Radrover Controller & Display Upgrade Kit

[legsofbeer]

Hello, do we need to buy a new lcd to make this upgrade controller work?

My guess is that the new controller might somewhat work with the stock radpower display, but would be limited to the numbers sent by that display, which is capped at 40 kph and 750 w, and has radpower's unmodifiable PAS power settings, which kind of defeats the purpose of doing the upgrade. The bolton upgrade kit priced at $219 includes both display and controller.

 

[Daveincave67]

The Bolton kits include a new controller.

Edit: Geez, I meant to say the kit includes a new display. The kit includes a controller AND a display....
Sorry! -Al

Thank you for the info

 

[Primaltlaloc]

I have the Bolton upgrade on Canadian radrover5 2020, battery is the stock 48v 14Ah
750w bafang
controller with colour display

works great except
- for some reason the controller at times reads 80kmh after reaching top speed and start to slow down
- After travelling approx 12 km, then tackle a steep hill on pas5 the bike just shuts down. In order to resolve I have to turn off and remove the battery and put it back on then it works again.

any ideas folks?

thanks

 

[how]

I had the same problem with a Canadian 2020 RR step thru with the Bolton controller upgrade. Changing my C5 from 2 to 5 helped. I probably would have gone to a higher setting if I had your 750W motor instead of Rad's stock 500w motor.

 

[ExPatBrit]

If you use PAS 5 or throttle with a Bolton kit the load will cause the voltage to drop immediately by about 5 volts. If you have only 46 volts remaining and cutoff voltage is set by default to 42v it will trip .

 

[ExPatBrit]

You can lower it to 38 volts, but expect some criticism here.

I use 38 v but don,t use throttle or PAS 5 below 44 volts. Emergency application only.

 

[Primaltlaloc]

You can lower it to 38 volts, but expect some criticism here.

I use 38 v but don,t use throttle or PAS 5 below 44 volts. Emergency application only.

Might sound like a dumb question but what is the risk/criticism of lowering to 38v and using pas5? New at this.

 

[legsofbeer]

Bolton recommends a cutoff voltage of 40.0 volts, which is what I use. I discharged the battery below that point once to see what would happen. After about 5 minutes of seeing 39.something apparent voltage the Bolton controller shut off the motor, but not the lights or the display. Pedalling without power for a few minutes, then power cycling the controller restored motor function for the remaining half-mile back home.

Can you try using less than 1500w for your climb? I know that 1500w is silly on level ground because you quickly get to the motor's max rotation speed of 28mph just fine on lower wattage and pumping more amps at that point does nothing except heat things up. There may be a similar point of diminishing or no returns on climb wattage; haven't looked for it myself since a climb at 750w already gives me that "legs of god" feeling.

for some reason the controller at times reads 80kmh after reaching top speed and start to slow down

Does it read 80km the natural way, eg. passing through 75-79 kph on the way to 80 kph, or does it jump up from a lower speed reading such as 45 kph, which is about all that motor will do on power alone on level ground?

 

[legsofbeer]

Might sound like a dumb question but what is the risk/criticism of lowering to 38v and using pas5?

Your battery cells have a sweet spot zone of voltages. Going above or below that voltage zone will damage the cells reducing their longevity, and even risks causing a permanently unchargeable battery (sometimes this can be repaired). The battery itself has a battery management system (BMS) that is supposed to prevent this, but why stress it by getting close to BMS shutoff voltage unless you have to?

Note: the one time I (intentionally) triggered the BMS shutoff, the bicycle would not power on again even after an hour's rest, until I at least partially charged the battery.

 

[AHicks]

The battery is only capable of delivering so much power, because of the cells used to make it, and due to the wire size in use. The Bolton kits/KT controller is able to pass whatever the battery can supply in this case. It's not going to make the battery more capable than it is!

If you are seeing a 5v sag, either the battery is in a fairly low charge state (below 46-47v?) or you are trying to pull WAY too much power from it.

