GoldenMotor.com Forum
General Category => Magic Pie & Smart Pie Discussions => Topic started by: fgcity on February 20, 2013, 01:19:40 PM
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Hi everyone,
I just got my first Magic Pie 3 kit and hooked it up a week ago, along with the Cycle analyst v3.
I am a motorcycle guy and have been riding them all my life so I was surprised how much delay there is on the Regen brake in the kit.
It takes a good 1 - 3 seconds to feel the brake being applied to the motor and its kinda of annoying and unusual for me since I am used to get brakes... when I apply them :)
Is there anything I can do to speed this up a bit (or a lot) ?
Tnx in advance. Demetris.
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You can turn the regen off and use normal breaks. That works.
I have a 3rd party controller (Lyen) and that is also taking about a second from applying brakes to regen kicks in. So that is one problem a new controller didn't fix.
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Tnx,
I really want to have the regen working. Guess will have to deal with it.
Thank you for the reply.
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Hi fgcity,
If you are fond of good braking performance, you may wind up hating regen like I did. I really didn't notice much of a range improvement when I did use it, but it may be that I didn't use it for very long.
Good luck with it.
TTFN,
Dennis
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The regen breaking with the GM controller doesn't do much charging if any at all (according to the the CA). But with the new controller I actually get some charging when using the regen. I haven't use mty bike lately because of extreme cold and lot of ice everywhere so I can't say if using regen have any effect on range.
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Thank you guys. I may end up using a different controller but not before the one supplied goes bad. It was one of the reasons I chose Golden Motors, to have a clean setup with no additional wiring (although even so the wiring on my bike isn't very ... clean :)
If the controller does go bad I may look into others and perhaps even redo the PCB on it to fit the internal hub.
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I have to say I am surprised by the delay time. I don't find that at all.
I love the Regen on my Townie. Its dual wheel drive. I have front Regen at 30 percent and rear at 70 percent. I pretty much only use the Regen to stop. I rarely squeeze my brakes enough for my v-brakes to have any effect. I also love the fact that on the mp3 Regen works right down to zero KPH. I usually come to a complete stop with just Regen and then squeeze the v-brakes on full once I stop to avoid rolling on an up or downhill intersection. On the MP2 Regen would kick out just before you stop. That was annoying.
I always find it surprising when people say they have to have disk brakes and others MUST have hydrolic brakes. I find them completely unnecessary unless I need to real stop fast. Even then my V-brakes do the trick very well. My Townie with my trailer, Three batteries and my large tucus in the seat is over 400 pounds. Probably even closer to 500. Buy I assume I get such desirable results as its 2 wheel drive.
(https://arhservices.co.uk/GoldenMotorCanada/057-2.jpg)
My Tri-drive mountain bike has disk brakes and I guess they work better, nothing I ever noticed though. I had to shut Regen off on the trailer motor as it just skidded all over the place when braking.
(https://arhservices.co.uk/GoldenMotorCanada/TRI-PIE-2.jpg)
Even My Tandem has v-brakes, the rear motor with regen at 90 percent and it stops just fine with two riders.
(https://arhservices.co.uk/GoldenMotorCanada/ExtMP2Build082-1.jpg)
My Cannibal however with almost zero weight on the front wheel is not good at all in bad weather with Regen. Front wheel slide is very easy. Its a fair weather bike only with Regen on the front wheel. When the weather is bad I just pull the plug on the front brake lever.
(https://arhservices.co.uk/GoldenMotorCanada/019-3.jpg)
Just my 2 cents on Regen Braking.. And A cheap excuse to yet again post pictures of my ebikes. I love them all! I think I'll go hug them again right now!
Gary
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Hi Gary,
I like your bikes, too. I just like braking that I can control and modulate.
(I didn't like the brakes on the Prius I rented for a week, either)
Thanks for the pics,
Dennis
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Really nice bikes :)
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Hi Gary,
I like your bikes, too. I just like braking that I can control and modulate.
(I didn't like the brakes on the Prius I rented for a week, either)
Thanks for the pics,
Dennis
I guess that's what makes the world go around. We are all different. After over 3 years of using Regen for most likely over a 1000 rides now I don't really ever think about anything when I am braking. It just comes naturally. I guess I am just used to it. I didn't like beer the first time I tried it either. Now with 35 years experience I probably have over 35,000 likes! or is that yikes!
Gary
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Really nice bikes :)
Thanks, I appreciate it! Had the chopper out for a few hours today to run a few errands. Ended up taking the long way home of course :) It was cold by the lake today but the awesomeness prevailed!
Gary
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Have another question regarding Regen, after riding for a while.
On my Cycle Analyst, when I press the brake on Magic Pie 3, it only shows Regen to work for a moment and then, although the motor keeps on stopping I see nothing going into the battery.
Is this because the Cycle analyst is showing it this way or is the actual current not going anywhere and just keeps on stopping?
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Ok, so I talked to the guys who built the controller and here is the answer:
Our engineer said we have regen brake function but you can’t get the accurate data from Cycle Analyst .
We have that function but it would be difficult for our customer test it without professional tools .
The Regen braking recharging function will become very clear when you climb down the hills .You can add one Clamp current meter between the battery power cable and motor ,Once you climb down the hills and brake suddenly ,you will see current flow into the battery obviously .
I guess I shall have to ask about this, those who are working on the Cycle Analyst then :)
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Ok, so I talked to the guys who built the controller and here is the answer:
Our engineer said we have regen brake function but you can’t get the accurate data from Cycle Analyst .
We have that function but it would be difficult for our customer test it without professional tools .
The Regen braking recharging function will become very clear when you climb down the hills .You can add one Clamp current meter between the battery power cable and motor ,Once you climb down the hills and brake suddenly ,you will see current flow into the battery obviously .
I guess I shall have to ask about this, those who are working on the Cycle Analyst then :)
It will be interesting to see what replay you get from the CA thread on ES. I can't understand how the battery can get a charge that isn't measured by the CA when it is basically a ampmeter connected between the motor and the battery. I thought using a clamp current meter only worked with alternating current, and I hope the battery isn't charged with alternating current, although that would explain why the CA can't measure it.
The knowledge you find on the ES forum (and by some of the members here) is a lot higher than mine so I hope you get a good answer.
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Got a reply. Bottom line is that the regen on Magic pie basically shorts out the motor for braking but most of that energy isn't actually going anywhere and is just heat.
A bit unreasonable thought, since I am sure this can be fixed by a simple firmware update from the manufacturer.
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Have you tried setting the regen to 50% or so and checked if there is current going to the battery then?
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I had it set to 50, 70 and 100%. It is basically the same result.
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I just got the bike for a ride and did some tests. I don't know why but if you begin setting the Regen in the configurations lower than 50%, 10 - 30%, then you actually get more power back from the motor, although it does seem to brake less (but strong enough)
For now I left mine at 30% for now untill I see what the deal is with the setup.