2WD Semi-Recumbent Recycled-Parts Cargo eBike: "CrazyBike2"
- Thread starter amberwolf
- Start date
John in CR
100 TW
texaspyro said:amberwolf said:
Yeah, like lipstick on a pig!at least wrap in in duct tape so we don't think you are going all hoity toity on us. Next thing we know, you'll have a crystal chandelier on the beast :lol: hmmm... that would be way cool...
A chandelier would be cool, but what I can't believe is that AW hasn't built a Starship Enterprise ebike or etrike yet. The battery space alone makes me want one and I'm not a trekkie.
If I didn't think it'd get stolen or something, I probably would have built a sci-fi themed one. Well, mine is sort of sci-fi themed, in that it's rather like the "ugly guns" many shows have, and the patched-together spaceships and whatnot. :lol: If I can find them I once made some sketches for bikes and trikes (non-electric) built around the designs for various sci-fi ships and shuttles. None of them were very practical designs, though.
Chandelier...I can imagine a bike decorated so that would fit in, though probably a trike would be better. Somewhere I have most of a cheap chandelier that hung from a cieling fan (which had clear lexan blades engraved like crystal); it is an ugly thing but I'm sure someone thought it was a good idea at the time.
Charging data from the picnic trip:
PackA:
24.98V before charge
7.147Ah
200Wh
PackB:
25.04V bc
6.803Ah
190.4Wh
Just going by memory (which isn't very good), it seems that when I don't discharge them hard or long, they stay roughly the same, but if I have any lengthy rides even at lower power levels, PackA gets notably further discharged than PackB. Since PackB is 1/2 made from the less-used cells sent at a later time, then this makes sense.
Chandelier...I can imagine a bike decorated so that would fit in, though probably a trike would be better. Somewhere I have most of a cheap chandelier that hung from a cieling fan (which had clear lexan blades engraved like crystal); it is an ugly thing but I'm sure someone thought it was a good idea at the time.
Charging data from the picnic trip:
PackA:
24.98V before charge
7.147Ah
200Wh
PackB:
25.04V bc
6.803Ah
190.4Wh
Just going by memory (which isn't very good), it seems that when I don't discharge them hard or long, they stay roughly the same, but if I have any lengthy rides even at lower power levels, PackA gets notably further discharged than PackB. Since PackB is 1/2 made from the less-used cells sent at a later time, then this makes sense.
Ooooh, bike with ceiling fan would be way cool and great for Phoenix in the summer. Add the chandelier and top them off with a big umbrella. Then all you need is a small hot tub on a towable trailer. Load those side carriers up with some brewskis and ice 8) Uhhh, I gotta head down to the patent office and file my patent for the Ultimate Chick Magnet and Portable Party Machine.
The stuff I bought from Veloman showed up today (well delayed by USPS holiday shipping times, as he sent it almost two weeks ago), though they sure beat up the box a lot, and they left it on the damp lawn behind a tree rather than the patio (behind the same tree). Previously it's only been UPS that does that.
Oh, well, at least it's all here and intact.
Now I'll need to learn how to use this particular chaintool (by "Sunrise"); it's a bit different from the ones I've had before (especially the one I have now, which is pretty nice but sometimes gets stuck during pin removal, due to a tiny brass bushing that is wearing out).
I have a fairly immediate use for some of the andersons; I'm going to use two of them for the pack-halves interconnect on the Vpower pack; the large PP50 I'm using now is not necessary and it is too large to fit the idea I have for how I'm likely to mount them. Will probably leave the main connector to the bike as a PP50, since it will hold better under vibration and it may need to be disconnected a lot (where the other one won't).
I am probably also going to use a pair of these new ones on a separate set of wires for the charger on the Vpower, so I don't have to disconnect the pack for charging, and also so I can charge thru the CA or TWM, etc., to verify amount of power back in after a ride vs out during a ride. To use the CA I'll have to either disconnect it from the controller end, or add a parallel pair of andersons and wires to that end of the CA shunt.
The smaller-type chain and the sprocket I'll likely be using in a project I'm still pondering, which would be a middrive type (the kind I like the best but seem least able to implement properly). I may end up using the pillow block/bearing for that, too, depending on which motor I drive it with and how. I had a sort of clear idea of it at one point, which is sketched up somewhere, but I havent' been able to find that paper for a while. The bracket might work for that, too, as might the shaft adapter.
Interestingly, the lighter adapter should fit a friend's CB radio on his motorcycle, which will give him a spare while on the road.
So far it's been damp and sometimes sprinkling the last few days, including today (probably will rain pretty good tonight, maybe heavily), and CB2 hasn't had any problems from it.
Previously it's only been UPS that does that. Oh, well, at least it's all here and intact.
Now I'll need to learn how to use this particular chaintool (by "Sunrise"); it's a bit different from the ones I've had before (especially the one I have now, which is pretty nice but sometimes gets stuck during pin removal, due to a tiny brass bushing that is wearing out).
I have a fairly immediate use for some of the andersons; I'm going to use two of them for the pack-halves interconnect on the Vpower pack; the large PP50 I'm using now is not necessary and it is too large to fit the idea I have for how I'm likely to mount them. Will probably leave the main connector to the bike as a PP50, since it will hold better under vibration and it may need to be disconnected a lot (where the other one won't).
