I’m thinking…
This trailer is sold by biketrailershop.com. I’ve done a ton of trailer research and made telephone calls. I want a trailer with 20" wheels to match my quad. These things are so darn expensive; although, I think you get what you pay for. Here are the trailer details:
Details:
* Trailer Capacity: 150lbs (67kg)
* Trailer Weight: 16.5 lbs
* Overall dimensions (axle to axle): 30"
* Total Length: 47"
* Load Bed (L x W): 28" x 19.5"
* 3/8" thick, treated plywood load bed
* Aluminum Frame
* 20" wheels w/sealed bearings & stainless steel spokes
* Tires: 20" X 1.75"
* Includes 3 sets of adjustable buckle straps for securing boxes and bags
* Constructed and designed in the USA
Of course, I’d want center pull and that the trailer ride level. My quad would need a frame hitch. I would likely remove the load bed & straps and directly mount 2 FatMax® 28" Structural Foam Water Resistant Toolboxes to the frame, oriented with the opening to the sides. The load bed is 19.5 inches wide. I need 22" for two boxes. It may be a bit of a tight fit. I would also install fenders.
What are your thoughts?
Given the high voltage level [15.82 volts] , I turned on my Garmin Nuvi 760, as well as the inverter and my DiNotte Li-Ion charger to see if I can complete a charge of one of the Li-Ion Batteries, The voltage dropped to just over 13 volts as I did so.
At this point, I see no problem running the GPS all day. Charging the Li-Ion batteries may not work. Longer days of sun and less shade will make a difference. My yard has many trees.
…and then it happened.
With no load, sun light converted to electricity took the battery beyond where the AC charger did early this morning [13.44 volts] to an amazing 15.82 votes. The controller finally displays "Battery Full." The middle LED blinks.
Again, it seems with sunlight & a little management here and there, I should be able to keep the battery well above the controller 11.1 volt cut-off point. This is tedious, but fun.
Two days ago, with an overcast sky, my battery lost voltage—about .15 volts down to about 12.5 volts [my report]. My hope was a day of sun could return the battery to full charge—that with my Garmin Nuvi 760 and inverter on. I disconnected the inverter after the voltage reached 12.7. That tells me I can likely stay in the 12-volt range using the solar panels. I have not seen lower that 12.3 volts. Now, this is without my DiNotte 400L lights connected [they are still at DiNotte for 12-volt verification]. After another hour or so the voltage was just over 12.7 volts. We did add .2 volts. I placed the battery on the charger at 5:15 p.m. EST. The charger is a 1 amp charger. The charging continued for about 12 hours. Given this, I will have to top-off the battery periodically [yet to be determined] while on tour. Of course, I’ll have daylight for much longer periods. Testing and evaluation continues.
I purchased the BikeTac Horn for my Catrike 700 because it is LOUD. It truly is! I did, however experience a problem—battery drain. After 4 days or so on a fresh 9-volt battery, the battery was consumed. I asked Lt. Gale about this and was told it should not happen. He offered to replace the horn. I did not accept his offer because I was more interested in pinpointing the cause for the drain.
After complete disassembly and sub-system testing, I found no apparent cause for the drain, The final component was the printed circuit board [PCB]—there are no detectable shorts on the board. At this point, I accepted Lt. Gale’s offer and received a replacement BikeTac Horn. I even detected battery drain with the replacement.
Now you see it [the horn] in my Power Box. I wired it differently. Rather that constant connection from the battery to the PCB, I use a normally-open push-button switch to pulse current to the horn when I want sound. Where the BikeTac Horn used its actuate buttons to select siren or horn [with the horn always on]. I have a 3-position mode switch [siren-off-horn] and then a "power" switch.
Sound [REALLY LOUD SOUND] is instantaneous. Had I not experienced my battery drain problem, I would not have known the horn can operate at 12-volts and that it is even louder at that voltage. I’m anxious to see how dogs respond. I like dogs—yet anxious, nonetheless. 
