Safety fixture for trike pedals

I have posted previously about the dreaded "leg suck", when a foot falls off a pedal onto the road surface while travelling. Knowing me, this is a potential issue, as when touring, hour after hour, I will tend to become dreamy, lose attention. Most recumbent trike riders don't bother with pedal safety fixtures, but I want them, and that has been a bit of a saga.

I posted about bicycle shoes with cleats, that clip onto the pedals. This also requires special pedals. That post was in May 2023

• How to be safe on a recumbent trike — May 18, 2023

So, I bought mountain bike pedals and special shoes with cleats.

I'm a beginner at all of this, and after further research, discovered that there is a fundamental difference how the feet should be placed on the pedals when riding a recumbent bike/trike compared to an upright bicycle. To look after the tendons in the feet, and for long distance comfort, on a recumbent trike the central shaft of the pedal should be in the arch of the foot. On bicycles, it is more toward the front of the foot, the ball.

There is lots of online advice about foot placement on the pedal, for example, here.

This means that the cleat on bicycle shoes is in the wrong place. This is important for long distance touring, so abandoned cleats and those shoes and pedals are now stored in a closet.

After further online research, I discovered what could be called the "Rolls Royce" of safety pedals for recumbent trikes. Which I purchased, see post July 2024:

• Foot and leg safety on a recumbent trike — July 10, 2024

...terrible price!

Unfortunately, these also ended up in the closet. They are very big, designed to take very large shoes, which is a serious problem on my trike. My customized trike has the wheels moved closer together, with total trike width now only 740mm. This imposes a restriction on the turning radius, and those safety pedals are just too wide. I have considered a future project to replace the front 20 inch wheels with 16 inch, but for now have to live with the current situation.

Yes, can turn with the pedals in a certain position to allow a sharper turn, and I could probably train myself to do that when cornering.

Another problem with those pedals is they are very heavy. They have weights underneath, so when your foot is not inserted, they stay upright. Each pedal weighs just under 1kg. I recently thought about selling them, but saw on a local trike Facebook group, someone else has them for sale, asking AU$50. Hey, I paid AU$245! For now, they are also residing in the closet.

I purchased some straps, that can be fitted to ordinary pedals. Actually, intended for a certain type of pedal. Actually bought a couple of different types:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002192895075.html

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005528714005.html

...still the fundamental problem that they are designed for a bicycle, with pedal shaft more forward under the foot. However, ended up using the leather straps of that last purchase.

Enough throwing money at trying to find a solution. Yesterday, looked at the original pedals that came with the trike, and figured out a simple foot restraint system. Today went to the men's shed and built it...

Very simple, a short length of 30x3 mm aluminium strap with some angle on the bottom end:

That is a snug fit into the bumps underneath the pedal:

And a bracket to stop it from falling off:

When touring, there is never a need to put the feet on the ground. Unlike a bicycle, where you can get into serious trouble with cleats if they don't unclip reliably. So, I can go one step further, and optionally restrain the feet with straps (the ones purchased earlier from Aliexpress):

...the strap is a quick-release type, and there are various places it can be fed through the pedal to secure the shoe.

Simple DIY solution.   

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Custom trike project front page

I have created a "front page" for the custom solar-assisted full-suspension tadpole recumbent trike project:

https://bkhome.org/nomad/solar-powered-recumbent-trike.html

As noted at the bottom of that page, this is likely to be an ongoing project. Depends on my motivation of course, whether to keep working on it. Right now, as-is, it is usable, and I would like to get it outfitted for a multi-day tour. Depending on the level of satisfaction of the first tour will determine whether motivated enough to keep working on it.

It sure has been a fascinating project. I joined a "men's shed" which has been a great experience. There are over 1,200 men's sheds in Australia, see here.  

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Survival water filter

Getting the gear together to pack into the panniers on the custom recumbent trike, came across a water filter kit that I had purchased early 2021, from Aliexpress:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32666647306.html

Yeah, will pack that, could be a life-saver in an emergency situation. Decided to make some little improvements. The Miniwell supports reverse-flow to clean it out, so you could connect the outlet-side to a mains tap and flow clean water in reverse direction. It will give the filter a new lease on life, but not perfect, so I thought about a little pre-filter to prevent largish particles from traveling down to the filter...

