- Thread starter winchman
- Start date
Barking Mat
Cuddler of hedgehogs.
- Messages
- 13,471
- Location
- France, Brittany.
Stick three car batteries in series and see if it works, before trawling das hinternet for batteries.
angellonewolf
Member
- Messages
- 8,779
- Location
- bristol england
if it uses lead acid sealed batterys dont spend they money on it wont last 5 mins
convert it to li ion with charger
as a test i cant see a way realy apart from above
convert it to li ion with charger
as a test i cant see a way realy apart from above
Agroshield
Member
- Messages
- 6,045
Halfords charger and a really long extension lead.
Any idea of physical size of batteries? It looks like that current capacity is sold for motorbikes and mobility scooters.
angellonewolf
Member
- Messages
- 8,779
- Location
- bristol england
yea we bought 3 from bristol batterys a few years ago but they did not last that long to be honest as it was never used so as they degraded
Nomad
Member
- Messages
- 2,080
- Location
- North Devon (for how long?)
Are the batteries wired in series (36 volt system) or 12 volt in parallel ?
Do you have the charger? Sometimes you can run the bike using just the charger just to test that nothing is broken. Hang it from the ceiling using straps so you can turn the pedals and see if the motor fires up?
If you ask for advice on the forums and you don't have the charger don't expect a good reception - a bike with no charger is often viewed as stolen unless you can show it's not.
Lead acid is fine to prove the system works.
The easy fix after that is to buy a new Lipo/Li-on battery and matching charger but if you'r trying to do it without spending £££ expect poor results (maybe ok to tart it up and flog it to some unsuspecting victim but range / performance / expected battery life won't be good).
Do you have the charger? Sometimes you can run the bike using just the charger just to test that nothing is broken. Hang it from the ceiling using straps so you can turn the pedals and see if the motor fires up?
If you ask for advice on the forums and you don't have the charger don't expect a good reception - a bike with no charger is often viewed as stolen unless you can show it's not.
Lead acid is fine to prove the system works.
The easy fix after that is to buy a new Lipo/Li-on battery and matching charger but if you'r trying to do it without spending £££ expect poor results (maybe ok to tart it up and flog it to some unsuspecting victim but range / performance / expected battery life won't be good).
angellonewolf
Member
- Messages
- 8,779
- Location
- bristol england
does it say what volts it is on the wheel ?
A mate built his own e-bike using a Chinese bolt-on motor into his hardtail mountain bike.
He then fitted 2 drinks bottle cages onto the frame, to carry Makita power tool plug-ins and 2 x Makita 18v batteries.
Works amazingly well with decent range. If on a longer ride, he carries 2 spare pre-charged Batteries in his backpack & swaps-out mid-ride - which gives him a range up there with lots of "proper" (expensive) e-mtb's.
He then fitted 2 drinks bottle cages onto the frame, to carry Makita power tool plug-ins and 2 x Makita 18v batteries.
Works amazingly well with decent range. If on a longer ride, he carries 2 spare pre-charged Batteries in his backpack & swaps-out mid-ride - which gives him a range up there with lots of "proper" (expensive) e-mtb's.
winchman
Member
- Messages
- 6,217
- Location
- Merseyside
3 x 12v, Charger is on order I bought it on a whim from a trader I know, I took a punt really hoping it would fit in the Motor Home garage it won't! So it will be fixed and flogged.
frank horton
V twins are great but 4"s rule.........
- Messages
- 4,421
- Location
- Crete, Greece
had an elec mountain bike with duff batts......bought 3xmotorcycle jell batts and it worked fine for at least three years.....then gave it away coz of the move.......
8 hectare farm just used it there to save walking all over.....roughly 1-2 charges per week....
8 hectare farm just used it there to save walking all over.....roughly 1-2 charges per week....
winchman
Member
- Messages
- 6,217
- Location
- Merseyside
It has pedals and its under 200w so it can legally be used on the road by anyone over 14, city I didn't pay as much attention to how tall it was as it won't fit in the place I had for it. Would have been great for posing to the shops whilst camping
My e-mtb is 250w motor and the pedal assistance cuts out at 15.5mph - those are the legal limits. Beyond those it becomes categorised as a motor vehicle I believe.
A lot of the Chinese motor kits are (even with them being Chinese Watts rather than Watt Watts) a great deal more than 250w, and no speed restriction. Many also have a thumb throttle meaning you can use them without pedalling at all. This of course renders them illegal.... but that doesn't mean you don't see dozens of them zooming round cites delivering fast food etc.
