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Post by lurker on Sept 26, 2023 18:17:29 GMT -7
i looked at the battery on the peacedove, but it mounts differently, is shaped differently and it has 2 contacts while the vortex battery has 4 contacts. i did notice a self-test button on the vortex battery, which appears to say that the battery is good, or fully charged, or something. tomorrow i'll get some video of the vortex and re-contact ecotric. maybe they've got diagnostic procedures or circuit diagrams or a service network, or rainbows and unicorns.
i'm not impressed, may cut my losses and go back to riding violet the 48 yr old peugeot, maybe modify my route to go around hills and dales. who invented this newfangled electricity stuff, anyway? tar and feathers is looking appropriate...
no, i've not looked at the charger. the little led switches from red to green after an hour or so, i'm guessing that means "charged".
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Post by lurker on Sept 26, 2023 18:26:26 GMT -7
and now that we're talking about e-bikes, what do i see? ads on this forum for e-bikes. unfortunately i am unable to recommend them, even if they do come from a different chinese factory and are assembled (mostly) in the US. due to this experience i've learned to expect no support or meaningful documentation, and no service network, and precious few standards from manufacturer to manufacturer. i've got a year and four months use out of this, and it's been fun, for $700, so about $44 per month. key word, been.
bitter? ME? this tech is not ready for prime time.
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Post by lurker on Sept 28, 2023 10:21:58 GMT -7
took video of the malf and sent it to john the (probably) bot at ecotric, who instructed me to measure voltage of the fully-charged battery with a nice picture. turns out it doesn't matter if i measure using the inside or outside pair of contacts. will see what if john has to say next, so far we've already covered this ground. ecotric does not appear to sell parts aside from batteries and add-ons like baskets and seat upgrades. 42 volts.  |
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Post by lurker on Sept 29, 2023 2:25:43 GMT -7
got this in my email tonight:
" Hello:
Okay, we'd like to send you a controller and a display to solve the problem. Please tell us your current address.
Thanks for your support to ECOTRIC.
Best Regards
9871264571154
John"
needless to say, i confirmed my address. i'm starting to like these guys.
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Post by lurker on Oct 3, 2023 2:46:28 GMT -7
update. looks like it's on its way. USPS
Expected Delivery by
Wednesday
4 October 2023 by
9:00pm
Your item arrived at our OAKLAND CA DISTRIBUTION CENTER origin facility on October 2, 2023 at 2:59 pm. The item is currently in transit to the destination.
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Admin Czar
Administrator 
Mentally Exhausted & Socially Indifferent
Posts: 275
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Post by Admin Czar on Oct 5, 2023 10:42:57 GMT -7
Hey they followed my suggestion! A cheap controller to start. Although that battery is supposed to be 48vdc at full charge, not 42. Hmmm. Guess they overlooked that fine point.
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Post by lurker on Oct 5, 2023 13:21:10 GMT -7
the system claims to be 36v.
but snafu at the USPS, now expected by 9pm friday.
tomorrow i'm going out of town for a couple of days for a wedding (no, not mine) so i told the post office to hold it.
used to be, mail from the west coast used to come to the dist center in charlotte NC, 30 miles down the road. this one went to charleston, SC, 240 miles (and an extra sort) away. can you tell i'm annoyed? so i signed a couple of online petitions advocating replacing the current postmaster general (who has a background in for-profit logistics), who doesn't like competition from the USPS and has set out to cripple it.
if these new parts work out, do you have any interest in the old bits?
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Admin Czar
Administrator
Mentally Exhausted & Socially Indifferent
Posts: 275
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Post by Admin Czar on Oct 6, 2023 16:56:18 GMT -7
Only if it fixes your problem then you could pry open the old one (if they don't want it back) & snap a pic of front & back & post them. I'm kinda curious how they comp heat dissipation on a chip based unit that small.
The battery - An 18% (prox) overcharge on a lithium battery pack is not a minor issue, nor is the deliberately slow charge rate. It can cause little things like fires, explosions, dismembering testicles... Maybe they sell 36 & 48 volt systems, split the difference & call it good??? It doesn't make sense to me. But not much does these days.
My 48 volt system are 48-49.5 vdc charged. Yes, the charge current is slightly higher than the battery rating but only by a couple volts max. Not like a 12v car battery where 15 volts blasted at 40-60 amps is just fine. If theres no battery temp under load indication on the controller maybe check batt temp during charge & under riding load after 15 min or so. Old guys like to keep the few functional body parts we have left.
The mail - yeah dont get me started on that absurd crippled mess. 30% plus increase on stamps more on pkgs since 2020 to the point it frequently costs more to ship a small box via usps than fedex. The federal gov cant run squat. Shitcan Amtrak & the post office. Passenger trains work in most other countries (at over 100 mph) & they carry the bulk of the mail. But the Fed can't wrap their head around either. but I digress as usual.
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Post by lurker on Oct 10, 2023 16:33:47 GMT -7
stuff came. will try to install tomorrow. whole lotta wires coming out of that little black box. hopefully i can get them to all match up.
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Admin Czar
Administrator
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Post by Admin Czar on Oct 10, 2023 18:05:25 GMT -7
OOOh looks like Christmas in October!
