teamontherun

I have an 09 Schwinn Coffee and just installed a Wilderness Energy BL-36 kit with Ping 36v 15ah LifePo4 battery. I was wondering since I dont have a cycle analyst yet, what range am I looking at before I should shut down the bike for a charge? I dont want to mess up my battery before I get the meter. Its a 700c kit and want the range for hardly any pedaling and some small hills along the commute if possible.

Thanks. I will post pics tomorrow.

morph999 

If it's a ping battery then you probably have a LVC cutoff on it so you probably don't even need a watt meter if you don't want one. A watt meter does help, though, in letting you know when to turn back and head for home so you don't run out of battery. I only use 50 % of my battery but I don't have a BMS on it. BTW, do you know what amp your controller is? If you want to be safe, just go about 7 miles until you get a watt meter.

teamontherun

Its the 50 amp controller. Thanks for the info.

I though that once you hit that LVC, you have already taken your battery way too low.

morph999 

It's 50 amps? You should get a different controller. Find a 20 amp one or you are going to destroy that battery. You can probably find a 20 amp one online for $70 . That battery is only rated for probably 30 amps. Either that or buy a cycle analyst and you can limit the current with that and then limit the current to about 25 amps. I'm having the same problem actually.

teamontherun

The BMS will shut off the battery at 40 amps and it has not done so. I believe that the BL 36 Wilderness kit that im running only draws around 20-23amps max. The controller is advertised as a 50 amp heavy duty controller. It runs great and does not shut off at all even under full throttle up hill. My Ping is good for 30 amps continuous.

CowtownPeddler

How much do you pedal, how bad is the headwind? I'd say 30km, 17mi (about), oh yeah, weight and height?

But then, I'm a lanky stick that pedals a lot.

teamontherun

I will pedal to start up but the motor quickly out spins me. I am 5' 11" and 215lbs. I am just using this to go .7 miles to work, .7 miles home for lunch, .7 miles to work, and .7 miles home. So all in all, 3 miles. I was just asking about the distance thing because I was wondering and didnt want to mess up my battery.

I am going to get a watts up meter though on tuesday so thanks for all the info.

dumbass 

FYI, Ping batteries while they are well known and used by a lot of people who love them they are over priced cheap batteries. That being said however, it you treat then nicely they will last you a long time. They are normally rated for 1C to 1.5C (15a to 23a max in your case). Beyond that and you are killing it and it may not be as slowly as you think. For sure you should get a meter so you know for sure what that motor is drawing at max load. Be sure to recharge them each time you use them no matter how short the ride. The lVC will cut off for a low total voltage and an individual low cell voltage. This can happen at almost anytime during your ride. Should it happen try using less power and it should be able to reset and get you home with no problem or damage.

teamontherun

Well I got my Astro Super Whattmeter today and it works great. I am only pulling about 23-28 amps at full throttle from a stop. Then it drops down below 20 when cruising. My battery seems to be well within the safe specs for this system. This exact setup has also been well tested by the guy that sold it to me. (sdelectricbike). Anyway, Thanks for all your help and information.

lespuff

Just curious what size tires are you using with your 700cc kit. I have a track rear wheel that I wanted to use. I wanted to know what width was the tires you were using. I've read somewhere you shouldn't use tires more than double of your rim's width without the tires install. I measure my rear wheel and it was about 24mm width, so that would mean that I can use any 700cc tires that is less that 48mm is width. Is that true? Thanks in advance again.

teamontherun

I am using a 38 tire. You need to measure the interior lip width of the wheel and then look to sheldon browns tire sizing chart.

Geekybiker

Headway and PSI cell have much better discharge rates. I think most people are running pretty big packs from ping so the low discharge isn't a big issue.