelie.

-Warren.

[recumpence]

Ok, before you all go buying 3210 motors, it took me about two hours to fake that. It would be nearly mpossible to get that bike to do a wheelie.

-Warren.

Hmm, I have a 3 turn 3220 sitting on the bench that would smoke the tire right off the rim!

Matt

[www.recumbents.com]

I'm adding one of those spiffy red handle battery cut off switches to turn the battery on and off, and a 15 pin molex connector to make a quick disconnect for charging to the aluminum battery box. The battery box is quickly accumulating holes. Once I'm done though I should have a pretty good plug-n-play system for both balance and bulk charging.

-Warren.

[recumpence]

I got my wife's box the other day (same as yours). In her application, there will only be two holes for wires exiting the box. There will be two 3 terminal connectors exiting; one for the throttle wires and one for the motor wires. Everything else will be inside the box (oh, the charging port will be in the side of the box too). That way I can unplug two connectors and remove the box containing every component in the electric system except the motor and throttle.

Matt

[Wheazel]

I got my wife's box the other day (same as yours). In her application, there will only be two holes for wires exiting the box. There will be two 3 terminal connectors exiting; one for the throttle wires and one for the motor wires. Everything else will be inside the box (oh, the charging port will be in the side of the box too). That way I can unplug two connectors and remove the box containing every component in the electric system except the motor and throttle.

Matt

What connectors will you be using?
I ahve been searching around for suitable options, and right now I am leaning towards anderson powerpoles simply because I have seen some use of them.
I am no fan of the huge size tho. (Speaking of the 75A ones)
Thinking of the 15A ones for the magura wires. (smallest I could find) Even if they are separate connectors they can be put together as a unit.

[recumpence]

Yup, I am using Andersons. I have a bag of them. I may as well put them to use.

Matt

[www.recumbents.com]

It's been pretty cold this spring but I have gotten some riding in. I have tested this new bike and it's electric motor system several times and it seems to be working well with no thrown chains or other unexpected problems.

The system uses a 13T BMX freewheel to drive the chainring that's mounted to the disk brake mount on the rear wheel. The freewheel locked up on my last test ride, which didn't cause a problem other than the wheel was driving the motor when the motor wasn't engaged. That added less drag than I would have imagined. I took the freewheel apart and it looked like one of the ball bearing somehow got into the area with the pals. This crimped the pal retainer ring and broke it, and also allowed the ball bearing to jam up under the pal. I reassembled it with what was left of the retainer ring and it seems fine for now but I suspect that retainer ring will creep around and the one of the pals will no longer be spring loaded. Matt is getting new a new one.

Also I ordered a new e-bike helmet, the Casco E.Motion helmet from Germany. Yes it was too expensive, but it's got spiffy ear flaps that I'm hoping will quiet some of the wind noise that I get buzzing down the road at high speeds.

I also received the 600 watt charger from BMSBattery yesterday. It looks beefy. I'll use this for bulk charging the 12S LiPo. It took about a week to process the order and configure the charger to my specs, and then another week to arrive via DHL from China. I was concerned because their shipping number never showed up on the DHL system, and when I contacted them their responses were terse, which I'm sure is a large part of the reason why BMSBattery gets a bad reputation.

I haven't ridden the new e-recumbent to work yet, but I will as soon as we get a decent day to ride.

-Warren.

[recumpence]

Warren,

I am very glad to hear you are running your system in this cold weather. We have been doing some riding too.

I have some interesting information for you about a couple cool things going on. I will call you soon.

Matt

[www.recumbents.com]

Today was the decent day. I rode the e-recumbent to work. It's about 7 miles. Apparently my freewheel fix did not last as the freewheel was not freewheeling. This made it very non-stealth even when decelerating and I got a lot of looks as I was screaming along, but it sounds cool. It's like I have a blower on my bicycle.

The CA said I used about 5Ah from my 10Ah LiPo battery, so I think that I will probably hit LV again tonight on the way home. I'll keep an eye on it and stop using it at about 42V rather than letting it get down to the 39V LVC.

-Warren.

[recumpence]

Cool.

Remember your efficiency will be higher when the freewheel is replaced. That drag will slow you down when trying to coast.

You gotta come by and run the yellow trike. It is a blast!

Matt

[www.recumbents.com]

Hi Matt,

Yes, I'll have to do that. Also I need to pick up some parts from you.

So last night I took it easy on the way home, and ran human power for part of the way on the low speed roads. On the way home I only used 2.5 Ah. I would have probably made it the whole way even without taking it easy as I was still at 45V when I got home. Today I rode again, but am using my newly modified MeanWell to charge at work.

