Cyclamatic controller shunt mod

[Fordulike]

Firstly, i do not advise anyone to replicate what i have done for reasons i will explain later.
As my Cyclamatic Power Plus has run out of warranty, i decided to have a tinker to see if i could improve upon the average performance.
After reading up on controller shunt mods, i opened her up and carried out the procedure.
Basically, i soldered a small piece of coat hanger wire across the existing single shunt.
This was easy enough to do as the circuit board slides out of the casing and the shunt terminations are easy to access.
After a test run of about 2 miles, here are the pros and cons of carrying out the mod:

Pros

1) A very noticable increase in pulling power (torque) from standstill.
2) Hill climbing ability greatly inproved.

Cons

1) If still under warranty, will most definitely void it.
2) Motor sound much louder on part throttle. Ok on full. No more stealth.
3) Haven't done a distance test, but very likely to decrease total distance due to drawing more amps.
4) Probably fry the battery a lot quicker than standard setup.
5) No idea how long controller will last with modified setup.

As you can see, the cons outweigh the pros, but definitely something worth doing if you can put up with the increased noise but want extra pulling power for the hills.

 

[flecc]

And the stress on the internal nylon epicyclic gears will be much greater, so they could fail early. This is especially true if pulling away from a standstill with motor power. Some motor makes use steel gears on the higher power hub motors for this reason.
.

 

[NRG]

It's a mod I performed on my Cohnis motor controller a few years back however, bypassing the shunt completely as you did is not a good idea as I think you've recognised. A better way is to add a bit more solder to the pads on the cct board building up a small ramp at each end. This way will increase the current in a more controlled manner, I increased the output on mine by 10% just by adding more solder.

 

[Fordulike]

And the stress on the internal nylon epicyclic gears will be much greater, so they could fail early. This is especially true if pulling away from a standstill with motor power. Some motor makes use steel gears on the higher power hub motors for this reason.
.

I think that's what the extra noise is. A kind of gearbox kind of whine.

 

[jbond]

It's a mod I performed on my Cohnis motor controller a few years back however, bypassing the shunt completely as you did is not a good idea as I think you've recognised. A better way is to add a bit more solder to the pads on the cct board building up a small ramp at each end. This way will increase the current in a more controlled manner, I increased the output on mine by 10% just by adding more solder.

I wish you hadn't told me that! The rational view is to have a calibrated amp/watt/volt meter (like a CA), to alter the programming of the controller and then to do some more or less scientific adjustments. Especially checking along the way for the effects on controller and motor temperature. The way you did with your replacement controller. But for those of us with non-programmable controllers and no amp meter, it's still so tempting to get the soldering iron out and start adding solder. No. No. I mustn't start down this route!

The typical 250w, 36v 10AHr legal kit is probably over-specced on everything except the battery and can probably handle 50% more amps with no problem. The exception is the battery that might have a reduced life and suffer from voltage sag under full load. But then I believe you've got a 10Ahr Alien-Phylion LiOn battery and a controller set to ~20A battery limit.

 

[Fordulike]

Just do it, you know you want to.
You a man or mouse

 

[flecc]

I think that's what the extra noise is. A kind of gearbox kind of whine.

Yes, the gears will be a major source of that added noise, the gear teeth under greater pressure. A contributory component will be the stronger pole to passing magnet attraction, increasing the radial fluctuation vibration noise element.
.

 

[Fordulike]

Yes, the gears will be a major source of that added noise, the gear teeth under greater pressure. A contributory component will be the stronger pole to passing magnet attraction, increasing the radial fluctuation vibration noise element.
.

I'm guessing a well designed motor will iron out these undesirable factors, whereas the Cyclamatic appears to be at the knock em out on the cheap end of the market.
Still a great entry level bike though

 

[flecc]

I'm guessing a well designed motor will iron out these undesirable factors, whereas the Cyclamatic appears to be at the knock em out on the cheap end of the market.
Still a great entry level bike though

It certainly is. Noise related to power increase affects them all though, even the best of the SB motors.
My hub motor noise article explains the reasons.
.

 

[Fordulike]

It's a mod I performed on my Cohnis motor controller a few years back however, bypassing the shunt completely as you did is not a good idea as I think you've recognised. A better way is to add a bit more solder to the pads on the cct board building up a small ramp at each end. This way will increase the current in a more controlled manner, I increased the output on mine by 10% just by adding more solder.

