Old Guys Simplex moto-peddle bike

The anti-spark connectors are sort of a waste of money for our applications. They’re designed for use with much smaller batteries and controllers (RC hobby) and as such the precharge resistor will get smoked after only a few plugs. You still get a little spark. Best deal is to leave everything plugged and only connect a charger cable.

Far as using them as motor plugs, that is OK although I prefer bullet connectors. I try have only one plug that fits for each type of connection to avoid easily making a mistake. This site sells a lot of useful connectors.
 
indian22 said:
Hi Tony glad to hear from you. I always value your input. Thanks for your insight and for the resource info. I have not used them as a vendor.

Take care of yourself!
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Hey Rick, I’m still here. Busy but I still come to look at the pictures. And boy do you post some nice ones. After logging around 6000 miles and three hard accidents including one dead deer, I blew up my bike. I had just begun the inspection tear down that morning, when my friends said they’re out on a ride and to meet them up in the mountains. At about 50mph one of the corner cells blew up, blowing half the pack out the bike, slightly bruising my leg. The pack and onboard charger were like guts, just hanging out the side swinging on the battery cables. That half of the cells got road rashed and caught fire about an hour later.. in the back of somebody’s truck. Fortunately the truck did not get scrapped but I had to replace his bed liner. I shoulda known not to use polyester resin in my bodywork as it is very flammable. My side cover completely burned back into pure cloth form. At some point something else caught fire and burned the other side, completely melting my throttle, headlight, and burning some more of the flammable bodywork. Not knowing the cause of the problem I immediately recalled all packs I built with that type of cell. Fortunately I didn’t sell many as the cells were hard to find, so I only recalled one pack and offered replacement options to other customers who ultimately decided to keep them. Later research and inspection led me to conclude the battery had gotten damaged in the prior accidents. Since it was a pain to access it I did not inspect it each time.

I’ve been using pouches from other manufacturers with no issue. I just picked up some 75ah cells that boast super rates including a rated charge in 20 minutes; but it would require some more hardware. For now I’m setup for 72v 90 amps charging or 80% in about 40 minutes. This might just be fast enough. The 48ah packs I’ve been selling, I’ve charged at 40-45 amps and they take it will a little heating. Even that is enough, at this point the experience has less to do with charging speed and more to do with vehicle comfort and riding habits, ie how fast the battery is spent and how often you take a break.
 
Tom from Rubicon said:
Before I start running off at the mouth, are the battery assemblies potted/encapsulated?
I have several EGO cordless lawn appliances. I lost a battery pack to a minor shock.
(two foot drop to hard pavement)
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It’s a long discussion because there are different ideas about pouches. I’ve not potted my packs because a decent pouch should be sealed well enough from humidity from the factory just like every 10wh battery in our pocket isn’t potted.

Two foot drop sounds like something cracked and got disconnected. You could take it apart and check, and solder it back. Just don’t go too hot if it’s a cell.
 
Tony my friend you have had some adventures on bikes both gas and electric. I'm glad your ok. Riding every day for years things happen. Geeze Louise hit a deer and then a battery blew up? Deer are thick here and I just don't ride nights in the country anymore. Just a little in town.

Thanks for sharing with us. I know you put a lot into your builds and have a lot of experience building bikes and batteries and things still happen if you ride a lot you are exposed to a lot.

I encourage a lot of guys to build and ride despite knowing it can be dangerous even when we do our best work and ride responsibly. There is some danger involved no matter how experienced a guy is and how cautious he is in his fabrication and his riding. Factory bikes, gas and elecrtric, have problems too and huge liabilities. I still ride at 75 years knowing full well it's not perfectly safe and have the scars to prove it. I'd say it's safer than marriage or dating, but not by much, and as a guy I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on that either!

Take care Tony and keep building and riding (as I've told you in the past) as much as you can. Life shouldn't be a spectator sport or completely safe.

Rick C.
 
indian22 said:
Tony my friend you have had some adventures on bikes both gas and electric. I'm glad your ok. Riding every day for years things happen. Geeze Louise hit a deer and then a battery blew up? Deer are thick here and I just don't ride nights in the country anymore. Just a little in town.

