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Converting a bike to electric using a front hub motor.

by paul holmes :: Rate this Message:

You are going to love how easy it is. I bought a Crystalyte brushed DC hub motor already built into a front wheel (no tire though). Also, buy a brushed DC 36/48v 20amp or 35amp motor controller. Next, buy some cheapo 7 amp-hr batteries, and wire them in series, to either 36 or 48v. I bought 8 of them, so that altogether, I have 48v 14amp-hrs. You need some sort of back rack on the bike that you can buy at a bike shop to set your batteries on. Also, buy a little on/off switch from home depot. connect it to one of the leads to your battery pack, for easy shutoff of power when you want to. Finally, attach 30 amp Anderson connectors to the leads of the battery pack (after the switch) so you can plug the pack into the controller. Mount the controller where ever you want. (I just used a bunch of electrical tape).

BattPackNeg------------------------------------AndersonConnector
BattPackPlus---------ON/OFFSwitch-------------AndersonConnector

Anderson connectors come pre-installed on the leads for the motor controller, and for the motor, so the rest you just plug in.
To charge the battery pack, just disconnect from the controller (make sure ON/OFF is set to ON) and plug it into the charger first, then plug the charger into the wall.

I used "ebikes.ca". They were very helpful, and it's pretty reasonable prices.
For batteries, I got them on Ebay from the following guy. They have worked great for 6 months so far, charging and discharging them EVERY DAY:

Ebay 7 amp-hr Lead Acid Batteries

dave cover-2 wrote:

Paul

Can you give some details of the bike and the components you used. I'm
looking to do the same. I already have a donor, but I don't know anything
about bike conversions.

Dave Cover

On Sun, May 4, 2008 at 9:48 PM, paul holmes <barbiesbla@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> About a year ago, I converted an old mountain bike to electric. Lacey,
> my home town, was having an energy fair this last Saturday, so I called up
> city hall to find out if I could have a booth to display it. The day
> started really rainy, but there were still a good number of people. I had
> a
> nice display on a cardboard backing (my wife put it together) that was
> getting soaked (I wasn't very prepared), and a fellow ev-er lent me a big
> tent.
> I bet I talked to about 100 people in-depth about how the bike works,
> the cost, how to assemble the lead acid pack, etc. Almost none of them
> had
> ever seen an electric bike. They loved the simplicity of the front hub
> motor. Plus, my setup was cheap, so I got to tell them that it can be
> done
> for $300-350. People ranging in ages from 10 to 80 (not joking!) took
> turns
> riding the e-bike all around Huntamer Park. Most came back with that
> famous
> EV grin (it can happen even from e-bikes!!). These people were hungry for
> alternatives for their transportation. It was really exciting to see!
> Lee's tipping point isn't here yet, but if we get out there and show our
> stuff, people are perhaps more willing to listen now than ever before.
> --
> View this message in context:
> http://www.nabble.com/Lacey%2C-WA-Alternative-Energy-Fair-Success-Despite-Rain-tp17053549p17053549.html
> Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at
> Nabble.com.
>
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