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Display settings for 52 volt battery - Solved

Started by Altema, January 26, 2021, 12:04:11 AM

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Altema

I'm just checking to see if anyone is running their Rad bike with an upgraded controller and 52 volt battery.

I'm specifically looking for the correct 52 volt settings for P5 (power monitoring mode), and C12 (minimum voltage).

FortunatelyTheMilk

KT LCD Controller?
The manuals I've read don't list anything above 48V, but I'd say 18 for the battery meter setting and 4 for the cutoff (which is the default)
https://www.bizobike.com/uploads/5/7/0/9/57094291/handleiding-bizobike-kt-lcd3.pdf

Altema

Quote from: FortunatelyTheMilk on January 26, 2021, 01:40:21 AM
KT LCD Controller?
The manuals I've read don't list anything above 48V, but I'd say 18 for the battery meter setting and 4 for the cutoff (which is the default)
https://www.bizobike.com/uploads/5/7/0/9/57094291/handleiding-bizobike-kt-lcd3.pdf
Yes, that is the display, and the same manual! The battery meter is something I can play around with, and I think your guess is pretty close.
The minimum voltage setting is a bit more critical though. "Zero" for a 52 volt battery is 42 volts, and taking it down to 37 volts could damage it.

Altema

I did some more research and found a version of the manual that was more technical. P5 is the power monitoring mode and "0" for real time voltage seems to be the safest. The settings for P5 go all the way up to 40, so I'm sure there is a smart monitoring setting that would work for 52 volts, but no one knows what it is yet. I'll stick with "0" until I know more or can experiment.

C12 is the controller minimum voltage, and one company told me to use "0", but this is incorrect. The highest setting is "7" which is 41.5 volts, so I'm just going to use that.

I'll post back if I get more data!

Altema

It turns out that the P5 setting goes all the way up to 62. So, I made a spreadsheet and used the partial data from one of the factory manuals, and extrapolated the data from there. This gave me a general pattern to use, and after experimentation, it seems like 24 or 25 is going to work nicely. With the battery at 59%, the setting of 24 shows 3 out if 4 bars. On 25, it shows two out of 4 bars. I'm going to leave it on 25 for now, and see if it follows the expected use. Will report back here!

Altema

#5
Test results are in, and the correct P5 setting for a 52 volt battery is 25. This displays the bars predictably.
4 bars is 75 to 100%
3 bars is 50 to 75%
2 bars is 25 to 50%
1 bar is below 25%

I did not observe the last bar flashing because the battery was still above 20% when I concluded my tests.

(note: edited to correct typo, changed 24 to 25)

Altema

Just editing the title to reflect this is solved now.

In summary, the correct settings for the KT LCD3 controller display for 52 volt batteries are:
P5=25 for power monitoring smart mode.
C12=7 for the controller minimum cutoff voltage. This is the set point for when the controller cuts power to the motor, but not the display or lights. Motor operation will resume in about 15 seconds if the voltage comes back up to safe levels, and you can continue to ride more gently.

reggy

Quote from: Altema on March 07, 2021, 06:27:10 AM
Just editing the title to reflect this is solved now.

In summary, the correct settings for the KT LCD3 controller display for 52 volt batteries are:
P5=25 for power monitoring smart mode.
C12=7 for the controller minimum cutoff voltage. This is the set point for when the controller cuts power to the motor, but not the display or lights. Motor operation will resume in about 15 seconds if the voltage comes back up to safe levels, and you can continue to ride more gently.
What is the cut off voltage value for c12=7?

From the manual here it says default? Or is it Default value (40)+1V. Would 41 not be too low? Read 44 is cut off for a 52 volt battery.
https://ebikeescape.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Bolton_Controller_Manual_Rad_Power_Bikes.pdf

reggy

Quote from: Altema on February 01, 2021, 12:56:43 PM
I did some more research and found a version of the manual that was more technical. P5 is the power monitoring mode and "0" for real time voltage seems to be the safest. The settings for P5 go all the way up to 40, so I'm sure there is a smart monitoring setting that would work for 52 volts, but no one knows what it is yet. I'll stick with "0" until I know more or can experiment.

C12 is the controller minimum voltage, and one company told me to use "0", but this is incorrect. The highest setting is "7" which is 41.5 volts, so I'm just going to use that.

I'll post back if I get more data!
Is 41.5v not sufficient? How low do you take your batteries? for a 52v battery at 25% is 46.2v.
41.5v is below 0%. 42v on a 52 volt battery is 0%. Won't the BMS kick in before the controller anyway?

What's healthiest only take is down to 25 - 30%?

https://electricbike.com/forum/forum/batteries/18650/44036-voltage-chart-for-52v

Altema

Quote from: reggy on June 29, 2022, 11:51:37 AM
Quote from: Altema on February 01, 2021, 12:56:43 PM
I did some more research and found a version of the manual that was more technical. P5 is the power monitoring mode and "0" for real time voltage seems to be the safest. The settings for P5 go all the way up to 40, so I'm sure there is a smart monitoring setting that would work for 52 volts, but no one knows what it is yet. I'll stick with "0" until I know more or can experiment.

C12 is the controller minimum voltage, and one company told me to use "0", but this is incorrect. The highest setting is "7" which is 41.5 volts, so I'm just going to use that.

I'll post back if I get more data!
Is 41.5v not sufficient? How low do you take your batteries? for a 52v battery at 25% is 46.2v.
41.5v is below 0%. 42v on a 52 volt battery is 0%. Won't the BMS kick in before the controller anyway?

What's healthiest only take is down to 25 - 30%?

https://electricbike.com/forum/forum/batteries/18650/44036-voltage-chart-for-52v
I didn't want the cutoff point lower, I wanted it higher, and 41.5 was the highest cutoff point allowed by this controller. I would have preferred 43 or 45 volts.

My batteries rarely get below 30%, and when they do, I make sure to bring them up to between 50% and 70% after the ride until I'm ready to use them again. If I know I'm going to use a particular battery, I won't fully charge it until that day. I'm running a Phaserunner now which lets me program it however I want, and my controller low battery management kicks in at 46 volts.

I believe that chart you linked to is incorrect though, or perhaps an old chart from the early days of lithium ion? Most battery manufacturers have 42 volts as 0% for 52 volt batteries, and the BMS cutoff point where the battery turns off is 39 volts.

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