hooking another battery to ezip
02-20-08, 07:01 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 160
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
hooking another battery to ezip
i know how to connect batteries in series but the way they got the wires on the ezip is making it a little confusing,anyone know where is best spot to chop the wires so i can hook up a third 12 volt battery to get a 36 volt system,i think i would have to take the wires from each battery pack side and join them in series there and only have one red and one black going into the controller and maybe i will have to take that switch off at the back alltogether and put a new switch on as well,any tips?there are only 3 wires going to the switch at the back one orange and two reds and there is one black and one red going into the controller,i expect i should leave the wires going into the controller alone.
05-22-08, 04:47 AM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Western New York, The FingerLakes Region, small town, Bloomfield, NY
Posts: 268
Bikes: 2008 Currie eZip Trailz, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, bought new for Honeymoon camping trip around Nova Scotia
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Mike
The three wires going to the switch are two plus (+) leads one from each battery pack assembly (left and right, one orange, one red) on the carrier. The switch selects between 24 volts from left assembly or 24V from the right and puts that to the red to the controller. All of the black (-) leads are hooked together just before the harness to the controller.
Since each battery pack assembly is 24 volts, you would need 2 12volt batteries hooked in series to get 24 to make the equivalent of a third battery pack assembly. You would then need to add a second single pole, double throw switch to select between your B battery and your new C battery (with the present switch set to B).
I have 2 battery pack assemblies. They weigh 16 lbs each. I'm not sure I would want to add 16 more pounds. I look for places to recharge.
The three wires going to the switch are two plus (+) leads one from each battery pack assembly (left and right, one orange, one red) on the carrier. The switch selects between 24 volts from left assembly or 24V from the right and puts that to the red to the controller. All of the black (-) leads are hooked together just before the harness to the controller.
Since each battery pack assembly is 24 volts, you would need 2 12volt batteries hooked in series to get 24 to make the equivalent of a third battery pack assembly. You would then need to add a second single pole, double throw switch to select between your B battery and your new C battery (with the present switch set to B).
I have 2 battery pack assemblies. They weigh 16 lbs each. I'm not sure I would want to add 16 more pounds. I look for places to recharge.
06-27-08, 09:48 PM
#3
Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 7
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
One can disconnect the fuse assembly and insert the new battery connections to the two wires ensuring the connections are the correct polarity- negative to the positive of the bottom battery and positive to the top battery. One can also leave the fuse in circuit. Bottom battery positive to fuse, other fuse connection to negative connection of new battery and then the positive of the new battery to the negative of the top battery. I drilled a hole and fed wires into the battery box and made the connections inside.
06-27-08, 11:02 PM
#4
Not A Senior Member
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Northern California
Posts: 66
Bikes: 2007 Jamis Dakar
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I am watching this thread closely! Thanks for your inputs as I feel I could use 12 more volts.
06-28-08, 09:06 AM
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 68
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Quote
The switch selects between 24 volts from left assembly or 24V from the right and puts that to the red to the controller)
So you are running from one battery pack OR the other? never both? The other batteries are just going along for the ride then? Of course they can be used when the first batteries are used up. how would this be better than paralleling them all for more ah's? sla's don't like high discharge rates.
Ed
The switch selects between 24 volts from left assembly or 24V from the right and puts that to the red to the controller)So you are running from one battery pack OR the other? never both? The other batteries are just going along for the ride then? Of course they can be used when the first batteries are used up. how would this be better than paralleling them all for more ah's? sla's don't like high discharge rates.
Ed
06-28-08, 12:24 PM
#6
Not A Senior Member
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Northern California
Posts: 66
Bikes: 2007 Jamis Dakar
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
So you are running from one battery pack OR the other? never both? The other batteries are just going along for the ride then? Of course they can be used when the first batteries are used up. how would this be better than paralleling them all for more ah's? sla's don't like high discharge rates.
Ed
Ed
06-28-08, 12:46 PM
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 97
Bikes: Fuji Team Trek FX Bianchi MTB
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Um - question,
I took the control box open as I am doing something similar... and when I looked at the controller, its says "Brushless motor controller"
I thought E-zip had a brush motor. Am I mistaken? or is this mislabeled (can't imagine).
