birdpriest
1 µW
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2020
- Messages
- 3
Hi all!
I’m brand new to Endless Sphere so let this serve as both my introductory post and my thread on what brought me to y’alls lovely forum in the first place - my new Razor Ecosmart Metro scooter, and the whack of upgrades and mods I’ve got planned for it!
I’m a 30-year-old artist and amateur electronics tinkerer. I work with an inventor developing power-assist mobility solutions for manual wheelchair users, a world I sort of fell into about 10 years ago when I became paraplegic. Fast forward to late last year, when I received my first mechanical (non-electric) exoskeleton system, which allows me to stand and walk with forearm crutches and about 15lbs of hardware. I still have no control over my lower body BUT I look like a cyborg when I wear the thing so that’s a definite bonus. Anyway one major downside is that it’s hugely energy intensive, very hot in non-winter weather, and much slower than normal-people walking, which is where this scooter comes into play. My employer and I are compensating for my lack of balance by adding custom-made training wheels, and a go kart seat instead of the bike saddle for stability. Those parts aren’t so tough... It’s the electrics that I need help with. My plans are as follows:
- Replace stock SLA 3x12V batteries with 1x36V lithium battery + 1x36V backup battery for extended mileage. Simple on/off toggle switches on handlebar “control panel” will control which battery is providing power.
- LED battery level indicators from the original lithium battery cases will be mounted onto my control panel to provide ability to check batt. level.
- Remove on/off rocker switch from side of battery well, patch up hole, replace with keyed ignition in handlebar control panel (CP).
- Each lithium battery will have a 30A in-line blade fuse in holder, same type as comes with scooter.
- I need the ability to govern speed, as this scooter will be used like a mobility scooter indoors & outdoors, and I’d like very much not to hit anything, so I bought a 500W 36V brushless DC motor PWM controller off eBay that I intend to wire into the system and install in handlebar CP. This will have a rotary potentiometer able to go from 10-100% speed, as well as a motor polarity reversal switch to allow the scooter to operate in reverse, another necessity. A liiiiittle sketchy on how to wire this whole setup so this is definitely something I’d love input on.
- I’d like to install LED turn signals so if anyone has input on a nice clean way to do that (and where exactly to put them), I’m all ears. A possible location could be on the steel framing of my “training wheels”, which will stick out about 8” on each side at the rear of the scooter deck.
My biggest priorities here are safety, mileage (the original 40-minute runtime on the SLA batteries was a major issue for me but luckily I have these two sets of lithium batteries kicking around so that’s taken care of), and a stable electrical system that’s easy for me to troubleshoot and maintain. I’m making this post not only to chronicle my progress with this build, as I think it’ll be really neat if/when it works out as far as being an alternative to a traditional mobility scooter; I’m also hoping to get advice and assistance from forum members experienced with scooter/e-device modifications and wiring, as there’s one thing I’m totally sure of with this project: I’m no expert! I’m not afraid to ask for help, so while I wait for all my parts to come in from eBay, I figured I’d get this rolling and see what turns up. Anyway thank y’all very much for reading and I really appreciate any and all feedback, advice, warnings, goldfish, etc. you have to offer.
Happy trails!
quinto
I’m brand new to Endless Sphere so let this serve as both my introductory post and my thread on what brought me to y’alls lovely forum in the first place - my new Razor Ecosmart Metro scooter, and the whack of upgrades and mods I’ve got planned for it!
I’m a 30-year-old artist and amateur electronics tinkerer. I work with an inventor developing power-assist mobility solutions for manual wheelchair users, a world I sort of fell into about 10 years ago when I became paraplegic. Fast forward to late last year, when I received my first mechanical (non-electric) exoskeleton system, which allows me to stand and walk with forearm crutches and about 15lbs of hardware. I still have no control over my lower body BUT I look like a cyborg when I wear the thing so that’s a definite bonus. Anyway one major downside is that it’s hugely energy intensive, very hot in non-winter weather, and much slower than normal-people walking, which is where this scooter comes into play. My employer and I are compensating for my lack of balance by adding custom-made training wheels, and a go kart seat instead of the bike saddle for stability. Those parts aren’t so tough... It’s the electrics that I need help with. My plans are as follows:
- Replace stock SLA 3x12V batteries with 1x36V lithium battery + 1x36V backup battery for extended mileage. Simple on/off toggle switches on handlebar “control panel” will control which battery is providing power.
- LED battery level indicators from the original lithium battery cases will be mounted onto my control panel to provide ability to check batt. level.
- Remove on/off rocker switch from side of battery well, patch up hole, replace with keyed ignition in handlebar control panel (CP).
- Each lithium battery will have a 30A in-line blade fuse in holder, same type as comes with scooter.
- I need the ability to govern speed, as this scooter will be used like a mobility scooter indoors & outdoors, and I’d like very much not to hit anything, so I bought a 500W 36V brushless DC motor PWM controller off eBay that I intend to wire into the system and install in handlebar CP. This will have a rotary potentiometer able to go from 10-100% speed, as well as a motor polarity reversal switch to allow the scooter to operate in reverse, another necessity. A liiiiittle sketchy on how to wire this whole setup so this is definitely something I’d love input on.
- I’d like to install LED turn signals so if anyone has input on a nice clean way to do that (and where exactly to put them), I’m all ears. A possible location could be on the steel framing of my “training wheels”, which will stick out about 8” on each side at the rear of the scooter deck.
My biggest priorities here are safety, mileage (the original 40-minute runtime on the SLA batteries was a major issue for me but luckily I have these two sets of lithium batteries kicking around so that’s taken care of), and a stable electrical system that’s easy for me to troubleshoot and maintain. I’m making this post not only to chronicle my progress with this build, as I think it’ll be really neat if/when it works out as far as being an alternative to a traditional mobility scooter; I’m also hoping to get advice and assistance from forum members experienced with scooter/e-device modifications and wiring, as there’s one thing I’m totally sure of with this project: I’m no expert! I’m not afraid to ask for help, so while I wait for all my parts to come in from eBay, I figured I’d get this rolling and see what turns up. Anyway thank y’all very much for reading and I really appreciate any and all feedback, advice, warnings, goldfish, etc. you have to offer.
Happy trails!
quinto
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