TSDZ2 questions

[Toucan]

Having spent the past week or 3 reading all about converting to an electric bike I am so close to the build yet still have questions/concerns/keeping me up at night worries. This forum has been a great relief to find in my hour of need.
I have the Tongsheng TSDZ2 motor sitting in my front room, step 1 complete. Bought at a great price from PSWPower and it arrived within a week.
All the parts were there including 170mm cranks, something I was hoping for but couldn't find the info about, good start.
The stumbling block I faced was loosely attaching a crank and trying to spin the bottom bracket. There was a load of friction both clockwise and anticlockwise.
Is this normal? My initial thoughts were it feels like over tightened bearings.
This aside I have been glued to Aliexpress for days searching through batteries trying to decide on the best option. At first I thought rear rack, tidy, useful etc, then I was swayed towards hailong (good value for money but heavy) Then I found bottle options and Unitpackpower's unique designs.
Having seen the tidy job PedalUma does with the SOO1 battery bottles I am really tempted to do the same. They are a good quality, lightweight option for my Thorn Sherpa.
I do wonder about water ingress into the connector and what to do with the extra 50cm length of cable coming from the motor. Any tips on how to tidy this up would be welcomed.
Tomorrow is day 1 of the build. I'm planning on taking out the bottom bracket and seeing how the motor fits. The cabling might be a challenge but having seen some inventive solutions It's all very exciting to see what happens.
Until tomorrow!

 

[LimboJim]

I have a TSDZ2 that's awaiting installation, and just spun the crank on it. I felt "normal" resistance pushing clockwise, and virtually none counter-clockwise. That may not be good news for you, I'm afraid.

I also zoomed in on your Sherpa pic, and will be curious if you can fit the motor around those cable guides. I ran into that with a Cannondale Quick - unless I re-routed the brake and shifter lines, it was incompatible with the TSDZ2. A BBS02 fit right around it,, though...

I hope you'll post updates tomorrow!

 

[Merle Nelson]

Welcome to EBR Toucan. I'm excited to see your successful build. That should be a great ebike.

Just my personal thought but "worries" are something I don't like. If I were trying to do a TSDZ2 installation I would find someone who does a great job on lots of them as a business and see if I could pay them for a private consultation through the project. A fantastic working lightweight bike would be my goal and a modest additional cost to get there quickly and directly very worth it to me.

However you proceed, I'm sure you will end up with an increadible feeling lightweight bike that is supper fun.

 

[Toucan]

Careful. Lots of bad deals and fake or low grade cell packs. I’d ask around here for reputable U.K. sellers with real warranty service.

It's a minefield. I heard Unit Pack Power have a good rep and use Samsung/LG/Sanyo batteries with warranty so drawn towards their bottle range. Quite pricey though compared to say the PSWPower 36v 15ah g56 beast of a hailong.

 

[Toucan]

I have a TSDZ2 that's awaiting installation, and just spun the crank on it. I felt "normal" resistance pushing clockwise, and virtually none counter-clockwise. That may not be good news for you, I'm afraid.

I also zoomed in on your Sherpa pic, and will be curious if you can fit the motor around those cable guides. I ran into that with a Cannondale Quick - unless I re-routed the brake and shifter lines, it was incompatible with the TSDZ2. A BBS02 fit right around it,, though...

I hope you'll post updates tomorrow!

Thanks LimboJim. I contacted PSWPower with a video and they reassured me it was normal so think my concerns may be unfounded. I'll wait to see how it feels when on the bike.
Massive relief to find the cable guide and thus rear mech cable can stay in place. I offered the motor up today and luckily there is enough space for a free flowing cable no restrictions.

 

[Toucan]

Update: Today's initial test was reassuring. The cable guide can stay though I will need to replace the round head screw with a flathead sunken screw to keep it in place. I could get away with out a screw but think it could drop out of place when It comes to changing the cable.
I had to shift the bracket over a little to create the space for the cable so plan to pop in a washer to keep that securely spaced.
Another idea to keep the frame from rubbing with the bracket is to cut some inner tube rubber and insert between the bracket and frame for protection.
One area I need help is to pack out my 37mm centre tube so it fits properly. Any thought on what to use?

Re Batteries I am drawn towards the bottle battery set up used by PedalUma as it looks inconspicuous. There is no locking facility though so I think the UPP U005 might be the better option.

More to follow once I decide on a battery and get it here.

Thanks for your help and suggestions so far. It's good to have you along for the journey.

 

[tomjasz]

Unit Pack Power have a good rep and use Samsung/LG/Sanyo batteries

Careful! Most of the prices are for GENERIC batteries. Once you specify a good build with brand name and called out cells and a decent BMS the price climbs to EM3ev costs. And EM3ev is FAR superior.

Nickel connections, NOT nickel-coated steel. Call out which battery. I know they have 35E cells. Next, call out a BMS that has a balance function and temperature cutout at a minimum.

