£20 THING!, Upgrades. Battery, Bulbs, Locks etc..

[OldFart]

Yeah, Its working which has shocked everyone that saw it when i 1st brought it home.

Although fromn 1st glance it just looks cleaner. Its had more than that. With a coat of paint on everything and the wiring altered to get the rear lights working and the additional dropper to use 12v LEDs.

Swapping the locks takes an age also. They are not the same size as the old ones so had to make spacers up for them.

The only one left is the seat lock which is an oddball one. Its a short lock with a slot in the rear for a flat bar. All the locks have cams with screws on the rear.

I tried turning the lock down in the lathe. But cheap metal. It collapsed and fell to pieces.
Need another plan on the seat lock.

I plan on trying it tomorrow with freshly charged lipo's and no SLA fitted.

That will reduce the weight by over 10kg.

I will order some balance lead extensions and have a play to see if cutting the earth or live works best. I assume its the earth as thats the starting pin in the monitor. Yep just tried it the other way around + at the top and no power.

 

[OldFart]

Brain has been working again. Always a dangerous sign

IF.. I swapped the controller from what we think is a 13Amp one to a 17Aamp one will it actually give an increase in power?
Or am i restricted by the voltage alone?

Thanks...

 

[Geebee]

Yes it should increase power, how much will depend on the motor.
Can you just solder the existing shunt in the controller to up the power?
Ebay often has 500w brushed controllers cheap, my last one was $14 delivered.
I used a bypass relay on mine so on a steep hills the motor was direct connected to the battery, almost doubled the motor power so there should be room for increasing current to the motor as 13amps is very low.

 

[OldFart]

I can try that. See how quickly it goes on the throttle then try
it wil the battery direct to the wheel.

I undid the 4 screws in the controller but it wouldnt come out. I didnt want to break it and for around £10 i dont mine having a spare one just in case.

Or i can get a pair of 6s batteries to add to the 5s and make an 11s pack?
Extra 3 - 4 volts. Safe?

 

[Geebee]

The extra voltage should be fine.
Be very careful with direct connection as the initial current will be high, I used to regularly melt 60 and 80 amp relays , direct connection will have little effect on top speed but should increase hill climbing and acceleration noticably.

 

[OldFart]

So ideally on a stand and held down to stop it escaping

Would it help to spin it up to a decent speed with the pedals also so it wont be a huge surge from a standing start?

being a brushed motor whats the safest option? Upping the voltage a little bit. Just an extra cell 3 - 4 volts.
Or a higher wattage controller?

Spotted this controller (500w) and it says voltage protection 42 volts. I assume thats the max so no point putting an extra cell on which would push my pair of 5s packs which are close to 42v fully charged. Adding the extra cell would push it to a touch over 46v wont it?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/36V-500W-motor-brush-controller-for-Electric-bicycle-scooter-/221509583991?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item3393000477

No mention of a pedal sensor. As i have a cutout switch for the throttle anyway that may not be an issue.

Waiting for a dry day and i will get some pics and hopefully a little video of it moving..

Added some folding pedals today which helps storing it. I can get that much closer to the wall now and less risk of hitting my leg on them.

 

[Geebee]

I would go with the controller first as 13 amps is very low, mine used to pull 30 amps on direct connection
Maybe then do the voltage if you want to go a bit faster, one thing at a time helps with trouble shooting.
Connected directly but with the wheel off the ground will be fine as almost no load on the motor so current draw will be low, I thought you were going to road test with a jumper to the battery or similar.
Just an educated guess but I think that should be 32 v for low voltage protection, it is fairly rare for the controlers (especially a chepy) to have high voltage protection specified or implemented other than going bang
Heres a cheaper one with 27 amp rating as good as direct connected, 17 amp maybe safer but just keep an eye on heat build up if you go this route, I ran mine to hot to hold your hand on, on a number of occasion and it is still running.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-New-36V-Universal-Electric-Bike-Scooter-500W-Motor-Brushed-Controller-/280912827492?hash=item4167b59464

 

[OldFart]

The pictures show a 24v controller? Whats the risk with a brushed motor?

Burning the brushes and commutator out? Heat and the magnets falling off (again). Although it was age last time not heat. They decided 10 years was enough and unglued themselves. Just glad it didnt happen miles from home.

 

[Geebee]

Probably use the same picture for the 24 and 36v as they sell both.

Unlikely to hurt the brushes and commutator (unless it has plastic brush holders, dont laugh I have seen it done), that generally takes extreme abuse, if you overheat to the extent that you can't hold your hand on the motor for at least a few seconds it can permanetly reduce the magnetism of the motor thus reducing power.

In practise I have repeatedly had my old scooter motor to that level (never higher) with no permanent harm, I have steep hills and it was not designed to be pedaled as it had a wide floor and very short cranks, so helping up hill was limited.

 

[OldFart]

The brush holder is a large round disc of a plastic type material.

Both brushes fit into the one unit.

 

[Geebee]

Plastic or circuit board material, if plastic maybe stick to 17 amps.

 

[OldFart]

Probably is just plastic. Ordered the controller above so i can have a play and have a backup.

I have a clamp meter to test the amps, But ordered a watt meter also.