Discovered that a Sharpie felt pen is a perfect friction fit into the coupling that goes through a hole in the top water bag. So, modified one, with internals removed and holes drilled in the side:

Purchased some fine stainless steel mesh a couple of years ago, for another project, "50mesh", from eBay:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/285049006213?var=586887237952

...the vendor sells "100mesh"; I don't know what that means, perhaps 100 squares per inch. Very fine, but I have used what already own. Mesh wrapped around the pen:

Just happen to have a silicone end-cap that is the right size, a snug fit to seal the left-side of above photo. Here it is inserted into the Miniwell module:

The whole thing can easily be pulled apart for cleaning. On the bottom-end, the filter, I screwed top of a soft-drink bottle, with holes, to tie onto a branch or something for stability:

Note, the tubing is silicone, not the normal plastic tubing that you would buy in the local hardware store. using that because of the excellent UV resistance of silicone. Setup, it works great, very fast flow rate:

The thread on both ends of the Miniwell are the same as used in plastic soft-drink bottles, such as Coke. One possibility at the outlet end of the filter, is to screw on soft flexible bottles. These store flat, so pack very compact, and will expand when filled. I've got a few of these, 500ml, for example this one: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33012014287.html ...the thread is compatible with the Miniwell. Hmmm, I notice that prices of all these items have gone up quite a bit since I purchased a few years ago. Umm, but then comparing with prices in local camping stores, still much cheaper to buy direct from China. Dare I make a political comment: if you live in the USA, your government has found a new way to tax you, by imposing huge tariffs on goods from China. This, I understand, even if there are no alternative sources from "friendly" countries. Just my observation from the outside. Here in Australia, there is only a 10% sales tax, regardless of origin. But AU sells a huge amount of minerals, grains, etc., to China, and we don't want to rock the boat. I've become quite cynical in my old age. The politicians are saying they are imposing tariffs to encourage local manufacture, but I see it as a cunning way of raising taxes.

Ha ha, I just typed that political comment to fill in the space alongside the photo. Don't send me an email complaining that I don't really understand why goods from China are being taxed. Probably I don't; just my cynical-old-man reaction to what I see and hear on the news media.

Regarding the trike project, here are recent posts:

• Trike test elejoy MPPT controller — December 10, 2024
• Custom recumbent trike first test — December 07, 2024
• Planning to affix solar panel to trike — December 04, 2024

Awhile back, purchased four panniers, and right now figuring out how to pack them. Going through all the camping gear; that's how came across the Miniwell filter. Maybe it will never get used, but if "broken down" in a remote rural region, middle of summer, it could be a life-saver. Well, even if just camping at a site with no potable water, with maybe a dam or pond nearby, then can stay there beyond having used all the bottled water.

EDIT:
Very interesting, Miniwell also sell a sealed filter, that has a shelf life of 25 years:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006966050143.html

I read elsewhere, once you start using it, expect a lifespan of about 3 years. That would be very variable of course, depending how murky the water is, and how successful the back-flushing is.        

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Trike test elejoy MPPT controller

In September, I posted about my collection of MPPT boost controllers:

• MPPT controller for custom trike — September 13, 2024

And further details on the Lensun controller:

• Lensun MPPT has to be isolated from frame — October 11, 2024

Decided to test the elejoy, but left the Lensun in-place, so as to be able to  swap them over in just a couple of minutes:

Took the trike outside this morning, December 10, 9.50am, clear blue sky:

As mentioned, had discharged the battery a little bit, hoping to improve the behaviour of the BMS. The elejoy output is reading:

54.3V, 2.35A

Which is 127.6W

Hmmm, not as good as expected. Based upon the surface-area of the panel and inclination of sun, and past experience, I expect higher then that. Need to setup a variable resistive load for the solar panel and find its peak power point; determine what it is actually capable of. Hopefully will do that in the next couple of days.

Today, got distracted  when a neighbour came over and we chatted about the trike, lithium batteries, etc. Then I had other stuff wanted to do today.   

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Custom recumbent trike first test

Posted yesterday about planning to put the solar panel onto the trike:

• Planning to affix solar panel to trike — December 04, 2024

Thanks to Bart and Jimmi, who emailed me with advice about adhesives. I tested the Parfix silicone on the back of the solar panel, and also on a piece of aluminium. The bond with the solar panel is incredibly strong, mediocre with the aluminium. I did not degrease nor sandpaper the surface of the aluminium, which would have contributed to the mediocre bond.

However, I decided that the bond to the aluminium is good enough, as it is likely sometime in the future will upgrade the solar panel to a higher wattage. Some adhesives are too good, making removal of the panel just about impossible. Yes, used the Parfix, as that is what already have and as stated, it is "good enough".

