[arni0202]

So I've got my bike all set up it's great! I ran the battery until the motor started to cut out from lack of power. No problem just plug it into the AC charger overnight. I get up and ready to bike some more and the batteries are still dead. I've ordered a new charger but here's the thing- Will my new 12v 10.5ah lead batteries be severely hardened "sulfated" if I have to wait 4 days for a new charger? I've read that if you let low batteries stay that way the battery will really lose a lot of its chargeability. Should I start looking for new batteries? that would suck :( but then it'd force me to get something better than lead lol

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[dman-ebike]

I doubt if they will die that quick. I use to leave marine batteries dead for 3 days before charging. I only had 1 charger for 2 batteries on my electric boat. It would take 3 days to charge one and then I would switch to the 2nd battery. They still lasted like 3-4 years. They were 2 different sizes. You might want to leave it on the charger for a few hours after it goes green to make sure they get nice and charged.

[arni0202]

Cool I was worried about damaging them. So how do you like your SLAs that have carried you 2700 miles so far? What ah are they? and how long does one charge last? do you have them on a rack or in your bike frame? I'm thinking of clamping my batteries to the inside of my frame and making custom plexiglass enclosures for each one, the rack I have is too flimsy for 30lbs. Thanks for the info btw :)

[dman-ebike]

You probably wouldn't want dead sla's to sit for like more then like a week but surely a month would not be good. The sla's that I'm running are B.B. BP 12v-12ah. They came in my conversion kit. At the time, I didn't know they were only good for about 200 cyces. Well, I'm about there now as my range is down to 13 miles. This company makes several different kinds of 12ah batteries but it seems the EVP series is good for at least 300 cycles. But the price reflects that so I guess it doesn't really matter a whole lot which one's you get for normal use. When the kit was new, I could do about 19 miles at 36 volts. I added a 6v-12ah battery 3 months later, and then I could easily do 22 miles at 17-18mph. I live in mostly flat terrain. If I went full throttle, I could do 15 mile on 42 volt. I went to the hills once and range dropped to like 10-12 miles. Anyway, I started with 3 sla's on a rear rack and Topeak bag. Later, I made a small battery tray and mounted 2 sla's inside it and bolted it on the water bottle mounts with 2 conduit clamps clamping it on the frame. Then I made a battery bag from a cheap duffle and retained the zipper for easy access. Good luck!

[arni0202]

What hardware did you use for the battery tray?
I've considered doing it but haven't had the means, So you fit two 12v 12ah on the tray and another two in the back? Something like that? I wonder how much range I can get... I'm getting better tires for pavement, Maxxis holy rollers, so less surface friction, I'm in decent shape.. I'm trying to make a 14 mile commute to school, I could charge the batteries in class I suppose lol.

[dman-ebike]

I got the battery tray at lowes. Its just a piece of steel, 6"x24" , 22 gauge. I bent it so the sides hold it firm, but the ends are bent longer then the 2 batterys so I can get them in and out. I used pieces of rubber "tree branch" tie downs to take up the end play and underneath the batteries so the bolts underneath don't wear a hole through the bottom of the batterys. Two conduit clamps about 1 1/4- 1 1/2 depending on frame size clamp to the frame. I had to bend them a little using a vice and press the "dimple" back in that they have so they don't dent the frame. When buying the clamps, I've noticed that there are different gauges in clamps. Some are impossible to bend so make sure you get the thinner gauge. Then you have to get the nuts, bolts, etc. I did use some longer water bottle bolts as I wanted ones that didn't have such a big head on them as the stock ones that came with the bike have. I used some electrical tape around the frame where they clamp so paint doesn't get marred to badly. I used strapping steel strapping tape to hold down the batts. It comes in a roll at the hardware store.

But yes, 2 batts in the back, and 2 in the tray. Personally, I wouldn't put all that weight in the middle if you have a suspension fork. As far as range, well, you'll find out! What kit do you have?

[arni0202]

I have the 36v 500w Goldenmotor Front Hub. I'm looking at the ever so fancy new LiFePO4 batteries but that pricetag (300+ for fleabay stuff too $1000) keeps me wanting to work with the SLAs. The weight is a big concern because I already had one bolt pop off my rear rack almost destroying my wheel :( and 20+ pounds is just so much weight. I'm gonna draw up some plans for what you have, hopefully my range is close to covering my 30miles round trip lol but I don't really want to "test" the limit and get stranded with a pile of lead on the back of my bike. Thanks for the help.

[arni0202]

Hey dman, would it be any trouble to get some more pics of your battery holder??
I think I have a general Idea of what you've got set up, clamp around the frame to the steel holder, then the wire clamp going around the batteries or something. a few more pics would be great. Thanks for the help btw :)

[dman-ebike]

No trouble. Here is a couple more pics. Its pretty solid. Like I said, 2 conduit clamps plus 2 water bottle bolts. Pretty simple. You can see the pieces of black tire (tree branch tie) I taped to the battery tray to keep the bottom of the batteries off the bolts. Also, there's no adjustability in the battery straps. I drilled and set it up before installing it on the bike. Use plyers and pull hard to line up bolt and hole in metal band. There's a small slit in the bag where the band comes out.