Ordered one and a new postIt's this one, because Dahon's original ultra-light saddle was ver ver uncomfortable - this is very comfy, wider, but heavier. Cheap keeps me cheerful, 11.99. Had to change the saddlepost to fit it:
Neil
Solar trailer rides again!
- Thread starter matthewslack
- Start date
Neil
Ferocious wind today, so I can answer the question about how does the trailer behave. The answer is that provided it is connected to the bike, and so level, and is loaded with luggage, so heavy, the bike plus rider is the limit, not the trailer.
40 plus mph South Westerly, so mostly on my back. Some exposed sections have been cross wind, where the bike is all but unrideable, and one downhill section was low gear, high assist and pedal hard!
Only difficulty was in a view point car park, when the bike blew over, and the load transmitted through the hitch caused the trailer to follow! Soft landing in a heathery ditch, nothing spilt, nothing broken and tonight I'll see if anything small fell out. Don't think so.
I had just stopped for a view of Orkney. Earlier I had resorted to laying the bike down.
When putting it all together I forgot the vital solar power feed to the bike, so ran a few miles inadvertently on the Shimano battery. Realised in time, before setting out on the next rather quiet moorland section and backtracked to a coffee stop, where for the first time ever, I am being charged for a short top-up charge! Two quid for perhaps 0.2 kWh. 'Heard it all before', said the very nice lady when I tried to explain how little it would cost.
Real world anecdotes are priceless, and add to the colour of the journey, so I am not complaining. And it gets me back to a good battery state.
The wind is as advertised, but dry and bright, so I am limited by the need for slow speeds and shelter tonight rather than energy
Update: the lady came out to tell me my 40 minutes is up. I asked for a receipt!
40 plus mph South Westerly, so mostly on my back. Some exposed sections have been cross wind, where the bike is all but unrideable, and one downhill section was low gear, high assist and pedal hard!
Only difficulty was in a view point car park, when the bike blew over, and the load transmitted through the hitch caused the trailer to follow! Soft landing in a heathery ditch, nothing spilt, nothing broken and tonight I'll see if anything small fell out. Don't think so.
I had just stopped for a view of Orkney. Earlier I had resorted to laying the bike down.
When putting it all together I forgot the vital solar power feed to the bike, so ran a few miles inadvertently on the Shimano battery. Realised in time, before setting out on the next rather quiet moorland section and backtracked to a coffee stop, where for the first time ever, I am being charged for a short top-up charge! Two quid for perhaps 0.2 kWh. 'Heard it all before', said the very nice lady when I tried to explain how little it would cost.
Real world anecdotes are priceless, and add to the colour of the journey, so I am not complaining. And it gets me back to a good battery state.
The wind is as advertised, but dry and bright, so I am limited by the need for slow speeds and shelter tonight rather than energy
Update: the lady came out to tell me my 40 minutes is up. I asked for a receipt!
I set off to catch a cafe that was recommended online at its 10am opening, was a bit early but they let me in anyway. A good breakfast bacon roll and tea was the first of three cafes, on a day when going slow to keep in step with generation rate was important. A couple of big hills to Bettyhill, then second cafe just before the next climb for rather early lunch at 12:06. But good sun for a boost before the hill was too good to resist. The third cafe I have already mentioned.
524Wh generated, 742 consumed, 92 km. Battery ends the day at 37.5V.
8Wh per km, 13 per mile. Hilly and a lot of big uphills, but also many many miles of strong tailwinds, so I was expecting to be a bit lower. But fits the ending voltage well enough.
Two stormy days have not been as bad as I expected, and 108 miles covered. Tomorrow a round of the landmark points of Dunnet Head, John o'Groats, Duncansby Head, before either south or Orkney.
More great conversations with people along the way, today especially the two Stromness residents who wanted to ride on my trailer three miles to their ferry, and three interested youngsters and their accompanying adults in Lidl car park.
Last night's camp.
The first cafe.
A known unknown.
Bridge over the Navar.
Beach at Bettyhill.
Great view on a good day.
The second cafe.
Another beach view.
Beautiful gardens at Castletown heritage centre. Caithness flagstones. World famous, huge infrastructure here, almost unknown now in the UK.
Tonight's camp.
524Wh generated, 742 consumed, 92 km. Battery ends the day at 37.5V.
8Wh per km, 13 per mile. Hilly and a lot of big uphills, but also many many miles of strong tailwinds, so I was expecting to be a bit lower. But fits the ending voltage well enough.
