Hi. First ebike conversion.

I have an old Carrera zelos which I've owned for a looong time. It has served me well but it's just sat in the shed now needing a good service. Mini hope brakes are shot, rock shock silver need servicing, gears aren't working great.

 

So I want to bring her back to life and try to service everything myself and when it's sorted I want to turn it into an ebike. I've done a little searching around and have ordered a TSDZ2 36v 250W. Should be here next week sometime.

 

Any hints and tips on fitting would be much appreciated.

 

Also need to add a battery so any advice on this would be great. Would it be easy to use power tool batteries? Or any other ideas, what ever is cheapest really.

 

Thanks folks.

Hi welcome

There's loads of info on here regarding builds

Hi welcome

There's loads of info on here regarding builds

Cheers I'll have to have a scurry around. I saw someone powering there's with RC model batteries which would be good so you could carry spares. I'm looking for decent mileage around 50 or so.

Lipo packs tbh aren't worth the trouble now as lion celled batteries are priced quite well now with a good bit of choice available, no faffing with extra balance charging unless you really wish to only go to 4 or 4.1v max.

Lipo was an ideal solution when lion choice was limited or for those wanting a high power set up. For ebike use and longevity you really do need to cease DOD at above 3.6v where as with lion the BMS comfortably will take you to 3.2/3.3v per cell without voltage taking a dive which happens with lipo, once lipo have been used a few times the dive from 3.6v downwards to 3.3v or lower happens quite rapidly.

Edited December 14, 20196 yr by Nealh

Lipo packs tbh aren't worth the trouble now as lion celled batteries are priced quite well now with a good bit of choice available, no faffing with extra balance charging unless you really wish to only go to 4 or 4.1v max.

Lipo was an ideal solution when lion choice was limited or for those wanting a high power set up. For ebike use and longevity you really do need to cease DOD at above 3.6v where as with lion the BMS comfortably will take you to 3.2/3.3v per cell without voltage taking a dive which happens with lipo, once lipo have been used a few times the dive from 3.6v downwards to 3.3v or lower happens quite rapidly.

Brilliant cheers. I'll steer clear of them then. I need to have a good measure of some of these frame batteries then as my frame is quite small I think. How much milage should I expect from a 36v 13ah battery on flat roads?

Range varies a huge amount with riding conditions, speed, and most importantly the level of assist you choose. Try things out on Bosch range assistant, pretty much valid whether or not it is a Bosch. You'll need to go somewhere between the 400 and 500 Bosch battery.

 

You'll see >100 miles under ideal conditions, riding slow with minimal (eco) assist with a 400 battery; change to sport, increase the speed and make a few other changes and it'll quickly drop to 30 miles. You should get about 15% more with your 468aH battery.

Range varies a huge amount with riding conditions, speed, and most importantly the level of assist you choose. Try things out on Bosch range assistant, pretty much valid whether or not it is a Bosch. You'll need to go somewhere between the 400 and 500 Bosch battery.

 

You'll see >100 miles under ideal conditions, riding slow with minimal (eco) assist with a 400 battery; change to sport, increase the speed and make a few other changes and it'll quickly drop to 30 miles. You should get about 15% more with your 468aH battery.

Thanks. 30 on sport sounds great. I'm always someone that conserves energy so that all sounds good. Can I ask on the TSDZ2 what happens if your peddling past the top speed of the unit. Does it still keep powering the unit it does it cut the power?

The tdz will cut out the assist at the speed that you set on the display , the unit has very good range on the lower settings 30-40 miles[depends on terrain etc much less if you use turbo all the time20'-25]

The battery is a 13ah on a 250watt 36v in my profile pic both from psw power the case has been adapted to fit the frame triangle so it can still be removed

P.S. my 48 v version tsdz2 has better battery life /range 40-60 miles+

The tdz will cut out the assist at the speed that you set on the display , the unit has very good range on the lower settings 30-40 miles[depends on terrain etc much less if you use turbo all the time20'-25]

The battery is a 13ah on a 250watt 36v in my profile pic both from psw power the case has been adapted to fit the frame triangle so it can still be removed

P.S. my 48 v version tsdz2 has better battery life /range 40-60 miles+

Bummer. I heard about a 48v TSDZ2 but didn't see any. Mine was also from PSW power and I'll probably get the battery from them as well. 30 to 40 ain't bad though. A ride to family members is a 35 mile round trip and commute to work is a 12 mile round trip. Does the 48v version have more power?

lots and its cheaper too, buy direct. check for stock in German whse £238.00 free delivery

lots and its cheaper too, buy direct. check for stock in German whse £238.00 free delivery

The only 250w ones I see are 36v. Don't matter now anyway as I already have the 36v delivered yesterday.

You have to see Woosh for the 48v 250w one.

The tdz will cut out the assist at the speed that you set on the display , the unit has very good range on the lower settings 30-40 miles[depends on terrain etc much less if you use turbo all the time20'-25]

The battery is a 13ah on a 250watt 36v in my profile pic both from psw power the case has been adapted to fit the frame triangle so it can still be removed

P.S. my 48 v version tsdz2 has better battery life /range 40-60 miles+

 

I have often wondered about the claims of greater mileage from a 48v motor, is this down to the 48v motor resulting in lower current (Voltage higher) and hence lower losses. Or is this based on say a 13ah 48v battery having 30% more capacity than a 13ah 36v battery (30% more cells). if based on the battery capacity thing then it is of less advantage than often posted (not all).

