A little bit of testing - and advice needed

[Camel]

Had the bike out on a few good rides! So far all good. Just doing the usual settling in adjustments, setting the front shock.

Had to true the back wheel a bit. Was delivered reasonably tight but needed tightening to really set it straight after a few klicks.

Really enjoying the assist. The handling is sweet.

Took a turn past the office and back on the weekend just to see.

First go at the route I really did some leg assist and really nursed the throttle usage. Was pleased with the battery pack. Got the trip done in around 60mins and that was after going up the lift and chatting to some colleagues for some ten minutes. Route is 20km round trip. Battery was still good for good few more km's.

It normally takes me 40mins to an hour with car in rush hour, just one way!

The route in is a real uphill bitch all the way and the last hill is a real killer. That's where I really cranked the high gear and sucked a good few AH out the pack. The bike would never have made the climb without a lot of Human Power.

Not too perturbed I charged the pack and took the bike out again on Sunday on the same route. This time there was no mercy on the pack. Gave it max boost and held the throttle all the way in the whole distance (Minimal Human power assist).

Result - Surprisingly better. Little Sweat on the run in and the return cruise was a breeze. Until I made it 3 blocks from the house on the return uphill.

Got the controller to cut out - I was expecting this as I had really hammered the assist. Damn - Now I know what it feels like to crank 25kg's of dead weight uphill. When the controller did cut I stopped and checked Motor, Battery Pack and Controller for signs of heat - Surprisingly the motor wasn't even warm, the pack and controller totally cool. At least the BMS works!

I am not too perturbed about giving it horns on the way into the office - The return ride more than makes up for the draw on the battery and I have no issue getting a little legwork in the home run.

My Only concern is that last hill in to the office. I still got to put in a 9 hour day and really don't want the "Gym Bunny" sweat connotation label.

The hub motor is a rear 8FUN 250w unit, the battery pack is a PHYLION 36V 10AH and the controller is a 14 amp unit.

I took the controller out and managed to get the following details off it -

EBIKE SPEED CONTROLLER
Voltage: 36 VDC
CURRENT: 14 +/- 0.5A
Low Voltage: 30+/- 0.5V
SPEED: 1 - 4.2V
TYPE: SY-WK2Q36-250
Also a batch no. yadayadayada and Serial no. yadayadayada

My question basically is this -

Seems like I need a little more TORQUE (The speed doesn't phase me a bit - Wellllll - Not at this stage anyway)

Could I not dump in a a higher AMP controller? Realistically a MAX of about 25 AMPS (Just for those hills) Sure I'm gonna reduce my assist distance but we know this is a give and take scenario.

Would the 8FUN be able to handle a couple more AMPS without crisping the winding's?
I really want to make this work for a while.


I know this is a very entry level setup, but I have firm sights on a decent upgrade. Just got to save a few pennies for my wishlist -

Must get CA (Cycle analyst)
Must go to higher voltage - 48/72
Must get real nasty AMP chewer motor
Must get a set of LUMINATORS
Must build BMS balancer
Must buy/build MEGA V/AH Battery pack

etc, etc - Damn, no wonder this is endless-sphere!

Cheers - Gonna brave the cold tomorrow and take the bike (Probably give me an extra 10mins at the coffee machine - )

PS: Attached elevation graph (Courtesy of http://www.mappedometer.com/) of the round trip route. Grind in - All pleasure on the return.

 

[dogman dan]

I would not hesitate to put 20 amps of 36v on that motor. About 800w peak. right now you likely only get 400 peak.

But I would seriously advise you to NOT put 20 amps on that battery. It would be pushing it to its very limits up that hill everyday, and very likely would not last near as long as it would on the stock motor and controller. Besides, up your wattage and you'd just run out that much further from the workplace. So you need more battery to do any upgrades.

So you are looking at a bigger investment than a new controller or a blob of slolder on the shunt of your current controller.

Looks like you are prepared to spend more, bit by bit. Start with a really good battery is my advice, so you at least dont have to worry about using all you have now getting to work. Your controller may work with 48v, so maybe the best upgrade would be an A123 pack of 11 ah, which has more wh in it than your current battery. Higher discharge rate too, so bigger motor later will still be ok.

Maybe do it all sooner if you can sell off your current kit while it's still new?

 

[Camel]

Hi Dogman -OMGosh - Time does fleet by when MADNESS (work) is in control -

Just a quick word of thanks and update.

Had a bit of a setback when this unfortunate incedent happened - (This is an email I sent to the supplier of my newbee introduction to this E-Bike addiction).

Hi James

Thanks for the response, my delayed reply is due to work circumstances, I have been in Tzaneen for the implementation of a new network installation. (Got back Friday).

OK – Now for the real “SH*T” – Just got taken out on the bike in the exit of a damn shopping centre!! – Dumb “B*TCH” could not traverse a two lane traffic circle in accordance with the Road Traffic Act!

