New BBS01B 250W conversion

[PhilYerBoots]

I'm converting a Cube Touring Pro step thru bike (below) for my wife and decided to do down the BBS01 250W route, keeping it legal and so that she has a throttle, one of her must-have requirements.
I've sorted where I'm buying the kit from but want to fit a slim rack mounted battery (ideally all in black), as she doesn't want anything cluttering the step thru frame.
There seems to be very few options from what I can find, which include a double decker style rack and that also look smart. In fact the link below appears to be the best option I could find but I would welcome any other suggestions.

https://bmsbattery.com/ebike-battery/781-36v145ah-case-02-panasonic-battery-pack-battery.html

I've never bought from bmsbattery before and wondered what peoples experiences were with them, delivery times and likelihood of having to pay any taxes on delivery. I was also shocked to see the price of £230 go up to over £300 with shipping included..! Also would this be the correct type of battery to use with a BBS01 kit (i.e. no controller included) and assume battery would have its own built in bms..?

Any other suggestions on a suitable battery for the build or tips on fitting the kit to this type of bike/frame would be appreciated.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

BMSBattery are pretty reliable on the whole. I've had more than 30 orders from them. Delivery times are normally 2 to 4 weeks, depending on whether they're all away at shows.

On batteries, you normally have to pay about £30 duty, but my last order seemed to slip through. In fact I've had a few orders from different suppliers slip through recently. Maybe the customs guys are suffering personnel cuts.

 

[PhilYerBoots]

Thanks Dave.

Any idea what type of connectors it's likely to ship with and whether I'll have to replace them to fit to a BBS01 kit ?
Despite the high shipping cost the bmsbattery link still looks like a good deal but do you know of any other battery suppliers that sell a similar package, preferably in the UK ?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Probably no connector or wire - just the bare pins on the back of the receiver connector ready for you to solder your own wires.

https://www.pandaebikes.com/shop/batteries/11ah-36v-vulpeca-rear-rack-battery-lithium-ion-samsung-cells-uk-charger/

 

[mxer]

I always get caught for duty DHL send me an invoice soon as it lands in the UK. Agreed the shipping is crazy expensive in some cases. I do try to avoid them and only use them for custom made chargers..

 

[PhilYerBoots]

Thats a nice looking kit from panda Dave. Unfortunately out of stock like a lot of other uk sites I've found.
The search continues..

 

[PhilYerBoots]

Ordered this one in the end.

https://bmsbattery.com/ebike-battery/781-36v145ah-case-02-panasonic-battery-pack-battery.html?search_query=36v+battery&results=312

Postage came out @ £60 so a bit less than expected. Fingers crossed no duty when it gets here. I made a schoolboy error when placing the order, leaving voltage as 100-120 vac instead of the 200-264 option. Hopefully the additional message I sent after the order will be read before picking and packing.

The bbs01 kit's being delivered today so will post back once I've got some build photos to share.

 

[PhilYerBoots]

Developments on the conversion are that 2 weeks after ordering BMSbattery asked me to pay another $39 shipping due to using a different courier.

With another 15+ days to wait and the possibility of paying duty on top of that, I spotted a couple of nice rack mounted battery conversions on Darren's Brighton Ebikes site using the Hailong type battery. So I decided to cancel the BMS order and now have an HL-3 13ah battery for a lot less money, which arrived yesterday.

My challenge now is how best to fix this downtube battery to, preferably the existing rack, leaving the step thru frame clear for easy dismount.
The stock rack has a spring on top that I'll remove and a couple of cross members towards the back that I think I'll need to use with some form of bracket to secure the 2 bolts that normally screw into the downtube bottle holes.

I'll post a photo later showing the rack but would appreciate any ideas meantime.

 

[anotherkiwi]

I have seen one of those Cubes with the HL battery mounted to the bottle mounts, leaves enough room to get the leg through. Otherwise a couple of aluminium plates long enough to clamp the battery holder to the carrier will work.

