GoldenMotor.com Forum

Hi Allan (All),

Thank you for letting me be part of your forum:)

I am currently building a twin motor setup (https://www.youtube.com/@modularhippo) for a boat, and as I have added some DC Contactors to the mix (my original cables did not cater for this) I just want to make sure I connect everything correctly before I add a battery to the setup.

Question: Watching a video [https://youtu.be/m94Yb3e8vOs?si=jzEWkpVFHQaRhILx] by GoldenMotor NA (Canada I believe). In the video the DC Contactor is wired different from the wiring diagram that I received from Golden Motor China.

In a diagram that I have received from Golden Motor (China) the 'Grey' wire coming from the Motor Controller is connected to the A2 (right side small stud) of the DC Contactor. in the video this same wire is connected to the  A1 (small stud left side on DC Contactor). In other words, the grey wire goes to A1 in video, and A2 DC Contactor in my diagram.  The same goes for the wire that you extend from the spliced KSI wire. In the video the wire connects to the A2 (small stud right side of DC Contactor), and in my diagram it connects to the the A1 (small stud left side on DC Contactor). In other words, two contradictions. Can I assume that either setup will work as long as the 'Grey' and 'extended KSI spliced wire' are on opposite sides from each other?

Don't want to add battery to the mix until I am 100% sure I have connected it all correctly, so grateful for any help I can get:)

Thanks
Modular Hippo

Hi Ronnie,

If you are using a 48V battery, the Nominal battery voltage should be set to 48V, which should allow a higher Battery drawn current setting to be entered.

The only parameter figures I have for the VEC200 were from a 72V version, which had the Battery drawn current set to 80A and the Maximum and Rated phase current set to 210A.

A lower battery voltage requires a higher current draw to produce the same power output, so I'm puzzled as to why your controller is not allowing values over 60A to be entered.

Alan
 

What should I get to make it able to ride uphill on steep climbs?

With the original 16:42 primary belt reduction and 12:64 secondary chain reduction it should give a combined overall gear reduction ratio of 14:1 (or 15.27:1 with a 11T sprocket).
This is even lower geared than the Electro-Motion trials bike which only has an overall reduction of ~12.9:1 and that bike also uses the same 5kW motor.

Therefore, I still maintain that a 72V battery and BMS that can deliver 110 Amps continuously and 180 Amps peak should be all that you require to be able to ride uphill on steep climbs.

According to my calculations, if your motor is able to draw 110 Amps from the controller using a suitable battery, it should produce ~18Nm of torque @ 3,500rpm.
When this torque is multiplied by your 14:1 gear ratio (12T front sprocket) the resultant 252Nm of wheel torque should theoretically be sufficient to propel your 60kg bike and 80kg rider up a 35° incline (70% gradient) at a maximum speed of ~17.58mph (28.29km/h). 

If the same torque were multiplied by a 15.27:1 gear ratio (11T front sprocket) the resultant 274.86Nm of wheel torque should theoretically be sufficient to propel your 60kg bike and 80kg rider up a 40° incline (84% gradient) at a maximum speed of ~16.1mph (25.91km/h).

Alan
 

The problem Is that the motor ground is seperate from the brake circuit ground.  We run a 48v setup for the motor and a sperate 12v battery for the lights on the car. 

To wire the Regen do I feed the +12v wire to the vec200 and the negative to the black brake wire?

Hi Ronnie,
Combining the ground connection for both the controller and the 12V system would be the obvious thing to do if you were using the +12V wire to activate the regenerative braking function on the VEC200 controller using the vehicle's 12V brake light feed.

Also I just checked and my vec200 did not have the yellow/white wire for the 12v brake line.  Is it supposed to?

The yellow&white +12V wire is shown as "optional" on the wiring diagram, so it looks like it might only have been fitted if it was requested as an optional extra when purchasing the controller. 

If your controller's wiring does not have the required wire for the +12V regen operation, and you are not able to easily fit one yourself, you could alternatively use a standard 12V relay with the relay coil wires connected in parallel with the car's 12V brake lights, and simply connect the "N/O" and "Common" relay contacts (Typically pins 87 & 30) to the Blue&White +5V Brake wire and Black Ground wire.

This would automatically engage the regenerative braking when the brake lights were activated.

Alan
 

Anyway, given the informations, what battery pack should I get to make it work well as it is? If I replace the battery I'll also have to replace the Vector controller?

As I previously said:

To produce the maximum power from your motor/controller setup you would need a battery and BMS that can ideally deliver 110 Amps continuously and 180 Amps peak.
Unfortunately, the limited space on your bike means that you will probably need a custom made battery using high current cells that would fit into the existing battery space.

You should only have to change the controller if you are wanting to supply more than 120 Amps to the motor for longer periods of time. The 48V VEC300 controller is rated for 120 Amps of battery current, which equates to 5,760 Watts of power @ 48V.

Alan