Thanks for sharing with us. I know you put a lot into your builds and have a lot of experience building bikes and batteries and things still happen if you ride a lot you are exposed to a lot.

I encourage a lot of guys to build and ride despite knowing it can be dangerous even when we do our best work and ride responsibly. There is some danger involved no matter how experienced a guy is and how cautious he is in his fabrication and his riding. Factory bikes, gas and elecrtric, have problems too and huge liabilities. I still ride at 75 years knowing full well it's not perfectly safe and have the scars to prove it. I'd say it's safer than marriage or dating, but not by much, and as a guy I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on that either!

Take care Tony and keep building and riding (as I've told you in the past) as much as you can. Life shouldn't be a spectator sport or completely safe.

Rick C.
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It’s actually far worse than, I hit a deer then the battery. The battery blew a few months later, I simply should have continued the inspection morning of. The bad part is I got pulled over doing near double in a 40 about half an hour before the deer. Laying there after the deer I pondered my faith.
 
I can't help but make fun of myself. Wired up the Schwinn and looks good but doesn't run. I added length to phase wires and Hall sensors so it ran before but not after. Bad connections or poor soldering (some of each?) at any rate no ride report this morning as a result.

I'd like to do perfect work every time but certainly don't!

Some stuff on order that I need so it's all good.

Rick C.
 
Tony01 said:
It’s actually far worse than, I hit a deer then the battery. The battery blew a few months later, I simply should have continued the inspection morning of. The bad part is I got pulled over doing near double in a 40 about half an hour before the deer. Laying there after the deer I pondered my faith.
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Yeah Tony I realized there was a significant time gap between the deer incident and the battery going chest up, but glad you came clean with us about the "double limit" ticket. I've been there (years ago) and it was costly; on several occassions.

Nothing wrong with pondering life's trash, just don't give up on hope, faith or love. Might consider slowing down some when you get round to it. If you want to. Your a fine guy Tony!

RickC.
 
Interesting Tom. There is quite a bit of interest in vintage looking e bikes the ones I favor are those which Pat makes and two brothers out of Poland have some really cool e vintage bikes as well. All of these are handcrafted and expensive but i can see real value in them. This one is cool but falls way short of hand crafted. It looks to be mostly printed, if not they tried hard to make it look so. I would expect a factory motorcycle guy to come up with outstanding for a one off prototype for marketing purposes. No price that I saw but it should sell at about a third of what the Polish bikes cost which is 12 k Euro.

My opinion of course, has a nice paint job.

Rick C.
 
Kosynier bikes are the bikes I was referring to. Their video ads make me want to take out a loan, but I feature Pat's bikes are superior.

My post was perhaps too harsh but most manufacturers marketing verbiage is so full of mindless and meaningless adjectives and superlatives that I typically want to toss last nights chili.

Rick C.
 
Why am I posting when it's a perfect day to work and I've got stuff to figure out? Patience I'm working on patience and trying to not make the cure worse than the current problem. I'll reflect on the problem one more day.

I ordered an identical pair of saddlebags but in black for the Ol'Crow. I really like the ones on the Schwinn replica.

In the meantime I'll start sorting the wiring on the 72v motor and controller. Both the motor and controller can run on 36, 48 or 72v. The motor is rated at 6,000 rpm at 72v no load and though size wise and bolt patterns are the same as the 48v motor it weighs a pound more nd that meaning more copper windings and that's the difference in ratings. I'd think the bearings are upgraded as well? The case diameter, length and mounting are identical to the 48v motor which is rated at 4500 rpm. Sprocket mounting is a bit different however.

I'll see how it works in combination on the power supply. This could go in the Ol'Crow using the saddle bags. I so don't trust the controller to run at even 30 mph and it will shutdown on WOT pulling steeps hills just not robust at all. Battery and motor cool but controller heats up enough to shut her down. Weak link! The hills are steep but not very long not even 200 yards in length. There are a few climbs nearby which are this steep but several miles in length.

