Or lack thereof.
The volume of emails lately on the list served as a good kick in the can
for my mini-bike project. I finally wired it up and tried it out. It was
not a great experience.
The power was very low and then the motor shed part of one magnet.
Luckily I had another motor and put it and tried again. Still not
working well. On flat ground I can get it to move along maybe 3-4 MPH
after helping it start up. If I start on a downhill I can get the speed
up to 5-7 MPH but it bogs down on any uphill slope.
Here's what I have.
Mini-bike frame with 11" rear tire.
Motor gear 12 teeth, rear gear 64 teeth
~1HP 36V large mower deck motor from an Elec-Trak
3 12V-18AH SLAs in series
36V 750W controller from a scooter store
If I calculate right at 5MPH I should be turning about 800RPM. Maybe I
need a higher gear ratio? The motor is probably designed to run at a
constant speed since it's from a mower deck. Could that be the problem?
Or am I just asking too much from too little? On the flat it was pulling
about 20A or so.Voltage stayed pretty steady. Batteries are new and
freshly charged. It is a pretty heavy setup with the motor, batteries
(and me!).
I didn't expect too much, but I thought it would move along.
- SteveS
