Getting ready for lipo ! With Pics !

[torker]

I now have a big pile of lead on my garage floor Yay !

Before I removed my batteries I hooked up an old 60 amp automotive ammeter and took a little ride. This with the Infineon I modded the shunt on. If I damn near stall it out from a standstill I can get it to 55 amps for a split second and then it would settle back to 35 and drop from there. Not my normal way of riding. If I rode it what I call normal :wink: it would flash to 30 or 35 and settle back to 25 pretty quick, and keep dropping from there.

I am not sure how accurate it is. One question. Will an ammeter designed for 12 v work on 48v? It seemed to work fine. This was just a quick test, I ordered a Turnigy today.

I also started on my battery enclosure. It is 20 ga. steel. It is only about 13 in. long x 4 1/2 in. wide and 5 in. tall in the back 3 1/2 in. in the front. I know I can get 15s 1p 5 ah to fit. Not too sure if I will be able to get 10 ah in there or not. I am going to mount my controller to the top.

I got a few pics. Too damn tired tonight to go back out and get the camera Plus I will take some more tomorrow and post them all. I sure hope my batteries come this week since my bike is now out of commission.

Pics tomorrow..

 

[torker]

Got my batt box about done today. This is the original tray.

Bending the 20 ga.

More bending.

And here with the lid made. I am going to jbweld some strong magnets to the box and see if it is enough to hold the lid on.

I looked for 1/16" 6013 rod and could not find it so I used my 1/8" rod. A little rough. I really need a mig. A little bondo and paint will cover the nasties. It is pretty strong though.

Got a lot done today. My batt box is painted and mounted. I glued 3 magnets on the box to hold the lid on.

And big thanks to Spinningmagnets. I bought a charger from him and he sent me an ES sticker

Then I modded an Ebikekit torque arm for the wire side. I had cut off the connectors to run the wiring into my box anyway.

All that is left is wiring now. I need those batteries. HK says they shipped so hopefully only a couple more days.

 

[torker]

Bump. Got pics up.

 

[dingoEsride]

You've done a nice job on your battery compartment although I bet you wished that you done it a bit later still using your old batts or where they completely pooped?

 

[torker]

Thanks, I should have made it a little bigger, I still have a lot of triangle space but I will probably make it out of something else unless I get a mig welder.
No the old batts are ok. Big 27 lb. hunk of lead on the floor right now. I will probably add them to my solar system. Plus I have 3 more from my recumbent that I ran on 36 v.
The bike is all wired and ready including a key switch for the controller and I fabbed new torque arms for both sides.

 

[liveforphysics]

Nice torque arm, nice LiPo box. That should do everything a battery box need to do, and with style.

The automotive amp meter should work just fine for any DC current you're testing and any voltage, It's just a little shunt, so it only knows the voltage drop across it.

You're going to LOVE going from Lead to LiPo, but I don't expect you should see much change in the amount of current you pull unless your lead was having the voltage drop too low, because the current you draw should be about what the controller is setup for more than what the battery can deliver.

 

[torker]

Thanks again. And AJ will like no more duct tape 8) Me too..
Yea lead can actually deliver the amps it seems. Sure will be nice losing about 20 lbs. and getting 5 ah out of 5 ah. Plus I modded the shunt and only rode about 4-5 blocks before I tore it apart. It does pull better down low. And I am bumping to 63v hot from 53 hot. So bumped up from aprox. 1100w to 2200 w give or take.. I'm sure the lead had more initial sag as the surface charge probably burned off quick though so it should hold that wattage further into the ride.

Back to the torque arms I have one more pic. Initially I used the tab washer. The tab fit the dropout slot but was too big for the recessed area. At the time I got in a hurry and ran it that way This time I used a thin washer and ground it till it fit the recess and then bolted the new torque arm over that. I'm glad I took the time to do this.

HK shows delivery on the 23rd. I hope this good weather holds.

 

[torker]

I know I said no more duct tape :lol: but I just couldn't help myself. It passed the 66v hot off the charger smoke test It makes some new growls at lower rpm at that voltage but man does it get around the block in short order.
I pulled up in front of my neighbor drinking beer in his front yard and I guess 5 lead batteries taped to the top bar is not stealth. First thing he says "what you got going on there". I said a little 60 volt test. He laughed but was really interested when he saw me take off, returning from around the block in about 30 sec.

Too much fun !

 

[dogman dan]

Hoo boy, are you going to love lipo, after being used to lead. 8)

 

[grindz145]

Sweet endless sphere sticker too a long as the ammeter is in. series out won't really care about your pack voltage.

 

[torker]

Hoo boy, are you going to love lipo, after being used to lead. 8)

I know ! Next Wed. or Thur. can't get here quick enough.

Sweet endless sphere sticker too a long as the ammeter is in. series out won't really care about your pack voltage.

Thanks to Spinningmagnets for that sticker. 8) Plus I am so ready to try a 20" rim and 72v. Just gotta save the coin :x By then I may set this bike up 10s for the wife/daughter and whoever wants to try it and have me a full. suss. 20s machine. I can dream !!

 

[torker]

It is crazy what Lipo will make you do: Before

And after

I even hung a fluorescent lite. My low budget charge setup. My 5a Labvolt wouldn't run the charger at 2a The charger kept giving me an input voltage error. Even at 1 a it drops from 18v no load to 12.5v once the charger kicks in. So I may have to dig out my Astron.

The charger on the right is the little Passport AC/DC I picked up locally.

 

[torker]

Holy voltage sag Batman !! My ride at 66v with lead was lame. Just took my first ride with 15s lipo- 62v hot. I have never had the frontend off the ground before. All I can say is holy $hit... It is not the same animal.

