Currie customer service ROCKS!!

[ozzyu812]

The stud on the motor mount plate stripped that is used to tighten the motor chain. So I call them up to buy another motor mount plate and a chain because they need to be replaced. They say that motor and motor mount plate is one assembly and can't be sold separately. On a previous call someone quoted me a price on just the plate alone. Therefore, I was confused . So I'm thinking fine I may need another motor at some point so I'll have to buy the whole enchilada. I ride the e-zip to work everyday, so it would be cool to have some replacement parts on hand. But I went on to say all I really need is the plate. He asked what happened. I told him the chain needed tightening so began my loosening to outer nut, but it just turned and turned. The threads were stripped, the weld may have weakened the metal or something. He said things that occur during maintenance are not covered by warranty. I was like maintenance I hadn't really done anything yet. But in this case he said he'll send me a FREE ONE!! I pay only S & H!

This opens a world of possibilities. I've been want to relocate the motor since before I bought it. (See pic sorry about quality.) Now I can work on it and keep the bike ridable. I'll put the new motor assembly in the stock location, and experiment with the original.

I'm have some wiring related questions but it will have to wait because its Friday. I worked my buttocks off and I am wiped out. In the meantime please post any cool wiring ideas or thought you may have. I'm going to get a second 24v 10 ah SLA. Possibly a 48v 20 ah Lithium from Cyclone.

 

[SirJakesus]

I don't think the stock currie motor could handle 48v. I hear they handle 36v fine as long as you make sure not to bog and overheat them going up large hills.
Personally if you want to get some more speed with as little engineering as possible I would get a 36v pack with the most AH I'd be willing to spend on. Hook the new pack up to the unused side of the currie rack and use the old motor to modify for more cooling. Check out the endless sphere forums some people over there have done the same thing. Apparently the currie controller will take 36v and you just have to modify the motor by drilling cooling holes in the cover. I think making some kind of water resistant shield would be a good idea if you're going to hole up the motor though just so there isn't water intrusion when you're riding in the rain. I don't know how its set up in there maybe you could attach some kinda fan blade to the motor too to create a blower similar to the flywheel on small yard engines that'll suck air through it and keep it cool. Of course you could always just upgrade the motor to a higher wattage version and not have to worry about overheating issues but if you already have two motors whats the harm. Good to hear currie was good about supporting their product, kinda stinks that something was already wrong with it though. How many miles would you say you have on the system already?

 

[ozzyu812]

Yes one motor can't handle 48v, but 2 possibly could. Wired in series or parallel, don't know which. I'm not an electrical guy. I do need to go back to Endless Sphere, I singed up there but haven't gone back to it much. The reason I will get the 48v is I want this motor "1000W " Kit" speed up to 70 km/h ( only for expert)" and this battery "10Ah48V LiFePo4 batteries pack in bag+BMS+3A charger for 1000W kit ( 3.5 hours)" from Cyclone on this page http://www.cyclone-tw.com/order.htm But the $$ for a 48v battery would be until income tax time. The $$ for the motor won't be until proffit sharing in April or May. There's also is the possibility of not goin that route at all and doin a Bluto build on it. http://www.motoredbikes.com/showthread.php?t=12500&highlight=bluto
Depending on my DL situation by then.

There's no way I'm goin to compromise the motor housing. I need it water tight, remember its my ONLY transportation to work, save my regular bike. Maybe in the winter it will be cold enough to try. LOL

In the meantime, after I actually get #2 installed and the 2nd battery. What I'm thing is I'll have the front motor hooked up with all the stock wiring, the motor in the stock location I'll tap into one of the batteries and wire it with only a switch. Well now that I think about it a little more I need to get switch similar in function to the one on the back of the electrical box. Because I don't think 2 motors on one battery would do much.

I have about 500-600 mi on it.

That reminds me. You might want to put a plug on the wire that goes to the motor on your e-zip. I got a rear flat last Friday. When you remove the rear wheel the motor mount plate is attached to the rim, and the wire is still attached to the frame! So, I had to remove the plate from the rim then hook it on the battery rack a pray it did fall off until I got a free hand and got a couple of zip ties to hold it there while I fixed the flat. I mentioned that problem while I was on the phone with Currie. He said he would send an email to R & D. Hopefully they will make a change.

 

[ozzyu812]

A Drop of Prevention

I used Loctite everywhere I could think of, battery rack, controls on the handle bars, etc. The one thing I didn't think of was the plug on the charger,
And you guessed it. The tiny set screw came out. I didn't notice it until I pulled it out of the battery and with a large spark the charger was dead, one of the prongs was broke in half and blackened.
Currie customer service came though again and is sending me a new one. But again they said it wasn't covered by warranty but are sending one as a courtesy. I also ordered a 2nd battery. The 1st still works as far as powering the motor,but I don't know what kind on damage it did to the plug receptacle. I had planned on getting another battery anyhow.
I'm giving thought to calling them back and asking if there are any other problems with the bikes I should be aware of, to nip them in the bud.
I still would recommend the E-Zip to anyone looking to get an entry level e-bike.