I'm using a 1000+ watt MAC 12t motor, and have set the max amperage I can pull at about 1200w max (actually just less, I see 1147 or something like that on the display). This seems to make everybody happy (controller, battery, and motor), and I have all the power I need to climb any hill I've pointed at without using PAS 4 or 5. 3 year old battery still has a an easy range of 35 miles with me on it (I'm 315lbs) and well over 50 with the wife on it.

 

[ExPatBrit]

I dialed PAS 5 down to 1200-1300 watts, I found 1600 W (indicated) was a bit much.

My range is about the same as the stock Rad rover. I use extra available power from the upgrade sparingly, it’s reassuring to have the “flux capacitor” and not trip the BMS to safely get out of the way sometimes.

 

[Primaltlaloc]

I dialed PAS 5 down to 1200-1300 watts, I found 1600 W (indicated) was a bit much.

My range is about the same as the stock Rad rover. I use extra available power from the upgrade sparingly, it’s reassuring to have the “flux capacitor” and not trip the BMS to safely get out of the way sometimes.

Yes, it sounds like my options are at this point:

• Buy a 52v battery (will do, but only when my 48v is worn out)
• don‘t push the battery on PAS5 or throttle after already draining the battery during the ride.
• Or dial back PAS5 and max throttle settings.

I did look through this thread on the mapping of settings but didn’t see a direct mention of which setting=PAS# adjustment or throttle. I did see that C5 governed overall max output of battery though, is this the setting to adjust?

80kmph readout on display: this is just an annoying glitch. rather than just showing deceleration, after max acceleration, on starting to decelerate it goes to and stays at 80 until fully stopped (Not actually going 80 obviously) when it goes back to 0.

 

[Kyogiro]

You have to play with the C5 and C14 which govern the "intensity" of PAS assist to find settings that suit you.

 

[AHicks]

Get as close as you can to what you are looking for using C5 first, then you can trim your PAS levels using C14 to really dial it in.

 

[legsofbeer]

80kmph readout on display: this is just an annoying glitch. rather than just showing deceleration, after max acceleration, on starting to decelerate it goes to and stays at 80 until fully stopped

What max powered speed do you have programmed? I never see this behavior, but I have my max powered speed set to a value I will never reach (I hope). Maybe it happens when you exceed the powered speed number?

 

[hughresearch]

C12, 52 volt is not listed in the table but assume it works the same way.
View attachment 63098

Would it be appropriate for me to set C12 to (7) +1.5 when using a 52 volt battery so it does not draw down to 40? I answered that myself! Battery management system takes care of draw-down and shut me down before I expected. I got quite a workout.

 

[AHicks]

Sure!

 

[BKing]

The stock controller is set up with a "soft start" where power to the motor is ramped up slowly to prevent people from being startled/alarmed like they might be if the power came on immediately. Nice if that's your cup of tea, but in a perfect world, you should have a sya in the matter. That's what Boltons kit gives you. One thing anyway....

Which setting changes the ramp time?

 

[hughresearch]

I have the Bolton upgrade on Canadian radrover5 2020, battery is the stock 48v 14Ah
750w bafang
controller with colour display

works great except
- for some reason the controller at times reads 80kmh after reaching top speed and start to slow down
- After travelling approx 12 km, then tackle a steep hill on pas5 the bike just shuts down. In order to resolve I have to turn off and remove the battery and put it back on then it works again.

any ideas folks?

thanks

I know exactly what is going on though it baffled me at first. The 48/14 is paired with a 15 amp controller on stock bike. With the upgraded controller the battery is discharging faster than it would in stock configuration. The internal BMS (battery management system) shuts the battery down probably due to the heat created by rapid discharge. OR because the motor is drawing so much juice the momentary reading of the voltage drops below BMS cutoff for volts and the battery shuts off. The 80 K reading is a puzzler for me though.

 

[ExPatBrit]

OR because the motor is drawing so much juice the momentary reading of the voltage drops below BMS cutoff for volts and the battery shuts off. The 80 K reading is a puzzler for me though.

This! The instantaneous displayed voltage drops 5 volts in PAS 5 or full throttle. Trips BMS cutout.
Common issue with high power e-bikes when the battery is somewhat depleted.

One of the advantages of the LCD-8 over the stock unit is the voltage display.