The engine from the washing machine to the bike. Alice in Wonderland Alice in Wonderland: Elektrovelosiped

From the number unusual applications engine from a washing machine, the most unusual can be considered its transformation into a motor for a bicycle. A bike motor from a washing machine sounds more than extravagant, but looks absolutely exceptional. About whether it is possible to make this "technical artifact" and how to do it, read in this publication. We warn you right away, the project is technically complex and quite expensive, so if you are not confident in your abilities, it’s better not to start.

Drive mechanism

Before you start converting an ordinary bike into an electric bike, evaluate the technical potential of your iron horse from the outside. The bike must have a strong enough frame, as at a minimum it must support the weight of the rider and the weight of the equipment that will be installed on it. If everything is in order with this, you can start reworking the bike and installing the engine from the washer, drive mechanism, control system and power sources on it.

Let's start with the design and installation of parts of the drive mechanism. We note right away that in order to make a homemade electric bike from the engine of an old washing machine, we need a full-fledged locksmith shop. Well, or at least a lathe, drilling machine, welding machine, as well as an impressive range of materials and tools, including a fairly spacious room where you can conduct experiments.

The drive mechanism will consist of the following elements:

• modified bicycle hub;
• large pulley;
• drive belt from the washing machine;
• small pulley motor
• motor shaft.

The most difficult thing here, perhaps, is the manufacture of a large pulley. It is almost impossible to find a standard part of a suitable size, so you have to do it.

1. From a steel sheet (2 mm), cut out a perfect circle.

1. In the hub of the rear bicycle wheel, between the spokes, we drill small holes. We drill similar holes in the steel circle.
   
   
2. We drill large holes along the edges of the steel circle, elementarily in order to reduce the weight of the part. For, as noted above, all the equipment, together with the rider, will weigh a lot, and you need to unload the bike frame as much as possible, gaining at least a few kilograms.
3. Next, the crucial moment, it is necessary to weld a steel strip 20x4 mm to the edge of the disk. You need to weld by gradually bending the strip of metal exactly along the edge. This is not the easiest thing, because the welded joint must turn out to be perfectly even.
4. After that, we load the part in lathe and process it again, removing all the bumps and roughness.
   
5. Here is our part and turned into a full-fledged pulley. Now it remains for us to paint and fasten the main part of the drive mechanism to the rear bicycle wheel.

Important! The thickness of the large pulley will not allow the bicycle wheel to rotate after installation, as the part will touch the frame. It is necessary to either bend the frame or modify it in some other way, depending on the design of the bike.

Frame modification

We made a large pulley, adapted the rest of the parts of the drive mechanism. By the way, the rest of the parts of the drive mechanism do not need to be redone. The small pulley is already on the motor shaft from the washing machine, the drive belt is also there, so we can move on to reworking the bike frame with a clear conscience. When modifying the frame for a new electric bike, we must take into account that the engine on it should be as rigid as possible. To do this, we do the following.

Attention! When welding the frame for the engine, consider the height of its seat. It is necessary that the distance between the small pulley of the engine and the large pulley of the bicycle wheel be ideal for belt tension.

We continue to collect the electric bike. We install the engine on the frame, put the rear wheel, with a bolted pulley, check the rotation of the wheel. We tighten the drive belt, give small turns manually, checking if it jumps off. If everything is fine, we begin to engage in connecting the engine of the washing machine and organizing its autonomous power supply.

Motor power organization

We have repeatedly written and talked about making it work. So let's not focus on this issue again, but let's move on to organizing the autonomous power supply of our collector motor. Otherwise, our homemade electric bike will be driven by the muscular strength of the legs.

To begin with, let's figure out whether the collector motor from the washing machine can work on DC? After all, batteries, which will become the main power source of the electric bike motor, produce direct current, and the washing machine and its units operate on AC power (household network 220V). It turns out that there are no problems with this, moreover, the engine from the washing machine works much better on direct current than on alternating current, which, of course, is only to our advantage.

