First eBike Conversion Questions...

[JoePah]

I had the same problem with finding LiquidPaint.



Have the LiquidTape, 42T BlingRing on order. Have fully charged battery to 100% - on short ride up significant grade with no fluctuation. Will adjust rear deraileur tomorrow after guests depart.



David

Liquid electric tape is a poor choice for electric bikes.. It is meant for severe wet conditions like on a boat trailer a bilge pump or some other maine application. It's messy. I've owned 5 boats and only used it on permanent connections like battery terminal strips....

Heat shrink tubing is effective and easy and clean to replace.. I don't even heat shrink the tubing.. Just tie the ends with mini tie wraps.

I have ridden ebikes for 6 years in Miami, which is probably a lot wetter than wherever you are, and never had a problem.

http://www.amazon.com/b?node=700782011

 

[George S.]

Joe,

Paul, EM3ev, mentions that his Dolphin packs may need some waterproofing for really wet conditions. He suggested silicone. On the Shark packs, I might use the liquid tape along the seams. If you painted the seams with the black (liquid) tape, carefully, it might look pretty good.

I only have the XT60 connector, coming out of the bracket. I've wrapped it in plastic and just twist tied it, since I have to use that connection to charge. I'm not sure how to waterproof the throttle, but I keep a bag handy to throw over it. Not much rain here, so not much of an issue.

With the water bottle bracket, water could get thrown up, and there are open holes. The water would travel down to places I wouldn't want water. It might help to make a waterproof jacket, maybe something that had some thermal insulation. Maybe a little rope caulk near the mounting holes. Whatever works.

These shark packs are light and have a pretty nice look. With the fairly limited wire runs on the BBS mid-drives, you can get a pretty neat package. People will figure out the problems, over time. Be interesting to see if these shark packs become the standard.

 

[DMLPDX]

I have ridden ebikes for 6 years in Miami, which is probably a lot wetter than wherever you are, and never had a problem.

Our rainfall for the month of December was something like 125‰ above normal effectively whiping out an 18 month drought. On the night when I ran into problems there flooding conditions in addition to a hard downfall. I wouldn't be surprised if that deluge overcame any waterproofing that was incorporated into that shark pack.

 

[Adrian]

I found liquid tape to be fine - smelly, as you expect from the thinner so it's best used in a well ventilated room.

My bike is an all weather commuter and is used in all conditions from blizzards to torrential rain - I didn't want to take any risks so my bullet connectors were both shrink tubed and liquid taped. It can be messy but with a little care it can look great. Only once have I had to remove the connection between battery and motor and that's when I changed controller - it was trivial to remove and redo the waterproofing.

Also, I have a left thumb throttle - never had and issue and I've done nothing to waterproof it or the display.

 

[DMLPDX]

I was talking with my father who is a retired electrical engineer. He told me that he thought 57.9V charge on a 52V battery was pretty good. Also, heard from Eric at LunaCycle and he said the same thing. He also said expect to see draw from the battery going up hills.

I think what George said may prove to be correct. Eric said that the battery is shipped only at 50% charge. When I received it, I placed the charger at 2.5 amp and 80% charge. If the battery can accept a charge the charger will not run. It did not on that occasion. I have to think that charging it to 100% would have been the proper thing to do out of the box, which wasn't done.

So, I'm going to get the rear deraileur adjusted now, the 52T BlingRing is on order - as is the LiquidTape. Will continue to futz around with the conversion going forward.

Will advise.

Cheers!

David

 

[DMLPDX]

I found liquid tape to be fine - smelly, as you expect from the thinner so it's best used in a well ventilated room.

I'm curious - how long does it take for this to dry? Does it come with a brush attached to the inside top of the lid?

PDX Dave

 

[Adrian]

I'm curious - how long does it take for this to dry? Does it come with a brush attached to the inside top of the lid?

PDX Dave

Oh, it's really quick, to the touch, seconds to a few minutes depending on how thick you paint it on. They say is cures in 24 hours but tbh, it's ready in minutes. Peels off similar to thin latex. And yes, it can be messy if you're not careful.

 

[George S.]

David,

The cans of Liquid Tape I have bought had a brush in the lid. I use several coats if I wanted something thick, since it runs. I think on the XT60's the best way to do things is to heat shrink the two solder connections, and then heat shrink the whole back of the connector and the two wires.

I've used this stuff for coax connections outside, antennas.

http://www.parts-express.com/coax-s...source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pla

When I got my battery from Eric, that's about what it had, 50%. I did an 80% charge which took a couple of hours. Then I figured I should do a full charge and let it balance, if it needed that. This took maybe 3 hours. It took an hour or so to get to 54v, the full charge. That didn't rise any higher, but the charger ran another two hours at that voltage. Then it shut down. I have a 48 volt battery, not the 52v.

If you run it down on a good ride, you'll know if anything is way off. Eventually I figure there will be handbooks on how to set these things up. I had to did around, setting up my MAC hub. One member here, @flymeaway, sent me some disk spacers. I went with a stronger fork, as well. Took a while, but no problems for 9 months and I have a nice bike.

 

[DMLPDX]

Thanks again George and Adrian.

An update - the relatives are gone and I finally had some uninterrupted time to change out the gear cable, get the rear deraileur functioning, get some fenders on, and generally tidy some things up.

Then took her out. I have a steep grade out front of our place here - probably 45-60 degree grade for 1/5-1/4 mile. At the previous charge, on the C965 display, in first gear on the deraileur at PAS 1 the wattage didn't even flinch.

Very cool. I certainly appreciated the way she ran in the cold weather we have here right now. It's 20 degrees (which is cold by Portland standards) and it make an impromptu trip to the grocery to pick up some items for my bride a breeze. Wow. So easy.

Awesome sauce. Big smile on the face right now !!

Plugged her back in to the charger when I got back, and she's now charging to 59.2 V. Probably has something to do with the cold.

Unless it's icy tomorrow, I'll take her down to the riverfront to go to work.

So, right now, things are pretty sweet guys! Everything seemed to fall into place. I guess I was just to anxious to take her out initially.

Cheers,

David

 

[George S.]

David,

Great to hear. I think the first rides are going to be anxious, but pretty soon you know what you have. My MAC started out pretty noisy, breaking in. Just went away after a few miles.

 

[DMLPDX]

Thanks again, George.

Awesome ride home today. Still gotta futz with the derailleur but the BlingRing is on it's way. The battery is performing very well - no wattage drop whatsoever throughout.

I am fast understanding why there are consistent suggestions for conversions to have shocks and glad that I made the decision to convert the Trek 8.6 DS. The bike is natively heavier than my Trek 7.2 FX, but the added power makes it all worth it.

Really feeling the love on this build.

David

 

[DMLPDX]

So...almost makes me want to build another...maybe a fat bike...moving to the east coast...soon!