Update on my ezip

[davespicer]

Hope this wasn't too many pics.

Thanks, Jay! Pics are wonderful for us visual thinkers

Something I discovered about my eZip today: since those springy battery contacts have the wires screwed into the bottom of them, the wires and ring connectors move up and down when the contacts do. So taking the battery out of the rack, then putting it back in, can fatigue the wires and/or ring connectors if it's done repeatedly. Found this out when one of the ring connectors broke in half - I'm guessing it was metal fatigue. Probably the wires were a little too short, so there was no slack to prevent that.

Another tip: my battery pack was a little loose in the rack even with the locking pin engaged, so I got some longer screws (10-32 x 3/4) and flat washers for the battery contact box. Laying one washer on each of the four threaded holes (two are shown at your picture battery_contact_bottom.jpg), then reattaching the box, made the box sit just a little higher. This let the battery lock in snugly instead of being able to wiggle up and down over bumps.

- Dave

 

[EcoForumZ]

For some of us, if you can go faster, you do have to! I stay the hell off motorcycles above a 125. In a car i drive sane, but something about a bike. I just love that slidy feeling and go looking for nice slick crosswalk paint. It's just the way I'm wired.

I'm lucky that I got to run in the professional racing series for so long. I was able to do things that I never would have been able to do on the street (and live). I was able to get a lot out of my system that way. I ride like hell on the track, but I'm almost opposite when I get on the streets now. I go slower then most people. I guess it is because even if I am going 100mph it is still boring. :lol: Once you go into a corner at about 180 mph and have no brakes, regular life seems dull. :lol:

Ok, I got some pics.
Here is my ghetto wood battery box. I didn't finish it because I wanted to test everything out and make sure it all worked first. You can see the connector block on the right has become loose.
View attachment 6

Here is the backside of the battery box. I just used regular housewiring wiring nuts to connect the connector box and the rest of the wiring. I wouldn't recommend doing it this way, I was just trying to make sure it worked before I did anything better.
View attachment 5

Here is a pic showing how the wires run down the rack rail and into the battery conntact box.
View attachment 4

Take off the four screws holding the battery contact box in place, and lift it up as much as the stock wiring will allow.
View attachment 3

Remove the four smaller screws on the bottom of the contact box and take off the black plastic cover.
View attachment 2

closer view
View attachment 1

Take out the screw that goes into the bottom of the battery contact, line your loop connection up with the stock loop connection and replace the screw.


Hope this wasn't too many pics.

Jay,

Gotta a question for ya. Did you try to run the new battery to the secondary battery switch on the back of the bike? I am asking because that is what I was going to try to do. If you open the metal box that has the controller in it you can see the secondary battery wiring which is easy to plug in to. Just wondering if you tried this or not before I go down this path.

Thanks and keep the pictures coming!

 

[Jay64]

How2, glad I could help out. I'm actually pretty much a noob too.

 

[Jay64]

Eco, no, I only plugged it into the battery contacts like in the pic. I had the stock battery on the right side and wired into the contacts on the left side. That allowed me to switch back and forth between the battery packs with the switch. I didn't want to go into the switch because I wanted to be able to keep it stock as much as possible so that I wouldn't have to switch it back if I wanted to go back to stock. Also, all of the wires are really packed into that box with the PAS system, so I didn't want to have to try and put more stuff in there. However, I did later get a cycle analyst and ended up putting the shunt in the box

 

[donob08]

Re: Update on my ezip, question about using eZip motor through BB

I'm sure I read someone saying well 'if you don't use the gears then that's the best you can do'. I' m part/half way to hooking up a 1/8 drive chain from the motor on my 2008 TrailEZ up to a Stokers chain wheel on the drivers side (left side) so the power will go through the stock crank shaft over to the triple chain wheel, with front derailleur on the right that I have added and then back to the wheel through a theoretically possible 21 gear combination. My concern is to increase battery life, per charge, by allowing the motor the mechanical advantage of a two derailleur system.
I've figured a 55T stoker's chain wheel would center the motors abilities with equal shift one way for torque effectivity and the other way for speed, which would allow a good bit until the controller shuts it down.
What I have is a 40T stoker's crank so I won't get as much effective torque as I might want and probably more speed than I need.

