Been a while since my last project (18v Minimoto Advans - Upgrade), which went really well with the help of this site and in particular Haydendlp.
So I have decided to start another one for my younger son (Thomas - 3 years old), I was given a mini quad yesterday (free so no complaints there). I am going to convert it from petrol to electric as my neighbours seem to prefer the peace and quiet lol.
As usual I will add pics as I go along.
I am aiming for a 36v 800 or 1000w motor powered with 48v setup, the one thing that is concerning my though is the limited space for batterys. I have no rc experience so am unsure about Lipo and have always used the heavyweight sealed lead option.
What are the pros and cons of Lipo? Are they safe for my boys?
Also with the quad originally being gas powered the flywheel was on the motor (which as you will see in pics is now gone), do I need a flywheel with an electric motor?
There is going to be a lot of work in this one but I am sure it will be fun, hope that you guys can help me out.
My friend just juiced up an old Manco minibike with a 2hp dc motor from a treadmill........Shizz flies and has plenty of torque but doesnt last very long riding it full open...
Anyone got any advice on battery type? I normally use SLA (Sealed Lead Acid) but am considering either Lipo or Lifepo4. The quad will be used by a 3 year old so want it to be safe aswell as fun.
man that quad is a score! you got a nice dis brake on it. depending on how that sprocket is attached you may have very little work ahead of you.
i'm confused about whyyou want a 48v setup fo a 4yr old...my girl is 4 and has 6v powewheel quad overvolted to 12v and it rips around fine for her. get a little 24v motor...around $45 fo a nice 350watt. get a nice big 80t #25 chain sprocket, run it on 24v and you'll have a strong crawler that'll still hit at least 12mph. lead acid is fine for 24v you'll spend $40 on 2 8ah batteries. make the throtle a push button with a kill switch for braking
The sprocket is bolted to a fixed/solid axle, so that will mean some additional work trying to get a freewheel in there. Two options I can up with are:
1 - try to locate somewhere that can supply (to UK) an "Axle FreeWheel Adapter" like the one sold by AtomicZombie. They seem real good.
2 - Fabricate spacers and weld a freewheel onto the axle.
Either way a bit of work and I suspect I will end up going with option 2.
I have decided to reduce the power slightly. My 3 year old already rides his brothers 36v (24v 500w motor) pocketbike without any issues so I am going to go for the same setup for the quad.
My main worry is around the risk of fire/explosion with the Lipo batteries, I haven't used them before so wanted to check if the reports on the dangers are accurate before putting them in my boys bikes. I guess until I am 100% with them I will have stick to the heavyweight SLA's
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