I am probably also going to use a pair of these new ones on a separate set of wires for the charger on the Vpower, so I don't have to disconnect the pack for charging, and also so I can charge thru the CA or TWM, etc., to verify amount of power back in after a ride vs out during a ride. To use the CA I'll have to either disconnect it from the controller end, or add a parallel pair of andersons and wires to that end of the CA shunt.
The smaller-type chain and the sprocket I'll likely be using in a project I'm still pondering, which would be a middrive type (the kind I like the best but seem least able to implement properly). I may end up using the pillow block/bearing for that, too, depending on which motor I drive it with and how. I had a sort of clear idea of it at one point, which is sketched up somewhere, but I havent' been able to find that paper for a while. The bracket might work for that, too, as might the shaft adapter.
Interestingly, the lighter adapter should fit a friend's CB radio on his motorcycle, which will give him a spare while on the road.
So far it's been damp and sometimes sprinkling the last few days, including today (probably will rain pretty good tonight, maybe heavily), and CB2 hasn't had any problems from it.
etard
100 kW
Is that a #219 chain breaker? If so, what kind is it?
I only know for sure it's labelled as "Sunrise", and that it will work on #25 chain. Given that it has two separate tools plus one more pin set, it probably works on just about any chain (which is part of why I wanted it). So far I have not attempted to use it, as my hands still hurt too much inside to apply that kind of force and grip.etard said:
I also haven't found it on the web yet, to see if there is an online manual or anything, but I have only spent a couple of minutes, earlier today. The Sunrise name/logo appears to be cast into the main tool bodies themselves. The post that connects the two of them is threaded into each one, via a hole that appears to be first drilled and then partially (but not completely) threaded thru. Presumably this is so the post cant' be threaded thru far enough to interfere with using the tool, or chain placement, but I don't really know. If it were me I'd've just not drilled the hole all the way thru, but that would also make tapping the threads more labor intensive and thus more expensive.
I forgot to charge up the bike the other night after work, so ended up riding it for a bit over 10 miles on just the charge from the night before that.
Again, I can't find the paper I wrote the CA data down on before I reset it to do charging test on, but I recall some basic numbers:
~10 miles
~13mph avg
~20mph max
~5.5Ah
These two were easy to remember for some reason
260Wh
26Wh/mile
I didn't do much pedalling, except the couple of times I was on the bike path on the canal for a short distance (maybe 1/8 mile), and just a bit to help during startup from a stop each time, on the second day, keeping current draw down some at those points (probably saving 10A or so for a few seconds).
Now for charging data, which I have exact numbers for. I did it differently this time; I wanted to also measure the charge on the 12V NiMH lighting pack, which I keep meaning to do but forgetting to. At first I was going to use the large-screen CA that's mounted on the bike, but it doesn't turn on fully (just the backlight) at the voltage that NiMH is at. It does turn on with just the charger plugged into it, as that is over 15V unloaded, but as soon as the pack is plugged in the CA itself shuts down. I seem to recall an adjustment that can be made in the CA for this, but I didn't mess with it and decided to just use TWM1 for the 12V pack, and the CA for PackA instead, as that will be a minimum of 20-something volts even at worst case.
All these readings are several hours after charging completed, so with the Tenergy charger on the 12V pack, which totally shuts off after charge is done, the 12V pack voltage drops as it continues to power the TWM1 still attached to it. The other two chargers (24V HiPower type) keep a trickle charge running so they power the meters rather than the packs having to.
The Tenergy charger also does something else the others don't: it pulses on for two seconds, then off for two seconds, presumably to read the pack's actual voltage in that interval. Makes watching the realtime volts/watts/amps numbers during charge difficult, though, as the TWM never has a chance to settle long enough for me to read them easily until it finishes the charge.
Note also that this time, the PackA charger lead was pulled off the CA input, probably by my crazy sister (who decided to come home today after at least a couple of weeks of wandering wherever she goes, and was her usual crazy self, moving things and banging into stuff including the bike, for no reason). Guessing it was her as there are no chew marks or slobber on anything this time. But this means that for an unknown time after charge PackA was powering the CA, draining a bit of power from it, lowering it's voltage by an unknown amount (as the CA does not store peak voltage, just minimum voltage, and displays realtime voltage, just like the TWM and WU. I wish they did store that).
12V NiMH pack, TWM1:
13.69V final
13.29Vmin
1.66Ap
24.6Wp
1.972Ah
25.9Wh
24V NiMH PackA, LSCA:
28.2Vfinish
19.6Vm
9.67Ap
7.976Ah
227.31Wh
*no Wp as the CA doesn't store that
**guessing the extremely low Vm is from the attempt at charging the 12V pack, as I forgot to reset the CA again before starting PackA, and I think that 12V charger is around 20V unloaded).
24V NiMH PackB, TWM2:
28.51V
24.73Vm
2.97Ap
89.9Wp
7.794Ah
247.8Wh
It's fairly apparent that the CA must be doing something different in regards to Wh, W, and A vs the TWM. Since PackB pretty much always takes less Wh than PackA to recharge when they are drained this far, it has to be something in the way the readings are calculated that makes it look like PackA took so much less to recharge it (~20Wh), as it should show *more* Wh for PackA, especially given that it *does* show more Ah (~0.2Ah).
I'm guessing that the CA is more accurate than the TWM, but I don't know for sure. Both TWMs tend to read around the same, regardless of which one I use to charge which pack thru, so it's something different in how they calculate things.