Two stormy days have not been as bad as I expected, and 108 miles covered. Tomorrow a round of the landmark points of Dunnet Head, John o'Groats, Duncansby Head, before either south or Orkney.
More great conversations with people along the way, today especially the two Stromness residents who wanted to ride on my trailer three miles to their ferry, and three interested youngsters and their accompanying adults in Lidl car park.
Last night's camp.
The first cafe.
A known unknown.
Bridge over the Navar.
Beach at Bettyhill.
Great view on a good day.
The second cafe.
Another beach view.
Beautiful gardens at Castletown heritage centre. Caithness flagstones. World famous, huge infrastructure here, almost unknown now in the UK.
Tonight's camp.
With the odometer showing 7275km, an appropriate '42'km this morning, stage one of the journey is complete. A round of
Dunnet Head
With orchids
Duncansby Head
and John o 'Groats.
1062km, 660 miles, 9.5 days riding, 69.5 miles per day.
Now I go south, to Inverness via the ferry this time, and then Sustrans routes towards Edinburgh and the borders.
Dunnet Head
With orchids
Duncansby Head
and John o 'Groats.
1062km, 660 miles, 9.5 days riding, 69.5 miles per day.
Now I go south, to Inverness via the ferry this time, and then Sustrans routes towards Edinburgh and the borders.
Attachments
One question Matt are you using one or two batteries ?
I enjoy reading these posts as I did when EPJ posted, like wise georgehenry.
I enjoy reading these posts as I did when EPJ posted, like wise georgehenry.
Last edited:
Two batteries in parallel, linked with a pair of big Schottky diodes in the positive wires.
A Shimano battery on the rack, linked by extension leads to the normal battery location:
This is needed to con the Shimano system into switching on, and the diodes prevent backfeeding from one battery to the other.
Under the panels in the middle of the trailer is my actual working battery, which is charged by the two charge controllers:
I'll get some better images when it is brighter, or I can make the phone flash work.
I have to keep the fairly weak celled generic battery at a higher voltage than the better celled Shimano one to avoid taking charge from the Shimano.
Just stopped for today as facing a steep descent, then steep climb out of 100m+ with 35.5V on the solar battery and only one bar showing on the Shimano. I need another 100Wh charge before attempting that, so that is my end of day.
Last edited:
A few minutes later, I have had a nice chat with the owner of the piece of ground that is sheltered enough for my little tent, a short rain shower, pitched the tent, and the sun is back, giving me 6 amps.
That hill in the morning will now be no trouble.
The wind never let up today, although fortunately it was west not south west. Even so, it was a good 20+mph most of the time, and 30+ in the morning on the exposed northern coast.
When I stopped, 122km, 983Wh generated, 1186 consumed, so 9.7Wh/km, 15.6Wh per mile. That was a tough one!
That hill in the morning will now be no trouble.
The wind never let up today, although fortunately it was west not south west. Even so, it was a good 20+mph most of the time, and 30+ in the morning on the exposed northern coast.
When I stopped, 122km, 983Wh generated, 1186 consumed, so 9.7Wh/km, 15.6Wh per mile. That was a tough one!
A few images from along the way.
This was not set up. Just happened to get off the road exactly in line with the big letters.
My GoPro is really good, and every accessory and cable has the feel of real quality about it. But the battery charger is not designed for use on the move! Foam blocks and cable ties to keep everything in place.
If you ever need anything hardwarish in Ullapool then Lochbroom Hardware is the place to go. I usually buy smaller things than this but as I had the trailer...
I added small spanners And the dinkyest lightweight pliers to my toolkit at a very reasonable price.
Road junctions are a rarity in the far North West.
Outside Velocity cafe and bike workshop in Inverness. Whilst I was mending my trailer axle there, a lovely photographer lady was around, having been doing bike related stuff for bike week. Very entertaining.
The bike had a 'birthday'. It is 11.5 months old.
Land art on the way back up from Inverness.
This was not set up. Just happened to get off the road exactly in line with the big letters.
My GoPro is really good, and every accessory and cable has the feel of real quality about it. But the battery charger is not designed for use on the move! Foam blocks and cable ties to keep everything in place.
If you ever need anything hardwarish in Ullapool then Lochbroom Hardware is the place to go. I usually buy smaller things than this but as I had the trailer...
I added small spanners And the dinkyest lightweight pliers to my toolkit at a very reasonable price.
Road junctions are a rarity in the far North West.
Outside Velocity cafe and bike workshop in Inverness. Whilst I was mending my trailer axle there, a lovely photographer lady was around, having been doing bike related stuff for bike week. Very entertaining.
The bike had a 'birthday'. It is 11.5 months old.
