Battery Frame: So close…

I’m getting closer….

I’ve been going around and around on the trays and subframe.  A couple of questions that I had were:

• Will the sub frame be strong enough
• how will the sub frame get bolted into the frame
• will everything fit when i get it all put together
• how will the batteries be attached to the trays
• how will the trays be attached to the subframe.

These seem like simple questions, but espeically the “will everything fit” question has proven to be difficult without having a real cad diagram of the motorcycle frame.

I drew a frame in Sketchup:

moto frame drawn in sketchup.

but it was a copy from a picture: (more…)

and more battery frame ideas

As i as describing in my previous post, i’ve been struggling with how to make sure that the batteries stay in the frames.  I went over a bunch of different ideas, and thought the latest plan was to weld or epoxy bars to the Thundersky  end plates sort of like this:

End plates showing welded or expoxied bars

Then, tapping holes in the bars/end plate and using screws to keep them anchored to the angle aluminum. This allowed me to keep all of the …

Mounting batteries

So, it seems like the battery layout I came up with (as shown in a previous post) will work out ok, but the one thing that’s still been bugging me is how to ensure that the batteries stay firmly in the frame. I don want them jumping out when I hit a bump.

Others have done nylon straps of various sorts, and it seems doable. but for some reason, I’m looking for something different.

I’ve been looking for a way to either screw or clamp them in place. After sitting and staring at the angle aluminum and my packs for a good while, I think I have a plan. It involves tapping sone screw holes in a piece of flat bar aluminum, welding (or riveting) a that bar to the bottom of the Thundersky end plates.

More info and diagrams to follow…

3 cell packs are done!

So, building 6 of those 3 cell packs took a while.  there were 48 bands that i had to rework as per the last post (8 bands per pack, 6 packs).  here’s a pic of them all happy and finished.

All of the 3 cell packs, ready to go.

Closeup of the packs, notice the longer ends on the part of the strap that was resized.

Now i just need to figure out how to get them mounted in the battery frames.

Making Thundersky Packs

Ack, no updates in a long time.  There’s actually been a bunch of stuff going on too!

In the middle of January, i received my batteries from Thundersky and EVComponents.  Woo!  Here are a couple of iPhone pics of the batteries.

The box of Thundersky batteries with a 6 pack pulled out.

Another view of the batteries

Unfortunately, when i ordered the batteries,

New Battery Layouts (with CAD drawings)

So, in my last post, i was mentioning that i can’t do CAD, and that i wished i could to get a better picture of how the batteries, battery tray/frame, and moto frame would fit together.

So, one night last week when i couldn’t sleep, i tried out Google Sketchup, a 3D modeling program.  Working on modeling is way different than i’m used to.  But i was able to stumble through to generate a representation of a battery.

Scale model of Thundersky 60Ah battery

From there, i did different sized packs of batteries,

More Battery Mockups!

Woohoo! I got an inspiration for working with different battery orientations after looking at some bikes from a professional electric motorcycle designer (Justin G) that i got from an elmoto.net posting. In particular, this one: http://graywrxfabblog.blogspot.com/2…uper-bike.html (click on the image to get a better look). I’m still working off of mockups with a fair amount of slop (and i’m not sure how much i’m going to need between the packs), but i’m hoping this works…it’s now 36 in the frame!

Here are two diagrams showing layouts…

Original battery layout (30 cells)

New battery layout (36 cells) as of 2009-12-08

Battery Mockups.

Now that the gas guzzling engine is out of the bike, i can now start trying to figure out where the batteries go (which let’s me ignore the last of the cleanup items i have to do such as strip the electrical so i can clean, sand, prime, and repaint the frame).

The Thundersky batteries that i’m using (60Ah LiFePO4) are 215 x 115 x 61mm (as per the TS specs). i built a bunch of boxes the size of one, three, and six batteries and tried placing them in the frame.  I’m not sure how the different battery boxes that i’m going to have to build will fit in with the frame since it’s already pretty tight with the mockups i have.

proposed battery locations. banks are labeled with an ID and number of batteries.