Initial impressions on my new eFun-D

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ratatouille
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Re: Initial impressions on my new eFun-D

Jean-Francois-
You don't have to remove the bottom four batteries on mine, but the 5th battery on top needs to be removed. This DOES involve removing almost all of the body panels to give you access to the battery terminals.

But you do that each time you bank charge at home ? How many time do you need ?

Jean-François

Jean-François

no3rdseat
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Re: Initial impressions on my new eFun-D

No, I'm sorry. You only have to remove the panels once to connect a positive and a negative wire to each battery terminal. So in my case since I have 5 batteries, it was 10 wires that had to be connected. I then take those 10 wires and solder them into a connector. Then I connect the positive and negative cables from the chargers to a another connector. When it's all finished I have a male connector on the bike and a female on the chargers. When I get home I just plug the two connectors together and turn on the power switch. Easy as that! But it does take some work to initially connect the wires and chargers. I'll see if I can upload some pictures of what I'm talking about (Thanks MiK)). There was another thread on here recently where someone documented with pictures how they built their charger.

-Rick

no3rdseat
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Re: Initial impressions on my new eFun-D

Lets see if I can get a couple of pictures up here. I didn't take any detailed shots while I was working but here is the connector and the bank. I'm not sure I'm going to stick with this connector. That's why I haven't affixed it to the bike yet. For now I just coil it up under the seat and lift the seat to plug it in...

DSCF0405.jpg

DSCF0410.jpg

Rick

astar
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Re: Initial impressions on my new eFun-D

When it's all finished I have a male connector on the bike and a female on the chargers.

Better to do it the other way around: female on the bike and male on the charger. Those batteries are always connected to the pins, and if they get bent or something touches them, you will short one or more batteries together. You will probably only turn on the charger when the connectors are together, so it's less of an issue on the charger side.

Do you have fuses on the bank charger connection? Some people do, and some don't. I just added them to mine - I think it's much safer.

ZEV 7100 Alpine
Fort Collins, CO

jdh2550_1
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Re: Initial impressions on my new eFun-D

female on the bike

My favorite kind. (Someone had to say it! ;) Unfortunately my wife is recovering from a broken ankle after becoming the female off the bike, into the crash barrier and down the embankment - ouch... :( )

John H. Founder of Current Motor Company - opinions on this site belong to me; not to my employer
Remember: " 'lectric for local. diesel for distance" - JTH, Amp Bros || "No Gas.

no3rdseat
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Re: Initial impressions on my new eFun-D

That's a really good point astar. I went out and looked at the bike and I DO have the "female on the bike". But I don't have fuses. Maybe I'll add those later when I get a more heavy duty connector.

-Rick

ratatouille
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Re: Initial impressions on my new eFun-D

Thank you Rick for the explanation and nice job !

Jean-François

Jean-François

DanCar
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Re: Initial impressions on my new eFun-D

Rick,

Can you point out details of your bank charging solution? Where did you get your connector from? What do you recommend for wires, etc...

Thanks,
Daniel

no3rdseat
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Re: Initial impressions on my new eFun-D

Hi Daniel-

Not sure which finer point you were looking for... USATracy explained it all pretty well. I think the only differences would be which panels to remove to access the batteries. All I can say about that is to remove just about every screw you can find, including the four bolts that hold the underseat storage space in. And remove the seat and hinge... remember how the spring came out or you might have trouble putting it back on. Also you'll need to remove the three bolts that hold the rear luggage rack on. The front end piece has to come off and just about everything all the way to the back. So take all the screws out, and carefully remove all the body panels. One thing I think would be helpful to know is that the body panels all fit into place with little easily breakable tabs that fit into slots. Do not just try to pull up on the panels! They will slide one way or another and THEN lift up. Otherwise you'll break the tabs off and it won't hold together perfectly later on.

The batteries are in there TIGHT - I didn't feel like fighting with the two front batteries (they're right under the frame rail) so I just cut the rubber boots off the terminals and accessed the battery terminal bolts from the sides with a small 10mm hand wrench.

I don't remember who I got my connector. from. I just did a Google search for "12-pin Molex connector" and bought the heaviest set I could find. They don't have any heat problems but the ones I got don't really click together, they just sort of slide together. I'd like to find a better connector.

As far as wires, I went to Home Depot and bought 100' of 16-gauge lamp wire. I used 16-gauge because that's what is coming out of my chargers. Seems to work OK and they only get a little warm while charging at 10 amps.

BTW, I got a top box for my bike. Looks pretty good and now I can carry a lot more stuff!

DSCF0419.jpg

DSCF0416.jpg

DSCF0418.jpg

DSCF0417.jpg

DanCar
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Re: Initial impressions on my new eFun-D

How much did the top box cost? Looks good! :-)
Any improvement on the top speed?

If I were to order molex connectors for the bank charger from this place:
http://www.greatplainselectronics.com/products.asp?cat=46&pg=1
Do you know what I would need to buy? There seems to be a lot of options and I'm not sure what to get. There are a lot of pins. Would you recommend purchasing the extractor tools to?

Is there another place that is better to order from?

Thanks,
Daniel

no3rdseat
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Re: Initial impressions on my new eFun-D

Hi Daniel-

The box was from RMartin and cost somewhere around $33.00. I replaced the throttle today but I haven't been able to ride fast so I'll let you know about the top end tomorrow.

That place looks like it has really good deals, I'd go for it. Here are the parts you'll need:

10 of 02-09-1104
10 of 02-09-2103
1 of 03-09-1126
1 of 03-09-2121

If you have a never ending supply of money, you might think about getting the Crimper 3134CT (HTR-1031E). Though it runs $95.00!! OUCH!! Those little pins were difficult to crimp with pliers and then solder. I don't know how much electronics experience you have but if you want to make a lot less work for yourself, see if you can get that crimper. Otherwise just take your time and you can do it without the crimper.

Plus you'll need a box of at least 10 crimp on ring end terminals that will fit 1/4" bolts. You can find them at any hardware or car parts store. These will connect to the batteries. Make sure you crimp these on REALLY tightly or if you can, solder them on. You don't want to have to go back in there again! :)

I bought the extractor tool but I never used it. But I used to build electronics for guitars for a living so I have a lot of experience soldering. Your mileage may vary...

-Rick

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