Having just got home without a week and a half of riding I popped down to the store today to grab some necessaries. (Why take a car if my E-Bike can do this justifiably?)

Anyway, returning home from the shops we have to negotiate a dual lane traffic circle. Outside lane traffic departs the “Roundabout” to the left on the first exit , Inside lane traffic departs the “Roundabout” on the subsequent two exits. Sh*t – not F*’n rocket science. – Dumb PETROL HEAD – decides halfway that this is not the lane she wants to be in and promptly wants to cut into the inside lane! No Indicator! Just pull right! – F*’n B*TCH.

Thank GOD for the guy behind me in the correct lane saw this. He climbed on the hooter just as this COW and I collided. Being in the car she was in I connected her wing mirror with the bars – The left side pedal digs a gouge in her driver side door and I get dumped in the middle of a traffic circle. Stuffed up the grip, pushed the LHS brake lever out of kilter and smashed the ON/OFF power select controller. Stripped the mounting bolt and cracked the cover wide open. Never mind the fact that her RHS wing mirror is now cracked and bent into an non- standard driving position – This woman just drives off! The guy behind me that started hooting also pulls off. Typical I think (Just doesn’t want to get involved). Anyway I pick up the bike and try and collect myself. First crap – I CANNOT turn the bike on – oh – obvious the ON/OFF casing is dangling off the handlebars. By this time there is the usual RUBBERNECK interest and I’m getting really pissed off. Anyway not many minutes later as I start trying to take stock of the situation – ie. Check the bike properly, what else got fragged, etc. this guy strolls over and hands me a business card – WTF?

He says – “Don’t go anywhere, that driver that knocked you over is coming back”. I assumed that the guy that saw the incident and just drove off actually chased after the woman that hit me and apprehended her at the next of lights! Anyway got all the details swapped, etc. DAMN sore – nursing a bruised leg and sprained wrist.

Just been going through the bike – I seem to have come off worse.

So – Bike damage:

Besides an out of kilter Handle Bar (Just loosened the top headset with a HEX key and straightened)

Had to level the LHS brake lever (No damage - Lucky)
LHS Pedal got a colour change – Little bit more ZEBRA with that non-factory supplied white car paint. (Also lost the reflector, didn’t notice that till now).

The big killer – NO EBIKE!

The ON/OFF Power Select got whacked! Cover cracked off, stripped the mounting bolt.
Repeated attempts at pressing ON/OFF = NADA (No POWER ON or BATTERY INDICATOR. POWER SELECT mode dead, just a faint flicker of the BATTERY INDICATOR light and then all dead.)

Luckily no other damage on bike except LHS Handle bar grip chewed some tar. Not even a scratch on the frame! Took me a while to pedal home after the repeated insistence that I be taken home. Gears, brakes, etc. worked like a charm, not even a buckled rim!

First – let me gulp some more pain killers (Taking a little strain).

OK – So the bike won’t switch on. I start on all the obvious. Take the battery out and check the fuse and voltage using the DVM. All good – 40.3v stable.
Put battery back. Clip ON/OFF housing back together. Still no action.

Remove battery and put on charge just to make sure. No Problems – 5 min’s later all green. (I only went 3 Km’s to the shop and bloody well had to pedal home! No time to drain a pack.)

Open ON/OFF housing, cannot see anything obvious. Unscrew circuit board from housing. Voilla! First problem – BLUE wire has broken off circuit board. Solder the sucker back on. Re-assemble and put battery back in bike – try again to switch on – No Luck!!

So what now?
Apart from the obvious that the ON/OFF Power Select got mangled in the altercation. How do I resolve this issue?
This definitely cannot be considered as a warranty claim. How am I going to get the bike up and running again?
Can you provide me a replacement ON/OFF unit? My biggest concern is, could something else have been damaged? Controller, etc. The bike was switched on and running at the time of the accident.

Is there another way to test that the controller, hub motor are still ok? I will be in bed tomorrow nursing the hurts. Please let me know what can be done to fix this issue.


Your assistance is highly appreciated.


Best regards

Mark

PS: I took some photos and I will send the pictures when I get them off the phone.

Ok - Barring the the above incident - ALL is still GOOD.