So I feature I need to get this sorted out as well and a box full of FET's and high volt Caps are the way to get it done. Plus I don't have to buy anything additional which hadn't already been planned.

Rick C.
 
Getting the big controllet hooked up had one snsg but it's all good now. Drew only 2 amps at no load (good number) and at full throttle and ran 6,000 rpm on 54 v power supply setting, also at no load. Very smoth and quiet. Though 72v capable I plan on running 48v still. 80 amps (50 amps more than the installed controller) at 48v is almost 4kw or 5.3 hp at 4500 rpm loaded. I'm wanting more torque and not speed so the sprocket reduction will remain the same. This is the setup I should have tried first with the gear reduction drive train.

Now I need to rewire the Schwinn and add the primary tension sprocket and pedal side spring tensioner. Half links are on the way too.

Some progress.

Rick C.

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indian22 said:
Yeah Tony I realized there was a significant time gap between the deer incident and the battery going chest up, but glad you came clean with us about the "double limit" ticket. I've been there (years ago) and it was costly; on several occassions.

Nothing wrong with pondering life's trash, just don't give up on hope, faith or love. Might consider slowing down some when you get round to it. If you want to. Your a fine guy Tony!

RickC.
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Hey Rick, I definitely heard the big man upstairs tellin me to slow down. No ticket. You are right about riding at night in the wilderness. I think I'll not do it again.

I made a mistake about the precharge circuit. It is needed. Some electronics have that stuff built in. I've never worried about it.. with that said I've smoked my share of expensive components.
 
indian22 said:
Getting the big controllet hooked up had one snsg but it's all good now. Drew only 2 amps at no load (good number) and at full throttle and ran 6,000 rpm on 54 v power supply setting, also at no load. Very smoth and quiet. Though 72v capable I plan on running 48v still. 80 amps (50 amps more than the installed controller) at 48v is almost 4kw or 5.3 hp at 4500 rpm loaded. I'm wanting more torque and not speed so the sprocket reduction will remain the same. This is the setup I should have tried first with the gear reduction drive train.

Now I need to rewire the Schwinn and add the primary tension sprocket and pedal side spring tensioner. Half links are on the way too.

Some progress.

Rick C.

View attachment 111048
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Over 5hp, those 1/2 links should not be stainless steel, but hard carbon steel! You already know my experience. I liked the idea of the 1 an 1/2 link, it does not use the tiny cotter pin. Trouble is I was not observant the ones I got were stainless steel. Stainless is inherently weaker than the harden carbon steel.
 
Tony my Schwinn is back in the house again and where I have more room and comfort. Cleared the kitchen table of the last motor work in anticipation of a complete rewire of the Schwinn. One connection at a time done up properly as it should have been done before. I'm not looking for a quick fix but rather a proper install.

The wiring appears correct but it seems my controller setup via Android isn't pairing via bluetooth.

The new controller for the Ol' Crow is behaving great with the 72v motor and hooked up quickly for a quick test ride with wire ties holding controller in place. I'm using 48v. battery. I can't begin to describe the difference in torque this pairing has made. It really climbs well, but the test with wire ties was a hinky setup! Bags and rack should be here next week.

Now the Schwinn is my focus and think perhaps the software version is outdated? If I can't find a solution I'll run a non programable controller. I've had some problems with buying motors and matching up to controllers not matched with one another by manufacturer as a pair.

Tony some of my stuff really wanted to arc and other setups were fine. I seldom take a battery offline but I really burnt a couple of connectors when I did.

Rick C
 
Well color me gullible. I read the vendors spec sheet and I verified the controller case data when it arrived & tested it on 72v and 48v but took their word for it being able to function at 36v. It won't as it requires 42v minimum to function and any voltage drop under this shuts the controller off as it would normally for 48v voltage sag. Basically I found out they lied about the specs.

I suppose it's time to find a 36v, dedicated, hardwired controller which will support at least 50 amps for the Schwinn or just switch to 48v battery pack?

Still having fun!

Rick C.

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