Yescomusa.com 500 & 1000 watt 48v rear kit review

[GiantEV]

Tim,
Thanks for the great write ups. I am interested in the YesComUSA 48V/1000W kit and a Ping 48V/20Ah battery. Based on your experience would you still recommend these items, considering the problems you've had with the spokes and cold weather battery issues?
Joshua

 

[mcintyretj]

Thanks GiantEV. I originally was looking at that setup (1000w rear hub, 48v 20ah ping) but they were out of stock when I stopped in. I believe the 20ah ping is 6 inches wide so It will not fit in the triangle if you want to peddle. The 48v 15ah ping is about 4 inches wide and fits nicely in large, hard tail frames. I did meet a rider with similar setup on a cruiser (large rear hub motor, 48v 20ah ping) with the battery on the back rack and he seemed to think it was not a problem.

As far as having loose spokes, I think it comes with territory. I like the speed and range you get with high tire pressure but have learned to compromise. I am keeping my new setup with slightly less tire pressure and checking the spoke tension every 50 miles or so. I also have some locktight that I plan to try out when I have time.

I know I will upgrade to the 1000w class soon but plan to run 72v to my 500w motor while peddling and see how it does. I am confident I can get to work (25.1 miles) in under an hour one day.

 

[mcintyretj]

I am now officially a bike nerd. Last night, after I topped off my lipos, I downloaded a bike/tracking app for my new phone.

Here is some data from my commute:












In the front bag I have 8.4 pounds of lipo (15s, 2p/ 10ah). In the back big I have 7.5 pounds (14s, 2p/10ah). I will post some charging info/data later.

 

[dnmun]

hey, way!

do you charge at work on the end and do you leave a charger there?

 

[The fingers]

That must be quite a climb above Whittier. My dad used to live nearby on Marsha Ln. The street was so steep you could barely walk up it.

 

[mcintyretj]

The climb above Whittier is an excellent workout even with a motor. It is also quiet and scenic with great views of downtown LA especially on Santa Ana days.

I do charge at work. Here is my setup:
View attachment 7
I use the upgraded 5amp 48v charger from ping ($55 plus shipping, about $100 total) which top off around 59.5 volts.

For my booster pack, which is 14s or 14s, 2p of turnigy lipos (5 or 10ah depending on my planed route home), I use a Mean Well, NES-350-48. This cost me about $45.00 ($9.99+$34.99 shipping) from ebay. I have seen them for under $35.00 total. This charger tops out at 57.9 volts when adjusted as high as it can go:

It charges the 5ah pack in about 35 minutes and the 10ah pack in just over an hour. My students cannot keep their hands off the bike so I charge it around the back behind a locked gate. I do not worry about over charging because the 14s pack fully charged is 58.8 and my packs have been staying in balance so the 57.9 HVC is no problem. I just plug everything in the morning before my student arrive, then after the last bus leaves, retrieve my bike and chargers. I run an extension chord out a window.

At home I have the standard 2amp 48v ping charger and a Mean Well SP-320-48. Both of these charges were free (ping charger came with the battery, Mean Well from a guy who moved on to electric motor cycles). The 2amp ping charger takes about 7.5 hours to charge a bottomed out ping battery. Here is my setup:




The Mean Well SP-320-48 is my back-up Ping charger but since it can be adjusted to 61.5 HVC, I use it to charge both 14s and 15s packs.


I balance at home when I need too which is not too often. When I want to top off for a ride, I will pull out my $20 accucell 6 and balance each battery pack, one battery at a time.

It takes all evening to get both 14s and both 15s packs charged this way. I do not parallel charge yet but when I go to 72v I plan to invest in a good, high amp, balance charger.

 

[kentlim26]

if is possible, please try to avoid this Accu 6, 7amps charger . I have about 5 of Accu 6. i bought this is because I tested i thought it was good. however it spoil 2 of them at the same time. sadly i think Only one is working properly. While you are using this ACCu 6, Please do watch your charging timing, and cells volts is right number. it can go up to 4.28.. and upwards. so i bought another charger is a better one. is the 200w type from hobby king. tested and use so far until today look very good. two my RC charger accu 6 will give you false volts reading.

as for the battery medic, I don't use them anymore. The 200w charger seem to be a better quality, can properly charge the cells to the correct NUMBER. I test the cells and check with Alarm volt meter, the volts is correct. Each batch of the alarm volt meter the reading can be different. in my future purchase for a RC charger I will buy 200w at least or above. My input and believe that a better quality charger will give you a better balance cells.

have a nice day, sir!.