Choose the right batteries. This can be tricky because we need some fairly massive batteries that are difficult to mount on a bike due to their size and heavy weight. The best option is eight compact motorcycle 12 volt batteries, which together give a voltage of 96V. But there is a problem - even such batteries take up a lot of space and together weigh quite a lot, and it is not clear how to place them on the frame of an electric bike.

After much thought and a whole series of unsuccessful experiments with battery boxes, it was decided to distribute the batteries evenly throughout the frame, hanging them around the electric bike like a Christmas tree with toys.

• First, as you can see in the picture above, the bike frame had to be reinforced once again so that it could withstand the additional load. This, unfortunately, led to the fact that the weight of the "iron horse" once again increased, but nothing can be done about it.
• Secondly, 8 separate battery mounts had to be welded to the frame so that they could be securely fastened.
• Thirdly, I had to literally hang wires around the entire frame in order to connect the batteries to each other and to the engine.
• And fourthly, I had to once again induce aesthetics, repainting the bike frame almost completely.

Control block

There are still a number of technical difficulties that we have not yet considered - how to control the engine speed, how to prevent the current from rising to the limit values ​​\u200b\u200bwhen starting the electric bike and during its acceleration, and how, finally, to monitor the charge of the batteries while driving. The electric bike control unit, which we need to assemble, will help resolve these difficulties. We will need:

1. Switching downconverter at 32.5 kHz.
2. Variable resistor.
3. ATtiny26 microcontroller.
4. measuring resistor.
5. Chip IR2127S.
6. Three power transistors of the IRFB33N15D type.
7. Three 10CTQ150 type diodes.
8. Charging from a mobile phone.
9. DC-DC converter P6AU-1215ELF.
10. Red and green LEDs.
11. Automatic 6A.
12. Plastic case of suitable dimensions.
13. Metal heatsink from a computer motherboard.

We will not describe the process of assembling the control module, and there is no need for this, since the entire necessary information shown in the diagram above. You only need to read this circuit, understand and reproduce it on several printed circuit boards. The result should be something similar.

The board must be placed in a compact waterproof plastic case, screwed to the bottom of the radiator.

We did not find a suitable case for the module, so we had to use what we have. In order for the control module to start working, it is necessary to turn on the machine, turn the “throttle handle”, that is, a variable resistor mounted on the handlebar of the electric bike. After that, the engine will start to gradually gain momentum, and the green LED on the module will light up.

If the batteries are completely discharged or their capacity is insufficient, the red LED will light up, after which the circuit will be de-energized after a few seconds. You will have to go “on your own two feet” until you can recharge the batteries.

Tests and their results

It's time to test the "hell machine" on which so much time, labor and money has been spent. We approached the tests no less scrupulously than we did to make a home-made electric bike and conducted them in three stages:

• Driving on a normal relatively flat road (half asphalt, half primer) at a speed of 18 km/h.
• Driving on smooth asphalt with small ups and downs at a speed of 25 km / h.
• Riding on top speed on smooth asphalt without ups and downs.

As a result, in the first case, having accelerated to 18 km / h and maintaining this speed, it was possible to drive 27 km on a primer and broken asphalt on a single battery charge. The muscular strength of the legs was practically not used. There were no ups and downs along the way.

Having ridden an electric bike on smooth asphalt with small descents and ascents at a speed of 25 km / h, we managed to set a record - 19 km on a single battery charge. And, finally, tests for maximum speed showed that our homemade electric bike is capable of accelerating to 30-35 km / h, this, of course, on flat asphalt, without descents and ascents.

Note! The weight of the rider who tested the bike was 96 kg.

It is noteworthy that if we help the engine by pedaling, we can relatively easily reach a maximum speed of 45-50 km / h, and if we try, we can squeeze out 60 km / h. At the same time, the batteries are discharged faster, after about 10-15 km of such a sprint.

