The Epic an electric tri car.

GoldenMotor.com

indian22

Well-Known Member
Dec 31, 2014
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Oklahoma
It's great to take the time to enjoy a project and think on it. In the end I think a better outcome results.
Fall is only a week away here in Indian Territory with highs dropping into the 80's and getting some work completed on the house is the priority here as well, but with some bike stuff and riding worked in.

Rick C.
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
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The Epic is slowly trickling closer to being ready for spring. The rest of the battery cells have arrived. And the wait for the battery cell holders is closer to the end. Then I'll be able to build the battery.

The headlights arrived yesterday and they are perfect. Thank you to Pete McP for the information about where to purchase them. They are brass and are solidly built with everything screwing together with fine threads to stop water getting in. There was a bit of power left in the batteries and they are like miniature search lights.

The switches are a joke and getting the batteries in and out pulled a wire out of the switch on both of them. No loss. I have ordered better switches for them.

The batteries can be charged using UBS ports or by removing the battery which I did with a battery charger purchased from LiitoKala on AliExpress where I purchased the batteries. Connecting the battery to the lights caused one of the electrical boards to short out and both the holder and the battery became very hot. Tried two more times with the same result. Sent the company an email and we'll see what they can do.

I'll look to see if these battery holders can be found on AliExpress. They would be great for converting lights to LED. They use a flat top 18650 cell and not the button top cells I'm using for the bike battery.

I get some photos of them up if the computer wants to work with me.

The weather has been interesting. Christmas was white with about 7" of snow and temperatures at 10F. That ended just before New Years and mid 40's temperatures and rain cleaned up the snow. Then just before New Years we received about 5 inches of snow that lingered until a couple of days ago when 50F temperatures and rain reappeared. The next ten days are forecast to be in the 40's and rain. Mid March we should see 50's and sun.

Spring flowers will be coming out by then.

Steve.
 

Tom from Rubicon

Well-Known Member
Apr 4, 2016
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"Connecting the battery to the lights caused one of the electrical boards to short out and both the holder and the battery became very hot. Tried two more times with the same result."

In every venture there is a particle of risk.
Or as my long ago employer, as a student electrical engineer at MIT was fond of saying. "Blow away the smoke so I can read the gages."

Tom
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
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1959 Jaguar. Went to the car wash and turned the head lights on coming home. I would never have believed that much smoke could be contained in car wiring. Lucas, the Prince of Darkness struck once again.

Found out the battery holder is an 18650 cell holder with USB port charging. Bought 6 of them on AliExpress for $12.48.

Steve.
 

PeteMcP

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Jun 27, 2017
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Steve, wouldn't it have just been easier to charge those headlamp's batteries via the USB port as intended..?

As an apprentice, I worked with pal Kevin who's first car was an 11 year old Triumph Spitfire. (back in the day when sportscars were actually an insurable option for recently qualified drivers). Kev's Spit was in a local garage for some electrical tinkering so we went to pick it up after work. Mechanic gave him the keys and we went to clamber in. Kev turned the key and, nothing... so he climbed out and went to look for the Mechanic, leaving the ignition on, presumably. I'm sat in the passenger seat when suddenly smoke started pouring, and mean gushing, from behind the dash. Quickly followed by flames. In seconds, the Spitfire's cramped cockpit was full of choking smoke - so I bailed pronto. Looking around for a fire extinguisher I couldn't see one, so I ran to the office hoping to find someone. Office was deserted, so I headed for the workshop, yelling FIRE! Couldn't have been more than a minute or two before the three of us got back to the Spit, by which time the dash and the front of the headliner was well ablaze and the flames were threatening to set the fibreglass hardtop alight. Mechanic did manage to put out the fire with an extinguisher - but sadly the Spit was declared a write-off. That episode always made me aware of how quickly any car's electrical fire can get out of hand. And since then I've always made sure to carry an extinguisher in my car.
 

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
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northeastern Minnesota
1959 Jaguar. Went to the car wash and turned the head lights on coming home. I would never have believed that much smoke could be contained in car wiring. Lucas, the Prince of Darkness struck once again.

Found out the battery holder is an 18650 cell holder with USB port charging. Bought 6 of them on AliExpress for $12.48.

Steve.
Have a link for that cell holder?
SB
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
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Hi. Pete,
I don't have a USB wire. Didn't bother asking around the house because I had the four slot battery charger and I wanted to give it a go to see just what it would do. Worked perfectly. Just put the battery in and it set it's self to the battery type. I've ordered a lead for the USB ports.

I purchased a 1966 Spitfire new, trading in my 1969 Jaguar. Three weeks later a friend of mine and I drove it to California and back. When I look back I realize just how ballsy we were driving it six thousand miles with out it being broken in. I never had any problem with the car in the almost three years I owned it except for a universal joint in the rear axle.

We drove the full length of Route 66 and back, in 1966, in a 1966 Triumph Spitfire.

Much more reliable than my new 1969 Vauxhall Envoy that caught fire in my driveway just as I got home. Something about the acrid smell of electrical wiring that caused a persons heart rate to quicken. Especially after the first time.