Could the person who has done this, or something similar share the experience, please.

thanks, Don

 

[donob08]

Re: Update on my ezip, question about using eZip motor through BB.

I spent a little more time this AM playing with this idea. I laid the chain in place. Almost all, looks good. The chain misses the kickstand while it's up. If it's down and the motor is driving there are probably other problems.

But, the freewheel/sprocket on the back wheel can't be there when the longer chain going forward is in place. Has anyone removed the rear wheel driver's side sprocket/freewheel? It looks like it's one nut after the wheel is out. I'm thinking of getting a second rear wheel, no driver's side sprocket that would make it easier to return to the standard config. if things went amiss. I'd like a quick release axel anyway.

Thoughts?

 

[Jay64]

Sorry, I have no answer for any of that. I haven't done any modifying in that area.

 

[EcoForumZ]

Eco, no, I only plugged it into the battery contacts like in the pic. I had the stock battery on the right side and wired into the contacts on the left side. That allowed me to switch back and forth between the battery packs with the switch. I didn't want to go into the switch because I wanted to be able to keep it stock as much as possible so that I wouldn't have to switch it back if I wanted to go back to stock. Also, all of the wires are really packed into that box with the PAS system, so I didn't want to have to try and put more stuff in there. However, I did later get a cycle analyst and ended up putting the shunt in the box

Jay,

I decided to go with your method as it was easier and like you said the box that hold the controller and other stuff is packed pretty tight. I added a 36v lifePO4 last night and took it for a spin. Got up to 27MPH on a flat surface but it was really late so I only tested it for 5 minutes then had to get some sleep. I will test it out today with a full charge and see what kinds of speeds I can hit. I don't want to push it to hard since I have no holes in the motor yet or any sensor to monitor the heat on the motor. I am going to try to take a video and post it on youtube but it's pretty hard to ride with one hand and video tape with the other doing these speeds.

By the way I noticed my cotntroller is rated at 35amps have you tested how many amps you are pushing with the new battery if so what?

FYI, the stock motor and battery wires are 10 gauge and are rated for 30 amps.

 

[docnjoj]

Theres a whole thread on freewheels and removal in the E-bike Technical section here: http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4527
otherDoc

 

[Jay64]

By the way I noticed my cotntroller is rated at 35amps have you tested how many amps you are pushing with the new battery if so what?

FYI, the stock motor and battery wires are 10 gauge and are rated for 30 amps.

Eco, I haven't used the DeWalts yet, but I have tested with the Milwaukees. You tested with 36v? Hmm, maybe I'll try to wire up a DeWalt battery box today since it is my day off. I made a post about my cycle analyst and posted up the results of testing the cycle analyst.
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4578
It was more of a test to make sure I wired the CA in good then it was a test on the batteries. My homemade battery box was broken at the time so I only ran one milwaukee battery pack.
Here is the data from that test.
27.9v 0.03a (while I was sitting. maybe I need to re-set that, or maybe it was just powering down still.) 0.869ah 0.748mi

watt-hrs 20.684 wh/mi 27.8

fwdah 0.8701

Amin -0.06 Amax 36.19 Vmin 17.8

maxS 20.4 AvgS 13.9 0h3m13s

 

[Jay64]

I finally got around to fixing my battery box. While I was doing it, I realized that I have been fighting gravity the whole time. I don't know why I originally decided to set them up the way I did. Actually, I think I was originally planning on closing in my battery box, so it would be hard to slide the packs in horizontally. So I made the connector blocks vertical. I think this was aiding in the breaking off problem. So I flipped my box so that they connector blocks are laying horizontal. Also, I secured it into a storage crate (basically a milk crate) and secured that crate to the rear rack. I figured this way I can actually take the bike to go do some erands like get small amounts of groceries ect. I also noticed while doing all of this that my tires were extremely low on air. I guess I have been lack on checking up on that. There was about 14 psi and the max rating on the tires is 40-65. So I got out my compressor and got them up to about 64. I'm going to go do some more testing with my CA using both batteries and full tires.

