Switched from gas to homemade electric

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Cabinfever1977

Cabinfever1977

New Member
Mar 23, 2009
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Upstate,NY
I used to have a bike with a 2-stroke gas motor,i got rid of the gas motor kit, but i switched to electric.
But im not using the bike to mount anything too yet.

I got 3 old Rad2go electric scooter frames with seats and a bunch of parts:

2 600 watt 24v motors
4 20ah sla batteries
1 24v controller(i have no idea how to hook up)
2 harnesses,charger sockets,twist throttles,brake levers with shutoff wire
2 or 3 fuse holders,2 low power toggle switches
5 wheels(3 front + 2 rear,+3 chains)
2 metal decks
2 24v chargers
1 32v charger
2 seat poles and seats
0 battery gauges
 
Cabinfever1977

Cabinfever1977

New Member
Mar 23, 2009
2,288
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Upstate,NY
Before adding a electric motor to my bicycle,i will do a custom scooter with seat,baskets,and lights.
I picked the scooter frame that already had a 600 watt electric motor attached.
After many hours of trying to figure out the controller wires, i just decided to use a sewing machine foot peddal for a on/off switch,yes it does work,i tried it.
I put a 30amp fuse inline with the battery.

Next test: Tommorrow I will take the scooter for a ride in my back parking lot to check for speed and that it works ok without blowing a fuse or smoking any wires. Will post results and pics tommorrow.
 
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Cabinfever1977

Cabinfever1977

New Member
Mar 23, 2009
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Upstate,NY
Ok, i blew the 30amp fuse in 2 seconds. I hooked up a 40amp? fuse that thought came with the scooter, but it may have been replaced with some other fuse of a diffrent amp, and so it too blew.
I hardwired the wires without a fuse,taped everything up.
I took off across the parking lot(with a garbage bag) at around 15mph and zoomed around to the back parking lot to the dumpster to throw my bag in. I had to use my feet for a brake untill i hook up a longer brake cable. Then i zoomed back around to the front parking lot and back to my apartment.
Sewing machine foot peddal worked fine and a few thin wires were hot and started to melt threw the insulation. So i disconnected the motor and peddal from the battery and hooked the charger port,pluged in the battery charger and im guessing that there charging since i see a red light on the charger,im also guessing that the light might turn green when done charging.

Scooter is quiet,goes fast enough and can climb steep inclines.
I might replace the peddal switch with a high amp toggle switch if i can get one for free.
And i also need a high amp fuse and some heavy duty wire.
 
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corgi1

corgi1

New Member
Aug 13, 2009
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KCMO
Can you replace the thin wires on the sewing machine controler with regular 12 gage (romax)elect. house wire,thin sewing mach wire is possibly as small as 18-20 guage,not enough for heavy curent draw,might even quit blowing fuses
 
deacon

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
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north carolina
Best switch is a 20 amp household wall switch. It isn't pretty but it won't melt on you. At least I never had one melt. I picked up a 40 circuit breaker that works like a champ on my ebikes with or without a controller. However It will trip on a steep hill without a controller as the motor will draw forty amps and over heat.

I used 40 amp blade fuses until I blew one a couple of miles from home.; The breaker will cool off in a few minutes and let you ride home. If you have an auto junk yard around I bet they can find you one from a car.
 
deacon

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
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north carolina
Dont use the 15 amp house type switch it will definitely melt. But the twenty amp has never let me down. Darn things are expensive though compared to the 15amp.
 
E

Erich_870

New Member
Dec 4, 2009
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Alaska
Why don't you just use a 30 amp automotive relay? They are pretty cheap at less then $10 and you can use any switch you want to.

Erich
 
deacon

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
9
0
north carolina
Thirty amp will keep you waiting for it to cool down but I use 40amp ones on all my home made bikes. I think they run about five bucks on ebay. I am pretty sure the salvage yards have plenty of them even cheaper.

actually thirty amps will fuse some switches. A relay will allow you to use any switch you want though. But you have to have the right amp relay because hey will also fuse. There are forty amp relays available for a decent price but they are still a wide open on and shut down completely. Best control is with a controller. I hate controllers but I use them.
 
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Cabinfever1977

Cabinfever1977

New Member
Mar 23, 2009
2,288
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Upstate,NY
I just got some heavy gauge copper wire,1 40amp breaker with toggle switch,1 50amp breaker with toggle switch. Now i can continue with my project.
 
Cabinfever1977

Cabinfever1977

New Member
Mar 23, 2009
2,288
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Upstate,NY
Im sure these breakers should work ok. I will hook everything up soon.
After that i need a new seat and i need to shorten my handle bar pole,so the scooter will look like a handicap scooter.
 
deacon

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
9
0
north carolina
tricky .... I might yet buy that 16" bike and make a pure scooter from it. I have a six hundred watt motor with a bicycle sprocket on it. Only problem is it would be one to one with the rear sprocket of the bike. It might not be enough torque.

I have a 25watt controller that I am not using but it won't pull much in the way of amps. I like those that will pull at least 30 amps 40 is better lol... I guess I could run it without a controller but the startup jerk might be too much for the thing.

I mean the bike setup allows you to get it moving a little first. To start from a dead stop without a controller is difficult.
 
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