How can you tell visually if you have an X motor?

I took a close look at the motors that I have from Tidalforce to see if there were any obvious differences between them. I took a couple of pictures of the labels. See if you can tell the diff!

Here's the label on the standard 750 watt Tidalforce motor.

For comparison, here's the label on the 1000 watt or X version of the Tidalforce motor.

Hmmm, hard to tell the difference, no?

More later,
Ambrose

Finally have an X motor working on my S-750X!

I took a couple of hours on Friday night to true the X motor wheel. It took a bit of effort since I don't have a truing stand, but roughed it with just the wheel mounted on the bike and using the brake pads as my truing calibrators! It worked relatively well. I took it out for a quick ride on Saturday and it felt really nice. I didn't have my Cycle Analyst installed so couldn't tell how much power the motor was using, but it felt much better than the 750W non-X motor.

Clear photos of the welded tabs of the 7S3P A123 packs

Oatnet or JD on Endless-sphere.com has posted some very clear photos of the uncovered A123 packs. They show how the A123 20AH prismatic cells are welded and how challenging it might be to disassemble these packs. This further discourages me from buying these in order to try and harvest the individual cells for my purposes. See the photos here:

http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=38901&start=285#p575820

More later,
Ambrose

Bad News on the A123 20AH Prismatic 7S3P Packs

Some folks have finally received the highly anticipated 7S3P made with the A123 20 AH prismatic cells and have detailed pictures on Endless-Sphere.com

HumboldtRc received a couple of them and they have some major issues for folks interested in taking them apart to harvest the individual cells. First off, the tabs have been severely trimmed to about 1/8"! Second, they are welded to each other and so harvesting them will require removing these welds or cutting the metal that connects the tabs which is also challenging without damaging the individual cells. Third, they don't seem to be brand new cells. They look as if they're pulls from pre-built units, perhaps cars and then resold. Fourth, they are not consistent. The two that HumboldtRc received are constructed differently with different color insulators. Who knows what else is different about them!

Here's the video he made of them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLHy_Pdzw-k

Here's the thread of photos of his packs.

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=39320

Looks like I'm heading more in the individual cell route now... Sigh.

More later,
Ambrose

A123 20AH Prismatics Revisited

The most promising battery currently available that I'm aware of for ebikes is the A123 20AH prismatic cell. It's very compact, holds a big charge, can be used at 30C which translates to 600A continuous, is nearly indestructibe, and is very inexpensive right now. I was eager to buy 12 or 14 for a 36V pack (with spares) for my Tidalforce bikes but then heard about a preassembled pack of 7S3P available for a similar price to the 14 separate cells... The 7S3P pack looks like this:

It looks as if it's all set up to go into an automobile or other vehicle since it has a strong plastic case surrounding the battery cells. Inside, it looks like this:

It looks as if the balance wires come right out to the outside and the 3P packs are very securely held in place with bolted down plates. I'm eager to find out more on these cells and it looks like lots of other endless-sphere.com folks are as well.

More later,
Ambrose

Great review of bike tail lights

I happened upon this great review of the most popular tail lights on the market. The models range from a $3 Amazon special to the top of the wattage scale Cygolite Hotshot. If you're in the market for a tail light. This will tell you all you need to know!

http://bicycles.blogoverflow.com/2012/03/tail-light-review/

As for my tail light, I have a Magicshine MJ-818 without the battery pack. I have purchased a 18650 battery holder for it, but it hasn't arrived yet. The Magicshine MJ-818 is a 3W tail light with a variable strobe pattern. It's intensely bright but does suck up a lot of power. I have a set of 4 Trustfire 2500mAh 18650 cells which should provide lots (5000mAh) of power to the light. IF and WHEN it arrives!

Doctorbass tests the A123 20AH cells

These are very promising cells. The price is extraordinary as well. They should be available for around $320 shipped in quantities of 12!

Here's the setup.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtQvmURq3nQ

Here's the testing results.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPTRoLKlHpg

More later,
Ambrose