In conclusion, we note that in order to make an electric bicycle from a washing machine engine on your own, it will take at least several months, a workshop, a lot of strength and patience, as well as money. By the way, we spent about $ 700 on the project, provided that we did not have to purchase a bicycle and parts of an old washer. If you are determined to make your own e-bike - go for it, we can only wish you the best of luck!

In this article, we will talk about how you can turn an ordinary bike into an electric one with your own hands. Such a bike will ride on a battery, which, when discharged, can always be recharged and then go further. Of course, there are already many ready-made solutions for this kind of homemade products, for example, a wheel motor, but here everything is assembled from scratch.

According to the author, the homemade product fully met its expectations. Since the engine used here is not too powerful, the bike cannot move from its place, you first need to accelerate it with your feet to a speed of 10-15 km / h, which is not so difficult. Well, then the electric motor is switched on, which supports the movement of the bicycle and it is no longer necessary to pedal. The electric motor accelerates the bike to 34 km / h when driving in a straight line.

Consumes a bike when driving on a straight road 100-300 watts. When driving downhill, consumption increases to 600-800 watts, to save money, you can help with your feet.

The peak current consumption of the motor was 1200 watts.

Step one. Installing the sprocket
In most cases, the asterisk is attached to the spokes, but the author decided to abandon this design. As a result, the sprocket was bolted to the brake disc. You can also see six screws in a circle on the disc and two closer to the center of the brake disc. These screws secure the threads so that the disc does not come loose while riding.

As for the battery, it works without BMS. To prevent overdischarging, I used a battery monitor that was set to 3.3V. When the voltage gets too low, the device starts beeping.
The battery is charged by an IMAX B6 clone, Li-Io mode is used with balancing.

Another disadvantage of recuperation is that it generates too much current to charge the battery, which will lead to its rapid failure. In this regard, an additional circuit for charging will be needed.

On this, the assembly of the electric bike can be considered finished for now. In any case, homemade is worth the cost, as you will save a lot when compared to buying a new e-bike.

This article will talk about how to make an electric bike with your own hands from a regular bike.

It is quite easy to assemble when there is a ready-made set of components. To turn a regular bike into an electric bike, you need to install a wheel motor, a battery, brake levers with power-off sensors, and a “gas” handle. Among other things, these parts must be connected to the controller using male-female connectors. There are many wires on the controller with different connectors corresponding to their elements, it is impossible to confuse them.

So, we assemble an electric bike:

Motor wheel installation

Converting a bicycle into an electric bike begins with the installation of a motor-wheel - this is a regular bicycle wheel with an engine inside, installed as usual. The contacts on the wires coming from the wheel must be closed with a cap or wrapped with electrical tape so that oil does not get on them. When installing, you cannot spin the wheel, as this is a generator that generates current, and if the contacts are not closed, a short circuit may occur. The connector coming from the wheel must be connected to the wire from the controller at the very end of the assembly, after installing the battery, brake levers and throttle levers. Connecting something is not so impossible without changing the design of the contacts, each pair of connectors is unique and it will not work to confuse them with others, this is done to simplify the connection of elements and to protect against fools.

Installation of brake levers and throttle handles on the steering wheel

The kit comes with 2 brake levers with a sensor that turns off the electric motor when braking. They need to be installed instead of regular bicycle brake levers. On the controller, you will find two identical connectors for connecting each handle, connect them in any order, since each sensor does the same job.

The throttle stick, also known as the accelerator handle, is installed after the brake levers, has a connector that is inserted into the same controller connector, it is impossible to mix them up or connect them incorrectly.

Installing the control panel

The control panel displays the battery level, amperage and engine speed, mounted on the steering wheel. Some models have a power off button or ignition switch. After installation, you need to connect the wire coming from the panel to the controller.

Installing the battery

Depending on the type of battery, installation can be done on a bicycle frame, on a trunk in a bicycle bag, or in a backpack, as it suits you. Connect the battery to the controller by finding the appropriate connectors on it. When connecting, there may be a small spark - this is normal, do not worry, you will not confuse the polarity.