Thanks NRG, I took out the coat hanger link and added a bit of solder up one side of the shunt.
Torque is up from standard and the noise from the motor is no louder than standard.
Took is out for a ride today and it was still pulling strong at 12 miles with the battery indicator showing half. I use full throttle all the time, but peddle too.
Cheapest mod ever

 

[NRG]

Nice one! Glad it worked for you. Spoke to my pal who bought a cyclamatic but found it lacking on hill and he's up for me tweaking the controller in the same way....

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Fordulike. Thanks very much for posting details of your modification. It's much better when someone actually does the mod so that we know how it works rather than spending all the time discussing the theory. I'm sure the extra noise is nothing to worry about. It just means that the motor is pushing out more power. Naturally, it'ill wear a bit quicker, you can't avoid that with more power but I'm sure it'll last long enough to give you loads of enjoyment, and if it does eventually break (which I doubt), you can always get another (better) motor because they're so cheap (less than £100). Some people spend their lives wishing, others spend their lives doing. We know which category you're in.

 

[Fordulike]

Fordulike. Thanks very much for posting details of your modification. It's much better when someone actually does the mod so that we know how it works rather than spending all the time discussing the theory. I'm sure the extra noise is nothing to worry about. It just means that the motor is pushing out more power. Naturally, it'ill wear a bit quicker, you can't avoid that with more power but I'm sure it'll last long enough to give you loads of enjoyment, and if it does eventually break (which I doubt), you can always get another (better) motor because they're so cheap (less than £100). Some people spend their lives wishing, others spend their lives doing. We know which category you're in.

No problem d8veh, i'm halfway through collecting the parts for a more powerful bike, so i had nothing to lose with carrying out the mod.
I ride mostly off road anyway, dirt tracks, cycle paths etc, so extra torque is more useful than outright speed.
To give the Cyclamatic credit, it's had a hard life off road, which it's not designed for, and it's coped with it all admirably.
The costs:

£350 for the bike
£40 for Scwalbe Marathon Plus tyres
£10 bike computer
£10 Shimano front caliper and brake upgrade
Free power mod and strategically placed pieces of felt padding and rubber to stop the battery rattling.

All in all, a bargain for so much fun

 

[NRG]

Fordulike. Thanks very much for posting details of your modification. It's much better when someone actually does the mod so that we know how it works rather than spending all the time discussing the theory. I'm sure the extra noise is nothing to worry about. It just means that the motor is pushing out more power. Naturally, it'ill wear a bit quicker, you can't avoid that with more power but I'm sure it'll last long enough to give you loads of enjoyment, and if it does eventually break (which I doubt), you can always get another (better) motor because they're so cheap (less than £100). Some people spend their lives wishing, others spend their lives doing. We know which category you're in.

Eh! What do you mean by that?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

That "that is" is that "that is not" is not. Is that it? It is.

 

[Fabel999]

Where can I buy a motor for £ 100.—
Because I would like to tune this one instead of the original one which still is under warranty.

Cheers

 

[Fabel999]

Hi guys.

First of all thanks for your treads.

We are driving a L8 HS Flyer 2009, I just bought that bike two weeks ago.
I am happy with this bike and also with the gear changing.
But Flyer gives only 150% power on that model, they say the gear is to “fragile” for 200% on the other hand Kalhoff germany gives 200% paired by 300W.

I would like the get only a little more power on that engine, for pulling our trailer up the nice Swiss-mountains.

Does anybody of you have a enough experience to make a exactly description (tuning manual, because don’t want to risk to loose the warranty. Is a removable tuning possible?

Thanks a lot and best regards from Switzerland.

Fabel

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Where can I buy a motor for £ 100.—
Because I would like to tune this one instead of the original one which still is under warranty.

Cheers

BMSbattery.com or EVassemble.com. It takes about 4-6 weeks from placing your order. Don't worry about them both being Chinese. I have used them both and, apart from dodgy communications, they have proven to be honorable suppliers. It's worth getting a stock of bits at the same time as shipping is less pro rata.

 

[alban]

Heh Fordulike - could you show us Cyclamatic owners what you did - in pics?! Dismantling the controller; identifying the 'shunt'; which end you put the solder etc. Caveats? - like frying other components for instance. 'Twould be a help to us more electronically challenged guys who need a bit more grunt to get us up them thar hills.

 

[Fordulike]

I'll give it a go, but will probably take a couple of days to sort out pics.
Might be a bit amateurish, until I get a grip with posting pics and text together