Ping Lifepo 4 Questions

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Arno J. Wulfert
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Ping Lifepo 4 Questions

Yay!!!,

Finally popped the money and bought Ping's 48V 20AH Lifepo4 Battery. I asked to change the size/shape to better fit my Wilderness BL-36 E bike set up. Rather than the advertised shape he is confifuring it to 6.3 inches wide by 5.3 inches tall by 11.8 inches long... Can't wait to get it... I have some questions Dogman and others will know...

Does the wiring come with a connector that matches his free charger?

Will there be remaining red and black wires coming out of the pack to spice on a connector for the controller (stock 50 amp wilderness)?

I know with the SLAs I need to charge immediately after every ride to save the battery life. Are the Pings more forgiving so I can ride somewhere (like work), then ride home at the end of the day and just charge it over night? Or ride somewhere and hang out and not charge until back home? It sounds like I may be able to do that with the BMS system that protects the Ping.

I don't have a scale handy. Anybody know what the standard 36Volt 3 12 volt battery pack weighs? I know the Ping will be weighing 22 pounds. I was just wondering if that is really that light....

As always, thanks all for your kind feedback and help...

Cheers,
AJW

reikiman
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Re: Ping Lifepo 4 Questions

There's a very useful chart here: http://electricrider.com/batteries/index.htm it shows 12v12ah batteries have a standard weight between 8.89-9.46 lbs per battery.

IIRC it comes with the charging connector, you just need to attach a controller connector. And yes all the wires are there onto which to place the connectors.

dogman
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Re: Ping Lifepo 4 Questions

My 36v 20 ah weighs 15 pounds. With the metal box to protect it and the rack I use on a full suspension bike, it's still under 20 punds. I can't even feel it bake there riding. I sure felt the sla's!

Unless something has changed, you will get a charger a battery and a plug to connect them, and you will have to wire it, so you will need a voltmeter and a soldering iron. Ping sends a pretty good instruction on which wires do what. There are several posts explaining it, but if you get flummoxed I like to type. To connect to the controller, you will need to use your old wire from the sla pack, or get a new connector. Either monsterscooterparts,or electricscooterparts has extension wires with the bullet connector, I can't remember which at the moment. Or just get some andersons and make a new connector to the controller.

One of the best things about all chemistries other than lead acid, is you can charge when you feel like it. However, if it is easy to charge at work, or wherever, do so. Like most chemistries, lighter discharges do increase pack life. So its allways good to charge if it's not a hassle. But waiting to do it is not a problem. I run my pack so that I usually never discharge more than 75%. That way if my bms is not working, and I don't know it, it doesn't matter. I kinda think the way you find out one malfunctions is when it lets you kill your battery sooo I try not to give it a chance to. Once you have run the battery a while you can tell by odometer when you may be close to the end of the charge.

Be the pack leader.
36 volt sla schwinn beach cruiser
36 volt lifepo4 mongoose mtb
24 volt sla + nicad EV Global

Arno J. Wulfert
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Re: Ping Lifepo 4 Questions

Thanks you guys... Went to electricscooter parts and bought the connector (2 ends tied together, I'll have a spare).. $7.00 and change delivered. It will beat the delivery of the battery, I'm sure... Ping needs a week to reconfigure it before shipping...

Life is good and you guys are great...

Cheers,
AJW

Arno J. Wulfert

wakataka
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Re: Ping Lifepo 4 Questions

My standard WE SLA battery pack (36v 12ah) weighs about 25 pounds with the bag included.

Arno J. Wulfert
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Re: Ping Lifepo 4 Questions

Thanks,

That says if I would do an equivalent 4 batterty setup to get to 48volts I would be at 33 plus pounds. So the Ping at 48volts with more amps reduces the weight by about 11 plus pounds. Just switching off the 36 volt setup only buys me roughly 3 pounds but anticipating alot more power... I'm with Dogman and plan on putting it in some kind of protective case which will add a little weight. The price of this battery says: "Protect it"... came close to falling over once or twice but been lucky so far...

Cheers,
AJW

Arno J. Wulfert

dogman
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Re: Ping Lifepo 4 Questions

Interesting, My we stock batteries are 11 pounds each, 33 pounds for the whole pack.

Be the pack leader.
36 volt sla schwinn beach cruiser
36 volt lifepo4 mongoose mtb
24 volt sla + nicad EV Global

engr_scotty
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Re: Ping Lifepo 4 Questions

Yay!!!,
Does the wiring come with a connector that matches his free charger?

Will there be remaining red and black wires coming out of the pack to spice on a connector for the controller (stock 50 amp wilderness)?

I don't have a scale handy. Anybody know what the standard 36Volt 3 12 volt battery pack weighs? I know the Ping will be weighing 22 pounds. I was just wondering if that is really that light....

Cheers,
AJW
------------
n/a

I got my Ping 48V/16ah V2 about 2 weeks ago and I am very impressed with the performance: simply amazing. There are 3 wires coming out of the pack/BMS area: Positive, Discharge Negative, and Charge Negative. The Positive and discharge negative are heavy wires, seem to be 14-16ga. Charge Neg is much smaller.

Before wiring anything I recommend a volt meter and some electrical tape. There is a ton of energy in there and you don't want to weld anything. You want to solder things :) It seems like the graphic on pos/neg on the charger was opposite, or possibly viewing the mating connector or something. The numbering seemed to be right, but is tiny. Just volt it out and you'll be fine. I used a similarly small red wire on the Positive wire to connect to the loose charger connector. Mine only puts out 2A, so a smaller wire is no problem, plus, you need to somehow connect it to the small pin on the charger connector. Ping has some general instructions, so you'll figure it out. Oh yeah, also use some shrink tubing or black tape on all your connections.

Not sure about your existing WE kit, but I recommend finding an inline fuse right away. Good resource is an automotive or boating store.

My Ping weighs 17lbs, and is not noticable when you're moving at all. I put it in a bag and strapped it down with a bit of foam under it and on top, for the bumps.

Please let us know how it works out and how the WE kit does at 48V!

regards,
Scotty

wakataka
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Re: Ping Lifepo 4 Questions

Dogman - just to verify, I reweighed my WE 36v 12ah battery packs on the digital bathroom scale. I've got three of them and they each weigh between 24 and 25 pounds. The batteries are from 2 different manufacturers, but the weights are pretty much identical. My oldest pack is from Feb and my newest from July. That's a big difference between 24 and 33 pounds!

I've checked that scale against the ones at the airport when I've weighed my baggage and it has been spot on. My bag weighed 49 pounds on the home scale and the same at the airport when I checked in. I suppose it's possible the scale is wrong down in the 25 pound range, but seems unlikely it could be that wrong and still be within a pound of accurate when weighing 50 pounds.

Arno J. Wulfert
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Last seen: 14 years 9 months ago
Joined: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - 15:46
Points: 94
Re: Ping Lifepo 4 Questions

Hi Guys,

Bought the in-line fuse set up today with 30 amp fuse. Also should have a dual matching connector for the hook up from battery to controller by Tuesday (looks like an exact match to the stock set up). I've installed a case to carry the new Ping on the rear rack (a gutted 1950's light steel tackle box with latch)... All I need is the battery... (being re-configured to a longer/lower shape) that should ship hopefully by Monday/Tuesday from China... Can't wait... In the mean time riding the 36 volt SLA in my newly installed box that does not require messing with the velcro... Sometime soon when all comes together, I'll take some pictures and post them....

YaahHoo... can't wait...

Cheers,
Matt

Arno J. Wulfert

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