lipo choices

I've been bitten by the lipo bug but man, so hard to choose a configuration.

15 miles range - fun cruiser bike (electra townie, no suspensions). I have another bike running 48v/15AH lifepo4 but it's heavy and ugly

would you do:

2x multistar 6s/16000
or
3x turnigy 5s/8000

oops.. wrong forum. can someone move to ebike

If you want faster, 15s will be faster than 12s. 15s does get very close to the max voltage of most 48v controllers though, personally I run 14s.

Obviously 16000 mha capacity of 12s is much more range than 8000 mha of 15s. I would call 8ah a bit tight for a reliable 15 miles at full throttle.

I'd be looking at the cheap 4s packs for a bike with less than 40 amps controller, that's not a "performance" bike. If you turn up one bad cell in the huge multistar pack, you get to replace the whole pack. Replacing one 4s 5000 mha pack is cheap.

Best deal I've found in over 4 years running this stuff:

http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_listCategoriesAndProducts.asp?idCategory=317&LiPoConfig=4&sortlist=&CatSortOrder=desc

12S or just do minor controller upgrade to handle 16S which is a very nice sweet spot IMO.

tomtnt said:

I've been bitten by the lipo bug but man, so hard to choose a configuration.

15 miles range - fun cruiser bike (electra townie, no suspensions). I have another bike running 48v/15AH lifepo4 but it's heavy and ugly

would you do:

2x multistar 6s/16000
or
3x turnigy 5s/8000

Click to expand...

2x multistar 6s/16000 = 12S/16000mAh

3x turnigy 5s/8000 = 15S/8000

Two completely different configurations.

This indicates that you might want to study-up on Lipo before you make the plunge.
I.M.O., the "plug and play" Li-on batteries have gotten so good and relatively inexpensive, that for those without Lipo experience, it may well better to go with an "off the shelf" battery, like this one;

https://bmsbattery.com/ebike-battery/684-48v116ah-bottle-09-panasonic-battery-charger-battery.html

The two configurations share the fact that they can both power my 48v bike and they both fit into my frame tank bag.

I actually decided to do 10s/8ah (2 5s 8000) for my wife 36v bike and do 12s/10ah (6 4s 5000) for mine. I also bought an extra 4s 8000.

This way, I can also run my wife's bike at 12s/10ah and run mine at 14s/8ah depending on the situation.

We are recreational riders- dont need huge range.

motomech said:

tomtnt said:

I've been bitten by the lipo bug but man, so hard to choose a configuration.

15 miles range - fun cruiser bike (electra townie, no suspensions). I have another bike running 48v/15AH lifepo4 but it's heavy and ugly

would you do:

2x multistar 6s/16000
or
3x turnigy 5s/8000

Click to expand...

2x multistar 6s/16000 = 12S/16000mAh

3x turnigy 5s/8000 = 15S/8000

Two completely different configurations.

This indicates that you might want to study-up on Lipo before you make the plunge.
I.M.O., the "plug and play" Li-on batteries have gotten so good and relatively inexpensive, that for those without Lipo experience, it may well better to go with an "off the shelf" battery, like this one;

https://bmsbattery.com/ebike-battery/684-48v116ah-bottle-09-panasonic-battery-charger-battery.html

Click to expand...

There is the nicest thing about hobby packs. You can run this or that, in differing voltages and capacity. lots of flexibility.

I tend to favor at least some 6s packs, because after a few years they can run my lawnmower. Tired and low capacity by then, but 6s 20 ah works fine even when the packs are very beat.