 

[How2]

I added a 36v lifePO4 last night and took it for a spin. Got up to 27MPH on a flat surface but it was really late so I only tested it for 5 minutes then had to get some sleep. I will test it out today with a full charge and see what kinds of speeds I can hit. I don't want to push it to hard since I have no holes in the motor yet or any sensor to monitor the heat on the motor. I am going to try to take a video and post it on youtube but it's pretty hard to ride with one hand and video tape with the other doing these speeds.

By the way I noticed my cotntroller is rated at 35amps have you tested how many amps you are pushing with the new battery if so what?

FYI, the stock motor and battery wires are 10 gauge and are rated for 30 amps.

27mph??? on the ezip??? 36V here I come. wooohooooo! Please keep us updated on your tests re: motor heat. I've seen the threads on here about drilling holes in the motor cover but I am wondering how road debris doesn't get in there and muck up the works. (or rain, or water from puddles, or street after rain) Thanks too for the 10 gauge wire and amps specs.

 

[How2]

I finally got around to fixing my battery box. While I was doing it, I realized that I have been fighting gravity the whole time. I don't know why I originally decided to set them up the way I did. Actually, I think I was originally planning on closing in my battery box, so it would be hard to slide the packs in horizontally. So I made the connector blocks vertical. I think this was aiding in the breaking off problem. So I flipped my box so that they connector blocks are laying horizontal. Also, I secured it into a storage crate (basically a milk crate) and secured that crate to the rear rack. I figured this way I can actually take the bike to go do some erands like get small amounts of groceries ect. I also noticed while doing all of this that my tires were extremely low on air. I guess I have been lack on checking up on that. There was about 14 psi and the max rating on the tires is 40-65. So I got out my compressor and got them up to about 64. I'm going to go do some more testing with my CA using both batteries and full tires.

Hi Jay,

Gravity.. :lol: :wink:

I check my tires a few times a week and keep them at 60. With the weight of the batts and this bike in general, when the tires are any lower, i really notice the drag.

pics of your milk crate on the rack please.. lol... i am the picture hound. how are you securing the crate? Bungee? It would have to be removable so the batt pack could slide into the rack. Or are you not using the currie batt pack at all any longer?

Thanks again!

 

[Jay64]

I originally used a bungy to secure the first wood box in place. I am using zip ties to secure the wood box in the milk crate and zip ties to secure the milk crate to the rack. When I first tested the 28v packs I left the original battery pack in place so I would have a back up to make it home when the Milwaukees ran out. But once I realized I could make it to work, charge, and make it home, I took the stock battery out to save weight. 27 mph? I get 19.4 mph with my 28v packs.

 

[EcoForumZ]

I originally used a bungy to secure the first wood box in place. I am using zip ties to secure the wood box in the milk crate and zip ties to secure the milk crate to the rack. When I first tested the 28v packs I left the original battery pack in place so I would have a back up to make it home when the Milwaukees ran out. But once I realized I could make it to work, charge, and make it home, I took the stock battery out to save weight. 27 mph? I get 19.4 mph with my 28v packs.

I tested the battery pack and it is showing 42v when fully charged.

I uploaded the video last night. Change to High Quality Mode on youtube to see more clearly. These lifePO4 packs are awesome and stay at full power the whole time. Not like the SLA that start losing power after 15 minutes then are almost useless after 30+ minutes.

It looks like I am peddling at the beginning but I am not I am trying not to fall on my @ss while recording with one hand, steering and giving throttle with the other.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2SSqTyRhQk

 

[EcoForumZ]

If I had some fat frank tires I could probably hit 30+MPH without even changing gears. The motor does get kinda warm so I am considering a few cooling options. I don't like the idea of drilling holes in the front because I don't want stuff flying inside the motor. I am thinkg of just getting a 90° Elbow from the plumbing section at home depot and welding it to the top of the motor facing backwords so nothing can fly inside it but hot air can get out. After I disect the motor tonight I will see what make the most sense.

