So I am counting down the days until it gets warm outside and I can put some miles on my Vectrix. I took it out for a little spin the other day (and I damn near froze to DEATH... but for me it was worth it :) and I absolutely LOVE IT. Smooth acceleration and for some reason mechanical braking seems to be almost unnecessary with the regen. This thing is AWESOME!
I started planning my daily commutes in the Spring. I am kind of into martial arts and sometimes I go to the gym before work. I don't know if I can charge there. If I bring the Vectrix along, that means that I'll be riding 13 miles in... NOT charging for like 2 hours, and then catching a charge at work (if they let me... that's still up in the air right now but it looks good). If they do not let me charge at work, it's like 13 miles in... not charging for over 8 hours and then 13 miles back.
Can a Vectrix be left in a partially discharged state (let's say like 30-40% power) for a few hours until I charge up?
I can see here that the batteries are the #1 thing to take care of and look out for on this bike because replacement is going to be like $3-4k. That's about what I paid for the entire bike! I want to make sure I squeeze every mile out of this NiMh that I can.
And then I intend to go lithium :)
Thanks for the help!
I haven't found that leaving the battery in a partially discharged state for a few hours would be a big deal. The trickle discharge is really only a factor when the bike is left for months, not a few hours.
Even if you can't charge at work, you should be fine with a 26 mile round trip commute if you stick to the surface streets, where I typically get at least 40 miles on my 2007 VH-1. If you need to take the freeway, however, you'll be burning through your charge much faster. I find that if I take the freeway home that I'm getting speed limited on the last 20% of the charge when I'm headed up the hill to my house, and that's going 68mph for about 16 of the 24 mile commute.
For what it's worth, I drive 16 miles to work each morning, let the bike sit for 9-10h and drive back another 16 miles, then after a 3h charging delay charge her up over night nd start again. You should be fine without charging.
Hey harry - without sounding like a complete evangelist (but it has to be said) if you used 'The Lairds' charging software in your machine - you'd not have to let it sit and cool. It (literally) cools as it charges due to the constant fan operation and lower input amperage.
Example - If i ride home on the highway and get in (ambient presently around 24 degrees) - bike at end of ride 31 degrees but on charge within an hour its down to 27 degrees with 6amps being pumped into it ! End of charge is normally around 3 degrees above ambient. I'm a very happy VX-1 Owner.
During the week when the weather is good (Spring, Summer and early Autumn), my commute to work (which is 27 miles each way with a mix of A and B roads) means I normally arrive with 1-4 bars remaining, depending on how hard I ride, air temperature, tyre pressure, etc.
I have the pre-charge cooling delay, so plug in straight away with a set 3.5 hour delay. If the temperature is above a certain threshold, the cooling fans will start automatically and stop when required.
At the weekends, if I use it in and around town and I'm low on charge, I sometimes use the pre-set 30 minute delay so I never end up charging as soon as I switch off.
That's exactly what I wanted to hear! Thanks all. I'd hate to have to scrap the battery after the first season because work denied me the chance to charge there or that I had to hit the gym for an hour or two and found my Vectrix dead when I was done.
This forum has been a huge help, thank you all.
I agree that the Lairds software mitigates high charging temperature. I still advocate to use Miks ABCcool approach in addition which I installed on both of my bikes. In the summer, it allows you to cool for however long you wish after a ride without using battery for it. After a ride in 30oC most of us will have a battery temperature of at least 33-35C. Under those conditions I let it cool with the ABCool for at least 3-4h in my garage. I am currently comparing the new software on one bile with the latest Vectrix software on the other and the Laird is helping me quite a bit. More to come.
Did mik solve all his issues with the ABC cool ? Was there a final version. I sometimes find this forum hard to find the latest information even within the collaborative handbook.
Now that i am in summer here (well its a bit of a damp squid this year) the thought of additional cooling sounds good. That and the fact that i can't leave well alone.
Anyone had a portable aircon push frigid air through yet ?