From my original post requesting some info I did NOT take all your advice! and ship the vehicle to a more sedate rider -

However I did satisfy my wish list above with a few needed components -

Must get CA (Cycle analyst) - Yeah in the bag and ON the Bike! (V2.5 but just the Dog's Bollocks). Love the look and functionality of the V3 but I will leave that for the next build. (Just had to get BBOEBS - Bum Back on EBike Seat/Saddle).
Must go to higher voltage - 48/72 - MMM - Still on old pack. But will reserve comments for below.
Must get real nasty AMP chewer motor. The small FROCKER has a little bit more work to do. (Albeit it be within limits before we discuss a change).
Must get a set of LUMINATORS -Yeah, so glad I did this. Just jack it into the CA and hello DAYLIGHT! - small miss-communication on order and delivery of exact unit but this light commands all road user respect.)
Must build BMS balancer - Reserverd for NEXT QUESTION
Must buy/build MEGA V/AH Battery pack - Reserverd for NEXT QUESTION

I also ordered a few other bits and pieces from Justin -

Took a new 40AMP controller.
Rear LED ON/Flash indicator unit. Incident above has raised my level of awareness, STEALTH is my goal in some aspects but VISIBILITY is the plus (Be SEEN don't be DEAD!).
Also could not resist taking the Cycle Analogger with a little bit of GPS - Need to just double check my connections.

My only mistake - Not taking set of TORQUE arms at the same time. (Back to self locking nut's and manual welded/ground torque washers.)

E-Bikes.ca - you Guys ROCK! - All my questions answered, equipment delivered as promised - PLUS the recommendation for the connector kit, barring a slight mismatch in component detail. An issue that can always be resolved later.

Pause in post - (Give me a few minutes - No joke - going to take a spin around the block and luminate the street/tracks and potholes! - Just want consolidate some info before my next barrage of questions).

Helmet on? - Check!
GLUBS on? - Check!
PACK on? - Check!
Controller on? - Check!
CA on? Check?
Rear LED on? - Check
Luminator on? - OK who turned the SUN on? - Check!
CAM/VIDEO on? uumm - Add to wish list. DOT.

Launch confirmed? - Gone! NIGHT RIDE!

Back later

 

[dogman dan]

Arggg. Hope the bitch's insurance co is paying for it all.

Now you know, every single one of them is trying to kill you. Ride accordingly, consider yourself always invisible.

Sounds like bike two is gonna be much more fun.

 

[John in CR]

Send the guy who ran her down a note of much thanks from the ebikers of the world. We'll be a significant part of transportation all over the world just like our 50-60 million brothers and sisters in China, and we all have his back any time he needs it. 8)

Great job getting yourself back on the road. My only concern on your upgrade system is motor heat on that uphill ride to work. Be sure to check for heat at several points on the ride, especially when you reach the office. That way you can learn your system's limits, what makes it run hotter and what helps it run cooler. With your destination right after that steepest climb, be sure to run it easy and under power that flat part at the end to help cool it down a bit before stopping completely. Otherwise the motor can sit there roasting itself in stagnant air inside the motor shell for an extended time at its highest temperature of the entire ride. Check the motor temp soon after cresting that last hill, and then again when you reach the office to gauge what works best to get it cooled down a bit.

John

 

[Camel]

Just got back in. (All Ok)

Whew! - A little bit chilly out there at this latitude, 26 degrees south for this time of year and add a certain chill factor - Brrrr - Cup of coffee with a shot of Dr. KlipDrift seems to help.

Dogman, John in CR, appreciate the assistance - I was very upset about the above incident - Insurance agent (from party B [i.e. four wheeled ICE driver]) contacted me for claimant values last week, etc. Let’s see what transpires.

I will download CA-LOG_GPS data tomorrow and analyse data compared to Sunday's jaunt. I will once again present my Id10t questions.

This bike is a totally different animal! - Why does that INFINEON (40A) controller, coupled with the CA change this game so much?

Best Regards

 

[patrickza]

In electric terms, you can think of amps like torque and volts like power. It's note entirely correct though as power is actually amps times volts, but it does feel about right.

I'm in Joburg too, you should come around so I can show you what 76.8v50A feels like!

Edit, here's a run you might recognise:
[youtube]2S8lJVmrq9A[/youtube]

 

[Camel]

Hi Patrick

Cheers mate! Your VID made my day. - You just smoked that TAXI! LOL! (No offence to other readers, but these TAXIS (And we have a an illegal term for them) are just death on wheels on our roads - STEER CLEAR - They are just a law unto themselves).

That's a neat setup you got there. I know that drag up from under the highway to MD's. (Just one insistent bitch grind gradient - and you hauled it at a good clip!)

Those chaps in the bakkie and BMW certainly dropped a jaw and gawk! - KUDOS.

I would certainly like to take you up on your offer and come have chat over a beer or two.

Just dial that beast down to zzzzzzzz mode if I have to straddle it.

Dogman hinted I should just offload my "Cookie Cruncher" to a sedate user and start the project from scratch. I just don't have the heart as management (a.k.a. WIFE) was very keen for to me embark on this mode of transport (ulterior motives?) and lashed the cash for the unit.

Be that as it may, I wilted the plastic with the above items from my wishlist just to prove that I am in desperate need of an upgrade in the Energy and Motor department.

Just great to know that us e-bikers exist in JHB (Traffic Conditions!). I'll drop a PM later if that suits.

E-BIKE Rubber Side Down - Cheers Mark