As mentioned in the previous post, decided to use aluminium angle to hold the panel down:

Ran a bead of silicone along underneath the panel, before affixing the angle. On reflection, probably that silicone wasn't necessary, just some applied to the internal framework to prevent flapping in a strong breeze. In fact, without silicone might have been better from the point of view of thermal expansion and contraction. Anyway, its done.

Today took it outside for a short test ride. Here it is posing in the courtyard:

Blue sky, about 10am, expected to be getting good output from the solar panel; however, the MPPT controller readings were all over the place. Here is a snapshot:

...see only 65W. Also very disconcerting, sometimes it dropped to zero amps output for several seconds. I rode the trike around and around in a circle, and output came up to about 153W.

The battery had been previously charged to 100%, so probably the weirdness out of the MPPT controller is due to the BMS. Hope so amyway. Now it is the evening, and have the battery on discharge, through a 220V inverter powering a 30W incandescent globe. Will let that run for a couple of hours. Tomorrow plan to take the trike outside again and see if the charging has improved. Will also try the elejoy MPPT controller.

The experience of riding the trike around in circles was pleasant. One thing, the front suspension is too soft, but I expected that, and have replacement shock absorbers with stiffer springs; will fit those soon.

A side-project has been started, a throw-over weather protection tent:

...the bottom will have hooks attached, to be pegged to the ground, and there will be more fabric glued onto the sides.

The interesting possibility with this tent is that it could be more than just weather protection for the trike; if one side is extended out, it could become a habitable area. Don't know; there is no vision in the mind how this habitable area could be achieved. Will just keep contructing it, following my nose. Note, the fabric is very thin ripstop nylon, left over from years ago when I was into tent construction.      

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Planning to affix solar panel to trike

Continuing the custom solar-assisted recumbent trike project, here are recent posts:

• How to look after your LFP battery — November 09, 2024
• IEC C13 versus Anderson connectors — November 06, 2024
• Junction box for custom trike part-2 — November 04, 2024

I completed the electrical wiring; motor, junction-box, speed sensor, display panel, etc., and with some trepidation flicked the "motor" cicuit breaker on the junction box to "on" and then pressed the power-on button on the Bafang control panel ...and it worked. had the rear wheel propped up on blocks of wood and was able to test the pedal assistance levels. Looking good.

The Bafang control panel mystifies me though. I mounted it right in the middle, between the legs:

...it doesn't look like it in the photo, but there is enough room for the legs either side. Could re-arrange with the buttons below the display, if want it to be narrower.

The Bafang control panel is model "DP C18.U 3.0". The "U" means that it has a UART interface, which is serial data transfer and a small round green connector.

The display reads "100%", which is what mystifies me. Where is that determined? I have a LFP battery, which has lower cell voltage than NMC lithium batteries that are usually used in ebikes. I found the Bafang control panel user manual online, but it doesn't have any settings for battery type or capacity, which seems odd.

For the solar panel, the plan was to extrude a bead of adhesive all around, as quick as possible, then lower the panel down. Either get someone to help me, one person on each side holding the panel, or if only myself then some blocks of wood that will be removed after extruding the adhesive:

However, when I lay the panel on top of the frame, to see how it sits, found that the panel curves up at the corners:

...so, just lowering the panel down onto the adhesive is not sufficient. It needs to be more positively held down. Note that the framework is not twisted; I was very careful about that when building it. It is the solar panel itself that curves up, at all four corners.

Fortunately, I have aluminium angle that is just the right dimensions, that was used in the aborted first attempt to build a rigid solar panel framework. Pleased that it can be put to some use.

Plan to do that tomorrow. The plan now is to leave the solar panel where it is, resting on the framework. Inject adhesive along one side then pop-rivet angle to hold it down. Then do same on all sides. There will also be adhesive inserted into the internal framework.

The adhesive will be general-purpose neutral-cure silicone sealant. This is the best. There are a lot of specialist adhesives; however, after much online reading I settled on ordinary silicone sealant. The primary reason is its flexibility; some other adhesives, even those recommended for securing flexible solar panels, are not flexible and can actually damage a solar panel. Or so I have read.

Regarding the MPPT charge controller, that has been wired with XT60 connectors:

...the connector without anything plugged to is for the solar panel. The solar panel +ve wire goes through a switch then into the MPPT controller. Output from the controller goes vertically down as shown on the left of the photo, to the junction-box.