The 48v appears to be more efficient in day to day use ,the motor needs a lower level of assist, turbo mode is not used as often and the max load required appears less to get to the cut off speed

Overall the battery life is longer not just the extra watts of the battery also the motor note[noise] is different

The 48v appears to be more efficient in day to day use ,the motor needs a lower level of assist, turbo mode is not used as often and the max load required appears less to get to the cut off speed

Overall the battery life is longer not just the extra watts of the battery also the motor note[noise] is different

So what is the 36v like? Should I be looking to sell it before I've even opened it? No point in spending more money on a 36v battery of it ain't that great.

After a bit of thought the 36v is ok for 95% of the time but takes the battery bit of a hammering for the other 5% if you have not used the 48v you would never know the difference

Its not under powered and you should be happy with it if used up to the uk limit 15.5mph it out performs most others in the price range and feels more like a normal bike

 

But woosh chose his own spec 48v uk spec with a higher torque for a reason they do lots of homework

 

Personal choice is with the 48v psw version you can buy a lower spec battery ,as it does not seem as current hungry

Range is certainly better than a 48v bafang motor but less amps are required on the tsdz2 but the top speed is a lot lower too

I have often wondered about the claims of greater mileage from a 48v motor, is this down to the 48v motor resulting in lower current (Voltage higher) and hence lower losses. Or is this based on say a 13ah 48v battery having 30% more capacity than a 13ah 36v battery (30% more cells). if based on the battery capacity thing then it is of less advantage than often posted (not all).

It's based on the fact that say a 13ah 48v battery has 30% more capacity than a 13ah 36v battery. With 30% more cells there's 30% more energy stored in the battery.

It's based on the fact that say a 13ah 48v battery has 30% more capacity than a 13ah 36v battery. With 30% more cells there's 30% more energy stored in the battery.

So the main advantage is perceived rather than real,its just a bigger battery. So there may be some benefit from lower temperatures hence lower losses but not 30%. There may be more torque but doesn't that mean more power consumption if you take advantage of that torque which in itself might shorten the range?

After a bit of thought the 36v is ok for 95% of the time but takes the battery bit of a hammering for the other 5% if you have not used the 48v you would never know the difference

Its not under powered and you should be happy with it if used up to the uk limit 15.5mph it out performs most others in the price range and feels more like a normal bike

 

But woosh chose his own spec 48v uk spec with a higher torque for a reason they do lots of homework

 

Personal choice is with the 48v psw version you can buy a lower spec battery ,as it does not seem as current hungry

Range is certainly better than a 48v bafang motor but less amps are required on the tsdz2 but the top speed is a lot lower too

Thanks. I'll stick with it then although if I had the choice again I would go 48v. I should of researched that little bit more but eBay had the 10% code so I pulled the trigger.

I have both 36 and 48 versions I can say for sure the 48 has more than a 30% advantage on range in eco mode , in real world use the 48 does far more miles than a 36 which does one days ride then requires a recharge but the 48 does 2 days ride on the same route with out a charge the motor zips up to the cut out speed far quicker so the assist is for a shorter time = more range

the 48V TSDZ2 has a wider range of torque, so when you climb a typical 10% hill for example, you can maintain easily 30% more speed than you would with a 36V TSDZ2, the higher speed preserves the motor yield, less battery is wasted in heat.

I have had the 36V TSDZ2 nearly a year before I decided to sell only the 48V TSDZ2.

The same argument goes for my 48V SWX02 rear hub motor. Both have excellent customers feedback.

I have both 36 and 48 versions I can say for sure the 48 has more than a 30% advantage on range in eco mode , in real world use the 48 does far more miles than a 36 which does one days ride then requires a recharge but the 48 does 2 days ride on the same route with out a charge the motor zips up to the cut out speed far quicker so the assist is for a shorter time = more range

What are the battery capacities of the two?

And also how do the maximum current ratings of the controllers and batteries compare?

The 36v is 13.0 468W the 48 is 13.5 648W both cheaper packs from psw power

The peak watts on both motors are considerably less than a bafang bbs motor my amp meter showed 12 peak amp for the 36v and the 48v showed 15 amps both run normally around 6- 8 amps or less the 48v backs off max very quickly both standard no remap the standard 48v is programed to run smoother

 

Remember the tdz only will provide assist in proportion to the human effort given, unlike the bbs motors that's the difference between torque and cadence sensors

 

My bbs01 in the trike was the etm version of the bafang 250watt it draws 20/22 amps, and the bafang bbs02 750watt I had in my previous specialized used 25 amps.Both of which required high spec /cost battery packs to avoid sag but both produce a much higher constant output as standard, and once tinkerd /remapped much high watt s across the range

The 36v is 13.0 468W the 48 is 13.5 648W

I'm no expert, but I think that might have something to do with the difference in range, when one has nearly 50% more charge in it than the other.

 

The correctness police say that it's 468 watt-hours and 648 watt-hours capacity in each battery, not watts - just so nobody reading gets confused. The 13.0 and 15.5 are amp-hours, which can't be directly compared because the voltage changes them.