I took the control box open as I am doing something similar... and when I looked at the controller, its says "Brushless motor controller"
I thought E-zip had a brush motor. Am I mistaken? or is this mislabeled (can't imagine).
06-29-08, 08:22 AM
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Western New York, The FingerLakes Region, small town, Bloomfield, NY
Posts: 268
Bikes: 2008 Currie eZip Trailz, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, bought new for Honeymoon camping trip around Nova Scotia
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
The advantage of the switch over parallel is that you can hit one battery hard: climb big hill at speed, and then switch to the other allowing the hit battery to cool internally and have less internal resistance and therefor more useful energy.
06-29-08, 08:31 AM
#9
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Western New York, The FingerLakes Region, small town, Bloomfield, NY
Posts: 268
Bikes: 2008 Currie eZip Trailz, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, bought new for Honeymoon camping trip around Nova Scotia
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I guess in a way with parallel you get auto switching if your two batteries match. Whichever battery has the lowest internal resistance will do most of the work until it overheats then the other one will take up the load. This would only work well if the two had matched cold internal resistance. Otherwise the one with lower internal resistance will do most of the work all the time and the other is just along for the ride.
06-29-08, 08:56 AM
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Western New York, The FingerLakes Region, small town, Bloomfield, NY
Posts: 268
Bikes: 2008 Currie eZip Trailz, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, bought new for Honeymoon camping trip around Nova Scotia
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
My two batt packs have dramatically different internal resistance. A quick test shows. Run batt pack "A" till the red light is on under load. Release the throttle see what lights you get. Do the same for "B". My A battery will bounce back in displayed no load voltage real quickly, but my B batt pack continues to move the bike long after A has given up. I have taken the A batt pack apart hoping to find resistance in the wiring rather than have to assume its a cell. Things, fastners were lose in there but tightening them didn't help.
07-02-08, 10:37 PM
#11
Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 7
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I modified another currie Ezip to raise voltage to 36V. If one opens up the lid on the electronics box in the rack, one will find a connector that goes between the battery switch-over/on-off switch to the controller. The connector can be separated and by letting the negative side stay connected and wiring the extra 12v battery in series with the 24V battery one can increase the voltage to 36V. The switch is still functional as well as the 40A fuse in the battery boxes. The fuse protects the new battery as well. The negative battery connection is connected to the switch (red) wire and the positive side to the controller controller wire (red). In this particular situation there were two battery packs on each side of the rack. The new battery was placed on top of the rack. The wires from the new battery were fed into the hole at the rear of the box under the seat.
In the future we are going to increase the battery to a 12v 20aH from the 12V 10aH, so that if we switch battery packs from A to B, the addtional 12V battery can still be functional to allow 36V operation on either of the battery packs. The extra speed with a 185lb person was about 7mph. The torque is the greatest benefit as it was impossible to climb the hills around the area without 36V. The motor gets hot. At this stage don't want to start drilling holes in the motor casing to dissipate heat. May look at adding heat sinking and improving airflow. The casing is not that bad a heat conductor so this might be an alternative. Noticed that switching battery pack after climbing a hill benefited the battery because it was allowed to cool down. The battery status light typically stays in the green/amber. Under load it drops to red but not as often as with 24v operation.
Lifeop4 batteries are still expensive. Pricing is expected to drop by 25% in the next 12 months so batteries can be replaced when the SLAs start to underperform. SLA batteries perform better if they are charged with a 3 step charger. The currie charger should not be left on for more than 3 hours after the green light on the charger comes on. Battery should be allowed to sit for a couple of hours after recharging is completed to allow the battery chemistry to equalize the charge. Float chargers are ok because they help to equalize the charge as they are operating at a lower voltage than the charging voltage.