EDIT:
Here is one of the sites that recommends a flexible silicone adhesive:

https://www.solar4rvs.com.au/buying/buyer-guides/flexible-solar-panel-mounting-instruction-guide/

They recommend Sika SG20, which is sold locally at Bunnings. I already have a tube of general-purpose neutral-cure silicone sealant, and I wonder if there is much to be gained by going for the much more expensive SG20. Here is the company's SG20 web page:

https://aus.sika.com/en/construction/sealants-adhesives/curtain-walling-glazingandweathersealants/sikasil-sg-20.html

This is what I currently have:

https://www.bunnings.com.au/parfix-300g-clear-all-purpose-silicone_p1232674

...seems OK?      

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How to look after your LFP battery

I have posted before about the two main classifications of lithium battery; NMC (nickel manganese cobalt) and LFP (lithium iron phosphate, also known as LiFePo4). There are a lot more classifications and in-between classifications, but these are the most well-known two.

A lot of online information is for NMC, which is why this little video is so good:

"The rules of LiFePo4: The 3 Most Common Causes of Failure and General Guidelines for Long Term Use"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbZiHzflKMY

That is good advice about charging periodically to 100%, though I'm not so sure about 0% ...nor really what constitutes "0%"

My powerbox battery that I built for camping seems to have a very low self-discharge. I haven't measured it, just left it in the closet for many months. It was in the closet for about 6 months at about 80% and when I got it out, it still "seemed" to be 80%.

I say "seemed" because that was the reading on the coulomb meter. Reading the voltage of an LFP battery is not an accurate way to determine state-of-charge, as LFP batteries have very slow voltage drop as the battery discharges, compared with NMC.

This site explains that LFP batteries have a lower self-discharge than NMC:

https://ecotreelithium.co.uk/news/lithium-nmc-vs-lifepo4/

...but the comment about LFP "no thermal runaway" -- that's a new one on me. Also, regarding self-discharge, I have read online the exact opposite; that LFP are slightly higher than NMC. The rule; take everything that you read with a grain of salt, including from "trusted" sources (see my previous blog post, here!)        

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IEC C13 versus Anderson connectors

Continuing with the custom trike project, here are the previous three posts:

• Junction box for custom trike part-2 — November 04, 2024
• Junction-box for custom trike — October 17, 2024
• Lensun MPPT has to be isolated from frame — October 11, 2024

Something that has surprised me, is the use of the IEC C13 connector for DC. This connector is intended for mains AC, yet, this is what my lithium battery came with for charging:

To be fair to the vendor, they did offer a choice of other connectors, but I just accepted the default. Looking on Aliexpress at lithium batteries and chargers, it seems this IEC C13 is the usual default choice.

Awhile back, I bought another mains charger, 58.4V, for my LFP battery; they also offered a choice of connectors, but I chose the IEC:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003269750911.html

But, that really does look "wrong":

...the connector on the left is the 58.4V DC output, on the right is the 240V AC input!

This does not rest comfortably with me. So, decided to replace the DC connectors with 50A Anderson. The choice of Anderson is partly because I have some already, and partly because they have holes for convenient mounting. Of course they are an overkill for the 3-4 amps in this situation.

In the earlier "powerbox" project, I standardized on different colour Anderson connectors; black for the mains charging. So sticking with that. Used the "flood" method of soldering the wires to the Anderson lugs, as explained in my blog a few years ago, here.

The problem that arises from replacing the IEC connector with Anderson, is that with the Anderson connector the wires will flex a lot more and will in time likely break, especially if they have been stiffened by solder having flowed up the wires. So I fabricated a simple brace with a small piece of steel offcut:

...one thing I learnt from the powerbox days, is that the internal lugs need to have some freedom of movement. Back then, was using much heavier guage wire, and if the two wires were pulled together it also twisted the internal lugs and made plugging together of two connectors very difficult. It is not such an issue with these thin wires; however, I splayed them out a bit and wound the electrical tape a bit further back.

Next up, will replace the IEC connector on the lithium battery with an Anderson -- will do that with great care! Branching off from that will be a XT60 connector to which will be plugged charging from the solar MPPT controller -- as discussed in the previous blog post with regard to the DPDT switch.

One interesting detail about the bolt inserted though the Anderson connector; it is 4.0mm, whereas the hole is 3.7mm. I was surprised at such an odd size hole, but perhaps it has heritage from imperial measurements. That got me curious; yes Anderson Power Products is a USA company. Not that most people buy an actual Anderson brand connector, but they are the originator. Anyway, I drilled it out to 4.0mm.   

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