Controller installation

The controller and its contacts must be protected from moisture and dirt, install in a bike bag on the trunk or in any other place.

After installing all the elements, you can connect the motor-wheel to the controller and check the performance of the electric bike.

That's all, homemade electric bike ready, now you can test drive.

Currently, the bicycle is one of the most sought after and popular modes of transportation. By cycling, you can get to your destination almost for free, while training a certain muscle group, thereby maintaining your body in excellent healthy condition. The main advantage of this movement is the lack of impact on environmental pollution.

Cycling long distances can be somewhat tiring for the cyclist. To facilitate his work, a bicycle electric motor was invented. The first models of such equipment began to be produced in 1998.

The pioneers of this product were residents highlands due to frequent heavy climbs, which completely discouraged them from using bicycles. The bicycle electric motor was also instantly appreciated by elderly people who are not in the best physical shape.

The use of a bicycle with useful equipment installed on it allows the cyclist not to make efforts to carry out the riding process. In some cases, this miracle device allows you to move the bike on your own, absolutely without any external effort, due to the charge of the batteries and the electric motor.

Bicycle motor and its design

Refinement to the perfect form of models of electric motors took place over a long period of time by more than one specialist who developed several of their types:

1. Outboard motor.
2. Motor built-in configuration:

• with direct drive;
• geared.

Each of the described types of engines has its own technological features, advantages and disadvantages in the process of their operation. Usually their choice is made in accordance with the wishes of the owner of the bicycle, taking into account its design features.

Electric motor for a bicycle: main types

There are several types of motors designed for installation on a bicycle:

1. Motor - wheel.

Belongs to the category of the most common. It is used when re-equipping an ordinary road-type bicycle. The engine is mounted on the axle of the front or rear wheel, and in some cases on both wheels. Appearance the converted bike is virtually unchanged.

Wheel motors come in different capacities, mainly from 150 to 2000 watts. They can be made in three versions, each of which requires its own battery:

After mounting the motor-wheel system on a bicycle, it becomes capable of accelerating its speed to seventy kilometers per hour. At the same time, without charging the battery, it can travel fifty kilometers. When moving in the direction of a hill, the indicators of these criteria are reduced.

2. Outboard engine.

This type of engine can be installed on any type of bike.

The equipment is attached to the bottom bracket or bottom tube of the bike and becomes its own unit. A special casing must be installed on the motor along with the chain drive. The engine is powered by a battery, which is attached to the carrier platform.

The power consumption and speed of the bike is regulated by an electronic type controller, controlled by a handle located on the handlebars. After the installation process is completed, the weight of the bike increases significantly. Its speed can now reach a value of one hundred and twenty kilometers per hour.

3. Engine on friction gear.

This engine is based on special mechanism friction type, which works on the principle of transmitting torque from an electric motor to a bicycle wheel tire. The main advantage of installing such an engine is the ability to mount it without first disassembling the bike. The disadvantages are:

• reduced wheel life
• small value of efficiency;
• the need for constant monitoring of tire pressure;
• Difficulty in wet conditions.

How to make a bicycle motor from improvised means

The popularity of using electric motors is growing every day. They are currently available at ready-made or by individual parts in order to independently perform the assembly process.

In order to assemble the electric motor on your own, it is necessary to prepare the constituent elements in advance:

• controller;
• batteries;
• battery charger;
• engine.

The function of the device with the functions of electronics is performed by the controller, with the help of which the electric motor is controlled. The controller is responsible for supplying current from the battery to the engine.

The advanced engine has an indicator that performs the following functions:

• provides information about the state of charge of the battery;
• informs about the speed of the bike;
• informs about the level of pressing force on the vehicle pedal.

The controller element sends signals to the considered indicator.

Also, the electric motor has a convenient property associated with the ability to charge the battery under the following conditions:

• in the event of a complete stop of the bike;
• while moving at a constant speed;
• during soft braking.

