finally springtime 15k maintance

[justadad1957]

it finally stopped snowing here in lowa and just had to do some maintance on my ebikes
my main commuter bike (15k plus ebike miles) had 1 bad group of cells out of a 16s6p 18650 pak
wish i had built it for easier repair lol
1 cell out of the group of six bit the dust replaced with 6 of my extra used cells
working on using the other 5 cells in some combo for a headlight
thinking of 2s2p using a 6 volt bulb
during testing i burnt out a 6v bulb with fully charged 7.2 v 2s2p after 1.5 hr plus test
batteries still had more but blub was way to hot and burnt out
i need a better headlight solution still working on that
glad it was only one group after 3 years of use this will be my 4th year ebiking
hmm let see most recharges where with less than 20 miles traveled
when i first charged the pak it would take in over 6000 mah now its down to 5000
even at 20 miles per recharge with 15k plus miles i have recharged the used cells i bought at least 750 times
cleaned and repacked front wheel, main crank hub ect..
due to my fault of not allowing enough slack in wiring for front wheel steering rotation i needed to cut and resolder wiring to throtle that would cut out at times
return spring on throtle is broken, using a rubber band for now
just went for a 12 mile quick ride and darn my bike feels almost new (lol i bought my bike in 1982)
this is the most maintance i have giving my main bike ever
my other 2 ebikes might be alittle dirty but they dont seem to need much attention
i had alot of friends tell me that i was wasting my money on a toy that would just break
so hmmm over 15k miles on one of my 3 ebikes
even at 30 mpg and with gas at over 3 usd per gal
thats 1500.00 savings in gas costs alone
way over my costs in building all 3 of my ebikes
together way over 20k miles
wish all of you on the sphere a awesome summer of ebiking

 

[Howie]

Thats a lot of miles!

For the headlight, I'm using a cheap $20 or so led flashlight that claims 900 lumens. I use a velcro strap to attach it to the frame and adjust it to point how far ahead I want it. I have two and one has been run over by a semi, a cop car, tumbled down the road a few times and it's still working. Runs of a single 18650 that I just charge every other day or so.

They're not as nice a fit as the bike lights, but they're a whole lot cheaper, and I just pull it off when I need a light. Maybe one or two of those would work for you.