Experience of Running a 24 Volt Viking Eco stepper at 36Volts

oldgroaner

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Nov 15, 2015
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The bike and it's battery is starting it's Fourth year, and though still holding enough charge for 20 miles, it occurred to me to look round for a new battery, and having seen an earlier thread where someone had done so, replaced the 24v 8AH battery with a 36v 8AH one, a simple matter as they are the "Little Frog" style, and simply pushes on to two contacts on a carrier plate, and locks in place with a turn of the ignition key.

Initially I was impressed with the power even on the lowest setting of the handlebar control, but this soon paled, as the bike was far less controllable and simply went up in speed to the point where I couldn't pedal fast enough to contribute to the work.

I ended up touching the brakes now and again to turn off the power and lower the speed, to allow me to pedal, and since I wanted the bike to assist me and provide much needed exercise it was quite simply no longer the Ebike I wanted it to be.

I quickly realised that it would have to have a completely new control system of the right voltage that allowed greater control of the power at the lower end, and since it worked fine on the original 24 volts, why bother?
Today was the second day and after five miles suddenly the power died completely, so after a pedal back against a strong wind it looked as it I had blown something.

Arriving home I thought I would try the old battery and to my delight all was back to normal, so i went out again in the original set up, I'm pleased to have made a mistake, but learned a useful lesson.

As soon as I can spare the cash I shall be buying a battery of the correct voltage and disposing of the 36volt one.
The Viking stepper actually came to me as an exchange for my old Honda 125cc Scooter, so it owes me nothing.
I know it is at the bottom of the list when compared with quality E bikes, but i have to say i have done 2000 trouble free miles in the year that I have owned it, apart from punctures, and it has been very enjoyable to own and ride.
It is still rust free and the quality of the components more than adequate for the job.
I use it every day, except when away in summer caravanning where I use my Sparticle Brompton.
 
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Deleted member 4366

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Why not get a proper 36v controller that gives you 3 or 5 power levels? It'll be a lot cheaper than a battery.
 
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OldBob1

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Oct 11, 2012
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The new controllers are a great improvement to the original ones.
Regards Bob
 

oldgroaner

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Nov 15, 2015
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Why not get a proper 36v controller that gives you 3 or 5 power levels? It'll be a lot cheaper than a battery.
Thank you for the response, but I would also need a new LCD display and with the bike being a step through there is also likely to be problems with cable lengths and connectors too, which are rather off putting.
 

oldgroaner

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Nov 15, 2015
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The new controllers are a great improvement to the original ones.
Regards Bob
I'm sure your right, though there is the point that there is a question mark about how legal the 36v conversion makes the bike as someone has pointed out to me!
 

anotherkiwi

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Jan 26, 2015
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I'm sure your right, though there is the point that there is a question mark about how legal the 36v conversion makes the bike as someone has pointed out to me!
Who? They don't know what they are talking about. Batteries can be legally up to 48 V nominative (54.6 V hot off the charger). You have the legal obligation to restrict the speed at which assistance cuts off to 25 km/h/

I agree that a sine wave controller and LCD with 5 levels of power assistance (not 5 levels of speed) with a 36 V battery would increase your riding pleasure.
 
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Deleted member 4366

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Changing to 36v doesn't change your motor's rated power, so it has no effect on legality. Whovever told you otherwise is completely wrong.The controllers with LCDs and many others all give the option to limit the speed to 25 km/h.

If you want to go ahead, I can check wire lengths for you. The controller with LCD costs £40 including delivery.
 

oldgroaner

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 15, 2015
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Changing to 36v doesn't change your motor's rated power, so it has no effect on legality. Whovever told you otherwise is completely wrong.The controllers with LCDs and many others all give the option to limit the speed to 25 km/h.

If you want to go ahead, I can check wire lengths for you. The controller with LCD costs £40 including delivery.
Thanks for the information, could you advise where this bargain controller and LCD is available from please?
 

oldgroaner

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Deleted member 4366

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One thing you can do if the LCD wire is too short is to put the controller in a box low down on the front of the seat post.I made a couple of clamps out of aluminium strip and bolted through a standard plastic box for this one:

 

oldgroaner

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 15, 2015
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One thing you can do if the LCD wire is too short is to put the controller in a box low down on the front of the seat post.I made a couple of clamps out of aluminium strip and bolted through a standard plastic box for this one:

 

oldgroaner

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 15, 2015
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This is the Bike as you can see the layout makes it a bit awkward to fit an additional box

Congratulations by the way you have certainly created a veritable Fleet of superb Ebikes, and that Brompton is far better in terms of the efficiency of the controls and battery positioning than my Sparticle Brompton
 

anotherkiwi

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Jan 26, 2015
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I can't see you having any major cable length issues with a small bike like that. Are you handy with a soldering iron?
 

oldgroaner

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Nov 15, 2015
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I can't see you having any major cable length issues with a small bike like that. Are you handy with a soldering iron?
It is a very long run from the handlebar down under the frame and across the joint, and with the suspension there isn't a lot of places where an additional box can be fixed.
AS to soldering, yes i can do a fair job, bit the types of connectors used seem all to be crimped on and very small, which look rather off putting! and the space available for soldered and shrink tubed joints limited.
 
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Deleted member 4366

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The LCD cable on that controller is exactly 1.8 M from the connector to the base of the LCD. That's probably the same as what you already have.
 

oldgroaner

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 15, 2015
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The LCD cable on that controller is exactly 1.8 M from the connector to the base of the LCD. That's probably the same as what you already have.
Thank you!

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk
 

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