The CA also calculates or measures peak current differently, even at these lower currents. It shows nearly 10A peak, while TWM1 shows the usual 2.97Ap. The charger itself is only a 3A charger, so perhaps the CA is simply very sensitive to very short transient current spikes. Perhaps this is adjustable somewhere (more likely only by rewriting the programming). I would like to know how short a transient it is measuring for these high values, and be able to adjust that window so I could more accurately know what a given system is pulling as typical peak currents without actually having to watch the Amax view while riding. I suppose I can make the logging cable, and setup the laptop to log the data, and review it later, but it'd be simpler to just jot down the CA's stored data.
Another interesting thing to note about the CA's sampling and display rates being faster is that it shows me some behavior about the 24V pack and charger that I had not known before. It's charging current and wattage varies over an 8-10 second cycle, but it holds the voltage constant. I'm not sure how that works electrically, but I can watch it on the realtime CA display data.
During charge, nearer the end of charge, I watched it vary from 62W up to 104W, with current varying from 2.29A to 2.51A at the same time, with the voltage never flickering from 29.7V.
I wonder if it is an artifact of the CA's calculations methods, but I suspect not since this kind of variation does not happen while I am riding at a constant throttle at a constant speed on a flat surface, with no wind (or a constant one).
The only variation I see on the TWM during the same stage is the same flicker of values it tends to have most of the time current is flowing thru the shunt. Voltage flickers from 29.21 to 29.24V, current from 2.97 to 2.98A, and power from 86.3 to 86.7W, not necessarily in sync with each other, and not over any particular cycle time, just more or less randomly, while I watched PackB on the other charger at the same time as observing the 10-second cycle on PackA via the CA.
As a totally random note, during my ride yesterday, I encountered my very first "nice" driver regarding super-loud ground-shaking sound systems: As they approached the intersection I was stopped at waiting to cross (with no other vehicles waiting), they shut off their bass completely as they slowed behind me and stopped. Only after they had turned (I went straight thru) and gone down their road a ways did they turn it back on (I could feel it again).
Almost all other drivers with such sound systems either don't change anything, or they actively turn it up LOUDER just to show off or hurt people nearby (probably both, for different people). I wish they'd all be as considerate as that, because those things are painfully loud--some of them enough to make me puke from the subsonic harmonics.
Most of the ones around here today sure aren't being considerate, as there's at least three of them rattling the windows of my house, with their cars parked elsewhere in the neighborhood (where I can't even see them from my house, mind you), having just left their sound systems running while they go inside and party or whatever.
Again, I can't find the paper I wrote the CA data down on before I reset it to do charging test on, but I recall some basic numbers:
~10 miles
~13mph avg
~20mph max
~5.5Ah
These two were easy to remember for some reason
260Wh
26Wh/mile
I didn't do much pedalling, except the couple of times I was on the bike path on the canal for a short distance (maybe 1/8 mile), and just a bit to help during startup from a stop each time, on the second day, keeping current draw down some at those points (probably saving 10A or so for a few seconds).
Now for charging data, which I have exact numbers for. I did it differently this time; I wanted to also measure the charge on the 12V NiMH lighting pack, which I keep meaning to do but forgetting to. At first I was going to use the large-screen CA that's mounted on the bike, but it doesn't turn on fully (just the backlight) at the voltage that NiMH is at. It does turn on with just the charger plugged into it, as that is over 15V unloaded, but as soon as the pack is plugged in the CA itself shuts down. I seem to recall an adjustment that can be made in the CA for this, but I didn't mess with it and decided to just use TWM1 for the 12V pack, and the CA for PackA instead, as that will be a minimum of 20-something volts even at worst case.
All these readings are several hours after charging completed, so with the Tenergy charger on the 12V pack, which totally shuts off after charge is done, the 12V pack voltage drops as it continues to power the TWM1 still attached to it. The other two chargers (24V HiPower type) keep a trickle charge running so they power the meters rather than the packs having to.
The Tenergy charger also does something else the others don't: it pulses on for two seconds, then off for two seconds, presumably to read the pack's actual voltage in that interval. Makes watching the realtime volts/watts/amps numbers during charge difficult, though, as the TWM never has a chance to settle long enough for me to read them easily until it finishes the charge.
Note also that this time, the PackA charger lead was pulled off the CA input, probably by my crazy sister (who decided to come home today after at least a couple of weeks of wandering wherever she goes, and was her usual crazy self, moving things and banging into stuff including the bike, for no reason). Guessing it was her as there are no chew marks or slobber on anything this time.
But this means that for an unknown time after charge PackA was powering the CA, draining a bit of power from it, lowering it's voltage by an unknown amount (as the CA does not store peak voltage, just minimum voltage, and displays realtime voltage, just like the TWM and WU. I wish they did store that). 12V NiMH pack, TWM1:
13.69V final
13.29Vmin
1.66Ap
24.6Wp
1.972Ah
25.9Wh
24V NiMH PackA, LSCA:
28.2Vfinish
19.6Vm
9.67Ap
7.976Ah
227.31Wh
*no Wp as the CA doesn't store that
**guessing the extremely low Vm is from the attempt at charging the 12V pack, as I forgot to reset the CA again before starting PackA, and I think that 12V charger is around 20V unloaded).
24V NiMH PackB, TWM2:
28.51V
24.73Vm
2.97Ap
89.9Wp
7.794Ah
247.8Wh
It's fairly apparent that the CA must be doing something different in regards to Wh, W, and A vs the TWM. Since PackB pretty much always takes less Wh than PackA to recharge when they are drained this far, it has to be something in the way the readings are calculated that makes it look like PackA took so much less to recharge it (~20Wh), as it should show *more* Wh for PackA, especially given that it *does* show more Ah (~0.2Ah).
