Bike1 by
fixitsan2, on Flickr
bike2 by
fixitsan2, on Flickr
This bike was bought for £65. It's a 1990 FZ600 Genesis. It was located on the Isle of Skye and because it was sold as 'buyer collect' it attracted very few ebay bids. It had an engine, carbs and exhaust header, which I got £120 for when I sold them on
After paying for the fuel to collect it I still had money left over.
motor by
fixitsan2, on Flickr
The motor is from a piece of industrial equipment, or a golfcart. The motor plate has been all but removed but from what info I have found on it, it is probably 36V-48V
fueltank by
fixitsan2, on Flickr
The tank is in good condition and might become a housing for the electronics.
Allbats by
fixitsan2, on Flickr
Boxes of batteries
Each box above contains one of these.
archoscharger by
fixitsan2, on Flickr
They are designed to be travel batteries to power an ARCHOS media player, rated at 10Ah
fz600 049 by
fixitsan2, on Flickr
Inside, all the components just slot together, allowing for easy modification
dismantled by
fixitsan2, on Flickr
2cells check by
fixitsan2, on Flickr
I am thinking of fitting two cells into one alluminium case, the case offers lots of protection and still provides an airgap around each cell.
2batsinstalled by
fixitsan2, on Flickr
I have over 150 of the batteries. 3.7V 10Ah = 37Wh each, a total of about 5.5kWh
I tested a few stacks of 4x2500mAh (how the packs are made up) at 1C discharge and they warm up to about 25 degrees celsius. At 2C discharge they warm to over 35 degrees celsius, so I'm going to stick at or below 1C.
I'm thinking of making a low capacity buddy pack of high discharge rate lead acid or NiMH, or even LiFePo.
The only controller I have goes up to 36V at 400A.
I have a homebrewed design for a battery monitor (works at cell level), using microcontrollers and an lcd display which I also hope to install
I also have a gearbox on it's way from a vintage Villiers motorcycle, but won't have any idea what it's like until it arrives. It has axially aligned input and output sprockets which is going to allow me to offset the motor position, because at the moment when the motor output sprocket
aligns with the rear wheel sprocket the motor overhangs the right side of the frame by a few more inches than on the left.
a tally of the cost so far.....
The bike has more than broken even.
The full load of batteries was £250
The motor £30
The controller £40.
I also have a good selection of contactors and so on to make pack breaks, which eases charger wiring problems because each Archos pack has it's own competent charger which requires a 5V input. I have some 150Amp 5v supplies I can incorporate, but might need to add a pack break to prevent common line shorting. Each small charger board can put out upto 1.4A so a charge time of 7 hours looks possible. I'm keen to retain each small charger board because it provides an inherent battery balancing mechanism, effectively the whole pack is top balanced every charge.
At the moment I'm only waiting for the gearbox to arrive so that I can decide if it is useful before I decide on how to link the motor with the wheel.
I would like to go the HV route, even the AC route, but I can easily modify whatever I make from what I have here so maybe in future I will go that way with it, when the right components become available at an affordable price.
Chris
Author
Topic: New build underway (Read 2476 times)