 

[mcintyretj]

Kentlim26, good point. My acucell6 does an ok job of charging. Right now only one cell comes off the charger high (4.22-4.23) and I use Christmas lights or my 1 good battery medic to knock it down to 4.20. Mine is the 200w 6amp max charger

I usually charge Sunday afternoon/evening so I will hook a fully charged pack up to the controller/meter for an hour or so to knock the cells down to 4.17-4.15. The consensus from veterans on this form is not to leave a fully charged pack for extended periods or even overnight.

When bulk charging, I usually undercharge my packs. In fact, When I charge my 15s packs at school the max charge I can do right now is 59.5. I just use my 5amp Ping charger with an adapter.

This will get me home with the cells all about 3.65 when I ride my "lipo" only bike.

 

[z50king]

thanks for the great thread. very informative

 

[mcintyretj]

5000-mile update:

First, after looking for affordable tires that fit, I decided to order the 2.4” Cyclops tires recommended by wesnewell.

I have been riding a lot on fire roads and trails so I wanted more cushion. These barely fit in the frame but they have been working great. I could not find slime tubes that were large enough so I just put some slime formula in each regular tube, 5oz in the back, 3 oz in the front tube. 2 tires and 4 tubes shipped were about the price of one hi-tech LBS tire. The tire goes on easily without tools or super human strength and seems centered. It took a while to get the feel for the large front tire on a turn.

Also, I have more than 5000 miles on my two kits, that’s about 100 x 50 mile round trip commutes.


At first, I was expecting to break down often and it will probably happen soon, but I do not think about it much. So far I have only had one charger break. The loose spokes, popped capacitor in a controller, and converting a good, 6s lipo into a 4s lipo (fell asleep while manually balancing) were my fault. I have 18 days left of school and plan to ride just about every day.

In addition, I have mentioned manually balancing/bulk charging about every other week. This is my complete setup on my 14s2p pack:
View attachment 3

I have 6 battery medics: 2 of them are very accurate (less than +/- 0.01 volts off on a cell), 2 of them are ok (+0.01 off on a few cells, -0.02 on a few cells) the last 2 medics are +0.02 and –0.02 on several cells. At one time I wrote it down but know which cells will read high and my brain does the correction automatically. Only 2 of the 6 medics can actually discharge high cells but it takes forever, 2 discharge the low cells and 2 medics do not seem to discharge any cells. At about $12 each I can not complain. When I used to bulk charge, I would measure with a medic, and then stick wires attached to Christmas tree lights directly into the balance leads to discharge the high cells. I would set a timer if I was busy because I would remove the lights and check with a medic every few minutes. The last few times I have been using an extender and a parallel balance harness so I do not have to remove the lights. I put Andersons on all my connections and have been experimenting with different lamps. Now I can balance while I am charging so everything is balanced when I hit HVC.
View attachment 1


Unfortunately, my batteries have been staying well balanced so I have not used this set up much. I mostly leave everything on the bike and in the bag when I charge with just the voltmeter showing.

I will be swinging by the yescomusa where house before my summer break to pick up a rear 1000w setup. Several family members have offered to take one of my 500w motor off my hands. The other one I plan to run a 72v controller and see what happens.

 

[GiantEV]

Where did you buy the accurate battery medics at?

 

[dnmun]

you can adjust the kingpan charger up to 62V if you wanna.

 

[mcintyretj]

OK, 1 of my 4 battery medics from Hobbyking is working well, and both of my medics from this ebay vender work well but only 1 discharges the high cells:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3in1-RC-2S-6S-li-Po-Li-Fe-Battery-Balancer-LCD-Voltage-Meter-Tester-Discharger-/200812672679?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item746fd90e64.