I'm guessing that the CA is more accurate than the TWM, but I don't know for sure. Both TWMs tend to read around the same, regardless of which one I use to charge which pack thru, so it's something different in how they calculate things.
The CA also calculates or measures peak current differently, even at these lower currents. It shows nearly 10A peak, while TWM1 shows the usual 2.97Ap. The charger itself is only a 3A charger, so perhaps the CA is simply very sensitive to very short transient current spikes. Perhaps this is adjustable somewhere (more likely only by rewriting the programming). I would like to know how short a transient it is measuring for these high values, and be able to adjust that window so I could more accurately know what a given system is pulling as typical peak currents without actually having to watch the Amax view while riding. I suppose I can make the logging cable, and setup the laptop to log the data, and review it later, but it'd be simpler to just jot down the CA's stored data.
Another interesting thing to note about the CA's sampling and display rates being faster is that it shows me some behavior about the 24V pack and charger that I had not known before. It's charging current and wattage varies over an 8-10 second cycle, but it holds the voltage constant. I'm not sure how that works electrically, but I can watch it on the realtime CA display data.
During charge, nearer the end of charge, I watched it vary from 62W up to 104W, with current varying from 2.29A to 2.51A at the same time, with the voltage never flickering from 29.7V.
I wonder if it is an artifact of the CA's calculations methods, but I suspect not since this kind of variation does not happen while I am riding at a constant throttle at a constant speed on a flat surface, with no wind (or a constant one).
The only variation I see on the TWM during the same stage is the same flicker of values it tends to have most of the time current is flowing thru the shunt. Voltage flickers from 29.21 to 29.24V, current from 2.97 to 2.98A, and power from 86.3 to 86.7W, not necessarily in sync with each other, and not over any particular cycle time, just more or less randomly, while I watched PackB on the other charger at the same time as observing the 10-second cycle on PackA via the CA.
As a totally random note, during my ride yesterday, I encountered my very first "nice" driver regarding super-loud ground-shaking sound systems: As they approached the intersection I was stopped at waiting to cross (with no other vehicles waiting), they shut off their bass completely as they slowed behind me and stopped. Only after they had turned (I went straight thru) and gone down their road a ways did they turn it back on (I could feel it again).
Almost all other drivers with such sound systems either don't change anything, or they actively turn it up LOUDER just to show off or hurt people nearby (probably both, for different people). I wish they'd all be as considerate as that, because those things are painfully loud--some of them enough to make me puke from the subsonic harmonics.
Most of the ones around here today sure aren't being considerate, as there's at least three of them rattling the windows of my house, with their cars parked elsewhere in the neighborhood (where I can't even see them from my house, mind you), having just left their sound systems running while they go inside and party or whatever.
Crossposted from the Christmas Ride thread (for posterity of data):
I went out for a ride, since my crazy sister came back today and the only way to get her to leave is to leave myself (she won't stay in the house without someone else there).
Was around 330-4pm when I left, and 430-5pm when I got back (dont' remember for sure), after around 30-45 minutes of slowly cruising around, typically at 13-14MPH on CrazyBike2.
I meant to take the camera to get pics, since Christmas Day is the only day of the year that most places have empty parking lots, and usually the streets are pretty empty too. But I forgot the camera (and my sunglasses, which made it pretty hard to see going west in the bright afternoon sun).
This year, however, the main streets were just as full of traffic as any typical weekday afternoon of the same time. I did have to ride faster when on the main streets with traffic, but tried not to be on those much because it was not fun like I had hoped.
Side streets and neighborhoods were empty of traffic, though lots of parked cars, some in pretty stupid places, very unsafe if traffic had been anywhere near normal in those areas. Was able to ride pretty slow on all these streets.
Good news is that even though traffic was kind of bad, the actual drivers seemed to be being nice to each other and me, and there were a fair amount of bicycles on the road and sidewalks--mostly kids and teenagers but a few adults (mostly couples or groups). I'd say about 15-20 bikes in view at any given time on main streets (which have a view of at least a mile in each direction the street runs), and one or two on side streets (which don't go nearly as far).
I stopped for discussions about CrazyBike2 with a couple of people, who were interested more in the custom-built recycled aspect of it than the motorization, though they did wait afterward just to see me drive off silently without pedalling. More than a few families that were out in front yards with their kids or having talks by their cars as they prepared to leave (or were arriving) noticed me as I went by them, and since I was going so slow I could hear them talking, with lots of the kids saying things like "that's soo cool!". Hard not to notice me, as I was wearing my tie-dyed sweater and the swirly-colored Nutcase bike helmet, plus being on CrazyBike2 itself. :lol:
Was fun, and a nice day (about 70F or so, nice and sunny, with a breeze but no real wind in most places).
Since I didnt' get any pics, some dry data:
5.154miles
19.7mph max
11.8mph avg
26m 11s riding time
100.6Wh
19.5Wh/mile
1.998Ah
38.44Ap
56.6Vstart
52.7Vrest
43Vmin
(crossposted to CB2 thread for posterity)
I went out for a ride, since my crazy sister came back today and the only way to get her to leave is to leave myself (she won't stay in the house without someone else there).
Was around 330-4pm when I left, and 430-5pm when I got back (dont' remember for sure), after around 30-45 minutes of slowly cruising around, typically at 13-14MPH on CrazyBike2.
