controller problem 'update'

[knackeredknees]

Firstly, many thanks for all the help and advice ive been given on this forum.

Last week I emailed the dealer I purchased my GM kit from [AlienOcean}, and they asked me to return the controller, so that their technician could have a look at it.

In my email, I mentioned that I would be more than happy to pay for any repairs/replacements etc {although it is under warrenty}, if they felt the problem may have been caused by me.

I posted the controller off to the dealer last wednesday, and recieved it back on saturday.

It is now all reconnected, and working perfectly again [and at no charge to myself].

Just had to mention the wonderful service I have recieved from the chaps at AlienOcean.

Alan

[Leslie]

Thank goodness.


I was a little worried there.  Did you get a program cable?  You can set it up for your uses.  I think a minimotor would be fun to experiment with efficiency.

I notice this on my new motor the efficiency has been good.  I did 23kms in windy conditions, moderate hills, little pedals and used 5.2 ah.  Its looking like my 15ah pack is going to get me 45~60 kms range.

What is the efficiency like with your bike Alan?

[knackeredknees]

No, I didn't get a program cable.

I don't know what was actually the problem with the controller, but it is all working perfectly now.

Its difficult for me to judge the range I can get with my 12ah battery, although {according to my maps} I have done a couple of 20 mile trips.

Since getting a turnigy meter, I have yet to travel very far, although I intend repeating one of those 20 mile routes today, and shall be interested in the meter's read-out, when I have returned home.

The Lake District seems to be a tricky area to judge distances, as hills are unavoidable, and even on calm days, there are localised areas of stiff winds etc.

I recently bought myself a tiny camcorder {the sort that you can mount on a helmet etc}, so I might try and record some of my journey/terrain today, as a bit of added interest.

Anyway, thanks again for your help

Alan
 

[knackeredknees]

Just got back from my trip, and according to my map, I travelled 25 miles approx.
It appears I only used 4.385 ah's, although I do tend to walk my bike up the steepest hills {using a small amount of throttle}.

All went well with the controller/motor etc, so I am well pleased. I now suspect I may have always had a slight fault with the controller, as everything seemed extremely smooth.

Alan

[Bikemad]

Alan, it's good to hear your bike is running nicely with the repaired/replacement controller.

I returned from a 10 mile ride with the dog about two hours ago and my Magic Pie used a total of 3.286 Ahs, most of those were probably consumed whilst helping to pull me up some very steep hills. These hills were too steep for me to pedal up without power assistance, but with the Magic Pie's help I was able to ride up them whilst remaining seated, holding the handlebars with one hand and the dog's lead with the other!

The dog also ran very smoothly, managing a consistent 12-13 mph most of the way home but she did go as slow as 8 mph at one point on the really nasty hill, but this worked in my favour, because if she'd gone any faster up that hill, I would have needed both hands on the handlebars so I could stand up and produce enough power to keep up with her! I'm just glad she noticed the 10mph speed limit sign and slowed down accordingly!

Another enjoyable afternoon spent out in the fresh air with a bit of exercise thrown in - what more could you want?

For those of you who are interested, my 25.5V 10Ah LiPo pack started off with 29.28 volts, which fell to 26.69 volts at the lowest point and then stabilised at 27.55 volts at the end of the ride.
My maximum current reading was 20.23 Amps (574.4 Watts @ 28.39 Volts).
The regen also seems to be working well as 3.286Ahs were used and only 2.701 Ahs were needed from the charger to fully charge the pack to 29.3 Volts again. That means 17.68% of the power used has been magically returned to the pack and a lot of wear on the brake pads has been saved as well! If the regen could be made variable this would make the riding experience even better. 
I'm wondering how difficult it would be to fit an additional controller inside the hub which could be wired just for variable regen.
                                                         
Alan
 

[Leslie]

Just got back from my trip, and according to my map, I travelled 25 miles approx.
It appears I only used 4.385 ah's, although I do tend to walk my bike up the steepest hills {using a small amount of throttle}.

All went well with the controller/motor etc, so I am well pleased. I now suspect I may have always had a slight fault with the controller, as everything seemed extremely smooth.

Alan

That 25 miles is pretty good for 4.38 ah for the riding conditions you have expressed.  Thats 175mah per mile.  Oh my, that means one could ride 13kms on a series of 2300 mah AA batteries if it could handle the current requirements.  Meaning you could well get closer to 68 miles per charge on your 12ah pack.  There is no way Id even want to sit on a bike seat for that long.

When I was younger in auto engineering tech college I used to get into debates about the practicality of electric drive motors,  Seems very viablle to me.

[Leslie]

Alan, it's good to hear your bike is running nicely with the repaired/replacement controller.

I returned from a 10 mile ride with the dog about two hours ago and my Magic Pie used a total of 3.286 Ahs, most of those were probably consumed whilst helping to pull me up some very steep hills. These hills were too steep for me to pedal up without power assistance, but with the Magic Pie's help I was able to ride up them whilst remaining seated, holding the handlebars with one hand and the dog's lead with the other!

The dog also ran very smoothly, managing a consistent 12-13 mph most of the way home but she did go as slow as 8 mph at one point on the really nasty hill, but this worked in my favour, because if she'd gone any faster up that hill, I would have needed both hands on the handlebars so I could stand up and produce enough power to keep up with her! I'm just glad she noticed the 10mph speed limit sign and slowed down accordingly!

