Swapping male / female terminals on battery and charger

[jackhandy]

3-pin XLR connectors have a 1-2-3 numbering on the pins. On a connection with no 'earth', 1 is 0V and 2 is +ve. The middle 3rd pin is not used. /QUOTE]

Not on a Powabyke, it's not!

Problems arise when using xlr connectors designed & specified for Audio. They were never intended for power connectors, other than 48v phantom power from audio desks to condenser microphones.

Any "convention" is just a habit in a posh frock.

 

[103Alex1]

Not on a Powabyke, it's not!

Spoken from the heart ... I do sympathize now. Will rewire any new batteries and chargers "my way" from now lol.

 

[103Alex1]

Quick question if someone can help ....

I'm going to have to extend the very short wires leading to charger coupling on my BMS battery in order to enable them to reach their socket point, by splicing in some additional wire length. Unfortunately the size of the battery and position of the wires are such that they will have to be able to cross to the opposite side of the battery if this is not to be permanently built in - and they're far too short for that.

I can't see any rating info on these wires. Would it be OK to use standard insulated 12AWG wire for this purpose ?

Thx.

 

[flecc]

I can't see any rating info on these wires. Would it be OK to use standard insulated 12AWG wire for this purpose ?

Thx.

That should be ok Alex, ample margin of current carrying capacity. Of course I assume the insulation standard is reasonable and the wires won't be routed where they could chafe.

 

[103Alex1]

That should be ok Alex, ample margin of current carrying capacity. Of course I assume the insulation standard is reasonable and the wires won't be routed where they could chafe.

They're individually silicone insulated and I'm intending to shrinkwrap over both of them and also silweld over the top right along the length between the splice join and the coupling so should be enough to ward off any abrasion against the plywood sides of the box. some foam wrapped around would be belt & braces. There's also a significant rubber boot on the back of the socket for yet more wire protection if I can use it.

To be honest, using 2-core insulated copper wire would be less bulky and easier to work with than the black and red 12AWG silicone-wrapped wire I got but I'm not sure what to ask for to get the right spec for carrying current to the battery from a charger. Having to think hard about how to cut down bulk without sacrificing robust spec in almost every area.

Unfortunately the only possible way of getting the wires (or any wires coming from the triangle nose side of the box) past the shrinkwrapped battery to the area above the crank on the seat tube side is to run them round between the battery and box sides, face-on as you look at the bike from the side.

Hard to explain but in the cross plane the battery needs both underpinning and retaining by running support struts between the wooden frame sides using what's effectively chunky dowelling in rectangular plane. You can only underpin the battery in the cross plane using the frame structure itself to retain support 'rods', otherwise the area under the battery becomes useless on account of structural supports in the space to be utilised.

An advantage of being forced to come up with 'minimalist' retaining structure (aside from weight reduction) is that the wires can run free without having to pass through notched openings. So the risk of chafe and harm is greatly reduced. Some thin foam between wires and battery and between wires and box sides should keep everything in place and insulated. I hope ! But it's by no means straightforward to get everything to fit and work together.

 

[103Alex1]

Been hunting around and found some 2-core mains flex I could use to extend wire between battery and charger socket instead. Got blue and brown wires but hey ho. It's rated 6A and I have a 4A charger. Is this sufficient to be used instead (it's much neater) ? Will most chargers fall within that rating if a different charger were to be used in future ?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Been hunting around and found some 2-core mains flex I could use to extend wire between battery and charger socket instead. Got blue and brown wires but hey ho. It's rated 6A and I have a 4A charger. Is this sufficient to be used instead (it's much neater) ? Will most chargers fall within that rating if a different charger were to be used in future ?

It'll be OK. You can go over the rating with a short length.

 

[103Alex1]

Uurgh here we go again ....

Bike ready to be collected and send on together with all its spares and stuff later today as I've no car or other way of transporting it. Bilabonic kindly got me a spare charger as I wanted one to take with me without risking my only one but it's still en route to me with Royal Mail.

So did a quick drawing of the connector pins and was testing polarity with multimeter for completeness when I managed to short circuit the pins by trying to test without unscrewing the bezel and removing the metal housing.

Lots of sizzling - think the charger's fried. Certainly no longer sounds safe when I switch it on at the wall. So the plus is a replacement charger is on its way. The minus is I just ****ted the one that works perfectly well so I still won't have a spare - and won't have time to rewire it and test before the bike goes off.

Really don't want any more expense with this DIY malarkey so I think I'll have to hope the replacement charger gets here and make do with the one.... and if it does work it isn't leaving home so I'll just have to stick within the radius of where I can get to and home again on one battery charge and have done with it. What a palaver ... that's £47 down the drain with the spare connectors I bought that aren't needed ! will just have to add it to the "bottomless pit".

 

[103Alex1]

Charger arrived today and white van man 3 hours late so managed to rewire it and box up to go off with the rest after testing it worked.

So back to sq. 1 where I started, but back in business at least which is a relief !