Quote from: burnsjohnston on July 01, 2023, 09:42:34 AM
The last time I used my charger there was an arc and it blew the fuse in my battery. Fuse has been successful replaced and I used a spare charger to charge the bike. I am a little nervous about using that charger again. Use it or buy a new one?

Where was the arcing and was this an original Rad charger?  First thing I'd do is closely inspect the charger's wire and connector that go to the battery - check inside the connector with a flashlight to make sure there are no stray metal bits stuck in there.  Or, if the connector is bent or damaged, you should consider cutting it off near the end of the wire and soldering on a new one - make sure you double-check both sides of the connector with a voltmeter to match polarity before soldering; accidentally reversing those would make for a bad day.

Also check the power cord that goes to the wall outlet and its socket on the charger for damage; those power cables are cheap and easy to replace if necessary.  I've had contacts on the female end of those power cables actually melt the plastic around them for high-amp applications like a water distiller, but the Rad charger only pulls about 100 watts, which is nothing for those connectors, and should be rated for a minimum of 1,200 watts.

Quote from: burnsjohnston on July 01, 2023, 09:35:00 AM
Thanks @JiminPT. I used the awl, changed the fuse and the battery is now fully charged.

Great news - glad it was an easy fix.  Now, assuming you bought more than one, make sure to put at least one spare fuse of each type (5A for charging and 40A for discharging) into your on-bike toolkit just in case one pops on the road.

Quote from: Radio Runner on June 30, 2023, 03:40:50 PMProbably tied to the dock for a few days cushioning the bow or stern from whatever boat it came in on while they unloaded the rest the cargo.

Found 'em.

Looks like they consolidated both our shipments, but I think CA shipped you the wrong size.

Quote from: Radio Runner on June 28, 2023, 09:40:06 PM
Zip tied together in the perfect world isn?t a problem, hopefully they are not next to bundles of pitch forks etc that also ship with boxes.

Refreshed the tracking, coming outta California and still due by Saturday. The ones I ordered last year came from Seattle.

Interesting; mine are shipping to the Northwest and coming out of Georgia, making the trip about as long as it's possible to be in the CONUS.  Go figger.  Maybe that was the only location that still had two in stock, which wouldn't bode well.

Quote from: burnsjohnston on June 28, 2023, 03:41:08 PM
I need to change the fuse on my Rad Rover. I have watched the video below. Mine does not have the rubber easy to remover cover. The  video mentions using an awl but doesnt say what to do with it. Mine looks like the awl version (solid black plastic). Am I basically using the awl to carve out the black plastic? Feels weird to be cutting out a piece of the battery cover.

https://radpowerbikes.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002324673-Battery-Fuse-Check-Guide?fbclid=IwAR1R5XCKXzhPc3Mj9FWlT7yTZ1CGHDHl53u5hmn8skl5iNGFCdZiOzaKipA

Those are just water-resistant covers protecting the fuse housing/connector.  The awl is used to just pick at the edge of those covers over the fuses to pop them off so you can get to the fuse with needle-nose pliers, as described in the text and video you linked - you could also use a thin screwdriver or knife blade and I've used a pushpin, the tool really doesn't matter as long as it does the job.  But if your battery doesn't look exactly like that shown in the video with the "Fuse" covers over the fuses, you'll need different techniques; there are threads here about how to replace fuses on newer-model batteries and it's quite a bit more difficult, but apparently doable. 

IMHO, the newer battery fuse designs are nasty pieces of incompetent work and whoever designed and whoever approved the newer designs needs to be shamed and shunned.  Rad is actually demanding $600 or more to sell an entirely new battery to people who short out and blow fuses that aren't made to be accessible by the user in a simple fashion - as fuses are supposed to be designed.  $600 because a 50-cent fuse needs to be changed out. 

As a recovering engineer myself, this crap just makes me furious, so I truly hope you have one of the older batteries with those pop-off covers that use standard automotive-type blade fuses and it'll be an easy fix for you.

Mine was 4.8 lbs, so maybe that is 2 tires and my shipment is the same - ziptied tires flopping around in the breeze.  Should be ok, tires are supposed to be tough but one never knows; would you mind updating on your delivery?  Mine's still a week away.

St. Petersburg

https://bit.ly/476OiJZ

Rad just sent me an update email saying my tire order has been shipped and  should arrive July 6th, so that's a hopeful sign they're actually available.

However, the shipment weight is listed as under 5 lbs, which seems light to me for 2 tires, but maybe that's not accurate.  I'll update end of next week when it arrives.