Also, I would love to adjust the kingpan charger up and down. I will be working at several locations this summer and do not want to carry 2 chargers.

 

[ez-Ebike]

We must cross paths everyday. I bike from Belmont Shores up the river trail!

 

[ez-Ebike]

We must cross paths everyday. I bike from Belmont Shores up the river trail!

 

[mcintyretj]

ez-Ebike, you must be in stealth mode. I did cross a Lee Iacocca ebike once, but do not think it was on the bike path. About 32 of my 50 miles a day are on the San Gabriel river path. I get on at Katella Ave. around 6:50am and head north. For me, riding on busy roads is stressful, so I feel lucky to have such a safe, low stress commute.

Yesterday was my last day of school and my 1 year anniversary of riding with this 500w kit (close to 6000 miles). It was probably my last ride because I have the 1000w kit unopened on my balcony waiting to be installed and 72 days off (no teaching summer school). Both of my 500w kits preformed much better than I could imagine. I ride hard (peddle) almost my entire commute but especially when climbing and love the workout. Also, since I have very few stops, I ride full throttle most the time except when there are kids, people walking or dogs on the path. This sure beats sitting in a hot car on the freeway in traffic. Here are some views:




The kit that has the repaired controller and modified shunt, runs about 15 or so degrees F hotter than the unmodified kit, both the controller and motor, so I do not recommend trying to modify the controller or plugging in 100 volts (24s).

First, my 15ah 48v Ping battery has been awesome. I have bottomed it out at least 30 times and it can still get me home (25+ miles over a 700 foot climb). I have more than 5700 miles and 220+ cycles. I have never worried about over charging and leave it on the charger almost every night. I have so much Velcro holding it on; it would take a thief 20 minutes to get detached from my bike. It should do fine on the 1000w motor for one more year.

The 2.4” Cyclops tires also get the thumbs-up. Since putting them on my spokes have stayed tensioned and things do not shake loose. The original 1.75 tire is OK for the slower rider. The extra cushion makes a big difference, especially for a non-suspension bike.

Also, I had been able to comfortably ride many of the trails above my school, and then take my students for a hikes on the same trails.

GPS bike ride map


Hike with students GPS map (I run back and forth pushing wheel chairs and help carry students that have trouble waking so I do a lot more miles than the students)

Here is a movie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbEtFOLvV-c


In addition, I finally spliced Anderson connectors and hooked up the charger that came with the kit:

View attachment 2
I could not read the label on the back (58,59 or 68,69v) but the no-load reading was 55.3volts.

I hooked it up to a 10ah 14s pack that was at about 51volts and after 2+ hours it was at 58.2volts which was my HVC because I had things to do.

I will try it with a 15s pack later but I think it will top off around 59v so it could be another backup for my Ping and 14s pack. If anyone has experience with this charger please comment.

My 72v controller arrived a few weeks ago along with another cheap Mean Well clone 72v charger/power supply (which can be adjusted up to 80v and down to 56v) so I will report on that project (500w motor, 72v controller) later in the summer.

 

[mcintyretj]

More on the yescomusa 48v charger.

Made an adapter to charge the 48v Ping battery. Started charging at 52.1v and it took about 2 hours to get it to 58.7. The charger then shut off and the volts quickly dropped to 56.0v.





I also attached it to a 15s pack but the charger did not turn on, probably because the pack's voltage was at 56v which is above the no-load voltage of the charger

It looks like it will make a good backup for a 14s lipo pack and a 48v lifepo4 pack like the Ping. Since I have three of these, I have taken one apart to see if I can adjust the voltage. In addition, both my 2amp and 5amp Ping chargers seem to be getting much warmer while charging. The charging time has also increased so I am expecting one to break soon. My next test will be to try 2 of these chargers in parallel.

 

[wesnewell]

More on the yescomusa 48v charger.
I also attached it to a 15s pack but the charger did not turn on, probably because the pack's voltage was at 56v which is above the no-load voltage of the charger

It looks like it will make a good backup for a 14s lipo pack and a 48v lifepo4 pack like the Ping. Since I have three of these, I have taken one apart to see if I can adjust the voltage. In addition, both my 2amp and 5amp Ping chargers seem to be getting much warmer while charging. The charging time has also increased so I am expecting one to break soon. My next test will be to try 2 of these chargers in parallel.