Land art on the way back up from Inverness.
My evening charge added 245Wh and my battery is now at a pleasing 38.5V. That's just over half a battery. (Edit: half a battery added. It is only 470Wh.)
Worth stopping, and tilting the trailer towards the low sun, as riding on with the trailer flat would yield nothing like as much.
Some more wayside delights.
Honesty box produce stalls are fairly common, but most are not like this. I was hoping for jam, but it was all fine pickle.
Got satisfaction today, though, with some excellent home made marmalade from a house on the road to Dunnet Head.
Remarkable coffee stop in the wilds of the north coast. Closed when I passed, as were most things on wild Sunday.
There is no pasty like a Cumberland pasty from Penrith, but the home made I think ones from here were very good today.
Worth stopping, and tilting the trailer towards the low sun, as riding on with the trailer flat would yield nothing like as much.
Some more wayside delights.
Honesty box produce stalls are fairly common, but most are not like this. I was hoping for jam, but it was all fine pickle.
Got satisfaction today, though, with some excellent home made marmalade from a house on the road to Dunnet Head.
Remarkable coffee stop in the wilds of the north coast. Closed when I passed, as were most things on wild Sunday.
There is no pasty like a Cumberland pasty from Penrith, but the home made I think ones from here were very good today.
Last edited:
Potential disaster this morning! I turned on the Shimano battery, and it said zero bars! The display turns on, but no assistance is available. My solar battery is now at 39.8V, nearly full, yet I cannot turn it on!
So how did that happen, given that there was 33 km of range showing last night, and what can I do about it? And while we are on the subject, what if, what if, what if?
In reverse order, leaving the hardest until last:
I have spare cable ends made up for each connection in the wiring, plus terminal block of various sizes. Any broken solder joint, or spade terminal wearing loose, I can splice in new ends in minutes.
My vital three legged diode pair is on Anderson powerpole connectors, and I have a spare, ready made up. They are secured by cable ties to a little bit of ex-Am-Dram scenery plywood for stress relief.
Spare fuses, screwdriver to fit the terminal block, cable ties, tape.
The fundamentals of my parallel battery approach is proven over almost 3,000km. All glitches so far have been solved by strip down, check connections, carefully reassemble.
It is for times like these that I carry an emergency battery, and a charger to allow recovery.
How did it happen? Or why did I not know last night why it was so low? I read the display, forgetting to turn off and on first.
Off/On resets the range calculation algorithm, and gives a reasonable idea of remaining capacity. Once I start riding, if I am using only the solar battery, the Shimano one shows increasing range. So I must have pushed the Shimano to almost empty on the last big climb about 5 miles ago, and as I rode from there on level 1, on levelish ground, I never troubled it again, and it gave that unrepresentative 33 km reading at end of day.
The cooler morning compared to warm evening was enough to finish it off, much like the Garstang incidents in April.
Those better pictures of charge controller and solar battery:
So how did that happen, given that there was 33 km of range showing last night, and what can I do about it? And while we are on the subject, what if, what if, what if?
In reverse order, leaving the hardest until last:
I have spare cable ends made up for each connection in the wiring, plus terminal block of various sizes. Any broken solder joint, or spade terminal wearing loose, I can splice in new ends in minutes.
My vital three legged diode pair is on Anderson powerpole connectors, and I have a spare, ready made up. They are secured by cable ties to a little bit of ex-Am-Dram scenery plywood for stress relief.
Spare fuses, screwdriver to fit the terminal block, cable ties, tape.
The fundamentals of my parallel battery approach is proven over almost 3,000km. All glitches so far have been solved by strip down, check connections, carefully reassemble.
It is for times like these that I carry an emergency battery, and a charger to allow recovery.
How did it happen? Or why did I not know last night why it was so low? I read the display, forgetting to turn off and on first.
Off/On resets the range calculation algorithm, and gives a reasonable idea of remaining capacity. Once I start riding, if I am using only the solar battery, the Shimano one shows increasing range. So I must have pushed the Shimano to almost empty on the last big climb about 5 miles ago, and as I rode from there on level 1, on levelish ground, I never troubled it again, and it gave that unrepresentative 33 km reading at end of day.
The cooler morning compared to warm evening was enough to finish it off, much like the Garstang incidents in April.
Those better pictures of charge controller and solar battery:
Last edited:
Been following your journey with great interest, well done. it looks a fantastic trip.
Can't help with your problem but if you need any help on your route down through Scotland I live near Route 1 in Fife and have a lots of e bike stuff in my garage, just message me if you do.