Quote from: Plaid on June 26, 2023, 08:13:49 PMI'm happy with the power upgrade, even with my stock motor.  I went into the software setup and actually turned the power down a little bit.  It was pushing 1500 watts, right off the line that acceleration is scary. I dialed it back to 1250 watts.

I'm also very happy with this same upgrade on my MiniST2, but you don't necessarily have to dial back the upper power limit if acceleration off the line is what's bothering you - you can set it back to max power and fiddle with setting C5 to ramp-up the power more slowly.  I have mine set to 0 and that works for me, with no upper limit so I can approach 1600w if/when needed for hillclimbs.

These controller upgrades have all sorts of nifty little features, which are marginally-well documented so a lot of folks overlook them.  I'm indebted to others here and elsewhere who have pointed them out to me.  Below is my table of settings; the leftmost column is my current setup, unchanged in the last year.  Keep in mind this is for a 2021 MiniST2 with 20" rims, so not all settings would apply to your Rover.

Quote from: handlebar on June 26, 2023, 05:50:20 PMI wondered why you didn't use the rechargeable for routine checks. It would be more convenient than a floor pump, and you would know your emergency pump was charged and ready. Now I see. It has a screw-on chuck with the hose in line with the tire valve. Would it even fit your rear wheel? The one I chose as an example has an L-shape chuck that clamps with a lever.

You make a good point, but I keep the rechargeable tucked away and waterproofed in a zippered waterproof bag (along with spare bungies and Ziploc bags for mail and shower caps for the seat, controller and display if it looks like it might rain while I'm away from the bike) so access isn't quick and easy.  I pulled it out every 2-3 months to check the charge, but after it survived the winter very well I don't do it as frequently anymore and always have a little manual pump if worse comes to worst.   It does fit my rear wheel, but it's a bit of a hassle, as was the floor pump.  Fortunately, it's an occasional-need thing and out in the wild I've never needed a pump other than to help others with flats.

Quote from: Ryan on June 25, 2023, 08:42:10 AMThanks for the feedback. These are likely products we'd have to get wholesale as opposed to developing our own so these likely will be offered down the line. I'll see what we can do.

Hey Ryan, I just ordered a pair of CST Big Boat tires from Rad for my MiniST2, using your referral link at the top of the pages.  Does this benefit you for parts/accessories or just bike purchases?  Hope you get a bit of a kickback and by the way, Rad's website is the ONLY place I could find these tires, as I posted a day or two ago for anybody else who's looking.  Many other online stores, including CST's own, list them but "out of stock" everywhere except Rad.

Quote from: handlebar on June 24, 2023, 08:12:45 PM
This sort of pump may offer more convenience.
https://amzn.to/444CEOM

It would be easy to carry on a ride, so a puncture would have to be pretty big to terminate a trip.

I carry something similar that's handy for us old people ( https://amzn.to/44fxwXA ), which upon inspection after the winter storage was amazingly still holding about 50% charge, close to where I'd left it.  I also have a small hand pump in my toolkit, just in case, but so far I've only had to use these on other people's tires.

Quote from: handlebar on June 24, 2023, 12:00:04 PMIn spite of the blatantly false advertising of lumens, I'm tempted. I'm not tempted to buy the other item for daytime. Instead, I wear a yellow safety vest. It presents a big, high picture like a stop sign, and I'm immediately recognizable as a human in the road.

FYI, here are the front and rear lights I hung on my MiniST2 and am very happy with - I just hang them on a charger when I charge up the main bike battery (both can be charged in place if your USB cables are long enough, but are easy and fast to remove if not) and yes the mounts adjust in only one axis so you'll need a level front bar, the rear orientation doesn't really matter as long as it's not pointing downward, so I hung mine from my seat's frame since the seatpost is angled too much and is blocked by my rear basket:

Front:  https://amzn.to/43VUbbz
a phenomenal light that I use in slow-strobe mode during the day for fantastic visibility and hours of time on a charge; I almost never ride after dark, but it has brightness settings all the way to blistering with a great beam shape that doesn't annoy oncoming traffic - far superior to stock Rad lights of any sort.  Easy to unclip to use as a flashlight or to prevent theft.  They offer less-powerful models, but I live in a rural area with no road lights and often no bike lanes or even shoulders, where moonless nights are utterly dark out on the road, so the high-power brightness setting is useful.  Because of their weak, rectangular and tightly-focused beam pattern, the Rad lights are actually dangerous under these conditions, where you've either already hit what was out of the range of light or it's moved past the beam and disappeared.  Nasty Rad lights, those.

