Adrian's E-vanti (First E-Bike Build)
- Thread starter adrian_sm
- Start date
adrian_sm
1 MW
NeezyDeezy said:
Sure been meaning to do this for a while.
I found a perfect little DC-DC converter on eBay for cheap.
http://www.hitron-e.com/pdf/hdm/HDM30T-2003.pdf
IN: 18-72V
OUT: +3.3V/500mA, +6V/3000mA, +12V/1000mA
So I created a t-connector between the battery and controller, and power it up.
Then I have the 3.3V running a cheap LED red blinky light, removing the 2xAAA, and hardwiring it in.
Something like this one:
Then for headlights I am using two of these.
They happily accept the 6V. But if I did it again I would either go with lights without the different flash modes.
Like this one. Or upgrade to something with a few more lumens and designed for a bike, so I don't have to hack as much. Something like theseones.
Which you can get without the batteries from a couple of places, like here.
Finally I have the swtich that both turns the CA backlight on/off, at the same time it turns the DC-DC converter on/off.
I ran the lights on the way in to work today, about a 30min ride, and had a temperature sensor sitting between the controller and the little plastic box the DC-Dc converter sits in (all inside the new battery enclosure), and it only registered 25 deg-C at the end of the ride, think it was about 17 deg-C ambient. So it didn't concern me enought to crack the little plastic box open and take a proper reading. But Mark_A_W has the same DC-DC converter running 4x R2's and he was concerned enough about heat to give it some proper ventilation. Not sure if he is running them off 6 or 12V though.
Hope this helps.
Adrian
adrian_sm
1 MW
patrickza said:
I planned to do this today, and took a bit of a detour to try and burn off half the pack. But when I got to work my brain must have been running on auto-pilot mode and ran through the usual routine when I park the bike, and I set it charging. Didn't even think about it until it had been charging for an hour or so.
Ooops.So unless I take an epic journey on the way home, you might have to wait for a few more days for any results.
Adrian
adrian_sm
1 MW
adrian_sm
1 MW
I was finding my right hand was a bit busy taking control of the three main functions of throttle, front brake, and rear shifter. So I decided I needed a left hand throttle. Rather than buy a new one, I just modified the one I had, a Crystalyte 48V half twist model.
See this thread for details.
Works a treat, I even managed to reduce the spring force to make it easier to hold at full throttle. Woo hoo.
See this thread for details.
Works a treat, I even managed to reduce the spring force to make it easier to hold at full throttle. Woo hoo.
adrian_sm
1 MW
Starting to wear things out.
Upto about 3500 electric kms now, and the bike probably did another 1-2000kms before the conversion. I have had to replace the bearings in the front wheel hub, the bottom bracket got swapped out at the same time a few months back as it was feeling a bit rough. Now I have just had to replace the chain, after finally working out what was making the weird sound as I pedalled.
Apart from the side cover of the motor self-destrusting, it is has been all the normal bike components that are failing, not the e-bike stuff.
Upto about 3500 electric kms now, and the bike probably did another 1-2000kms before the conversion. I have had to replace the bearings in the front wheel hub, the bottom bracket got swapped out at the same time a few months back as it was feeling a bit rough. Now I have just had to replace the chain, after finally working out what was making the weird sound as I pedalled.
Apart from the side cover of the motor self-destrusting, it is has been all the normal bike components that are failing, not the e-bike stuff.
adrian_sm
1 MW
Time for another random update. Upto about 4800 kms now. Had to replace a couple of things recently.
First, my half twist throttle broke. Just the clips that hold the twist portion on to the main body. Could have just relied on the stationary grip on the end of the handle bars to keep it in palce, but since I was at http://www.e-mtb.com.au I picked up a new one, turned it into a left hand version and slapped it on the bike.
Second, my freewheel just got replaced. The teeth were still fine, no significant wear, but the thing didn't really freewheel any more. Back pedalling was enough that the new friction would slacken the chain. Real pain. I pulled apart the old one to have a look, and there was absolutely no sign of lubrication in there. So the little pawls were running a bit rough. I lubed it up and it felt better, but when reassembled the bearings seemed to have quite a bit of play, so I kept the new one on the bike for piece of mind.
I have also had some weird intermittent "dieing bearing click" type sound while pedalling that I haven't been able to track down. Bottom bracket is new so it isn't that. Switched pedals, could still hear it so isn't that. I just hope it was something in the freewheel that I just ditched. Otherwise the only thing left is the bearings in the hub, or rear derailuer.
Time will tell.
First, my half twist throttle broke. Just the clips that hold the twist portion on to the main body. Could have just relied on the stationary grip on the end of the handle bars to keep it in palce, but since I was at http://www.e-mtb.com.au I picked up a new one, turned it into a left hand version and slapped it on the bike.
Second, my freewheel just got replaced. The teeth were still fine, no significant wear, but the thing didn't really freewheel any more. Back pedalling was enough that the new friction would slacken the chain. Real pain. I pulled apart the old one to have a look, and there was absolutely no sign of lubrication in there. So the little pawls were running a bit rough. I lubed it up and it felt better, but when reassembled the bearings seemed to have quite a bit of play, so I kept the new one on the bike for piece of mind.
I have also had some weird intermittent "dieing bearing click" type sound while pedalling that I haven't been able to track down. Bottom bracket is new so it isn't that. Switched pedals, could still hear it so isn't that. I just hope it was something in the freewheel that I just ditched. Otherwise the only thing left is the bearings in the hub, or rear derailuer.
Time will tell.
Similar threads
- Question