 

[Jay64]

Ok, did my first commute to work since getting the C.A. Here is the data, I recharged at work so I reset it for the ride home.
Edit: This is with 2 28v Milwaukee packs.

6.19.08 Ride from Home to Work
27.8v 3.657 mi 1.567 AH

39.116 watt-hrs 10.7 wh/mi

1.5675 Fwd AH -0.03 Amin 36.41 Amax 21.2 Vmin

590 maxS WTF???? :lol: Does that say that my max speed was 590mph? Beat that biatches. :lol: Or am I reading that wrong? :lol:

17.3 AvgS 0hrs12m40s

2 TotAH 4 TotMi

6.19.08 Ride from Work to Home
27.8v 3.503 mi 1.650 AH

40.643 watt-hrs 11.6 wh/mi

1.6508 Fwd AH -0.04 Amin 37.38 Amax 20.1 Vmin

405 maxS Apparently I had a real strong headwind on the way home. Slowed my max speed by 185mph. :lol:

16.6 AvgS 0hrs12m39s

4 TotAH 8 TotMi

 

[pwbset]

590 maxS WTF???? :lol:

Lemme guess... you have a pedal first controller? Mine does the same thing at times. I've been supersonic before! Here is what ebikes.ca says:

That can happen with the pedal first controller, while it is just
getting starting to synchronize to the back-emf voltages it can cause
some high frequency glitches on the speedo line. Unfortunately there
isn't a fix that we are aware of.

 

[Jay64]

Great, thanks a lot of raining on my parade! :lol: :lol:

 

[EcoForumZ]

1.5675 Fwd AH -0.03 Amin 36.41 Amax 21.2 Vmin
1.6508 Fwd AH -0.04 Amin 37.38 Amax 20.1 Vmin

Are the below numbers the max amps hit? If so does it also do avg amps if so what are they?

36.41 Amax
37.38 Amax

 

[Jay64]

I think it is the max amps hits. I'm not sure what the average was, maybe 18 or so. I'm still trying to learn how to use this thing.

 

[EcoForumZ]

I think it is the max amps hits. I'm not sure what the average was, maybe 18 or so. I'm still trying to learn how to use this thing.

I think it is max amps used. I tested my bike and my max amps used was 42 and the average was 33 or 35. By the way I got that K&N filter and slapped it on my bike. It fit like a glove and in my opinion looks sweet! It is able to withstand up to 230 degrees so it won't melt unless your motor catches on fire of course

K&N Model # SN-2580PK I bought it from K&N's website they are located in Riverside, CA so I got it the next day.

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4687&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=30

 

[How2]

K&N Model # SN-2580PK I bought it from K&N's website they are located in Riverside, CA so I got it the next day.

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4687&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=30

hello again Eco.. can I ask what you paid for this beauty of a filter? Because I am out of state, I have to find a local store here that carries it. According to their website, there are about 4 possible stores within 6 miles of me so hopefully I'll strike gold... but wondered what the price is. Thanks again!

 

[Jay64]

Well, after hearing that others are running 36v with their ezip without blowing up their stock controller I started to build a quick ghetto DeWalt pack. But then I remembered that my bike cuts out at 20 mph, which it already hits with my 28v Milwaukee packs, so why should I bother putting 36v on it? All that would do would add top speed, right? But if it cuts off at a set speed, then the extra volts wouldn't make a difference, would it?

 

[TylerDurden]

But then I remembered that my bike cuts out at 20 mph, which it already hits with my 28v Milwaukee packs, so why should I bother putting 36v on it? All that would do would add top speed, right? But if it cuts off at a set speed, then the extra volts wouldn't make a difference, would it?

Not sure, you may have a pedalec version that includes speed limitation.

One way to find out...