I meant to take the camera to get pics, since Christmas Day is the only day of the year that most places have empty parking lots, and usually the streets are pretty empty too. But I forgot the camera (and my sunglasses, which made it pretty hard to see going west in the bright afternoon sun).
This year, however, the main streets were just as full of traffic as any typical weekday afternoon of the same time.
I did have to ride faster when on the main streets with traffic, but tried not to be on those much because it was not fun like I had hoped. Side streets and neighborhoods were empty of traffic, though lots of parked cars, some in pretty stupid places, very unsafe if traffic had been anywhere near normal in those areas. Was able to ride pretty slow on all these streets.
Good news is that even though traffic was kind of bad, the actual drivers seemed to be being nice to each other and me, and there were a fair amount of bicycles on the road and sidewalks--mostly kids and teenagers but a few adults (mostly couples or groups). I'd say about 15-20 bikes in view at any given time on main streets (which have a view of at least a mile in each direction the street runs), and one or two on side streets (which don't go nearly as far).
I stopped for discussions about CrazyBike2 with a couple of people, who were interested more in the custom-built recycled aspect of it than the motorization, though they did wait afterward just to see me drive off silently without pedalling. More than a few families that were out in front yards with their kids or having talks by their cars as they prepared to leave (or were arriving) noticed me as I went by them, and since I was going so slow I could hear them talking, with lots of the kids saying things like "that's soo cool!".
Hard not to notice me, as I was wearing my tie-dyed sweater and the swirly-colored Nutcase bike helmet, plus being on CrazyBike2 itself. :lol:Was fun, and a nice day (about 70F or so, nice and sunny, with a breeze but no real wind in most places).
Since I didnt' get any pics, some dry data:
5.154miles
19.7mph max
11.8mph avg
26m 11s riding time
100.6Wh
19.5Wh/mile
1.998Ah
38.44Ap
56.6Vstart
52.7Vrest
43Vmin
(crossposted to CB2 thread for posterity)
No, I was too busy getting the Goodwill sticker off my Nutcase.texaspyro said:Nope, it was the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling fan under the beach umbrellaYou did get those installed, didn't you
amberwolf said:No, I was too busy getting the Goodwill sticker off my Nutcase.
It's a whole lot easier and less painful than getting duct tape off your Nutsack
I know a guy that had some GF issues and somehow found that out...There is a product call UnDu that causes all adhesives to temporarily forget how to stick. Available at craft stores (for too much money). Its active ingredient is heptane. Many rubber cement thinners are just heptane (others are hexane). You can get a quart for less than a couple ounce bottle of UnDu.
docnjoj
1 GW
And please use in well ventilated areas! Both organic solvents mentioned are quite a bit toxic if breathed in! I yell at my wife when she gets out the Undoo to remove lables. Nitromethane also will work and is a bit less toxic. It is found in cyanoacrylic cement remover and debonder.
otherDoc
otherDoc
oldpiper
1 kW
amberwolf said:No, I was too busy getting the Goodwill sticker off my Nutcase.texaspyro said:Nope, it was the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling fan under the beach umbrella
Use vegetable oil (Wesson, Crisco [oil], etc., store brands are just as good) for sticker glue. Apply liberally, let soak, and you won't need to mix it with too much elbow grease. Might even work with ducktape
.Cameron
docnjoj said:
Last time I checked, heptane is a rather safe solvent. A little potential for contact irritation. Heath level rated 1. Inhalation threshold is more than rather large.
Also it is very inert to plastic damage. I have never found a surface that it will affect... YMMV
Actually I usually just use either isopropyl or denatured alcohol, depending on which kind of sticker it is and if the surface is painted with certain kinds of paint (krylon is very easy to remove with DA, even after being dry for 20 years!).
Today I almost became a sandwich on my way to work, but fortunately there was no one in the left lane. Rigth in front of what used to be Golf'n'Stuff and is now Castles'n'Coasters, there is a NO STOPPING ANYTIME strip of very visible signs, because idiots used to just stop in the middle of fast (40mph) traffic to let people off and pick them up, causing accidents. Years ago they put up the signs and began strict enforcement of it for long enough to ensure it actually worked, but the enforcement and monitoring stopped a long time ago.
Today, some idiot in a little Bronco sized truck/SUV suddenly swerved from left lane to right lane and parked, in the middle of the lane, and started letting kids out all three doors (except driver door). One kid almost got hit and killed by a truck that was at that moment passing them on the left side, and did nto even have time to see them open the door much less do anything about it. I'm not even sure they knew they almost hit them. Fortunately no one got hit, but it was very close.
Since the vehcile that stopped had been going almost 40 when they did so, and I was only at 20, they were enough ahead of me as they cut into my lane that I could slow way down but I could not slam on brakes enough to totally stop before I would have hit them. I glanced at my rearview and prayed it was correct that no one was in that left lane and swerved over and around them just after that first truck was a few car lengths past them, and then back into the right lane in case I was wrong about the emptiness of the lane (as I had no time to look in the mirror again).
At the same instant I was braking, so was the car behind me, and though they were some distance back they also had trouble stopping quickly, and were less than 10 feet from the back of the idiot when they finally did stop, from what I could see in my mirror after I'd gotten back into my lane and all the way to the right edge, before I speeded back up and headed off. Less than 10 feet means less than the length of CB2 plus any real clearance to the front vehicle, meaning I'd probalby have been hit.