 

[SirJakesus]

They probably won't tell you if there are any known problems with the bikes as this is something no company would do unless you get a disgruntled employee or something.
Was it the actual receptacle or the charger 3 prong that came loose? Just so I can check mine. I only have about 100 miles on mine since I switch off between my gasser, motorcycle, car and electric for travel and fun. Just good to know whats going on with yours so I can keep watch. As I've said before you should get at least 25miles out of the two battery setup which isn't too shabby for the total cost of around $500 (I ordered an extra charger so I could charge both at once).
I'm glad yours is serving you so well as I would have felt kinda bad recommending one for a daily commuter if you had constant problems. How many miles do you have on yours now? I bet your wife sees what a good investment it was for you by now.
Happy trails -J

 

[ozzyu812]

What Feel Bad???

R U kidding me man!! You gave me THE BEST 2 pieces of advice (that I followed) of my life!

The receptacle it s held on with a tiny set screw, when it came loose there was a large spark. When I got the prongs out, one was black and broke in half from the discharge.

Only about 700 mi. on it now. I don't believe the minor problem are related to mileage.

The mongoose front sprocket was interchangeable with the e-zip. Rear dérailleur was also is fine both were Schimano. Front dérailleur is a bit of a challenge but nothing I can overcome. The Rapid Fire shifter is fine on the left is fine. I'm going to have to put extensions on the triggers for the right one, to get over the controller.

I'm tempted to ditch the the whole electrical system and just run switches. When I need the motor I need at full throttle and my hand actually goes numb and tingly. But one step at a time I need to finish put the mongoose part on there then mount the 2nd motor.

BTW, we put a bid on a house!! 10 mi. away from work. Goin 6 now one way.

 

[SirJakesus]

Good thing you ordered that second battery then. I hear you about the throttle. If they had enough juice to bring you to 30 the half twist would be great but unless you're just cruising and looking at the sights its either full blast for hill climbing power or nothing for downhill. I don't think these things were specifically designed for the kind of riding we do around here anyways but its encouraging to hear you have 700 miles especially if your original battery is still kicking arse. This state is tough on MB's too so thats great stuff. Hope you do well with your house, nows the time to buy with prices so low.
Rockon dude!

 

[ozzyu812]

overdue update

When the motor arrived it didn't have the mounting plate. I wasn't really that surprised. Since on a previous call someone quoted me a price on just the plate alone. I called them back and did get someone that could get it for me. This was only a couple of days after i called about the plug and bought a 2nd batter. When it arrived the threads where all buggered up. It looked like it had been tossed around during manufacturing. That had been the problem with the 1st. The assembler had to crossthread the nut to get it on! Its still on there BTW. I have to cut it off with the Dremel. I called them and asked for the thread size on a Monday. They said they would email it to me. So that I can get a tap & die set and fix it. I figured it would be better to just fix that one rather than get a 3rd one and that one be bad also. Well Wednesday at 1 am we had a fire in the apt. building. See link: http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080821/NEWS01/808210334 We got back to bed at 6am. I got enough sleep to go to work but barely. I work 2nd shift. The wife called out, she works at 9am. She said she was goin house hunting. I got a text, but ignored it because thought it was something about her house hunting. When I went out on break she was there freaking saying we have to evacuate to a hotel by 8pm, it was 5:30. As luck would have it the hotel was 3 mi. further than apt. and no e-zip. But I pick up my regular route after 3 mi. When I got to work the next day I checked my e-mails on the computer in the break room and nothing from Currie! On my way to work Friday I called Currie once again and explained the situation and they got me the info that night. I got the OK to check out of the hotel that day. I had my good seat post off the e-zip (not the stock one)and basket on my regular bike. Since I was checking out I had overloaded the basket not by much I thought and it broke my seat post. spent what time i had that weekend transferring the parts from my mongoose XR 250 (crankest, front & rear dérailleur and Rapidfire brake lever/shifter combos)to the e-zip and racking my brain on a different support for my basket. I got it to point of being functional tonite. I still need to transfer the crankshaft (guessing the term) it too long to allow the front dérailleur to shift in the highest gear. But I can place the chain on it and if have to down shift it can. The main purpose of installing it is to utilize the smallest sprocket for the 2nd motor. I have the hardware and plan to do just that.
My opinion on Currie's customer service hasn't changed much. They've just gone from star to four and a half.

 

[RATRODER]

tuvw870, bye,bye

 

[Torques]

tuvw870, bye,bye

What is tuvw870?