new to this

[Functional Artist]

Here is the meter I have

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-300V-500...585319?hash=item43ca0be267:g:aWQAAMXQ3kNTfSBB

Here is a link (meter info starts @ post #51)

http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=36894&page=3

shows how the meter works & how it's attaches

I should do a separate thread on "the meter" so info is easier to find

 

[alim]

Guys, for now can I just hook it up without any controller, just the on/off switch that came with the mower? Any concerns aside for the whiplash i'm going to get? If I did this, would I need to hook up that voltage regulator / power indicator it came with?

 

[Functional Artist]

Guys, for now can I just hook it up without any controller, just the on/off switch that came with the mower? Any concerns aside for the whiplash i'm going to get? If I did this, would I need to hook up that voltage regulator / power indicator it came with?

I would try a bench test first

...clamp the motor down

...hook everything up

...give her a try


If all goes well

...bolt it to your kart

...give her a try


Your going to be putting a lot more "load" on that motor than just grass


So, I would make sure there is an easily accessible switch

...to kill the power

...if something goes wrong


* I have heard that electric motors (when over loaded)

...can "weld" the contacts together

...& get "stuck on" (usually @ full speed)


This is experimental so, Be Careful!

 

[alim]

I could just fuse it with the max rating of the switch.

Also the pedal car I'm converting has a little lever which disengages the axle from the sprocket, so the car can coast without turning the pedals. That's a pretty good safety in case the motor gets fused on at full speed!

Now, how on earth do I make an axle without welding? Is that even possible?

 

[mckutzy]

A piece of keyed shaft (say 1"), couple of pillow blocks, a sprocket with corresponding diameter hub, Hub flanges(with keyway and setscrews) with bolt patter that matches your rims, shaft collars, a brake disc or drum......

Thats how its done with out welding...like most of us no welding....

 

[alim]

Little update on where I'm at.

I've made a little motor mount out of plywood and used strapping to fasten it to the pedal car frame. Definitely not a lot of real estate to play with on these cars! But the motor in on there good and tight now.

Next step is to get a sprocket. The lawn mower motor has a double-d (aka flattened, aka double-flat, aka DD) bore, and I can't seem to find a sprocket for this bore. Does anyone have any suggestions? Otherwise I'm going to get a machine shop to make me a custom sprocket.

 

[alim]

Update this week:

I've found a couple of possible leads on sprockets. I'm thinking I want as small as possible i.e. as few teeth as possible. Smallest seems to be 9 teeth. I need to stick to the existing chain size or at least something that will be compatible with the existing sprocket on the rear axle of the pedal car because that axle assembly is a bit complex and I'm not going to be able to mess with it much. On the plus side it's got a slick system where the axle sprocket can be engaged or disengaged by flipping a little gear shift near the middle of the cart, so that's a handy mechanical "kill" system I'm hoping to keep. Also when the sprocket axle is engaged it only powers one of the rear wheels, which means turning on asphalt will be easy with no need for the wheel on one side to slip.

So for sprockets, I've found a 9 tooth for #410 chain but the bore is wrong for my motor, it's a round bore with a key slot but my motor is a dual-d bore with no key slot. But I've got a few machine shops around me that say they might be able to bore it out or rig it up somehow. And I've found a 9 tooth for #415-420 chain which looks like it might be the right bore but I'm going to have to order it and see if it fits - if it does I'll use this one and change the chain to a #415, that should still be ok with the original sprocket on the rear axle which is #410 of course.

Now to start thinking about batteries...

 

[Functional Artist]

Update this week:

I've found a couple of possible leads on sprockets. I'm thinking I want as small as possible i.e. as few teeth as possible. Smallest seems to be 9 teeth. I need to stick to the existing chain size or at least something that will be compatible with the existing sprocket on the rear axle of the pedal car because that axle assembly is a bit complex and I'm not going to be able to mess with it much. On the plus side it's got a slick system where the axle sprocket can be engaged or disengaged by flipping a little gear shift near the middle of the cart, so that's a handy mechanical "kill" system I'm hoping to keep. Also when the sprocket axle is engaged it only powers one of the rear wheels, which means turning on asphalt will be easy with no need for the wheel on one side to slip.

So for sprockets, I've found a 9 tooth for #410 chain but the bore is wrong for my motor, it's a round bore with a key slot but my motor is a dual-d bore with no key slot. But I've got a few machine shops around me that say they might be able to bore it out or rig it up somehow. And I've found a 9 tooth for #415-420 chain which looks like it might be the right bore but I'm going to have to order it and see if it fits - if it does I'll use this one and change the chain to a #415, that should still be ok with the original sprocket on the rear axle which is #410 of course.

Now to start thinking about batteries...

What is the existing chain/sprocket size?

...many "light" karts use #35 chain

...many heavier karts use #40 or the HD version #41 chain

...I think some "pedal" karts are set up with "bicycle size" chain/sprockets ....which is different too


How much $ are these machine shops talking about, to fabricate a half dollar size sprocket?

AS far as the sprocket, I believe it's called a dual D bore

...& if it has the same shaft as MY1020 motors, it has a 10mm x 8.5mm bore


Here is a sprocket with that bore

...but, this one is for #25 chain

...like on little razor scooters

 

[KingCobra]

Here is the meter I have

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-300V-500...585319?hash=item43ca0be267:g:aWQAAMXQ3kNTfSBB

Here is a link (meter info starts @ post #51)

http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=36894&page=3

shows how the meter works & how it's attaches

I should do a separate thread on "the meter" so info is easier to find

YES! Then the mods can make a 'STICKY' of it so it is easier to find for future reference!! PLEASE DO! Thanks for this info!!

