Stevon von

Guys,

I solved my controller issue with the HSG alternator/motor. Thunderstruck Motors sold me a ME1716 A/C motor and programed my Curtis 1232E 5221 controller. They set it to 50% current or a 100amps (out of 200) and included a harness. Hope that will be enough power, we will see in the field trials, he he. The battery pack I'm thinking of is 4 Renogy deep cycle AGM 100 Ah batteries in series (48 volt). I'm not going to use the rib belt but purchased instead some 3/8" pitch timing belt pullies. Will keep updating this article, if anybody is interested, hope so.

Stephen

Tj Jefferson,

I am a member of endless-sphere but that site is mostly focused on the electrical parts of my project. I was hoping to find some advice on controlling my HSG alt/starter but all I got was links to Engineers who solved the encoder question and made this type of motor work for their project. None of the folks that replied knew exactly what needed to be done or the parts required to try, also the engineers who succeeded did not post any replies. So I gave up on that path because I don't have the knowledge or resources to go that route.  
For the YBF250 ATV was lucky to have the stubby trans connector shaft still in the ATV to work with. The body of the shaft is roughly 9/16" so I cut off the transmission spline side of the shaft, increased/sleeved the shaft diameter size to 3/4" and purchased a pillow block with 3/4" ID bore. The pulley is a stock 3/4" taper lock bore and there is a drive connector that the tranny output shaft splines into (see pictures). The electric motor will be mounted to the swingarm connected with a poly V or a timing belt and the controller, battery pack will be put where the ICE engine was. I got a new 48 volt A/C Curtis controller on eBay for $200, but it only goes up to 200 amps max for 2 minutes or less but I think it will do for my <500 lbs application running for 20 or more minutes. The Engineers at Thunderstruck told me that's possible and will setup/program my controller for me to use on their used A/C motor they're selling to me, Shipped the HSG alt/starter for them to look at, Curtis controller, hand brake lever (with switch) a week ago, hope to hear from them soon. They have been building EVs and other Electric vehicles for years now so I'm leveraging their knowledge and experience to move my ATV conversion forward. Next time I will go with a DC setup, so much easier/cheaper...

Stephen

Tj Jefferson wrote:Stevon, this is a really great concept. I guess I'm not understanding the motor linkage. Is this belt driven concept? Just to use a general-purpose motor? Mine is directly driven from the motor, which of course takes some proprietary pieces.

There are some good sites that might give you some starting points. I read endless sphere and some others. Almost always someone has done something similar. Saves a bunch of work.

I am mostly on there since its more technical. I just happened to check this out of a couple time s a year!

The transmission:

The original transmission and engine did not come with the rolling chassis. Figured that I did not need them before the ATV purchase. What I did is un bolt then rotate the axle basically 90 degrees and built a custom bracket, added a pully block and then cut/sleeved the stubby drive shaft to a 3/4 inch shaft. Next purchased a pulley with a taper 3/4 ID bore shaft hub.
I will fabricate the motor mount when I get the electric motor/harness/controller from Thunderstruck

Stephen

Hello, new here to this forum,

I decided to convert a used dead ATV to electric and share some of the wisdom spouted on this site. Electric conversion? Why? what are my expectations? How much time do I have to work on and complete this project? How much funding do I have available? What is the expected performance? How much electrical engineering do I posses? How much mechanical/fabrication skills do I have? Do I have the needed tools?

The answer to all of these questions I had to list and go through before buying the donor vehicle.
what are my expectations?:
I want a gas free simple clean toy for the family
How much time do I have to work on and complete this project?:
A couple of years at most unless I give up prematurely
How much funding do I have available?:
Max $2k over time
What is the expected performance?:
15mph max at a reasonable acceleration, basically golf cart performance, for 20 minute minimum.
How much electrical engineering do I posses?
:
I have 2 years of IEEE college but never got a degree, handy with board level electronics
How much mechanical/fabrication skills do I have? :
Previously owned a body shop, have air tools, welders, machining and fabrication skills
Do I have the needed tools?:
Mostly but have no high level oscilloscopes and the like, I have a garage to work in but no milling machine, lathe, etc.

So far I gathered the parts but chose an AC motor (Hyundai HSG Alternator/starter) But that is beyond my ability to mate to a controller. What I decided to do to move forward was not to reinvent the wheel and wrestle with the HSG Alternator/starter and spend Huge amounts of money and time to design and implement a controller for it. I hired an expert crew called "Thunderstruck Motors" They did not offer to make the HSG motor work but instead sold me an off the shelf used AC motor and the service of programing my Curtis 1232E 5221 controller for under $1k, a real bargain! The programmer for the Curtis AC type controller is $500 alone and I have no experience with it even if I bought the programmer. The operating system to be loaded on my Curtis 1232E 5221 would be an extra cost to me if I tried to program the unit, and the code would have to be fabricated as well. My recommendation to anyone attempting this conversion is go series wound DC! It's cheaper and easier to use, just slightly less range for your battery pack.
I'll keep you posted as to my progress!

Stephen

William Kellogg wrote:
I think I would start by removing the original engine/transmission assembly, carefully detaching all of the wires, cables and hoses without damaging them, just in case any if this can be utilized in the build.

Now you have reduced the weight a bunch and you have a huge open space to dry fit the new motor and find the optimal position for it. Essentially it will be sitting with the output shaft in the same orientation as the transmission output shaft, and hopefully you are able to adapt the same sprocket and chain.

Once you have this mocked up temporarily, you can fabricate some steel mounting hardware to the frame that will hopefully be adjustable for chain tension.