March 2010 Archives

The first thing I did this weekend was check the voltage on the new batteries.  They were each between 13.33 - 13.40.  I think at full charge they should be at about 16.92 volts, and fully depleted they're at about 10.80 volts.  So these are maybe a little less than half-charged.

Next up I wired everything for the controller.  Aiyah!  What a pain!  The contactor-resistor-switch setup for this KBS Kelly Controller is just a lot of stuff to have to mess with for a scooter. 

I wanted everything to be clean, so I used "professional" connectors wherever I could.  Which maybe wasn't so professional, I don't know.

I had a problem wiring the switch in because the wires were too small (22 gauge) to fit into any of my connectors.  So I ripped apart the switch and rewired it with 18 gauge wire.

Serene took a few pictures throughout the process:
I also revisited the mounting bracket for the motor.  I added a couple bolts to go all the way across to the other side of the frame, and hooked them to the bracket with hex connectors.  I think that's much more stable now. 

You can see the new bolts on the right side of this pic (click through for a better view):
Now I'm just hoping I can get some time to finish this up in the next few days.

The folks over at ModifiedElectricScooters.com really didn't like my idea of using the casing of the old 500 watt motor as a bracket for the new little 2800 watt one.  So, I've been thinking about how to make a bracket for this thing instead.

One detail of the new motor is that almost the entire casing rotates as the motor turns.  One of the ends doesn't, and that's where the bolt holes are.  At some point I realized that I could put the sprocket on the same side as the bracket.  And that led me to the solution I'm trying out now.

I went down to the hardware store with my wife this morning and grabbed a metal electrical box cover.  The biggest they had was 4" diameter, and I paid an extra 43 cents to get one with a knock-out in the middle.  Of course, then, my lovely wife wanted to pick out and buy a bunch of plants and pots, so 2 hours and something north of $100 later I finally got home.  Yes, I do love that woman.

Anyhow, back to my bracket:  When I got home, I used a little jig that came with the motor to draw the hole positions onto the metal cover.  I took a hammer and nail and tapped a little starter indent as close to the middle of each of those positions as I could.  Then I drilled them and punched out the knock-out hole in the middle.  That got me an almost perfectly sized bracket, like this.
The motor bolted on perfectly, and I rewarded myself with a can of Pepsi.  Mmmm, carbonated high fructose corn syrup.
I had ordered a 6mm sprocket when I ordered the motor, so I put that on.  I had to spray both the sprocket and the shaft with WD-40 and tap it with a mallet (ever so gently) to get it on.
When I was at the hardware store I had also picked up some bolts, nuts, washers and a few spacers.  I was trying to line things up so that the sprocket on the motor would line up with the sprocket on the wheel.  I had measured everything before-hand, but I forgot to account for the motor shaft... So, everything is off by about 1/2 an inch.  Heh heh.

I'll have to pick up some longer bolts and see how it all fits.
Since the bracket is just kind of sitting out there in space with a motor on it, I'm a bit concerned that the torque from turning the chain is going to make it flop around.  I added some big fender washers and extra nuts to try to brace everything.  But that might not be enough.  We'll see when I get the electronics working.
My final little exercise of the day was to plunk all the components in the frame and see how they fit space-wise.  I wasn't expecting it to be such a tight fit!  The controller and contactor take up quite a lot of space, and those batteries really aren't much smaller than the originals (though they are a lot lighter).
Next up will be wiring it all together.