 

[itsid]

So for sprockets, I've found a 9 tooth for #410 chain

What is the existing chain/sprocket size?

410 he said.. twice...

'sid

 

[Functional Artist]

410 he said.. twice...

'sid

Oops, missed it

so, were talking about bicycle size chain/sprockets

 

[itsid]

Oops, missed it

so, were talking about bicycle size chain/sprockets

basically yes..
410 can be really strong chain though (much stronger than #35 or #41)
few BMX bikes actually used 410 chain.

Small motorcycles sometimes used 410 (15hp or less) as well.
but size wise... yes.. BMX chain (non shift bike chain)

quality wise.. real 410 is better than chain you got from a bike shop mostly.

'sid

 

[alim]

To be honest I don't know if what is on the pedal car is legit 410 chain. All I know is it's 1/2" pitch, and 1/8" internal roller width. But for sprocket sizing I don't think I need to know much more than that - do I?

Sprocket A says #410, 1/2"x1/8". This one is totally the wrong bore for my motor, no way to use it without some custom machine work.

Sprocket B says 415 420 which I take to mean it is happiest with 415 (1/2" pitch x 3/16" width) but that it would also be reliable at 420 (1/2" pitch x 1/4" width). This sprocket is a dual-d bore like my motor shaft.

The bore on my motor is dual-d, 11.85mm x 13mm.

If sprocket B fits it well (the ad says 12mm x 15mm but we'll see when it gets here) then I would use sprocket B so I don't have to do any custom machining, but then I would have to change the chain because I doubt sprocket B would reliably go down to 1/8" width. so I would change to 415 chain (3/16" w) with the hope that my axle sprocket can reliably go up by 1/16" width.

If sprocket B doesn't fit well then I would use sprocket A which would require custom machine work but I wouldn't have to change the chain.

Does that all make sense?

Also, the motor sprocket, whether A or B, would be a 9 tooth, and the axle sprocket is a 12 tooth - is that going to work? Or will that require too much juice and something will melt or blow up? I really, REALLY would prefer to re-use that axle sprocket, would make this project like 1,000,000 times easier

How much $ are these machine shops talking about, to fabricate a half dollar size sprocket?

Under $50.

AS far as the sprocket, I believe it's called a dual D bore

...& if it has the same shaft as MY1020 motors, it has a 10mm x 8.5mm bore

I've seen it called a number of different things. Mine is bigger than that. I'm working with three motors that I pulled out of three 24v cordless electric lawn mowers that I scrounged off kijiji, and they all have the same size bore, it's around 11.85mm x 13mm. I recently grabbed a fourth 24v cordless electric lawn mower off kijiji for $25, same bore shape but different size it's a little bigger.

 

[alim]

Hey all, back after a brief hiatus necessitate by real life stuff.

I got the 2 9-tooth sprockets, neither of them fit very well, there's a machinist who says he'll just weld it on to the motor shaft for me.

I also got a 36-tooth sprocket for the rear axle, my plan is to fix it to the existing rear axle sprocket by bolting them together where the holes in the new sprocket sit between the teeth in the existing sprocket. That probably doesn't make sense written down like this. Anyways.

So 1:4 ratio (9 to 36) with 3000w, I think she's gonna scream.

Once I get it geared and chained up, I'll do some tests without any controller just to see how it goes, maybe holding a 24v SLA in my lap lol. Then once I've got any kinks worked out I'll get working on batteries and controllers.

Alim.

 

[mckutzy]

Do not weld anything onto the shaft... one, its a pain in the a$$ if the thing needs to come off... secondly if there is a fault in grounding the shaft and it screws the winding's... the whole motor is hooped....

So ya.. dont....

You probably got a metric and standard shaft/sprocket mix... hence the gap..

 

[anickode]

Do not weld anything onto the shaft... one, its a pain in the a$$ if the thing needs to come off... secondly if there is a fault in grounding the shaft and it screws the winding's... the whole motor is hooped....

So ya.. dont....

You probably got a metric and standard shaft/sprocket mix... hence the gap..

Welding to motor shafts is a pretty big no-no. Even if the work lead of the welder is on the sprocket, you can accidentally overheat the bearing seals, or the current can find its way through the bearings or windings (like if the clamp is also touching the metal welding bench).

Cooked windings = junk motor

Overheated bearings = seal damaged, grease escapes, bearing won't last long.

Electrical current through bearings = crunchy bearings that won't last long.

Bad bearings with welded sprocket = can't replace bearings and junk motor.

 

[alim]

Holy crap! Boy I'm glad I casually mentioned that I would be doing that LOL!

So I'm stuck... I have a handful of these great 3000W motors for essentially free, but I can't for the life of me find a sprocket that is an exact fit to the shaft.

Suggestions??

 

[mckutzy]

What's the shaft OD measurement....???

 

[alim]

The bore on my motor is dual-d, 11.85mm x 13mm.

 

[Functional Artist]

Do you still have any of
...the blades? (I guess you would call it, if they are motors that came off of lawn mowers)

Ya know, what ever originally attached to the motor shaft

Maybe you could just cut/grind off what ever you don't need, basically down to the arbor
...then have your guy weld one of your sprockets to that

Boom!

One custom made, removable sprocket.