Various batteries are used for electric motors:

• nickel-metal hydride;
• lithium-ion.

When self-manufacturing an electric motor, the battery can be attached in several ways:

• in a specially designated container;
• directly on the frame;
• in the frame compartments.

Motorcycle kits and special engines

Purchased motorcycle kits already contain all the necessary mounts, which are universal for most bicycle models.

Many well-known manufacturers have begun to produce bicycle motors up to four horsepower. The installation of such equipment will allow you to operate the bike without the need for pedaling, allowing you to ride only due to the electric motor.

friction gear

The principle of friction transmission is the transmission of torque between two rotating round disks, one of which is driven, and the other is driving.

The movement is carried out due to the friction force on the working surface.

The disadvantage of such a device is a high probability of slipping due to insufficient friction between the connected elements.

Classic chain or belt drive

The meaning of a belt or chain transmission is the ability to transmit movement between two shafts located at a sufficient distance from each other.

Pulleys are put on each of the shafts, on which belts or chains are fastened. Normal provision of movement is carried out only with tensioned elements of the connection of the pulleys.

The simplest solution is a motor-wheel

The wheel-motor system can be made independently. Installation is carried out using a wheel with a diameter of twenty to twenty-eight inches.

The principle of operation of this device is to create a torque in the rotor element due to the formation magnetic field spinning type on the stator being stationary and interacting with the rotor magnets.

Electric motor - reviews of cyclists

I installed a wheel motor on my road bike. The appearance of my warhorse has not changed much, and now I have huge opportunities in terms of travel. Plus, the battery is charged with slight braking or when driving at a constant speed. Very satisfied. Great opportunities opened up before me.

Grade:

Kirilov Evgeny, city of Perm

My husband installed an electric motor with a friction gear on my bike. In general, I am satisfied, but there is a small minus, when it rains or is wet, the transmission mechanism slips.

The subject of electric transport has always interested me.
And then the long-awaited moment came when I finally moved from theory to practice. I will share my experience below.

A couple of thoughts as an introduction.
Why is it now that people are talking so actively about electric cars, electric planes, electric bikes? Finally, the main problem of electric transport was almost resolved - fairly compact and capacious batteries began to appear. Moreover, they charge in a tolerable time. Actually, this is what they were waiting for, everything else has long been created and “run in” - the body, chassis, electronics, electric motors. All this has been used for hundreds of years. And electric motors allow you to use unusual solutions - for example, install yourself in the hubs of the wheels themselves.

Specifications:

The bike is ordinary, medium shabby, the price is about $ 200
- electric motor for 48V and power 380W
- 48V and 10A battery
- speed without pedaling on a flat road 35-40 km / h
- travel distance 22-25 km in light hilly terrain and in the city
- full charge time 2 hours

It should be noted that the conversion is not very conspicuous and most people on the street simply do not notice anything unusual about the bike.

The whole set was purchased from China via eBay. Search for kits using the keywords "ebike, Motor Conversion, kit, LiFePO4". The entire purchase cost about $650 USD with shipping from China.
You will have to buy two sets - the KIT itself and the battery.

KIT consists of an already assembled wheel, controller, throttle, brake levers, pedal sensor, headlight with lock, horn button, battery bag.

The second part of the kit is the battery and charger.

Kits come in 12, 24, 36 and 48 volts and power of 250, 380, 500 and 1000 watts.
The battery is selected with the appropriate voltage. I would advise not to chase power. 380W is enough for flat and hilly terrain. By increasing the power, the speed will not increase significantly, but it will be better to “pull” uphill.
My personal experience- I very rarely help with pedals and the sprockets are always in the “maximum speed” position.
It is worth noting that in many countries there is a limit of 250W.
Why I chose 48V, I can’t say for sure now, but in May, when I combed the Internet before buying, a mark was put - take only 48V. With battery power, everything is simple - I have 10A, this is 25 km. If you buy 20A, there will be 50 km of run and 16 kg of battery instead of 8. Decide if you should carry an extra 4-8 kg of weight if you are not going to travel far. I understand that power is not measured in amperes, but this is how their sellers distinguish. Not watts/hour, but voltage/amps.

