Carrera crossfire/vulcan tuning

tleaf100

Finding my (electric) wheels
Apr 1, 2020
13
5
Could someone supply me with a buying list for all the parts needed to replace ts, controller, display etc, chain came off, destroyed cables and tore the ts off and broke the mounts etc off the ts as well, so I'm basically left with a motor/wheel and battery and a grands worth of scrap, but am willing to rebuild it, its going to be used 90% of the time on canal towpaths, cos I live on a boat, so not too worried about fix being road legal..
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
19,991
8,173
60
West Sx RH
There quite a few controller options from cheapo to the slightly more expensive like KT.
Buy all the parts from the same place or an electronics kit.
You will need a new Bottom bracket to suit your bike I expect you will need a square taper one to use you existing cranks.
You will need an LCD, controller 17 -22a depending on your battery rating (continuous discharge rating), PAS sensor and disc 10 or 12 poles, speed sensor (maybe) but are cheap so get one, throttle if you want one (if so will need a brake cut off).
 

tleaf100

Finding my (electric) wheels
Apr 1, 2020
13
5
Starts to get more complicated than I realised from quick read of forum posts, pain in bum that new ts is not easily available for carrera, as that's all that's busted realy, wiring easy to do.
Do you know yourself of would anybody be able to post wireing diagram or pic of ts with wireing intact, all I have left is 4 way connector with 2 cables ripped clean out and 2 bits of bare wire to other 2,so I have no idea what proper wireing should be..
 

planter87

Finding my (electric) wheels
Nov 13, 2020
13
1
hi guys, new here. I have had a vulcan e for the last 3 years or so pretty much since they came out in the uk. i have used it to cycle to work for and put about 3000 miles on it. and like most here i would have liked it to have a bit more speed. anyway long story short my pedal sensor broke and forced my hand to modify this bike. i have done as above, kt15 controller, wiring kit, hand throttle, and kt lcd3 display just to get it going. the only issue really was joining the motor wiring cable from the kt controller to the suntour motor as they use different plugs. i ended up cutting and joining both. all wiring colours the same except the suntour cable uses a sheath / earth as one of the pins and the wiring kit does not. pretty simple to work out with a multimeter continuity test.

the controller pretty much fitted back inside the housing for the battery and i just needed to cut and join the live and neutral, we use crimp style butt connectors in work so please forgive the crudeness.

this bike is now off road for obvious reasons but i thought i would share with everyone a few pictures so you can see for yourself.

only downside is the wheel speed pickup which im assuming is a hall sensor inside the motor is a different count to what the kt controller wants to see. so the speedo reads up to 72kph where its likely only doing 20-22mph
 

Attachments

  • Like
Reactions: Tony Ling

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
19,991
8,173
60
West Sx RH
One can adjust the P1 and P2 settings to see if one can find the correct parameter value for the speed.
Keep a note of the current settings value.
Firstly try P2, adjust the figure 1 - 6 to see if the reading pans out. P2 deals with how many magnets are used for the speed sensing.

Once one has found the best one can try adjusting the P1 value as this correlate's also with speed. P1 value is equal to that of the internal gear ratio x winding magnets used. Even if the above two factors aren't known one can/should be able to come by the correct P1 values by trail and error using a gps when setting/adjusting P1 to match speed readouts.

Has/does anyone know the actual hub gear ratio and winding magnets within ?
 

planter87

Finding my (electric) wheels
Nov 13, 2020
13
1
i did notice different p codes / settings when scrolling through the menu on the display, as i read on the instructions that you could adjust the speed limiter on the kt controller or on the display, whichever controls it. i will have a more in depth look when i get home as i didnt want to fiddle too much with it as it was working, also the chinese to english instructions arent exactly clear as some things are worded exactly the same but in reality are different.
 

vfr400

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 12, 2011
9,822
3,985
Basildon
10 magnets and 14.3: 1 reduction ratio, so P1 should be 143.

There was one speed sensor magnet in Mickyroo's motor, so P2 should be set to 1, though there's always the possibility that you'rs has two magnets.. I reckon that you might have P2 set to zero and it's picking up the speed signal from the motor halls. Does the speed go to zero when you free-wheel?

You should post all your P and C parameters, as they're often way out.
 