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Post by lurker on Oct 11, 2023 13:29:46 GMT -7
looks like i got lucky, i swapped on the control panel and the bike seems happy. i'll take it out tonight before i report success to ecotric. so now i have a spare, good control module. the control module hides in a black plastic box along with some of the wires and all of the plugs, of which there are very many. the module itself is housed in what looks like a ribbed (for her pleasure?) cast aluminum box. between the two i wouldn't expect much in the way of cooling. i have some issues with how ecotric designed this, for example, drilling and routing wiring through holes in the frame. it looks designed to be disposable, not repaired. i taped the new panel's cable to the frame and nipped off the ends of the old wire rather than unwrap and feed the wire out. enough chatter, the man wants pics.
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Post by lurker on Oct 13, 2023 8:20:01 GMT -7
reported success to ecotric, they don't want the extra control module back. so it's all good, faith in humanity (mostly) redeemed. fwiw, i found the display panel and control module on their website, $60 each, battery, $259.
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Admin Czar
Administrator
Mentally Exhausted & Socially Indifferent
Posts: 275
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Post by Admin Czar on Oct 13, 2023 17:57:35 GMT -7
Glad it worked out. I would not have put money on that bet  |
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Post by lurker on Dec 24, 2023 12:28:30 GMT -7
it's a lovely day for ride in the park! pond is low, lots of mud flat there's that heron over on the far side oops, dumped it on the trail. broke the headlamp off the handlebars, otherwise no harm done.
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Post by lurker on Dec 25, 2023 16:49:17 GMT -7
and today i rode down to the transportation museum www.nctransportationmuseum.org/then out beside the rr track, past the old lutheran cemetery, and oh, yeah, obligatory cat pic. cold front due tonight, and rain, won't be going out much for a couple of days.
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Admin Czar
Administrator
Mentally Exhausted & Socially Indifferent
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Post by Admin Czar on Dec 25, 2023 18:22:23 GMT -7
Great pics. The woods, even leafless, make it seem like you're in the middle of nowhere. Or that you might come across a shallow grave at any moment. Whenever someone goes missing why don't they just check all the shallow graves first? Just sayin...
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Post by lurker on Dec 26, 2023 7:35:49 GMT -7
a little farther up, just before the cemetery, there's a highway overpass, and it's obvious that homeless people stay there occasionally, and i'm careful to not linger through that section.
it's rainy today, most likely not going out.
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Post by lurker on Jan 1, 2024 13:20:04 GMT -7
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Post by lurker on Jan 26, 2024 21:23:06 GMT -7
first decent day for a while. was planning to take the himalayan but got distracted by a trip to the local firearm emporium where i bought a bulk-pack of wwb 5.56, and LotH (surprise!) bought a taurus 9mm. so i took the e-bike out instead, down to the pond where the heron and turtles were sunning, then down to the big park in salisbury. cabin fever staved off for now. phew, that was close!   |
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Admin Czar
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Post by Admin Czar on Jan 26, 2024 23:27:51 GMT -7
Is the Taurus the Colt 1911 pattern or the newer one? Seems like there is a Sig knock off maybe? Been a while since I saw one.
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Admin Czar
Administrator
Mentally Exhausted & Socially Indifferent
Posts: 275
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Post by Admin Czar on Jan 26, 2024 23:35:28 GMT -7
and now that we're talking about e-bikes, what do i see? ads on this forum for e-bikes. unfortunately i am unable to recommend them, even if they do come from a different chinese factory and are assembled (mostly) in the US. due to this experience i've learned to expect no support or meaningful documentation, and no service network, and precious few standards from manufacturer to manufacturer. i've got a year and four months use out of this, and it's been fun, for $700, so about $44 per month. key word, been. bitter? ME? this tech is not ready for prime time. I found a pretty thorough troubleshooting guide in the box with one of the e-wheels . Straight forward and mostly translated ok well so maybe  Will take photos & post them in a how-to thread with some other tidbits I've learned. |
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Post by lurker on Jan 27, 2024 7:53:38 GMT -7
Is the Taurus the Colt 1911 pattern or the newer one? Seems like there is a Sig knock off maybe? Been a while since I saw one. G2c, 2 doublestack 12 rd mags. i like the size and form factor but it's very stiff, so we're planning to take it out and let it run and loosen up next week. i did look at a very cute citadel (philippine) 1911a1 in 9mm, but i left it there. |
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Post by lurker on Mar 28, 2024 21:13:18 GMT -7
got out to the pond on the vortex in the sunshine for the first time in near a month. saw a hawk. felt good.   |
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Post by lurker on May 15, 2024 16:24:37 GMT -7
gravel trapped between rim and tire, likely from the last time i dumped it on gravel. easy fix; dismount wheel, let some air out, pry out gravel bits, re-mount, re-air. weather wet, will check function tomorrow.   |
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Admin Czar
Administrator
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Post by Admin Czar on May 22, 2024 8:09:05 GMT -7
Looks like something happened with imgbb.com & proboards. I see imgbb now has a 32mb size limit for pics & a new price plan on their home page. Not good. Other photo hosting sites that changed plans really fkt up hundreds of thousands of forums & websites.
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Will take photos & post them in a how-to thread with some other tidbits I've learned. 
It's interfering with my bike & shooting time
Great for some things. Vans are such a bitch to work on. But what car isn't anymore...