The charger won't turn on unless the battery voltage is below ~54V. If you have a pre-charge resistor circuit unplug the main connection and the voltage will drop low enough for the charger to start then plug the main back in. Watch the charging voltage as mine would go over 60V. A little too high for 14s.

 

[mcintyretj]

Thanks Wesnewell, that’s what I thought. Here are some views from inside:



I want to do more research before I start probing around more with my meter.





Today I officially retired one of my 500w kits and installed a 1000w kit. Both kits measured the same size and seemed almost the same weight so I put them on a scale.

View attachment 6

The 1000w wheel with a Cyclops tire weighted in at 20 pounds while the 500w kit with the same Cyclops was 18 pounds.

I picked up a double kickstand last week and it has come in very handy. I do not have a garage or lots of tools. I should have gotten one a year ago.



The 1000w controller was also much longer so I had to drill new holes in my back rack to mount it.



I did not change my throttle because it seemed the same as the 500w. After about 2 hours, I was zooming up the road into the wind at 30 mph, and with the wind at 32 mph.

When I got home I decided to swap out the 30-amp fuse for a 40-amp one.



I also tightened up the battery holder screws. After taking off the 4 velcro straps and cutting the zip ties, it took 2 butter knives and a spatula to get the battery free. This is a better view of how my battery is mounted.







I am still looking for a better battery placment but this does ok.

 

[wesnewell]

The 1000W motor weighs more because it has more copper in the wiring. The controller is longer because it's a 15 fet compared to a 12 fet for the 500W controller. Both are 30A and they are interchangeable, with the 15 fet rated for higher wattage continuous operation.

 

[mcintyretj]

Thanks wesnewell, I hit 35 mph with my 15s pack riding with the wind. I have not ridden up a hill yet, but when I start back to work (August 5th) I hope to keep up with the cars with the 1000w motor when going up Turnbull Canyon Rd..

I might be a little paranoid, but I have noticed the cops looking at me more lately.




Luckily, I am usually riding under 20mph but over the last 25 years I have spent more money paying bike violations than car violations. Be careful when riding in Seal Beach even on a non-electric bike

**********
I have been thinking about a switch/spark reducer so I decided to try some simple house 30amp breakers recommended by some here. Since I was using a basic 30amp car fuse for battery protection.



I just swapped in the breaker on my 500w bike. I just threw it with the battery in the front bag. Now I just connect everything and throw the switch when I am ready to go. It works great for around town riding when I stop a lot. I just flip the switch on or off.



On my 1000w bike I mounted the breaker by the controller.



Each one was about $5.00 at the local building supply store. If one gets a short, I can easily bypass it.

**********

Also, I finally got a chance to impress my wife with my minimal battery knowledge and ebike equipment. My daughter loves to listen to music and watch slide shows/videos of herself. My wife has been ordering these Disney Mix Max players on Amazon for about $9.00



The problem is that about 80% of them arrive dead, probably because they stopped making them in 2003 and the “Li-ion” battery is too low to be recognized by the charger/computer. So, when 2 arrived last week and both were DOA, I cracked one open and charged the battery with my cheap balance charger.






This brought it back to life. I did the same to the 2nd mix-max player so my daughter has 2 working players. Since my wife spent about 5 hours making a birthday video for my daughter, now having bike stuff (junk) laying around the house, does not seem to annoy her as much.

**********

 

[mcintyretj]

8400+-mile update

I have been commuting with the 1000w bike this school year, which started August 5th, and have 2000 miles in to work (40 x 50 miles) and another 400 or so miles around town this summer (72 days off). No changes have been made except for the bigger (1000w) motor.


I am still using the 48v 15ah Ping and have another 150 cycles on it (over 350). I know I am pushing its limits as far as max amps, but it seems to do fine. 14 months after my first ride (500w motor/Ping 48v 15ah battery) and over 6k on this battery, I made it home 25 miles using just the Ping and 1000w motor by just keeping my speed around 25 mph.