I am thankful to Lt. Shelley Gale for the quality customer service. Thanks you sir! –jim
I chose the name Power Box because of the integrated/multifunctional aspects of its use. Over the last three days, I have presented material that explains how I’ll collect and store some of the sun’s energy as electricity and then use it for various devices. I have also mentioned redundant systems [tiers] to preclude 100% loss of lighting during night riding. I have 3 separate systems to give me lighting: 1) battery—charged by the sun; 2) mechanical—powered by my SON Hub Dynamo; and 3) mechanical—powered by my LiteSpin Wheel Dynamo. Each system has its lights. This gives me a lot of flexibility. Having toured at night and experiencing riding on my last tier of lighting, I feel it safer to have a three-tier system.
Now, let’s take a closer look at tier-two [mechanical—powered by my SON Hub Dynamo] as it relates to the Power Box. We know Ashley Guy has my SON Hub Dynamo and that he will place it at a location to best convert motion to electricity. That will be either the chain or the rear axel. To the best of my knowledge, that question will soon be answered by a design update. Connected to the hub will be a head & taillight and E-WERK [placed in the Power Box]. I put it there for modularity & concealment.
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The E-WERK can deliver electricity at various voltage and current levels. I’ll use it and its cache battery [to be added] to power my iPhone 3GS. If a situation warrants, I can use it to charge or operate other devices.
At this point, I have no reason to route the power from the wheel dynamo into the Power Box. I’m really liking the modularity of this setup.
Note #3: Cosmetics ~ a bunch of wiring just does not look all that swift, at least not to me. In an effort to make the box a bit more presentable, I installed the ledge you see just above the wiring.
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So, the question is: Does it [the ledge] help?
Note #2: Doc Wattson Meter Auxiliary power.
I was using a 9-volt Duracell Battery [seen behind the 12-volt SLA Battery in the photograph to the left]. I had planned to use a rechargeable 9-volt battery, but removed that charger to make more space for the 12-volt SLA battery. I do not want to buy batteries or a 9-volt battery charger. I intend to get auxiliary power from the E-WERK Cache Battery [available mid-February from Peter White Cycles]. Its 5 volts meets the minimum required by the meters and will be charged by my pedal power. This is the system I’ll use to maintain my iPhone 3GS and will talk about it in a subsequent article. From the manual:
Using Auxiliary Power: By connecting a receiver battery pack (of at least 4.0 V) or other power source to the 3-pin connector on the SOURCE side, the Doc Wattson can measure down to 0 V. This makes it possible to measure the characteristics of a single battery cell.
Resetting Meter and Clearing Accumulated Values: All accumulated readings including Ah, Wh, peak current, etc. can be reset to zero by briefly (e.g. a thousandth of a second) connecting the Auxiliary Connector’s pin 3 to zero Volts.
The 9-volt battery lasted about a week, with constant-on for the 2 meters. My planned setup will have the cache batter being constantly charged when I ride. The purpose of the cache is to provide constant voltage for the 3GS iPhone. I do not see overnight drain as a problem. Testing will tell for sure. Now to wait for the cache battery from Peter White Cycles.
Note #1: I thought as I did the wiring for my DiNotte 400L lights, wouldn’t it be neat to have a backup system just for them, with the potential to have up to three batteries to run the 1200L headlight, if desired. Mind you, just because I have bright lights does not mean I ride BRIGHT. I like having the 1200 lumens, and at the price-point for what I would have paid for an 800L, it was a good buy. Now, back to the task at hand. So, I have a tray with 3 Li-Ion batteries, that on a bright day, can also store the sun’s energy or I can use less GREEN motel/hotel/restaurant charging. To facilitate the switch I have a 2-position [headlight & taillight] interconnect point. Please see the two photographs below.
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This means, I do not have to strap, or otherwise mount, the batteries onto the frame. It really adds another tier to my already secure three-tier lighting system. There is no severe weight penalty here. I may not do much night riding on this tour. I’ll be ready, if we do. But, I’ll do lots on my own, including touring.
Before I comment on today, let me say yesterday the solar panels received about 4 hours of sun. The SLA battery lost a few hundreds of a volt. The load was the case fan, the inverter, and the charging of 8 batteries, plus a start on the charging of one DiNotte Li-ion battery. I checked the battery with the AC charger when I brought the Power Box in—no charging needed.
Today was a real contrast. The sky was overcast.
I had the unit out for about 4 hours again. I ran my Garmin Nuvi 760—no problems with it running. The inverter could have been off, but I left it on. I did turn off the case fan
I lost about .15 volts. I’m down to about 12.5 volts of power—well above the controller shut-down voltage of 11.1 volts [see technical information to the left].
