I recently fried the power cord that runs to my battery pack. I replaced it with a computer cord that has three 18ga wires. I know the original cord had two 14ga wires. The bike runs fine, but I think it used to go a bit faster (if memory serves me well). Could this restriction be the cause of power loss? Has anyone else experienced this? Also, If I ran 12ga wires to the controller would that help?
Thanks.
Electrogo,
Yes, the slow down is probably caused by the smaller wires.
When I installed my 5th battery on my XB600, I used an 18 gauge extension, which worked fine, but does get warm, so i know there is some drop across it. It does not however get hot, so aI am not concerned.
If you want, you should be able to track down a larger cord, I know they are available, because I found one at work. I am just waiting for my current setup to need a change, before switching to the 12 gauge one I found.
Tom
For the definitive in power chords shouldn't you be consulting AC/DC ??
- David Herron, The Long Tail Pipe, davidherron.com, 7gen.com, What is Reiki
The connector type you need is IEC320. Mouser.com sells plugs and receptacles.
Nice reference David. It made me laugh. Scott.
I'll take Nirvana over that. Seriously though, would the cord that I have slow the bike down?
clinton
Hi Tom,
Where did you get your 12ga. cord and do you really think it will help the bike? If so I would like to get one.
Thanks.
clinton
Now that I think of it, maybe that is why I only get about 27mph real GPS speed out of my xb-600 at60V.
I only used 16 gauge wire....... Guess if/when I go to 72V I will upgrade it to 12 or even 10 gauge wire.
It DOES make a difference with voltage drop and loss of power due to heat etc. and certain gauge wires can only carry a certain amount of current.
Dave
Dave ; Tennessee
XB-600.
I bought a 14 gauge cord w/ right angle configuration. I will let you know if my speed has changes as soon as this comes in and I install it.
Have a great weekend!
clinton
See my notes at http://bergerweb.net/xb500/
I eventually re-located my controller so it was nearer the battery so I could keep my battery cable as short as possible. A rough calculation will show that for each 5 inches of 14 gage wire, you will have a 1mv drop per amp of current. 25 inches at 40 amps will drop 1 volt. That's not a lot, but if you're running longer distances, it adds up, and of course, the voltage drop gets larger if the wire heats up.
Dickey_b
Waste Not, Want Not