To get me to over the hill, I am using my 14s 10ah hobby king pack in the front bag. I really like the old car DVD case for the front because you have a nice workspace for checking/balancing.


I finally made it in to work in under an hour but I have been red flagged (banned) from the bike-tracking app “Strava” on just about every ride because I have not figured out how to make rides private on my phone (need to log on at a regular computer). Apparently, I am “king of the mountain” on all my sections until I get to a computer and check my ride “private.”

So, I downloaded a stop motion app for my camera and recorded a ride home one day:
Here is the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agXeBsxXZe4&feature=c4-overview&list=UUHsKsebH1QlCft8iXRtevPg
Kind of boring.

Also, my 5amp Ping (king pan) charger started spewing out white smoke (it had been getting hot) and stopped working, so I have been using the charger that came with the 500w kit to charge the Ping at school.



View attachment 1
This charger tops out at 58.7 volts then shuts off, so there is no balancing.

At home, the 2-amp charger that came with the Ping also stopped working. It was getting really hot and I was expecting it to go on vacation. Both lasted about a year, maybe 150 charges each.

I ordered a few more cheap Mean Well type clone adjustable power supplies: 60v-6amp, 60v-10amp, and 72v-5.5amp. They all seem to work fine, have a wide range of settings (+ & -15%) and cost less than $200.00 shipped for all three. When I get an amp meter, I will post reviews.

In addition, I ordered 14 Makita packs from Doctorbass a few months back and have been slowly constructing a battery pack.




I started by ordering a batch of buck step down power supplies so I could easily set the voltage at what I wanted. I ordered 2 sets of these off ebay:



I just hooked 8 of them up to a 12v power supply and set the voltage at 3.8. I can charge 8 batteries at once.

I also have been having my students check and charge old laptop batteries with this charger:


They seem to work well and the ones we tested all are right around 4.2 volts

I have used them both to balance my 14s pack by hitting a low cell for a few minutes to bring up the voltage. My HK 14s pack stays in balance well so I usually only spend about 5 minutes a month checking and balancing.

I can also give a full review of the 2.4" Cyclops tire. Mine is finally shot after 2000 miles on the front (500w bike) and 2000 miles on the back (1000w bike). Thats 4000 total miles which is excellent for the price. I have had a new Cyclops for a few weeks but have not had time to chage it yet. No loose spokes either. I will post pictures later

 

[mcintyretj]

This Cyclops 2.4" tire lasted 4500 miles (2500 on on the rear wheel).



Still has about 1/8" thickness of rubber in the center, which is 1/16th more than my new road bike tires have on them, so it could probably last another 1000 miles or so. Here is my new Cyclops.



**********
When I first started commuting to work on my bike, I was thinking maybe I would ride one or two days a week if the weather was good. Well, I now find that I am driving to work one or two days a month and riding the rest of the time. Since August 1st, I have purchased just 2 tanks of gas (which is 600 car miles) and commuted about 3k by bike. I am looking to upgrade a few componets.

First, I want to get some disk brakes which means I need a new bike frame. I have been looking for metal frame bikes at the swapmeet with disk brake ability. So far no luck. I do ride conservativly in traffic and in crowded sections so quick stopping has never been a big priority, however, I almost hit a deer this week and broke my front brake cable for the 3rd time in the last two months.







If anyone has suggestions for improving rim brake stopping, feel free to share.

*********

 

[The fingers]

Awesome wildlife in the hills. You could add a deer to your road kill list! :lol: I mostly see red tail hawks, coyotes, and ground squirrels in the daytime crossing the SBNWS. Lots of pelicans and herons along the river trail, especially around shopping cart falls.
At night it's mainly skunks and racoons, with an occasional possum. Night owls hunt more or less silently and invisibly using darkness for cover, like the SBPD who choose a pole with the streetlight out for catching speeders along the 60 mph zone.
Your students are getting a good example of seeing green commuting in action. The scenery and not being stuck in traffic on the freeway in full view of the wide open bike trail: priceless!

 

[wesnewell]

If anyone has suggestions for improving rim brake stopping, feel free to share.

Enable regen braking. Works great the faster you're going. No good for under 5-10 mph. I think most controllers support it. You just need to find it.