It took all the employees of 400 Auto Electric ten days working full time in shifts to find the ten feet of wire that burned in the Jaguar. When I went to get it the owner warned me never to bring that ******* thing back to his shop again. Then he told me the story why.

Just luck that you were in the car when it caught fire. If it had been left unattended it may have been a different story for everyone.

Steve.
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
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PeteMcP

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Jun 27, 2017
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Steve, Shame your brass headlamps didn't come with the necessary USB charge lead. That UK£4 USB rechargeable LED headlight I recently bought from China to convert one of my vintage brass headlamps came with a short lead that I just plug into my laptop to charge up the light.
DSCN4041.JPG
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
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I like the light, Pete. I'm sure the light seller I bought them from would be sure anyone buying them would supply their own or didn't care. I purchased one from Amazon.

I did hear back from the seller about the battery but it was the usual skirt around the problem, I sort of understood what you were saying but I'm not responsible so I'll put my spin on it. Best part is that I was sure that battery holders would be sold on AliExpress. If I had the proper terms for the lights I'd bet they are for sale there in more than one place.

Steve.
 

PeteMcP

Well-Known Member
Jun 27, 2017
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Odd they sold you USB rechargeable lamps without including a charge cable. The indicator/tail lamp unit and the inertia stop lamp unit I purchased for my BLUE BAMBOO build both came with a cable included. I have three charge cables here now...!
Anyhow, I'm sure the lamps will look the dogs danglers once installed on your ride.
 

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
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northeastern Minnesota
Steve, my good friend.. I have just spent several hours reading this thread from it’s beginning. I was following it first and then life interrupted as you know, so I’ve had much to catch up on. What a great project. The motor is amazing and I love it. You do such wonderful work with so much dedication to things being done right. I so admire that. Your help on my projects made it look like I was a knowledgeable and competent builder which I am not. We made a good partnership on projects because I had ideas outside of the box simply because I didn’t know what was supposed to be in the box. And you always knew how to make things work. ..even crazy stuff like my making a headlight out of a Portuguese copper cooking pot… it was the right shape and I didn’t know any better so why not? Ha, what fun! It really makes no difference whether or not we actually finished everything. Sparks flew and we made stuff…two boys cleverly disguised as old men having fun. I thank you for that and salute this project. I remember when we got that Monark frame. For all the boys who put playing cards on their bicycle spokes to make pretend motorcycles you really are making a bicycle into something with a motor that would make any boy of any age proud. Well done sir, even if it isn’t “done”. My great hope is that this summer you can come to Summer Camp For Boys Who Never GrewU p and ride the Epic on our new bike trail through the forest. May it be so.
SB
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
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Silverbear,

When I pulled out of the driveway the last time who knew what was in store for us or the time that would elapse before we could do it again. The mutual brain storming was what made the builds so wonderful and one of a kind.

We were indeed a couple of adventuresome lads to whom everything from bed rails to Portuguese copper pots and canoes were part of the adventure. The planning never stopped even though two thousand miles separated us.

Tinsmith and Jackie who we saw on the last trip have had their own health problems. 2 Door as well. It seems so many of us found the hobby as life's twilight found us.

We can only hope that the plague wears it's self out and we can continue on with the adventure.

Steve.
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
7,440
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British Columbia Canada
The rest of the battery cell holders arrived yesterday. I'll have to get out into the garage tomorrow and get a work space ready.

I also need to make something up too try and remove the bearings in the wheels I bought for the Epic's front wheels. There is are 1/2" bearings in them with a bearing spacer pressed in as well. I need 3/4" bearings. With the spacer in there I can't get a bearing puller in . No lip for a bearing puller to grip on to.

I have every thing to put my idea of a bearing extractor into play so with luck we'll see how well or if it works tomorrow night.

Steve.
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
7,440
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British Columbia Canada
We've all had this happen. Went into the garage with great plans, got out the bucket of hole saws, and there is everything but the one I need. However all is not lost because Amazon has all kinds of them and one arrived a half hour ago.

I need a 1-5/8 washer to rest against the bearing race that I have to pull out of the wheels. It's thin so if I'm not careful I'll be pulling on the bearings themselves and probably leave the race behind. Not easy to find and even less easy to find in a country that uses metric. Solution is the washer left behind by a hole saw there for I needed a 1-3/4" hole saw to get the 1-5/8" washer.

Tomorrow I'll get them cut out and we'll see if the cleaver plan works.

Steve.
 

MEASURE TWICE

Well-Known Member
Jul 13, 2010
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We've all had this happen. Went into the garage with great plans, got out the bucket of hole saws, and there is everything but the one I need. However all is not lost because Amazon has all kinds of them and one arrived a half hour ago.

I need a 1-5/8 washer to rest against the bearing race that I have to pull out of the wheels. It's thin so if I'm not careful I'll be pulling on the bearings themselves and probably leave the race behind. Not easy to find and even less easy to find in a country that uses metric. Solution is the washer left behind by a hole saw there for I needed a 1-3/4" hole saw to get the 1-5/8" washer.

Tomorrow I'll get them cut out and we'll see if the cleaver plan works.

Steve.
Been there, done that. Then you manually sand off the edges. Alternately you could get a huge stamp press like they use on stamping auto mobile bodies and change the die?