In the future we are going to increase the battery to a 12v 20aH from the 12V 10aH, so that if we switch battery packs from A to B, the addtional 12V battery can still be functional to allow 36V operation on either of the battery packs. The extra speed with a 185lb person was about 7mph. The torque is the greatest benefit as it was impossible to climb the hills around the area without 36V. The motor gets hot. At this stage don't want to start drilling holes in the motor casing to dissipate heat. May look at adding heat sinking and improving airflow. The casing is not that bad a heat conductor so this might be an alternative. Noticed that switching battery pack after climbing a hill benefited the battery because it was allowed to cool down. The battery status light typically stays in the green/amber. Under load it drops to red but not as often as with 24v operation.
Lifeop4 batteries are still expensive. Pricing is expected to drop by 25% in the next 12 months so batteries can be replaced when the SLAs start to underperform. SLA batteries perform better if they are charged with a 3 step charger. The currie charger should not be left on for more than 3 hours after the green light on the charger comes on. Battery should be allowed to sit for a couple of hours after recharging is completed to allow the battery chemistry to equalize the charge. Float chargers are ok because they help to equalize the charge as they are operating at a lower voltage than the charging voltage.
07-02-08, 10:49 PM
#12
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 97
Bikes: Fuji Team Trek FX Bianchi MTB
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I modified another currie Ezip to raise voltage to 36V. If one opens up the lid on the electronics box in the rack, one will find a connector that goes between the battery switch-over/on-off switch to the controller. The connector can be separated and by letting the negative side stay connected and wiring the extra 12v battery in series with the 24V battery one can increase the voltage to 36V. The switch is still functional as well as the 40A fuse in the battery boxes. The fuse protects the new battery as well. The negative battery connection is connected to the switch (red) wire and the positive side to the controller controller wire (red). In this particular situation there were two battery packs on each side of the rack. The new battery was placed on top of the rack. The wires from the new battery were fed into the hole at the rear of the box under the seat.
In the future we are going to increase the battery to a 12v 20aH from the 12V 10aH, so that if we switch battery packs from A to B, the addtional 12V battery can still be functional to allow 36V operation on either of the battery packs. The extra speed with a 185lb person was about 7mph. The torque is the greatest benefit as it was impossible to climb the hills around the area without 36V. The motor gets hot. At this stage don't want to start drilling holes in the motor casing to dissipate heat. May look at adding heat sinking and improving airflow. The casing is not that bad a heat conductor so this might be an alternative. Noticed that switching battery pack after climbing a hill benefited the battery because it was allowed to cool down. The battery status light typically stays in the green/amber. Under load it drops to red but not as often as with 24v operation.
Lifeop4 batteries are still expensive. Pricing is expected to drop by 25% in the next 12 months so batteries can be replaced when the SLAs start to underperform. SLA batteries perform better if they are charged with a 3 step charger. The currie charger should not be left on for more than 3 hours after the green light on the charger comes on. Battery should be allowed to sit for a couple of hours after recharging is completed to allow the battery chemistry to equalize the charge. Float chargers are ok because they help to equalize the charge as they are operating at a lower voltage than the charging voltage.
In the future we are going to increase the battery to a 12v 20aH from the 12V 10aH, so that if we switch battery packs from A to B, the addtional 12V battery can still be functional to allow 36V operation on either of the battery packs. The extra speed with a 185lb person was about 7mph. The torque is the greatest benefit as it was impossible to climb the hills around the area without 36V. The motor gets hot. At this stage don't want to start drilling holes in the motor casing to dissipate heat. May look at adding heat sinking and improving airflow. The casing is not that bad a heat conductor so this might be an alternative. Noticed that switching battery pack after climbing a hill benefited the battery because it was allowed to cool down. The battery status light typically stays in the green/amber. Under load it drops to red but not as often as with 24v operation.
Lifeop4 batteries are still expensive. Pricing is expected to drop by 25% in the next 12 months so batteries can be replaced when the SLAs start to underperform. SLA batteries perform better if they are charged with a 3 step charger. The currie charger should not be left on for more than 3 hours after the green light on the charger comes on. Battery should be allowed to sit for a couple of hours after recharging is completed to allow the battery chemistry to equalize the charge. Float chargers are ok because they help to equalize the charge as they are operating at a lower voltage than the charging voltage.