Rear: https://amzn.to/46lh0qU
a long-lasting and well-made rechargeable with auto-on/auto-off motion sensor so you don't have to remember to turn it on or off each ride - the flash settings last a very long time (I use "dit-dit .... dit-dit-dit-dit" which is an attention-grabbing sequence) and this thing is BRIGHT.  I use it along with my flashing stock Rad taillight.  When I ordered mine, it was sold as a single, choosing either front or rear, so I didn't bother ordering the front. 

It just occurred to me to pass along a tip about a great little accessory that truly enhanced my routine 20"-rim MiniST2 maintenance.  And Ryan, I suggest you consider adding it to your list of linked accessories if you try and like it as well.

I have a Specialized Mountain Bike floor pump, a low-pressure, high-quality tire inflator that reads from 0-50 psi and was EXTREMELY hard to find with only 120-psi or so pumps out there.  The lower pressure model moves a much higher volume of air per stroke (great for giant ballooney fat-bike tires) is more accurate and easier to read for my 30 psi Rad bike.  But, it has an extremely-long flip-up locking handle to attach itself to the valve and on the rear tire it's a true pain in the butt to align and snap into place because the motor is so close to the 20" rim it's a knuckle-buster trying to flip the handle up and down to attach/detach from the valve.  So frustrating that I often just skipped adding a couple pounds of pressure when I wanted to - a bad idea.

Enter this thing:  https://amzn.to/46kQcah
  a short extension hose I just keep attached to the pump at all times.  It's very low-profile and just snaps onto the valve easily, with a 90-degree connection.  To remove, just push a little button and it pops right off, losing no pressure.

This made a vast improvement to the process and I now routinely add pressure when needed, not just when I felt like wrestling with it.  Built to last a hundred years and so it's a little pricey, but take it from me, you'll find it worth having too, if you have 20" e-bike rims.

NOTE: Jaco makes another very similar model (the S2X) that's slightly cheaper but that's because it doesn't have a 90-degree fitting, which is essential to provide more clearance.  So, double-check your order before pushing the Buy button.

It seems like your bike needs a little newly-assembled tweaking and adjusting.  I assume you're not too experienced with bike maintenance?  If so, find a local bike shop to go over it and test/adjust everything not only to get it running right but to make sure it's solidly and safely assembled.  You never know not only what you, but the Rad factory as well, might have missed.  I was away from bicycles for decades before buying my MiniST2, and my decades of motorcycles didn't help much, so I carted my unopened Rad box over to my local shop to have them assemble, mount the Rad rear rack I'd bought and fully-tune it up for $150, money well spent.  They aren't an e-bike shop, but had assembled 3 Rads within the past week and were happy to have the business.  It was and is running like a Swiss watch two years on, even after hundreds of miles and my own addition of hybrid-hydraulic brakes and a 35A controller upgrade along with other miscellany to make it mine.

In fact, see if you can get ahold of Rad service while you're still under their 14-day trial period and explain to them what you've written here (as you may have noticed, getting ahold of Rad service these days can be a pain in the butt, but if you happen to live near one of their stores, call to let them know you want to bring it in) and see if they have a local dealer certified to work on Rads - at a minimum their warranty should cover brake fixing and shifter alignment.

Even if there's no Rad-certified dealer locally, any bike shop should be capable of working on all the "bikey" mechanical parts of the bike (and Rad should either pay the bill or reimburse you) - you may have to talk them into it if they're afraid of e-bikes, but e-bikes are a big part of the future of bike shops too, so they're going to have to learn and like I said the "bikey" stuff should be no sweat to them.  No, your derailleur should NOT change gears 'automatically' - that sounds like a simple adjustment a bike shop could do blindfolded if you don't want to learn how yourself.  Same for the brakes, which just may be a little low on fluid.

Most non-ebike-certified shops seem to be very reluctant to touch the electrics, but setting up your headlight properly should be no sweat, although I regard Rad lights (any of them, including the post-sale "premium" lights) to be mostly decorative and so poorly designed and lensed to be still on my bike only as an emergency backup to my main light ( https://amzn.to/44kmCQy ) which is a fantastic light I highly recommend, although I almost never ride at night, the slow-strobe is phenomenal for visibility to others during daylight hours and lasts a long time on a charge by strobing instead of staying on).

Good luck and have fun!