I checked the battery with the AC charger. Today, it would take a charge. I did not charge it, however. I want to see if the sun alone can bring the battery back to a level where the AC charger sees the battery as fully charged.
The experimentation is kind of cool and will help me better manage power on a tour.
The next few days we are to have rain. So, it is doubtful I’ll be able to continue testing for several days.
Rather than more drain on the battery, I want full sun. I’m interpreting that to mean, I have to check the forecast on tour for amount of sunshine to better manage my "charging/non-charging" activities the night before.
This is all very interesting stuff as Roger Zoul of BROL noted.
Okay, we have collected some of the sun’s energy as electricity [Photovoltaic] and stored it in a battery [or batteries]. Now, what devices will use the output from the solar power system:
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I like the modularity I’ve set up most about this system. I do not have wires dangling or coiled up inside for connection to devices. I plan to neatly route wiring to my Power Box. At this point, I’ll connect my Garmin Nuvi 760, the horn button, and the iPod Touch. Of course there are the lights [back-up battery connected inside the box] and the solar panel input. The Edge 305 has its little AA box.
The only "new" item is the Nuvi. I’m testing its load today. The horn only consumes power when I press the switch. The lighting will be my main draw. DiNotte battery charging seems to require a lot of power—still to be fully tested. The inverter also comes at a cost. Again, at the end of the day, I want a battery that is near full charge so I can ride through the night. Remember I have backup DiNotte batteries and 2 ties of lighting still available to me. Hey, I’ve done a bit of night touring. This works for me.
![Sealed Lead Acid [SLA] Battery](http://northcarolinacyclist.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/p1010021.jpg?w=244&h=146 "Sealed Lead Acid [SLA] Battery")
A battery’s storage capacity is frequently expressed in terms of amp-hours [Ah]. The larger the number, the larger the capacity—also the heavier the battery. If the concept of battery capacity, expressed as amp-hours is difficult to grasp, think of a battery as a lake. The larger the lake, the more it takes to see a significant change in its level. I am using an 18Ah Sealed Lead Acid [SLA] Battery. In addition, using battery chargers, I can also store the sun’s energy in other batteries. To the right of the battery in the photo above, you see a AA/AAA Ni-MH battery charger. During yesterday’s test, I charged 4 AA and 4 AAA batteries. At the end of the day, my 18Ah battery did not need additional charging to be topped off. I have been asked why SLA versus a lighter battery. Comment # 1 has the question and my reply.
A solar charging system can use a charge controller to keep the battery from being overcharged or being excessively drained. I have such a controller. Think of it as a dam on the lake where you can maintain water levels [amp-hours (charging)] through its controls. The solar controller uses electronic gates. My controller has the following features:
- Auto charge and cut-off power when 12V SLA battery is full or low
- Protect battery from being overcharged and over-discharged to increase battery service life
- LED display battery storage level
- Built in fuse to protect short circuit and wrong polarity connection
- Moisture proof design for outdoor use
Then, there are meters that allow me to view various levels. I am using 2 DOC Wattson Meters. One monitoring charging input [the solar panels] and the other, the battery. The meter measures 7 DC values:
- Amp-Hours: (0 – 6554)
- Kilo Watt-hours: (0 – 650)
- Amps: (0-100 peak)
- Watts: (0 – 6554)
- Peak Amps & minimum Voltage ("sags")
- Voltage: (0 – 60)
Although the sun’s energy is relatively free, I think I should use it responsibly. By that I mean, I should not consume power from the battery because I can easily charge the system [at no apparent cost] in my hotel/motel room. Doing so increases the carbon footprint and is less GREEN than being conservative. Please see my comment #2. As best I can, I want power to keep my lighting, navigation, and communications systems working. I’ll use mechanical power to maintain the iPhone 3GS charge. I’ll post about that system after I write about the output of the stored solar energy, likely tomorrow, Friday, 02/05.
The generation of voltage by a material that is exposed to light in the visible and invisible ranges.
