I want to build a just for fun cruiser HELP

[BIG BEAM]

Hi all.
I'm a total noob but I want to build an electric cruiser type bike.I know a lot about batteries because I collect high tech flashlights and I used to race R/C electric cars.Most of my biking will be on sidewalks and at slower speeds.(10 to 12 MPH at the most) I live in a small village and will be using the bike for short trips 1 -3 MI,bank post office and store.
I have a couple headway batteries(LiFepo4 10 amp) and like them for what I use them for(2- 20 w 6 V lights in my shed.I was thinking 24v (8 headways) should be ok and I could always add 8 more if I wanted a total of 24V 20A pack,but I thought I would start with 8 .

What I'm not sure of is what motor and controller to use.I've been looking around and see that crystalyte's are popular but I would like to spend as little as possible but still get a good motor.I see the old brush type motors are cheaper and so are the controllers for them.They would be acceptable also I think? Or are they

Remember this blke will be just for fun so I think lead acid is out because it will likely sit all winter(I live in upstate NY).

Any help,links suggestions,guidance would be helpful and appreciated.
DON

 

[BIG BEAM]

I think this post should be moved to the E bike section.Sorry I'm a total noob did I mention that before?

 

[justadad1957]

i might suggest a course in speed reading as it took me forever to read up on just some of the excellant info on this forum
you have come to the right place
i think that at 24v 12-14 mph would be about right but..
i think once you start doing some research a 36v system is more standard
and maybe easier to obtain a quality kit with 36v plus volts
i also live in a small town <5000 and most of my trips are under 2 miles away
3 to 4 trips "uptown" a day
i loved my ebike so much that i bought 2 more
my son and i ride them all the time and we have a spare for friends
we started at 36v and had hugh smiles
found out we could run 48v with the stock controls and cant hardly go back to 36v
this is a very addicting hobby
but it can also be a very economical way to get around esp in a small town
i bought a kill-a-watt meter to monitor our recharge wattage and in the last 2 months we have used almost 15 kw
at 13.8 cents per kw about $2.00 for all three ebikes for 2 months!
over 500 miles on my ebike alone close to 1000 miles on all three
its so hard to think of once you have your "kit" together it might only cost one cent per 5 miles to recharge
hmmm so some math one dollar could take you maybe 500 miles "i shi..t you not"
there is a guy justin that rode across canada on his ebike on less than 10 dollars worth of electricity a distance of 7110 km i believe
but the faster you go the more it costs and now that we at almost always are running at 48v
we wont be getting 5 miles per penny oh darn it might be down to 4 or less miles PER PENNY !
i had some time today to chime in
slow dowm and read some of the older posts
or jump right in and buy something from ebay
i trolled this forum for months
and i thank all the e-gods here that i did

 

[BIG BEAM]

Thanks just a dad
I'm looking at the sparrow for 299 bucks.I bought a bike yesterday at sears.It's a shwinn drifter.It's got the springer front end( I always wanted one when I was a kid but never had the money).I figure a brushed motor is good enough for me and I'd rather spend a little more for some good LiFe batteries.36V seems the way to go I just was hoping to get away with 8 cells but your right 36V 12 cells is more popular.

I'm still swinging between the 4 series crystalyte and the brushed.Not much to go wrong with a brushed motor and controller not the way I'll be using it.5 series is just a little pricey now.The only thing I'm worried about with a brushed motor is they will prolly not make them much longer and parts might be a problem.
DON

 

[spinningmagnets]

Brushed controllers are very affordable. I have heard that if you live in a hilly area, it can put a lot of load on a brushed motor if the RPM's bog down, many have fried them. Probably not too bad if you live in a relatively flat area. Best of luck.

 

[jdcburg]

BB - If you know about batteries and are willing to gamble a little, these batteries from http://www.electricrider.com/yardsale/index.htm might work for you. Read the caveats carefully. You might have to buy a few extra to get 8-12 good ones and you'd have to cobble up some sort of BMS but the price is right. I use different LiFePO4s for my 24V system so I don't have any experience with those cells, but my BMS is a Celllog 8M for high and low voltage warning and a Turnigy Accucel 8150 (balancing charger) to keep them balanced. If you read around here a bit, others are hooking the Celllog external alarm circuit to relays to cutoff the charger and controller for high and low voltage cutoffs. You can also bulk charge the pack and manually balance with single cell chargers from VoltPhreaks. With your experience level you might be comfortable with this type of setup. Also for cheap at the speeds you want, you can't beat the 350W to 600W brushed scooter motors and chain drive, but that involves some fabrication. Look at http://www.tncscooters.com/ for their selection. Keep us posted - jd

 

[dogman dan]

Actually what you describe would be ideal for a used Heinzmann 24v motor. Top speed would be about 13 mph, and you'd have lots of low speed throttle controll that would not be there with many 36v setups. And no problem with hills till they exceed 10%. Might be one in the for sale section, The 36v one would run fine at 24v too btw.

Cheap direct drive brushed motors would also work, but at 24v they are just waaaay sluggish and almost completely unable to climb a hill. But put 36v in em and now you have trouble riding it very slow. The brushed motors I melted were being tested to destruction with very long rides and steep hills in a hot dry climate. Not a problem in NY, except for today that is.

The other solution very well suited to your ride would be a small planetary gearmotor like a bafang, run on 36v. If you have headways for the battery, great. but for a short range bike, it's really really hard to beat the latest lipo from Hobby King. 36v 5 ah (10s) weighs like 3.5 pounds. You'd have at least 5 mile range with moderate discharge depth. Too nice for the battery to literally fit in your pockets.

Another thing to look for in any kind of motor you choose is a three speed switch. The low speed makes the motor much more controllable in a crowd, riding at sub 10 mph speeds.

 

[BIG BEAM]

Thanks all,
Gotta love the weekends,all kinds of help today.I think I'm gunna stay with the headway cells.Been playing with them for a while and am impressed.I don't think I'll be using a BMS because I'm just gunna fart around with this bike.Sunday rider type thing.I'm gunna use 36V but I'll have to charge them in 2 sets of 18V.I'll be using a triton 2 charger and it only goes up to 6 cells.I like the way it charges,it starts out at 3.6V and 5 amps and stays at 5 amps until the batteries are toping off.Then the anps start to drop off slowly until it hits 100ma then at 100ma the voltage creeps up to 3.65V and stops.All of this info is displayed so you know what going on.I'm gunna build a wooden box for the batteries and will have access to them to ck each cell(no heat shrink).This way I'll know if a cell is going south.

Took the bike out for a ride today and I think I lost a lot of weight over the years(no electrics yet).I seem to have lost padding where I need it most so I think I'll try one of the spring loaded seat posts.Electricrider sells them for 44 bucks I think.That's the guy I've been talking too about converting this bike.Seem like nice people.Still thinking about the Sparrow motor and Dave at electricrider said I could send him my rim and they would lace it in so it'l still match my rear rim.

Gunna buy the batteries this week and put them through a few cycles 1 cell at a time and mark them with the WH.The 2 I've been playing with are within .12% of each other.Seem like GOOD cells with good QC.
DON