  • Useful
Reactions: Nealh

planter87

Finding my (electric) wheels
Nov 13, 2020
13
1
no i think it keeps reading but i will check soon, im guessing that the motor can only go so fast anyway regardless of what speed it is reading.
 

vfr400

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 12, 2011
9,822
3,985
Basildon
no i think it keeps reading but i will check soon, im guessing that the motor can only go so fast anyway regardless of what speed it is reading.
The problem is the way it calculates the speed, not the way it reads it. it doesn't know how many pulses you get per revolution and it doesn't know your wheel size. You fix these things in the settings.
 

planter87

Finding my (electric) wheels
Nov 13, 2020
13
1
i had a look at the wheel sizes in the settings, the issue is i have a 27.5 inch wheel on the vulcan e but the closest on the settings is a 28 inch wheel, i think it has 26/28/700c and then some small wheels too. i literally only had about 5 minutes to flick through it last night.
 

vfr400

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 12, 2011
9,822
3,985
Basildon
i had a look at the wheel sizes in the settings, the issue is i have a 27.5 inch wheel on the vulcan e but the closest on the settings is a 28 inch wheel, i think it has 26/28/700c and then some small wheels too. i literally only had about 5 minutes to flick through it last night.
28" is the one to choose since it's the same size as 27.5" with an MTB tyre.
 

planter87

Finding my (electric) wheels
Nov 13, 2020
13
1
i set it to 28inch wheel, had to change the p2 to 1 as it was 0, then p1 to 143 as it was set at 46 i believe. speedo seems to be accurate within .1 or .2 mph compared to iphone gps speedo. just waiting for a standard crank set to arrive and i'll be done. just a cheapo set as im not super into cycling. racebikes (motorcycles) are more my thing tbh.

not that it'll make much difference but its got hybrid road tyres on it rather than the stock mtb tyres it came with.

all i could get on the cheap was a 40tooth front sprocket so the gearing will be slightly off. i think these bikes come with 42 standard but then i never used 9th gear as it was too slow and too high effort pedalling once the assist kicked off. if the motor or battery does fail i'd be more inclined to stick a bigger motor in though as i think the vulcan frame is a good candidate for a bit more speed. the longer frame really helps over an old rock rider frame that i had that is quite twitchy once going down steps etc.
 

vfr400

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 12, 2011
9,822
3,985
Basildon
i set it to 28inch wheel, had to change the p2 to 1 as it was 0, then p1 to 143 as it was set at 46 i believe. speedo seems to be accurate within .1 or .2 mph compared to iphone gps speedo. just waiting for a standard crank set to arrive and i'll be done. just a cheapo set as im not super into cycling. racebikes (motorcycles) are more my thing tbh.

not that it'll make much difference but its got hybrid road tyres on it rather than the stock mtb tyres it came with.

all i could get on the cheap was a 40tooth front sprocket so the gearing will be slightly off. i think these bikes come with 42 standard but then i never used 9th gear as it was too slow and too high effort pedalling once the assist kicked off. if the motor or battery does fail i'd be more inclined to stick a bigger motor in though as i think the vulcan frame is a good candidate for a bit more speed. the longer frame really helps over an old rock rider frame that i had that is quite twitchy once going down steps etc.
I reckon you'll need 48T chainring. I always chuck those cheapo square taper cranks and replace them with the cheapest Hollowtech ones. There are loads of good cheap used ones on Ebay. If you get a double one off a road bike, you can either fit a front derailleur and shifter or just hook it over with a twig if you get a really steep hill or your motor doesn't work for whatever reason. You need to buy a Hollowtech BB to go with it. Again you can get used ones really cheap on Ebay. Shimano SM-BB52 is the cheapest new one.
 

planter87

Finding my (electric) wheels
Nov 13, 2020
13
1
Surely a 48 tooth front would make 9th gear really long? Im not much if a stand up pedaler for uphill cycles any more after 3 years sitting my ass on an e bike its kinda taken the strength i had in my legs away. I used a real old claud butler steel frame racer about 5 years ago when i started cycling to work. It wasnt pretty but i could bang out 20-22mph on that sucker no problem. The e bike averaged my route the same time but it was nicer feeling like real progress on the long boring straights on the butler.
Still the 40 tooth front was only a £15 crank set so no doubt its made of cheap chinese alloy and easily replaceable once proof of concept is achieved.
Ps vfr400 is s nice little bike. Always wanted one for the gear driven cams, v4 engine single sided swingarm etc. I had to settle for an aprilia rsv4 factory, panigale and i have an old aprilia mille ive had since the dawn of time
 

planter87

Finding my (electric) wheels
Nov 13, 2020
13
1
One more thing i meant to ask, what type of pas sensor can i use with this, there is a pretty neat looking small left side sensor which looks like the dimensions will fit the vulcan bottom bracket but theres no point buying and waiting for a month if it wont work. Does the pas over ride the throttle or do both work simultaneously. I.e pedal pedal up to speed and throttle to coast / save legs or vice versa?
have to say i havnt noticed any motor run on without brake sensors fitted once the throttle is shut off motor stops and coasts
 

vfr400

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 12, 2011
9,822
3,985
Basildon
I prefer the 8 or 10 magnet pedal sensors because they're the most compatible.
48/11 gives a cadence of just over 60 at 20 mph.
 

Advertisers