Can't help with your problem but if you need any help on your route down through Scotland I live near Route 1 in Fife and have a lots of e bike stuff in my garage, just message me if you do.
In a late development, after packing, just before breaking out the emergency battery I tried turning it on again. This time I have one bar, and 24km range showing. Perhaps it has warmed sufficiently to make the difference. Anyway, back on the road, nearly full battery, Berrisdale Brae awaits!
Another piece of flat grass.
Another piece of flat grass.
Last edited:
Phew a bit of relief for now, hopefully a one off.
With a simple generic set up one would say the issue would be a simple one, but having the wiring extension one can only assume a comm's issue via the CANbus system.
The bike has had a tumble so if not due to a very low battery could simply be one of the multitude of conections.
Hopefully it is simply due to a cool night and cooled battery cells showing less capacity.
With a simple generic set up one would say the issue would be a simple one, but having the wiring extension one can only assume a comm's issue via the CANbus system.
The bike has had a tumble so if not due to a very low battery could simply be one of the multitude of conections.
Hopefully it is simply due to a cool night and cooled battery cells showing less capacity.
Last edited:
When I get round to my TSDZ2 conversion, as you say, all the complexities go away! But this bike came along, and is exceeding my expectations with its tolerance of my fiddling!
Last edited:
Your thread has rekindled my thoughts of camrera's on my bikes seeing that highly dnagerous pass you had.
I have two cheap bullet ones which I have got the date/time stamp correct and they at least manage my 11 miles route to the bees with my trailer, I have placed a mount permanently on my Surly rigid fork at the top utilising the pannier m5 fixing and have stuck a pad clip base on the rear rack o/s. Also my trailer box now has one on the o/s.
Today another gopro 4k clone arrived and accepts the same clip mounts as the Bullets so I can now alternate any three of the camera's on the rear and both bullets will fit the front fork mount. The clone camera was only £25 so hopefully will be ok, dead easy to set up and the date /time stamp was synch to get right as well.
I thought the two bullets would have been dead but they charge up and look slike they will do at least 22 miles of recording each, enough for my usage.
The more we use camera's then I think in most cases more care will be taken by drivers, more so if they notice the camera's.
I have two cheap bullet ones which I have got the date/time stamp correct and they at least manage my 11 miles route to the bees with my trailer, I have placed a mount permanently on my Surly rigid fork at the top utilising the pannier m5 fixing and have stuck a pad clip base on the rear rack o/s. Also my trailer box now has one on the o/s.
Today another gopro 4k clone arrived and accepts the same clip mounts as the Bullets so I can now alternate any three of the camera's on the rear and both bullets will fit the front fork mount. The clone camera was only £25 so hopefully will be ok, dead easy to set up and the date /time stamp was synch to get right as well.
I thought the two bullets would have been dead but they charge up and look slike they will do at least 22 miles of recording each, enough for my usage.
The more we use camera's then I think in most cases more care will be taken by drivers, more so if they notice the camera's.
Last edited:
If you get time when your trip is done, may be Matt you can give some insight on the new thread I posted regarding solar charging systems for ebike batteries. As your trip usage has peaked my interest in to alternative charging of said batteries along with Wheezy's usage.
It appears from your experience one doesn't always 100% require or need brilliant weather.
It appears from your experience one doesn't always 100% require or need brilliant weather.
I have started to use a GoPro hero 9 on my bike
Since I converted it to electric it’s surprising what
You see when out
Since I converted it to electric it’s surprising what
You see when out
I stumped up for the latest GoPro, partly because I could not get secondhand at an attractive price, partly because the 10 has new features that seem like a big development step, and partly because of the £200 discount available at present. I plan for it to last years, so the upfront cost will be spread.
Front and back facing is the ideal, I am contemplating a second camera.
I also fall back on the expectation of a good secondhand price if I change my mind.
webuy.com often have secondhand GoPros in A, B or C condition, often at lower prices than on ebay. The advantage over ebay is that they offer a 2 year guarantee (read small print carefully).
@matthewslack - Sorry to bring this up but, are you absolutely certain that your solar solution is legal? Your bike and solar charging trailer are one electrical system. You're not charging one battery while using the other, using two separate systems. I suppose the police would object if the panels were instead a diesel or petrol generator, constantly charging on the road?
Related Articles
-
MTF Enterprises announces acquisition of EMU Electric Bikes- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Wisper 806T folding bike wins Which? ‘Best Buy’- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Sustrans calls for protected cycle lanes- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Amazon launch their first UK e-cargo micromobility hub- Started by: Pedelecs