Another enjoyable afternoon spent out in the fresh air with a bit of exercise thrown in - what more could you want?

For those of you who are interested, my 25.5V 10Ah LiPo pack started off with 29.28 volts, which fell to 26.69 volts at the lowest point and then stabilised at 27.55 volts at the end of the ride.
My maximum current reading was 20.23 Amps (574.4 Watts @ 28.39 Volts).
The regen also seems to be working well as 3.286Ahs were used and only 2.701 Ahs were needed from the charger to fully charge the pack to 29.3 Volts again. That means 17.68% of the power used has been magically returned to the pack and a lot of wear on the brake pads has been saved as well! If the regen could be made variable this would make the riding experience even better. 
I'm wondering how difficult it would be to fit an additional controller inside the hub which could be wired just for variable regen.
                                                         
Alan
 

Taking the Dog for an Ebike ride is sooo much better exersise for the dog than just walking.  Good that your dog is running so smoothly too Alan. 

My pack gets is too close to controller death zone to risk playing with regen.  I notice once my pack reaches 56.5v on the charger the volts race up past 60v fast and this is only on a two amp charger.  Besides where I live there is a hill first thing.

Still 17 percent is an awesome return of power.  I use plenty of brakes when I’m in a hurry and I can use no brakes if I take my time.  Some days I challenge my self to do a full trip using no brakes at all.

[MonkeyMagic]

Ohhh I'm in a pickle now.... I was thinking when I receive and put the new internal controller in the rear wheel, with dual drive as much as I'll miss it, I was thinking of setting the regen to 20% or possibly 0

20% only really works at full speed and its a good brake starter, but I think with the amount that I ride I will cut regen out altogether.

Some days the bike will be ridden in he morning, exhausted, recharged, then ridden until near exhausted, and so on. I don't thrash it but it would have quite a bit of switching going through it with the amount that it's ridden haha

Alan - you seem to have had many of experiences with long rides and various voltages etc. I think you may have said no previously, and apart from the alignment problem, have you ever had an issue or problem with your equipment?

Only say this because I was never overly impressed with the rear cast wheel even from day 1. It was only until I got the front motor it was a crazy machine. And another thought, the front motor spins on take off and really accelerates uphil while the rear wheel on its own always crawled and struggled on a take off.... Maybe (and hopefully!) I just had a dodgy or weak controller and the replacement could be what I needed anyway!

Running the front motor now all that is really missing is the acceleration on take off, this wheel reaches max speed pretty easy while the rear wheel when I had the el solo was VERY rarely able to spin at full RPM (only going down a very steep hill, never on a flat)

fingers crossed.... I'm still sitting at the door waiting for the courier with my controller (3am.....) haha I'll pitch a tent

[Bikemad]

Alan - you seem to have had many of experiences with long rides and various voltages etc. I think you may have said no previously, and apart from the alignment problem, have you ever had an issue or problem with your equipment?

MM, I don't really do long rides with mine, it's more like lots of 3 or 4 miles rides while walking the dog, with the occasional longer ride now and again. I don't really use it in the wet because I don't have any mudguards (fenders) and I like to stay dry.
My odometer has around 175 miles on it because I can't be bothered to turn it on each time, as I don't really need a speedometer anyway.
If I need to do any real distance, I tend to use a motorbike instead, as it's a little bit quicker! 

I experimented with different voltages when I first tested the motor, but as most of my rides are for dog walking purposes, I tend to just use two 5Ah 29.4V LiPo packs in parallel, because it's plenty fast enough for the dog and I find the regen is more effective and works down to a much slower speed using the lower voltage pack, saving a lot of wear and tear on the brakes and the wheel rims themselves.

Apart from the original alignment problem, the only other problem I have experienced was the operation of the pedelec system, which was a bit temperamental and also provided too much power when it wasn't wanted, and this has since been removed from the bike.

My Magic Pie has been great, with no loose spokes and not even a puncture, and I'm hoping it will continue to remain this way for the foreseeable future.



Alan
 

[Leslie]

Running the front motor now all that is really missing is the acceleration on take off, this wheel reaches max speed pretty easy while the rear wheel when I had the el solo was VERY rarely able to spin at full RPM (only going down a very steep hill, never on a flat)

fingers crossed.... I'm still sitting at the door waiting for the courier with my controller (3am.....) haha I'll pitch a tent

I can get to 32kph under 10 seconds  I think top speed 42kph in 15.  Thats sluggish but for the 26" wheel better than it was doing before I put a shunt in.

Im running 1500 watts now but it was better at 2000 watts.  I just want it so Im not a snail at the traffic lights and as for top speed I set mine down to 32 kph as my 15yo daughter is beginning to enjoy the larger bike..

The funny thing about the law with power assist bicycles is that at 32kph 1500 watts this thing is much safer.

There seems to get larger V drop over the 6 fets under high loads for the larger wheels than you would expect a 12 or 18 fet controller.  Smaller diameter wheels would be less effected IMO.

[alsoforum]

I just wanted to thank you for posting this message about this and I hope it helps some of the others on the board as much as its helped me. Many thanks for the help!!!

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