 

[AussieJester]

Holy voltage sag Batman !! My ride at 66v with lead was lame. Just took my first ride with 15s lipo- 62v hot. I have never had the frontend off the ground before. All I can say is holy $hit... It is not the same animal.

LiPO FTMFW... Battery box looks a treat alot better the duct tape ain't it.... :lol:

KiM

 

[torker]

Holy voltage sag Batman !! My ride at 66v with lead was lame. Just took my first ride with 15s lipo- 62v hot. I have never had the frontend off the ground before. All I can say is holy $hit... It is not the same animal.

LiPO FTMFW... Battery box looks a treat alot better the duct tape ain't it.... :lol:

KiM

Yea Buddy ! The magnets aren't going to hold the lid though. I will probably put a nylon strap of some sort. It put me on my arse on the first ride with lipo Lid popped off and lipo hangin' by the power leads. No damage thankfully. I AM A BELIEVER !! Gonna have to get me some MX gear I still cannot believe the difference. It'll pull the frontend up on a whim now..

Not sure what FTMFW is. I'm pretty old school- don't even text if I can help it. :|

 

[AussieJester]

Not sure what FTMFW is. I'm pretty old school- don't even text if I can help it. :|

Yes a good helmet, gloves and even some good protective armor wouldn't go astray if your going to be
heavy on the throttle I'm quite amazed at the number of people lately, converting to LiPO, i wonder if we
will see the accidents increase too LoL..

Oh haha...yes FTMFW... tiz a bit of an extention on the usual FTW (For The Win) As to texting, i don't even own a working mobile phone.

KiM

 

[torker]

haha I will have to start Googling this stuff. I should have known better. The front end was getting light so like a dumba$$ I actually thought I would see if it would really pull a wheelie without pedaling. Happened so damn fast.

 

[Ypedal]

hehe.. nice !!

I kinda remember the old 36v 7ah lead acid on a used wilderness energy 26" front wheel...

* tic tic.. is this thing on ?... oh .. yeah it is !!.. wow.. i can roll on level ground without pedaling..

Moved up to fresh 36v 12ah SLA's.. and was like " Oh shit.. way bette !!.. " .. then added another sla brick for 48v and was like " Holy crap.... yeah man.. i can go up some slight hills without pedalilng and spin the front tire on loose gravel !!. woot " ...

then i moved up to Nimh, 72v, dual speed clyte 406/409 in a 20" rear motor.. and almost creamed my pants on the first ride with excitment !!...

slapped that setup from a folding bike to full suspension DH.. doubled the amps... and upped the voltage to 100v.. and yeah baby..... wheelies are a fact of life at 100v ! :wink:

 

[Ykick]

I'm quite amazed at the number of people lately, converting to LiPO, i wonder if we
will see the accidents increase too LoL..

my 1st kickbike ride with Lipo - too dark, too fast (quickly learned much faster and less sag than SLA) deep pothole = Level 3 Acromioclavicle separation...

 

[torker]

Ok just tried 10s. Much more sane It seems to go just about as fast on 10s as with 48v sla, and it pulls better. And the regen. is amazing. It wouldn't do regen. at 60v So, I think I will stick with 10s for now.

Been trying to get a precharge resistor to work. I went all the way down to 47 ohms and even if I leave it on for 30 seconds and then quickly change to my main power lead it sparks like hell wtf. Oh well, bike runs good. Just need 3 more 5s so I can run 15 ah. on board

 

[liveforphysics]

Ok just tried 10s. Much more sane It seems to go just about as fast on 10s as with 48v sla, and it pulls better. And the regen. is amazing. It wouldn't do regen. at 60v So, I think I will stick with 10s for now.

Been trying to get a precharge resistor to work. I went all the way down to 47 ohms and even if I leave it on for 30 seconds and then quickly change to my main power lead it sparks like hell wtf. Oh well, bike runs good. Just need 3 more 5s so I can run 15 ah. on board

Wheelies FTW!!

Try 5ohm's for a pre-charge. It still keeps the spark down to minimal, but gets things charged up in a timely manor.

 

[torker]

Ok just tried 10s. Much more sane It seems to go just about as fast on 10s as with 48v sla, and it pulls better. And the regen. is amazing. It wouldn't do regen. at 60v So, I think I will stick with 10s for now.

Been trying to get a precharge resistor to work. I went all the way down to 47 ohms and even if I leave it on for 30 seconds and then quickly change to my main power lead it sparks like hell wtf. Oh well, bike runs good. Just need 3 more 5s so I can run 15 ah. on board

Wheelies FTW!!

Try 5ohm's for a pre-charge. It still keeps the spark down to minimal, but gets things charged up in a timely manor.

Yea I gotta heal up a little more before I try any more wheelies

I need to go by the radshack I guess. I have been putting resistors in parallel . I don't have much on hand with that low a value so now it is kind of a blob Not that it really matters I guess. If I knew what might have one in it I'd tear something apart just to save a trip to town. I've got lots a junk here

 

[torker]

This thing is weird . I scavenged a 9.5 ohm from an old tube type cb radio, but no go. Even if I just hook it up normally-no resistor- and leave it for a minute if I unhook it and try to reconnect right away it sparks. I do have an ign. switch hooked to the small power wire just to keep people from riding it if I am not around but otherwise I leave it on. That switch shouldn't make a difference though. I could turn the switch off to hook up my batteries I guess but I am afraid it wouldn't last too long. ?? :?

 

[Ypedal]

you need 2 pins.. one for the pre-charge, leave it connected while you hook up the main power pin..

 

[torker]

you need 2 pins.. one for the pre-charge, leave it connected while you hook up the main power pin..

Yea I thought about that. I need to make a couple y-harnesses to do that.