About two seconds after I got to the right hand lane again and was just looking back to see the above, a car passed us all very quickly, as if they had not slowed at all (probably hadn't), so they are probably why the vehicle behind me did not attempt to cut to the left as I had--they might not have had time to do so.
I'm not totally sure on the exact times involved, as it happened really really fast, and I didn't actually do any thinking, just reacting, as it happened. I'm just glad nobody actually got hurt, though the kid that had hopped out of the idiot's vehcile to the left side was still standing there, with the door open, crying becuase they were so scared at nearly being hit by that truck, and probably also by me swerving around though I was well clear of the whole vehicle, all the horn honking that was going on, and the screeching of the various car brakes/tires behind them.
Usually it's not so dramatic, as the vehicles are already stopped there before I even get close, especially the Shamrock truck that likes to unload right there in the street, despite the signs and despite the loading dock pull-out made just for that purpose that is not 25 feet away from them down the road, much much closer to the service entrance they ahve to take the stuff thru. I and others have reported the Shamrock trucks to both the Shamrock company and to the police, to no avail--they still park there and cause a pretty big hazard due to where they park and what they're doing--people have to slam on their brakes to keep from hitting the people unloading it because they just walk right out into the street form behind the truck without evne looking. Somebody is going ot get killed one of these days, because of it, if they don't stop.
Today I almost became a sandwich on my way to work, but fortunately there was no one in the left lane. Rigth in front of what used to be Golf'n'Stuff and is now Castles'n'Coasters, there is a NO STOPPING ANYTIME strip of very visible signs, because idiots used to just stop in the middle of fast (40mph) traffic to let people off and pick them up, causing accidents. Years ago they put up the signs and began strict enforcement of it for long enough to ensure it actually worked, but the enforcement and monitoring stopped a long time ago.
Today, some idiot in a little Bronco sized truck/SUV suddenly swerved from left lane to right lane and parked, in the middle of the lane, and started letting kids out all three doors (except driver door). One kid almost got hit and killed by a truck that was at that moment passing them on the left side, and did nto even have time to see them open the door much less do anything about it. I'm not even sure they knew they almost hit them. Fortunately no one got hit, but it was very close.
Since the vehcile that stopped had been going almost 40 when they did so, and I was only at 20, they were enough ahead of me as they cut into my lane that I could slow way down but I could not slam on brakes enough to totally stop before I would have hit them. I glanced at my rearview and prayed it was correct that no one was in that left lane and swerved over and around them just after that first truck was a few car lengths past them, and then back into the right lane in case I was wrong about the emptiness of the lane (as I had no time to look in the mirror again).
At the same instant I was braking, so was the car behind me, and though they were some distance back they also had trouble stopping quickly, and were less than 10 feet from the back of the idiot when they finally did stop, from what I could see in my mirror after I'd gotten back into my lane and all the way to the right edge, before I speeded back up and headed off. Less than 10 feet means less than the length of CB2 plus any real clearance to the front vehicle, meaning I'd probalby have been hit.
About two seconds after I got to the right hand lane again and was just looking back to see the above, a car passed us all very quickly, as if they had not slowed at all (probably hadn't), so they are probably why the vehicle behind me did not attempt to cut to the left as I had--they might not have had time to do so.
I'm not totally sure on the exact times involved, as it happened really really fast, and I didn't actually do any thinking, just reacting, as it happened. I'm just glad nobody actually got hurt, though the kid that had hopped out of the idiot's vehcile to the left side was still standing there, with the door open, crying becuase they were so scared at nearly being hit by that truck, and probably also by me swerving around though I was well clear of the whole vehicle, all the horn honking that was going on, and the screeching of the various car brakes/tires behind them.
Usually it's not so dramatic, as the vehicles are already stopped there before I even get close, especially the Shamrock truck that likes to unload right there in the street, despite the signs and despite the loading dock pull-out made just for that purpose that is not 25 feet away from them down the road, much much closer to the service entrance they ahve to take the stuff thru.
I and others have reported the Shamrock trucks to both the Shamrock company and to the police, to no avail--they still park there and cause a pretty big hazard due to where they park and what they're doing--people have to slam on their brakes to keep from hitting the people unloading it because they just walk right out into the street form behind the truck without evne looking. Somebody is going ot get killed one of these days, because of it, if they don't stop. amberwolf said:
The nice thing about UnDu is it causes the adhesive to release making it fairly easy to get the sticker off without a lot of undo scraping, etc. The bad thing is you still get some adhesive residue left behind than you have to clean off with alcohol, Goo-Gone, etc.
docnjoj
1 GW
texaspyro said:
Not safe enough for me. Check this out.
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthguidelines/heptane/recognition.html
otherDoc
docnjoj said:
Spills of unlimited size don't need to be reported. 1000 ppm inhalation threshold. May cause hilarity. :lol:
I thiink the only safer solvent you will find is dihydrogen monoxide... but then 2 oz of that has been known to cause death!
docnjoj
1 GW
[/quote]
Cute! Truly lethal stuff, TP! Especially in a cold shower.
otherDoc
It wasn't nearly so lethal when it came down in powdery crystal form today, though.
IT SNOWED IN PHOENIX!
Nothing even stuck to the ground or anything in my area, but I guess in some areas it did; a few people that came into the store I work at said that various friends and relatives in certain areas like Chandler had actually been sent home from work/etc. because of it.
