I got a good? deal on a powerpack 400 on ebay not realizing that the mount was completely different from the one on my Terratrike. So the plan is to use it only for backup and to carry in a pannier or on one of the racks on my Trike. I bought a cable that has the correct connector for either the battery or the socket on the frame but this is an odd male/female combo connector that only allows one of the genders to be used. The other end was apparently intended to be connected to the motor internally.
I also found an STL file on Thingyverse to print the housing for the battery end connector. I will print one of these.
The remaining questions are:
Is the pin configuration the same on all 400 Powerpacks or if not what is the best way to test? My charger does charge the new battery so I assume the pinout is the same and there is no danger in connecting the same way, no pins need to be reversed as was suggested in some hackers forum?
Is it feasible to connect both batteries in parallel both for charging and running? I found a company that sells wye connectors but this adds up to over $70 for what could be done with some simple IDC tap connectors to the right wires. I have been wiring all sorts of things for over 50 years and an very confident in my splicing soldering etc abilities. I have not fried anything in over 30 years and I have done some pretty complex mods and hacks. I just want to ask the forum in case there is anything to watch out for. It seems that Bosch supported parallel batteries at some time of manufacture around mid 2017. How can you determine the date of manufacture of a Bosch motor system and whether it is parallel battery ready. Getting the Trike to a dealer would be very difficult.
I am in very bad physical condition which is the reason for buying the Trike. I am hoping to get a few more months of cycling although that will require a positive response to cancer treatment. Right now I do not have the ability to even mount the Trike. And just to check a serial number on the motor is probably not possible without help. So I need very clear instructions for a technically incompetent care giver to follow to find the serial number. This is a mid drive unit that was an option on the Terratrike. This is the description of the system. TerraTrike’s latest Electric Vehicle Option, the E.V.O., is powered by the powerful Bosch Performance Line Cruise motor and the PowerPack 400Wh battery.
I also found an STL file on Thingyverse to print the housing for the battery end connector. I will print one of these.
The remaining questions are:
Is the pin configuration the same on all 400 Powerpacks or if not what is the best way to test? My charger does charge the new battery so I assume the pinout is the same and there is no danger in connecting the same way, no pins need to be reversed as was suggested in some hackers forum?
Is it feasible to connect both batteries in parallel both for charging and running? I found a company that sells wye connectors but this adds up to over $70 for what could be done with some simple IDC tap connectors to the right wires. I have been wiring all sorts of things for over 50 years and an very confident in my splicing soldering etc abilities. I have not fried anything in over 30 years and I have done some pretty complex mods and hacks. I just want to ask the forum in case there is anything to watch out for. It seems that Bosch supported parallel batteries at some time of manufacture around mid 2017. How can you determine the date of manufacture of a Bosch motor system and whether it is parallel battery ready. Getting the Trike to a dealer would be very difficult.
I am in very bad physical condition which is the reason for buying the Trike. I am hoping to get a few more months of cycling although that will require a positive response to cancer treatment. Right now I do not have the ability to even mount the Trike. And just to check a serial number on the motor is probably not possible without help. So I need very clear instructions for a technically incompetent care giver to follow to find the serial number. This is a mid drive unit that was an option on the Terratrike. This is the description of the system. TerraTrike’s latest Electric Vehicle Option, the E.V.O., is powered by the powerful Bosch Performance Line Cruise motor and the PowerPack 400Wh battery.