The wires with the red [on the left] and black protectors connect to my Power Box and deliver approximately 15.4 volts DC at 1.2 amps. PowerFilm® R15-600 Rollable Chargers individually operate at .6 amps or 600 milliamps each. In parallel, the voltage is output.the same [15.4 volts], but the current doubles. Of course, the amount of light and the panel’s angles to the sun’s rays affect the the chargers’ output. Please see the Solar Cell Video I posted earlier. For use on my quadricycle, I will use the two solar panels you see, placed on the quad’s canopy. I have tied them together using indoor/outdoor mounting tape. I plan to secure them to the canopy using zip-ties or maybe the same mounting tape. For security, when not camping, I will likely remove the top and take it into our lodging for the night. The long wires you see will be shortened. I also want a neat way of concealing as much of the "Y" as I can. Shortening it may help. |
My original plan was to use my water resistant Stanley FatMax® Toolbox for storage. But, given the evolution of SCEPTER and my field workstation setups [see my WebCams, this box was doomed to be used to contain & hide what I've seen exposed on many cycles. In the past, I've used panniers, bags, & tubes. The three boxes I've configured are special and seem to increase in functionality as I go. I just do not like riding a cycle with lots of "stuff" exposed.
The question is where do I put my stuff? I am considering a Burley Flatbed with 2 more water resistant boxes. I do not think either would be doomed to be a container for something fancy. I do have trailer lighting to consider. Ashley Guy, I have a question? But, I digress…
Okay, you know I have a boom setup to use my iPhone 3GS to live stream video to the Internet. Just for reorientation on non-power features of the body. Here are a few other items.
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The flashlight has a story. I find it quite functional. It exist because of the need to hide an error. I just cannot seem to be able to drill 4 holes on a straight horizontal line. The larger the holes are, the more they seem out of alignment. I used the top of the serrations at the bottom of the box as a guide. At least now, the DiNotte and my horn connector appear straight. Velcro was to do the hiding—industrial strength Velcro. Then, I have a seam. One of the light mounts we "all" keep to the rescue. Then, I do not like the Velcro I wrapped around the light, thus a fashioned "heel" rest. Hey, it looks okay and it works. I'm having jalexartis etched into the flashlight. This is a special/custom quad. What do you think?
The picture below is an enlargement of my post earlier today so that you may see what all these things are [see the picture with labels for titles, where you can go to flickr for a really BIG image]. I’ll explain each in later articles.
![Fargo [Quad] Power Box](http://static.flickr.com/4025/4328659188_c5ee3dc622_b.jpg)
I have completed setup of my "Power Box" or boot, if you will. Using cabling disconnects, I have a modular container for both solar and the mechanical power provided my the SON Hub Dynamo. The Stanley FatMax® Toolbox is/was water resistant. I’ve tried to maintain that during my installation and think I have for the most part. It will be interesting to see how water spills off the canopy and how that affects the box.
I’d like to have the visual displays to my front [as seated on the quad]. Doing so would have complicated wiring. So the meters will be just behind me. I do not think they need constant monitoring. My testing will answer many of these questions, as well as the optimal [amp hours versus weight] battery size. I have been testing with a 7.5aH SLA Battery. Next a 20aH SLA Battery—actually 18aH.
The etc. part of this setup are the horn and my iHome Speaker for my iPod Touch. The integration makes use/removal of this box a breeze.
I am pleased with the results of all aspects of this configuration.
| My Stanley FatMax® 28" Structural Foam Water Resistant Toolbox | ||||
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Larger [and more] photographs to follow in separate articles. If you want to see pictures now—see them in this flickr set.
My BROL Quad [Fargo] Setup Thread
Thanks!
Jim
That is the winning font, selected by votes from viewers of this blog. Sixty-six [66]individuals voted, 29 (44%) of them for this font to be used to show the quad’s name—Fargo on a graphic, which is under design by El Cargonista, a graphic artist I know from Flickr.
Tomorrow, I plan to begin a series of articles on the first setup phase—power for the quad’s electrics. If you are technically inclined, I think you will be intrigued by what I have done.
Thanks!
Jim
P.S. The first article [Quad Power, etc. Setup ~ 02/03] is now up.
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![Fargo [Quad] Power Box](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4328670928_15fb912d9f_t.jpg "Fargo [Quad] Power Box")
![Fargo [Quad] Power Box](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2793/4327935423_87fc9053e9_t.jpg "Fargo [Quad] Power Box")
