u/bakery2k — reddlx

E-bike hire in Melbourne?

I’m about to start doing deliveries in Melbourne - planning to do lunchtimes most weekdays.

I assume it’s worth hiring an e-bike rather than using my regular bike, even though I’ll only be doing 12-15 hours a week?

The ones I see around most are Orca, Quick Aces, E-bike 100, and Zoomo. Zoomo seems to have significantly worse reviews, so I’ve more-or-less ruled them out, but can anyone recommend one of the others?

Also, some of them offer theft coverage, is that worth a paying for?

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u/bakery2k — 1 day ago

▲ 1 r/Volkswagen

2011 Passat B7 Battery Replacement

My 2011 Passat B7 Wagon (diesel) will no longer start if I leave it unused for over 48 hours. Seems it needs the battery replaced.

Is this something I can do myself, or do I need to take it to a professional? I’m perfectly happy to buy and physically fit a replacement, but have a few concerns about doing so:

Do I need to keep the car powered somehow while swapping the battery, or can I just disconnect one and then connect the other? I ask because the car previously had a low-battery condition and after charging, the airbag system had lost data and needed a full reset. Does it need constant power to avoid that happening again?
Do I need to program new battery information into the car after replacement? The car has a stop-start feature, so I assume so.

If either of the above are necessary, I should probably just get the battery professionally replaced. Are battery-replacement stores (e.g. Battery World) able to do the necessary coding, or do I need to go to a more general mechanic (or even a VW specialist)?

u/bakery2k — 3 days ago

▲ 2 r/PrintedCircuitBoard

I've just designed my first-ever PCB in KiCad: a very simple DPDT switch to Molex SL breakout board. I've attached images of the front and back of this tiny (0.8" x 1.0") PCB.

My plan is to solder a through-hole DPDT switch to the front of the board (specifically an E-Switch 100DP3T1B1M2REH) and a 6-pin Molex SL connector to the back (70543-0040). This should be easier than soldering wires directly to a switch, and also enable the wires to be disconnected if necessary.

I used the footprint for the connector direct from Molex, but designed the footprint for the switch myself based on the datasheet. I have a few questions, including one specifically about this footprint:

I've used an annular ring radius of 30 mil / 0.75 mm for the switch pins, in order to ease hand-soldering and for increased mechanical strength. Does that seem appropriate (it seems very large compared to the 10 mil radius for the connector pins)? I've struggled to find guidance on how large annular rings should be.
Similarly, I've used trace thickness & clearance of 25 mil each, without much justification. Looking now at an online calculator, these should handle currents of up to 1.7 A - overkill for the 0.4 VA rating of the gold-contact switch I've chosen, but under-specified for silver-contact switches (2 to 5 A) and the Molex connector (3 A). Should I use a different size?
More generally, do you see any issues with this tiny board that I should address before getting some manufactured?

Thanks!

u/bakery2k — 26 days ago