-Warren.

[www.recumbents.com]

I have been riding this bike to work a couple times per week now and it's working fine.

• 26 wh/mi average with 30 MPH cruising, jackrabbit starts, hills, etc.
• Over the past week, rode 38 miles, used 22 Ah, so I can make it to work and back on 8.2 Ah. Maybe I don't need to charge at work but the system is a lot more peppy on a full charge.
• Bulk charging using the Meanwell and the BMSBattery chargers is working well.
• The Casco helmet is working great on the recumbent after modding the ear flaps with some leather to cover the holes. I still hear the wind but it's not painful.

Max wattage seems to be less than 3000 watts. You have to pedal up to 5 MPH before throttling up or else the motor/drivetrain has issues. I'm going to visit Matt to have him make me a torque clutch as that seems to really help at low speeds. It really pulls from about 10MPH to 25, then gradually makes it up to 30.

-Warren.

[www.recumbents.com]

I finally broke down and got a Castle Link to view and set the options in my Castle Creations HV160 ESC. I wanted to try the custom motor timing setting Matt (recumpence) mentioned in another thread. Here are the current settings, most of which were set by Matt when I bought the system from him.





Also, here a screen shot of the ESC log from part of my commute.



-Warren.

[www.recumbents.com]

I had just changed the motor timing from 5 down to 2 to see if it would do good things at lower RPM like Matt saw on his system, but it didn't seem to make much difference in the highly scientific around the block test. The motor did seem pretty warm when I got back, so maybe I will change it back. It still runs a bit jerky and has some odd stalls at lower RPMs but this may be normal for a sensorless motor.

-Warren.

[Wheazel]

I really enjoy to read about your project, seems to be such a nice commuter.
I saw something about 700watts at 30mph earlier, how much is the drivechain pulling if you just lift the rear wheel up to spin in the air?

[AussieJester]

I really enjoy to read about your project, seems to be such a nice commuter.
I saw something about 700watts at 30mph earlier, how much is the drivechain pulling if you just lift the rear wheel up to spin in the air?

I think you mean whats hie no load speed ?

Those settings aside from the motor start up, timing and direction etc are identical to mine OH and the startup i have mine on 2 not 4...

KiM

[Wheazel]

I want to know how much watts the the gearing itself "consumes". I am having some efficiency problems with my own setup that uses a pocketbike gearbox with straight cut gears.
I understand that it is no great scientific measurement, but at least is something i can compare with.
My setup is pulling 1100-1200 watts 30mph flatground and the drivetrain wants about 360watts to just spin the wheel in the air.
If i disconnect the final stage chain, the gearbox and motor still wants close to 300watts. I can imagine the gearbox wants even more under load.

The gearbox has become slightly quieter after some driving and wattage has been going down slightly aswell. Guessing the gears were rough at first and slowly getting better.

[www.recumbents.com]

I'll check the no load current at WOT. 1100 - 1200 watts is probably fine if you have an upright bike. That's what I see on my mountain bike with a BMC hub motor at 30MPH. The recumbent is much more efficient aerodynamically, so the wattage at cruising speed is lower.

After my 'round the block test, the motor was hot, but not too hot to hold. I don't usual check the temp. Does anyone know if changing the timing could make the motor run hotter?

-Warren.

[recumpence]

The lower timing is supposed to reduce motor heat. However, I think the timing changes make the most difference on higher KV motors. My yellow trike was noticeably affected. My Catrike has an even higher KV motor. I will reprogram it this week and test it for you.

Oh, yesterday both of my trike motors were running 150 to 160 degrees F when pushed hard repeatedly. That is about 65 to 70 degrees above ambient. That is pretty normal for these motors. As cruise, mine typically run about 25 degrees above ambient.

Matt

[www.recumbents.com]

At WOT with no load the system uses about 130 watts. After my commute to work today (7.8 miles) at WOT the whole way (except when stopping at lights & stuff) the motor was too hot to touch for long, so a bit hotter than around the block, but not bad.

Hey Matt, I think even my low KV motor may sync a bit better at low RPM now, especially if I keep the throttle low. It's hard to compare Ah used from day to day as the speed and direction of the wind really affects the amount of power needed for cruising, and some days I am more throttle-happy than others. I should be able to determine after a week or so though if the motor timing change helps or hurts the overall efficiency.

BTW, I'll be getting a sports video camera soon as my birthday gift to myself, so I may finally be able to post the more interesting bits of the commute.

-Warren.