 

[Merle Nelson]

You are going yo love the feel of that bike. I rode one of PedalUma's bike builds and it was incredible. Smooth, intigrated with your bodies effort so well you'll have to turn the controller off and on a few times to check if you didn't just wake up with bionic legs that day.

 

[tomjasz]

UPP U005

My specified parts version was more than twice this listed cost.

 

[Toucan]

256.0US $ 50% OFF|Mini Bottle Ebike Battery 48v 36v 10.5ah 7ah With 18650 Sanyo/samsung/lg Li-ion Cell For Bafang Tsdz2 750w 500w 350w 250w Motor - Electric Bicycle Battery - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

 

[tomjasz]

256.0US $ 50% OFF|Mini Bottle Ebike Battery 48v 36v 10.5ah 7ah With 18650 Sanyo/samsung/lg Li-ion Cell For Bafang Tsdz2 750w 500w 350w 250w Motor - Electric Bicycle Battery - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

Well I have one properly built with 35E cells. You won’t match it at that price. i do understand budgets. But I hate gambling. Waking up is enough. I’m cheap, but calculate long term value. Save $150 now and have to dish out more too soon sucks. I finally listened and learned. I have their batterie. I sold their batteries. I just had one built to my specs...I gambled. But I know it’s a gamble. My other two new are EM3EV and Jenny Mao here on EBR. Jenny is new for me but really seems promising.

Sorry! I cleaned up to many posts! I

really like that bike/frame. A good job and great build! Thanks for the photos. Your lot has some cool bikes,

with warranty

Once more, you realize you can’t legally return a battery? Please dig in and find posts discussing how warrantees were fulfilled.

 

[Toucan]

Update on the installation.
It went surprisingly well. The concern about space for the gear cable guide was resolved by simply removing the screw. The chain line seems fine and I think there is space to install 2 chain rings. I used my original chain and this deals with all 9 rear gears.
The motor seems to be behaving itself though I would like more power in Eco mode.
I had a couple of questions about the VLCD5.
1. Has anyone noticed the battery power display isn't corresponding to the actual battery usage? My battery level has dropped but I'm still seeing full power (6 bars) on the display.
2. If I increase the assist ratio setting (currently 16) will this add more power whilst in Eco mode? Assume it would also add more power in the higher assist modes.

I took it out for a ride today, 20 miles (32km) using assist throughout on mostly Eco and Tour but sometimes Speed for the steep hills (1250ft climbing) and was impressed with the UPP 10.5ah battery which still has a full charge.

I'll post pictures tomorrow in daylight.

Need some advice on cabling as it looks really crude at the moment.

 

[Toucan]

Quick update.
All seems to be working well with the motor and battery. I managed to get 90 miles (145km) from the initial charge climbing 1250m. I increased the assist ratio setting from 16 to 20 and this seemed to add more assist for less effort. I also increased the cut off from 15mph to 20mph.
Here are a couple of pictures to show the setup and tangle of wires. If anyone has advice on how to tidy things up please let me know, I'd appreciate some tips.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Functional range and assist sounds great. Good job!!!!

Tips:

Search all of member PedalUma's related pictures and posts and emulate him tell you are satisfied with results.

Or......., I would ask if he would consult for a fee. There in 15 minutes or so.

 

[Mike TowpathTraveler]

Functional range and assist sounds great. Good job!!!!

Tips:

Search all of member PedalUma's related pictures and posts and emulate him tell you are satisfied with results.

Or......., I would ask if he would consult for a fee. There in 15 minutes or so.

Completely agree with @ Merle Nelson. @PedalUma makes about the cleanest looking ebikes a person will ever find and is worth seeking out for advice.

 

[EMGX]

A couple easy things you can do is run the display cable along the top tube and down the seat tube, that should take up most of that cable. The battery cable is easy, cut it to length and attach new battery connectors. The only other cable is to the speed sensor, if that is too long you can move the magnet back toward the hub allowing more cable to be used running along the chainstay. Pedaluma apparently cuts the speed sensor wire and tucks the remnant into the motor housing compartment. There can be issues with deleting the speed sensor depending on the display used (doesn't work well with the x18, I tried) and I like having the odometer/speedometer function which is lost without that cable.

 

[EMGX]

Another thing you can do to potentially tidy things up a bit is have your VLCD5 display point back instead of frontward. That can move it lower and over the stem so it isn't as prominent. The display is easily removed from the axis tilt arms of the handlebar bracket (at least it was for mine).

 

[PedalUma]

Completely agree with @ Merle Nelson. @PedalUma makes about the cleanest looking ebikes a person will ever find and is worth seeking out for advice.

Go six-pin with the VLCD-6. Set the wheel circumference to 100cm and the speed to 45. You are telling it that it has 12.5 inch wheels that need to spin fast enough so the bike can go 28Mph. Chop off the speed sensor so there is no lag or second guessing of you, the boss of your bike.

 

[Antonella]

Take a look at my posts. I am doing the same on my Vintage Raleigh three speed with a Tongsheng motor.

 

[PedalUma]

Some of you have see this pair but I will post them here for @Toucan.