Here in my area, around Metrocenter, it just had a few flurries here and there, but it was bizarrely while the sun was shining down on the area at the time, between the clouds. Those clouds had looked lke ominous rainclouds when I left for work, but apparently had only harmless snow within them.
I'd been afraid it might be a bad rain because all day yesterday it was drizzling to pouring, and cold, and last night up until at least 3-4am it was thundering/lightning and going from drizzle to drown every few minutes, with some pretty intense winds toward morning. Sometime after I fell asleep the rains stopped and it actually cleared up enough to be partly sunny.
When I headed out at 1:20PM today, the winds were gusting hard enough to nearly knock me over on CB2 (which takes quite a lot), and a couple of times a gust during a turn caused me to skid a little.
I used up significantly more power than usual getting to work, fighting both sidewinds and headwinds all the way there. Despite it being sunny, it was very cold riding--I had jogging sweatpants on under my work pants, and double socks along with ankle-boots, and both pants tucked into the socks. Also had a thick t-shirt under my work shirt, with a thick black sweater over that, plus my snowboarding gloves with the liners in them, and I still had to stop halfway there and put on my army (airforce?) raincoat to keep the wind from cutting right thru anyway. My fingers were still numb when I got there. I couldn't even pedal to help the motor or keep myself warmer, because doing so made it really really hard to control the bike's juddering about in the wind.
It was around an hour and a half after I'd left home that the first of the few snow flurries happened, pointed out to me by a customer as I rang them up and bagged their purchase.
The winds died down sometime after dark, and were almost still by the time I got off work at 9PM, leaving around 910PM. Had to go to Fry's for some groceries (didn't want to risk it with the winds and probable rain before work) on the way home, so the total trip distance is about a mile more than usual.
I'm going to guesstimate that the daytime temperatures without windchill were around 45-50F, and I know for sure they dropped to 28F before I left work (thermometers we have for monitoring stuff, plus a roadside sign I passed was 26F about 15 minutes later). By the time I got home at about 10pm-ish, it was 24F, and right this second it is 21F out there, with frost all over the ground and grass breaking off when I walk on it. There is a very light breeze, making it worse. In my bedroom where I sit typing this, it's 54F, and it's pretty close to freezing in the rest of the house already. I left all the taps dripping a little just in case.
I put the bike pack on teh chargers, and will leave them trickling to keep the packs at least a tiny bit warmer overnight, since I will need to use them tomorrow at least once, and maybe for a long trip to a new-years-eve party (not sure if I'm going yet).
When I came out of the grocery store, I turned on the CFL headlight and taillight, and it took almost 8 seconds for it to even begin to light up. It took nearly a minute to reach what seemed like even close to normal brightness.
Now for the data part.
Keeping in mind the winds in the daytime and the cold at night, I had to basically use full throttle the whole time just to keep to 15-17MPH on the way to work, with around 17.5MPH being the absolute max I could go at something like 31A draw when gusts hit, and nearly 15-18A for long intermittent pushes, rarely below 8A the whole way there. Normally I'd be 2-6A for cruising at 18-20MPH, with a max full throttle speed capability of 23-25MPH.
I'd charged the pack up the previous morning, so it had sat doing it's NiMH-self-discharge thing for about 24 hours or so before I left for work, in a room that was perhaps 45F most of that time. Normally it'd be 56.6V at full, but it was only 55.4V when I turned it on, dropping and then bouncing back to only 54V no-load the first time I stopped (about 1/8 mile from the house). That's a lot lower than usual, probalby because of teh lower temperatures.
On the way to work, it used 1.67Ah (of the total 3.461Ah), for just 2.2 miles of the 5.93 mile total trip distance. Nearly half the power for only about 1/3 of the distance, thanks to that wind. It's hard to read my writing on the note I made when I got to work, but I think it says 36.7Wh/mi for the average power consumption for that work trip. That's over 10Wh/mi more than the average normal amount!
So...
161.46Wh
3.461Ah
27.4Wh/mi
5.93mi
12.1mph avg
20.9mph max (on my way home)
29m 17s trip time
48.4Vr when I first got home from work
50.7Vr after sitting in the house for an hour
42.4Vm
36.36Ap
This is definitely a good night to have five dogs surrounding me on the bed. :lol:
IT SNOWED IN PHOENIX!
Nothing even stuck to the ground or anything in my area, but I guess in some areas it did; a few people that came into the store I work at said that various friends and relatives in certain areas like Chandler had actually been sent home from work/etc. because of it.
Here in my area, around Metrocenter, it just had a few flurries here and there, but it was bizarrely while the sun was shining down on the area at the time, between the clouds. Those clouds had looked lke ominous rainclouds when I left for work, but apparently had only harmless snow within them.
I'd been afraid it might be a bad rain because all day yesterday it was drizzling to pouring, and cold, and last night up until at least 3-4am it was thundering/lightning and going from drizzle to drown every few minutes, with some pretty intense winds toward morning. Sometime after I fell asleep the rains stopped and it actually cleared up enough to be partly sunny.
When I headed out at 1:20PM today, the winds were gusting hard enough to nearly knock me over on CB2 (which takes quite a lot), and a couple of times a gust during a turn caused me to skid a little.
