The weather simply awesome I've been out riding all over the place... this silent ebike thing is
really addictive @.@
...but this also means I can give some feedback on the 48v 15ah LiFePO4 battery pack w/the 'Pie as I finally managed to pooch it out. Running a "worst case scenario" full tilt boogie
all the time (100% throttle), breezy weather on twisty roads & hilly terrain with disabled regenerative braking, with no attempt made to coast, pedal assist or conserve power in any way & some stop n'go downtown riding & a lil bit of dirt trail thrown in for good measure I managed 27.9 miles... & more mixed feelings lol
I am completely satisfied with this range as it's more than enough for my local needs & it's absolutely perfect for it's intended use, the "tribrid" taddy project... but it does bring to light the downside of electrics, it becomes very clear why they're not so popular in a rural area like this one. While I'm conveniently located between a couple of small towns, each roughly 8 miles away (thus 16mi round trip) so I wouldn't normally come even close to my "point of no return" - being limited to no more than roughly 30 miles even commuting w/a recharge point (while at work or w/e) & given the investment, I can see why some would balk at the idea *shrug* I've no problem with it... but I also can see how this setup is somewhat limited, as a commuter or supplementary transport, my 100 mile weekend wanderabouts are still my gasbike's domain heh
As I suspected the little "battery level" lights on the 'Pie's throttle are
completely useless lol, it's green till DEAD w/no fade or warning, the entire system just shuts down. Unplugging, waiting a mo' & plugging it back in again resets everything &
now the level indicators will light red & yellow... and you'll get maybe another fifty feet before it all shuts down again, without even the yellow light going out first.
No surprise at all given the battery type & the limitations of such a simple gauge. Fortunately I figured I was using up my luck and was only a coupla miles from home at the time. At least now I know my range and can ride accordingly... I didn't take any vids this time, but other'n downtown & the lil bit of trails it's the same terrain as the vids I made before...
...and this morning's madness was more taddy component testing - while completely usable with Mongo, it's not exactly in line with the power conservation obsession most ebikers hold on high *shrug* so I'll prolly not use it to it's full potential w/Mongo...
Still, as the taddy is a tribrid & the 48v 15ah LiFePO4 packs have worked out so well I decided to go ahead & tinker up some more goodies, this time a power supply/charging dock tapping off my 48 to 12v converter. Already wired up to power my 12v DC LED head & taillight, it was a simple matter of buying a cheap car cigarette lighter adapter with 2 USB ports, busting it open to cut the dealie off the back & resolder better wires to it & sticking it back together again.
I added a main power switch so I can easily shut the whole thing down, but I used a flush face switch (scavenged out of a PC power supply) so it doesn't so easily shut itself down bouncing around in a pannier with w/e crap might be in there. As I had no pretty lil project box I just did a variant of the "duct tape pack" like the custom LiFePO4s have - but this time a "patented" cable tie pack method lol
It ain't pretty, but it was easy to make, safe & works a treat - and best yet I can charge any kind of small battery like for my GPS, camera or whatever, listen to tunes w/the MP3 player charging (the speakers are USB powered too) and I don't even hafta worry about the lame battery in my netbook any more, plug & play FTW;
There goes the thirty mile range heh...