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Old 01-19-2017, 02:32 PM   #81
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Len,
I just realized that my recent post might be misleading. I do charge my bike essentially from my solar panels but I also have an inverter. So my electrical path out camping is solar panel to dual 6volt batteries, my 1500 watt inverter, through the bikes battery charger (120 volt), to the bike battery (48 volts). As a result there are electrical losses along the way. I have asked Rad Rover for a 12 volt charger but as of now they do not offer one.

I also bought the Rad Rover fat tire model and I'm very happy with it. To carry it around, I have a 1UP rack on the back of my trailer ... a good sturdy combo. Recently, I have swapped tow vehicles ... traded my Cherokee for an 09 Tacoma with a canopy. Now I'm wondering about trading my Rover for a folding Mini (a Rad Rover product) as it would fit under the canopy where it would be out of the weather and more secure.

Just some thoughts,

Tom
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Old 01-19-2017, 02:54 PM   #82
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Len,
I just realized that my recent post might be misleading. I do charge my bike essentially from my solar panels but I also have an inverter. So my electrical path out camping is solar panel to dual 6volt batteries, my 1500 watt inverter, through the bikes battery charger (120 volt), to the bike battery (48 volts). As a result there are electrical losses along the way. I have asked Rad Rover for a 12 volt charger but as of now they do not offer one.

I also bought the Rad Rover fat tire model and I'm very happy with it. To carry it around, I have a 1UP rack on the back of my trailer ... a good sturdy combo. Recently, I have swapped tow vehicles ... traded my Cherokee for an 09 Tacoma with a canopy. Now I'm wondering about trading my Rover for a folding Mini (a Rad Rover product) as it would fit under the canopy where it would be out of the weather and more secure.

Just some thoughts,

Tom
Thanks for the input Tom. I thought I would just use one of those convertors that plugs into the cigarette lighter in the trailer to charge the bike battery. That should work (I think). I'd check out out the Voltbike folding bike Electric folding bike Voltbike Mariner. Powerful 500w motor and 48v Li-ion battery.
Same price as the Radmini but about 30% less for your American dollar.
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Old 01-19-2017, 06:42 PM   #83
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At three times the weight of a comparably priced road bike, I can't imagine pedaling it far. I'll stick with my road bike.
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Old 01-19-2017, 06:57 PM   #84
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At three times the weight of a comparably priced road bike, I can't imagine pedaling it far. I'll stick with my road bike.
Please share the brand of your 16 pound bike for $1,200. Thanks
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Old 06-10-2017, 01:22 PM   #85
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Originally Posted by StarvingHyena View Post
Len,
I just realized that my recent post might be misleading. I do charge my bike essentially from my solar panels but I also have an inverter. So my electrical path out camping is solar panel to dual 6volt batteries, my 1500 watt inverter, through the bikes battery charger (120 volt), to the bike battery (48 volts). As a result there are electrical losses along the way. I have asked Rad Rover for a 12 volt charger but as of now they do not offer one.

I also bought the Rad Rover fat tire model and I'm very happy with it. To carry it around, I have a 1UP rack on the back of my trailer ... a good sturdy combo. Recently, I have swapped tow vehicles ... traded my Cherokee for an 09 Tacoma with a canopy. Now I'm wondering about trading my Rover for a folding Mini (a Rad Rover product) as it would fit under the canopy where it would be out of the weather and more secure.

Just some thoughts,

Tom
I'm very interested in recharging 48v, 36v and 18v batteries with an inverter. I like the Rad Rover but am also considering a Geo Orbital Wheel for my recumbent (Stratus XP) It is a 36v. What is a good size inverter which could handle the 48v recharging? I am not getting the built in 1500 watt so I would have to buy a different one. Is a 400W inverter big enough? I will have the dual 6v and solar.
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Old 06-10-2017, 02:13 PM   #86
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I bought an E-motion Neo Volt folding bike. Great bike with plenty of power but narrow city tires. I'm selling it ($900 OBO) and planning on the Rad Power folding bike. The fat tires seem perfect for navigating campgrounds and bike paths.

Greg
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Old 06-10-2017, 02:31 PM   #87
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Originally Posted by SFDavis50 View Post
I'm very interested in recharging 48v, 36v and 18v batteries with an inverter.
If you're normally charging the bike battery when not on shore power, you could also consider a DC-to-DC charger - going from 12V DC to the bike battery voltage without a 120V AC stage, for efficiency. Unfortunately, DC-to-DC chargers are not commonly used and so are relatively expensive.

We have a 24V mobility scooter so I have been interested in a charger for that, but so far I have settled for an inverter and the scooter's stock 120V AC to 24V DC charger. It only charges at 2 amps, so it's only a 60 watt or so setup.

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... am also considering a Geo Orbital Wheel for my recumbent (Stratus XP) It is a 36v. What is a good size inverter which could handle the 48v recharging? I am not getting the built in 1500 watt so I would have to buy a different one. Is a 400W inverter big enough?
The GeoOrbital Wheel comes in a couple of sizes; the 26" (to fit the Stratus XP) has a 6 A-h battery and charges in 3 hours (using the brick-style charger which they provide). That would be an average of 2 amps (presumably higher to start then tapering off) at 36 volts and higher (rising through the charge cycle). That's less than 100 watts into the battery, so even accounting for battery inefficiency with any reasonable charger efficiency 400 watts of AC power should be far more than required.
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Old 06-10-2017, 03:09 PM   #88
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Originally Posted by SFDavis50 View Post
I'm very interested in recharging 48v, 36v and 18v batteries with an inverter. I like the Rad Rover but am also considering a Geo Orbital Wheel for my recumbent (Stratus XP) It is a 36v. What is a good size inverter which could handle the 48v recharging? I am not getting the built in 1500 watt so I would have to buy a different one. Is a 400W inverter big enough? I will have the dual 6v and solar.
I've only done short experiments with our new Samlex PST-300-12 inverter I got for our occasional dry camping needs and my wife's E-Joe bike. The lithium battery (36v 15.6a) takes at least 4 hours to charge on shore power so I would only use the inverter and batteries as a last resort. But I did experiment to make sure it would at least start charging. The inverter comes with two sets of cables, lighter ones with a cigarette style plug for up to 150 watts and heavier ones with clips to attach to battery terminals for up to 300 watts. I tried the lighter ones first and the inverter starting beeping and a fault light came on. I then attached the heavier wires to our truck battery and the inverter and charging adapter seemed to work normally. I would not choose to deplete the trailer batteries if dry camping but maybe my F-150 auto start feature could facilitate the 4 hours of charging...I didn't find out. Like I said, it's a last resort so we plan ahead and look for other places to charge the bike battery on 110v.
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Old 06-10-2017, 04:35 PM   #89
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Originally Posted by Brian B-P View Post
The GeoOrbital Wheel comes in a couple of sizes; the 26" (to fit the Stratus XP) has a 6 A-h battery and charges in 3 hours (using the brick-style charger which they provide). That would be an average of 2 amps (presumably higher to start then tapering off) at 36 volts and higher (rising through the charge cycle). That's less than 100 watts into the battery, so even accounting for battery inefficiency with any reasonable charger efficiency 400 watts of AC power should be far more than required.
Wow!!! Thanks for doing my homework for me. A 400W inverter seems like a good size for my purposes. I really like the Rans LWB bike but it gets very wobbly when slow and/or I am tired. That gets dangerous in traffic or trying to go around people of animals. The front wheel drive feature also adds weight and bite to the front end and doesn't interfere with or complicate the gears.
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