 

[PhilYerBoots]

This is the rack.

I've tried holding the battery in place on the downtube while my wife gets on and off the bike and the battery's too close for her when she's standing in the gap in front of the saddle.
Good idea to use alu plates as a clamp either side. I guess a solid platform rack would make it easier so thats another option.

 

[PhilYerBoots]

I've had another idea to create a solid platform on the rack for the battery/holder.
Fix a piece of 9mm marine ply (painted black) with some 10mm P clips on the cross members under the ply and attach with countersunk bolts and locking nuts in a couple of places.
Hopefully that will anchor the ply well enough to mount the battery and holder plus I've got most of that stuff already.
Further photos to follow once I've got the conversion underway...

 

[Deleted member 4366]

9mm is very heavy. I think 5mm would be more than enough.

 

[PhilYerBoots]

Good point Dave..I'll see what I've got left in the garage..think I only have 9mm in marine ply though..

 

[anotherkiwi]

I have some marine ply in my bedroom all ready to be cut up into boat shaped bits . This is the first time I have bought marine ply in about 10-12 years and I wouldn't put a battery on the 5 mm stuff I have now and trust it...

I sourced both times from Leroy Merlin. Last boat's hull was built from CTBX exterior grade all okoume, now exterior grade has a poplar center! The previous CTBX 5 mm was largely superior to this lot of marine grade. The last sheet of 9 mm marine grade I bought had a Lloyd's stamp on it, this one is just as bad as the 5 mm in general aspect.

Last time all the ply was "Made in France", since then ply makers have packed up their old machinery and sent it off to Africa and some ply is now made on the spot. This is very good for employment in Africa and so on but looking at this lot of ply which I suspect (no formal proof) comes from one of those factories, quality needs to be improved before it can be considered real marine grade. Made in France Lloyd's stamped marine now costs about 330% more than what I paid

My 0.02€ on the state of ply.

PS left over bits will become a battery box for my Indian kit battery but it will be glassed.

 

[PhilYerBoots]

I never knew there was so much to ply. Informative stuff.
I'm not too fussed about the weight as it will be a relatively small piece, but more that it's strong enough, waterproof and wont need replacing down the line.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Before we had downtube batteries, I put my batteries on self-made racks made of the cheapest 3mm ply. The batteries were sometimes heavy 20Ah LiFePO4 or this 27Ah LiFePO4 one, which must weigh 10kg. It's easily strong enough at 3mm, ley alone 5mm marine ply. There's not even a rack under the ply base - just a couple of aluminium tubes. I built this bike three years ago and it's been used more or less daily ever since:

 

[anotherkiwi]

I never knew there was so much to ply. Informative stuff.
I'm not too fussed about the weight as it will be a relatively small piece, but more that it's strong enough, waterproof and wont need replacing down the line.

That was just the executive summary I am going to write an article soon on my boat building site where I will flesh that out a bit.

 

[anotherkiwi]

Before we had downtube batteries, I put my batteries on self-made racks made of the cheapest 3mm ply. The batteries were sometimes heavy 20Ah LiFePO4 or this 27Ah LiFePO4 one, which must weigh 10kg. It's easily strong enough at 3mm, ley alone 5mm marine ply. There's not even a rack under the ply base - just a couple of aluminium tubes. I built this bike three years ago and it's been used more or less daily ever since:

View attachment 20351

View attachment 20352

View attachment 20353

3 mm 5 ply birch?

 

[PhilYerBoots]

Nice job Dave. Looks like it's built to last.
My section of ply will be a lot smaller but I'll see what I've got.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

3 mm 5 ply birch?

Cheapo ply. No idea what type. I bought an 8ft x 4ft sheet of it for about £10. I just bought a couple of sheets of 18mm ply from the same guy to repair my upstairs floors. He called it hardwood ply. £32 a sheet.