Motor

The main thing to remember when mounting the wheel is that the cable must come out of the wheel on the left! Then it will rotate right side. The second and not obvious danger is that three thick wires and several thin ones come out of the wheel. The first thing a person does after mounting a wheel is to spin it. The wheel generates electricity, a spark jumps between the power wire and one of the thin wires and that's it, the sensor burned out, the rides are canceled. Therefore, after removing the wheel from the box, we immediately wrap these wires with electrical tape and hold them like that until they are connected to the controller.
You may have to slightly undermine the seat on the fork and the axle on the wheel, I did it. Dremel and a few cutting discs were enough to install the wheel.
Here you need to be as careful as possible, the tighter the wheel sits in its place, the less problems there will be in the future. Don't waste too much. Owners of expensive bikes with aluminum forks should choose a rear wheel, I read how a powerful kilowatt wheel simply broke out the mustache on the fork when it was turned on for a test. The front fork is designed to load up and back, while the wheel pulls forward and around. But the motor on the rear wheel gives the load on the frame no different from the pedals.

Controller

The only remark. Due to the legal speed limit in some countries, there is a lock in the controller. Most often this is a wire that you just need to open. A locked controller will not allow you to accelerate faster than 25 km / h.

Control

First, the brake levers need to be replaced. I did not change the front brake lever. Replaced only the back. Why do you need to change? There is a contact in the handle that turns off the electric motor at the moment of braking.

Secondly, on the left side of the steering wheel, you need to install the throttle handle. Remove the rubber handle, cut it from the inside to the required width. We put everything in its place.

Thirdly, you need to install a headlight. The headlight contains the "ignition lock" and a sound signal. I did not connect the horn button, I can yell anyway. But a couple of keys are very pleased. The key replaces the power switch, and a further turn turns on the headlight. It's comfortable. Pulling the key out of the “headlight” without turning off the bike will not work. The bike is quite heavy, and the pedaling is also not so easy (after all, they are at the maximum and you still need to crank the engine, which in this case becomes a generator) - it will not be so easy for a thief to jump and ride off on your bike. Even just roll it in your hands. This allows you not to “strain” too much, being distracted from the bike for several minutes and not to fasten it with a lock every time.
It is noticeable in the photo that the headlight is made of cheap plastic and has begun to rub off from the rubberized gear cable.
LEDs in theory should show the degree of battery discharge. It may be true on lead, but it does not work on a LiFePO4 battery. First, the full charge is lit, then the red LED - the battery is empty. In addition, these are superlight LEDs and they corny blind at night right in the face, and during the day they also interfere. Therefore, there is this strip of adhesive paper. Then I grind off the tips of the LEDs and put a drop of hot glue on top to get just a matte glow.

I mentioned that there is a sensor on the pedal in the kit. I didn't put it on. It replaces the throttle grip. Starting to pedal, you turn on the motor, but it only helps to go. Nothing more, I think it should be quite economical, but I was not interested.

Battery

In addition to the battery, there is a charging balancer board in the bag. A bundle of wires goes from it to the battery itself. That is, the battery is charged in parts and individual "banks" of elements are balanced among themselves.

Why not a conventional lead-acid battery? A battery similar in parameters to my battery will weigh more than 20 kg. There will be fuss with the electrolyte, long charging, the number of charge-discharge cycles is not more than a thousand, but only a hundred or two. Moreover, if I go to buy such batteries in my store, it will cost not much less. So I don't even get paid.

The device in the apartment is on charge. A full charge takes two hours, charging is easy and relatively small, you can throw it in a backpack and charge your bike on the road. In a roadside cafe, for example, or at a gas station.

Conclusion

What's nice - the rights are not needed, insurance is not needed, it rolls into the apartment, it does not smell of gasoline.