Noise pollution.
I am in a fortunate situation where my house has a garage attached with a power socket. So the bike charging fan noise is not heard by anyone.
I live in a rented property and do not intend to live there for much longer, and it may happen that I do not get a house with a garage to charge it in - has anyone here who has to charge outside overnight ever had any complaints?
To me, the noise isnt that bad but I suppose some could find it quite loud, especially if they are a light sleeper
Perhaps if they sleep with the windows open and you park your bike under their window, then you could have issues. Honestly, I can hear my bike twenty feet away, but not through the walls of my house, and it's parked under a metal awning, so the noise is amplified somewhat. On the other hand, I can hear the noise that my air conditioner/heatpump makes through the walls.
If your bike is outside, and your neighbors are inside, they will hear their refrigerator running more than your bike.
I'm parking mine in the garden and I can hear the high pitch whine when I'm close to the window. So far no complaints....I too could see this as an issue, especially in the summer when the windows are left open. The way our houses are positioned anyone can listen to conversation's in adjacent gardens from their upstairs windows as the sound bounces off each house. I'll probably have to muffle the sound with something...otherwise it will likely become a nuisance... any good idea out there?
07 Vectrix, Vego 600 mod.48V 800W, Arcade Alu E-Cycle 24VSachs Hub
Without question the Vectrix makes a noise with its plenum fans when charging (and pre-charge cooling with the new software). I have mine in a concrete garage with steel up-and-over doors, and it can be heard from the street if standing by the gates to the drive. But it is very faint, not at all invasive.
However, people being people I guess that someone somewhere is going to run into Mr or Mrs Grumpy. And in the UK that could be a bad thing, if they complain you could end up with a Noise Abatement Order or worse!!
I am pondering the addition of a motor controller (PWM)to reduce the fan speed and noise.
Tthe "all or nothing" cooling approach is a bit unsophisticated.
I hope to rig up somthing that reduces the fan speed to a minimum when there is no temperature difference between intake and exhaust air. Just enough to kjeep some air flowing to enable acccurate temp measurement.
When the exhaust air is much hotter than at the inlet, then the fans should run full speed.
In cold environments the fans might not be needed at all, andactually do damage by cooling the batteries excessively.
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There is always a way if there is no other way!
Maybe you could try throwing some kind of quilted cover over it.
I wonder if its worth dropping a line to Vectrix to see if its something they could include in the next firmware update, as Mik says - it shouldnt be too hard to have a variable fan setting based on temp and state of charge. All the sensors are already in there and last night when it was charging, even after 2 hours or so of full CP, it was only at 11c (ambient outside was about 2-3c)
However in summer they would have to be loud anyway as thats when the bike would need the maximum cooling I guess.
I have a friend whose neighbors complain about everything humanly possible so if I were to live there, I would not be able to charge it during the night.