I used up significantly more power than usual getting to work, fighting both sidewinds and headwinds all the way there. Despite it being sunny, it was very cold riding--I had jogging sweatpants on under my work pants, and double socks along with ankle-boots, and both pants tucked into the socks. Also had a thick t-shirt under my work shirt, with a thick black sweater over that, plus my snowboarding gloves with the liners in them, and I still had to stop halfway there and put on my army (airforce?) raincoat to keep the wind from cutting right thru anyway. My fingers were still numb when I got there. I couldn't even pedal to help the motor or keep myself warmer, because doing so made it really really hard to control the bike's juddering about in the wind. It was around an hour and a half after I'd left home that the first of the few snow flurries happened, pointed out to me by a customer as I rang them up and bagged their purchase.
The winds died down sometime after dark, and were almost still by the time I got off work at 9PM, leaving around 910PM. Had to go to Fry's for some groceries (didn't want to risk it with the winds and probable rain before work) on the way home, so the total trip distance is about a mile more than usual.
I'm going to guesstimate that the daytime temperatures without windchill were around 45-50F, and I know for sure they dropped to 28F before I left work (thermometers we have for monitoring stuff, plus a roadside sign I passed was 26F about 15 minutes later). By the time I got home at about 10pm-ish, it was 24F, and right this second it is 21F out there, with frost all over the ground and grass breaking off when I walk on it. There is a very light breeze, making it worse. In my bedroom where I sit typing this, it's 54F, and it's pretty close to freezing in the rest of the house already.
I left all the taps dripping a little just in case. I put the bike pack on teh chargers, and will leave them trickling to keep the packs at least a tiny bit warmer overnight, since I will need to use them tomorrow at least once, and maybe for a long trip to a new-years-eve party (not sure if I'm going yet).
When I came out of the grocery store, I turned on the CFL headlight and taillight, and it took almost 8 seconds for it to even begin to light up. It took nearly a minute to reach what seemed like even close to normal brightness.
Now for the data part.
Keeping in mind the winds in the daytime and the cold at night, I had to basically use full throttle the whole time just to keep to 15-17MPH on the way to work, with around 17.5MPH being the absolute max I could go at something like 31A draw when gusts hit, and nearly 15-18A for long intermittent pushes, rarely below 8A the whole way there.
Normally I'd be 2-6A for cruising at 18-20MPH, with a max full throttle speed capability of 23-25MPH. I'd charged the pack up the previous morning, so it had sat doing it's NiMH-self-discharge thing for about 24 hours or so before I left for work, in a room that was perhaps 45F most of that time. Normally it'd be 56.6V at full, but it was only 55.4V when I turned it on, dropping and then bouncing back to only 54V no-load the first time I stopped (about 1/8 mile from the house). That's a lot lower than usual, probalby because of teh lower temperatures.
On the way to work, it used 1.67Ah (of the total 3.461Ah), for just 2.2 miles of the 5.93 mile total trip distance. Nearly half the power for only about 1/3 of the distance, thanks to that wind. It's hard to read my writing on the note I made when I got to work, but I think it says 36.7Wh/mi for the average power consumption for that work trip. That's over 10Wh/mi more than the average normal amount!
So...
161.46Wh
3.461Ah
27.4Wh/mi
5.93mi
12.1mph avg
20.9mph max (on my way home)
29m 17s trip time
48.4Vr when I first got home from work
50.7Vr after sitting in the house for an hour
42.4Vm
36.36Ap
This is definitely a good night to have five dogs surrounding me on the bed. :lol:
deVries
100 kW
This seems to be a global phenomenon of late. Wonder what the Sun is doing?amberwolf said:
Glad you got 5 dogs anyway! :lol:
I just heard the most awfulest weirdest noise just outside my bedroom window, kinda like a combination of a squeaky gate hinge (on a 300 foot high gate) and a cat being flung round a ceiling fan, so I went out to investigate (was going to ignore it but couldn't with the dogs all trying to get me up to go see). I didn't find anything that would make such a noise, although I suppose it could be a bird in the pine tree right there, perhaps crying out from the cold?
Anyhow, while outside I checked the (electronic) thermometers out there, and found that they've all either gone wonky or blank. The only mercury thermometer left out there (that didn't burst from direct sun hitting it last summer or the one before) says it's 15 or 16F, and it tends to be hard to read for sure when it's below freezing; it seems to be less accurate at those low temps than the electronic ones. (Or at least, they all tend to agree on a temperature a few degrees different from what that one shows). So it's probably anywhere from 15F to 20F out there at the moment, although I would bet on the lower few degrees of that.
No wind at all, not even a breeze. Frost everywhere, but thin, so you can't see it directly but only by the crystally light reflections from other things. I can feel it when I touch things, but it melts away as soon as I do. Ground is not frozen, but the grass appears to be. Gets much colder and the dogs are gonna have icicles when they pee. :lol:
Anyhow, while outside I checked the (electronic) thermometers out there, and found that they've all either gone wonky or blank.
The only mercury thermometer left out there (that didn't burst from direct sun hitting it last summer or the one before) says it's 15 or 16F, and it tends to be hard to read for sure when it's below freezing; it seems to be less accurate at those low temps than the electronic ones. (Or at least, they all tend to agree on a temperature a few degrees different from what that one shows). So it's probably anywhere from 15F to 20F out there at the moment, although I would bet on the lower few degrees of that. No wind at all, not even a breeze. Frost everywhere, but thin, so you can't see it directly but only by the crystally light reflections from other things. I can feel it when I touch things, but it melts away as soon as I do. Ground is not frozen, but the grass appears to be. Gets much colder and the dogs are gonna have icicles when they pee. :lol:
docnjoj
1 GW
Wow AW! A 5 dog night!
otherDoc
otherDoc
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