Lishui Controller Modification - Firmware Flash Project

Sparksandbangs

Pedelecer
Jan 16, 2025
241
87
OMG!!

Horrible.

I just had three mini pork pies defrosted from the freezer and a bottle of low alcohol beer. If I'd read that post before I ate them, I'd have had to put them in the bin.

:)
Does the low alcohol beer balance out the negative health benefit of the pork pies?
If you had 2 pork pies could you then have a full fat beer?
If there was an apple involved somewhere could you maybe have two beers?

Questions like this need answering.
 

saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
9,137
4,078
Telford
Does the low alcohol beer balance out the negative health benefit of the pork pies?
If you had 2 pork pies could you then have a full fat beer?
If there was an apple involved somewhere could you maybe have two beers?

Questions like this need answering.
Yes that works. I eat a packet of 4 Snickers bars before I order the 15" pizza for my dinner, so, when it comes, I throw on a couple of pieces of lettuce leaf to cancel out the Snickers, and I eat a couple of goji berries from the garden afterwards to cancel out the Pizza.
 

saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
9,137
4,078
Telford
You succeeded.
You have always been so factual for years and years
Getting old and cantankerous. The worst sufferers get programmed to swear that LiShui controllers are better than KT, Others are less afflicted, so they can see the truth, but it makes them more dogmatic in their views.
 

Sparksandbangs

Pedelecer
Jan 16, 2025
241
87
goji berries?
Getting old and cantankerous. The worst sufferers get programmed to swear that LiShui controllers are better than KT, Others are less afflicted, so they can see the truth, but it makes them more dogmatic in their views.
With the Goji berries and all I was going to suggest that you might need a firmware flash but realise you might get the wrong idea.
 

saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
9,137
4,078
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goji berries?

With the Goji berries and all I was going to suggest that you might need a firmware flash but realise you might get the wrong idea.
Yes, they're exceptionally high in anti-oxidants, so easily cancel out a 15" four cheese pizza with stuffed crust. I've even left off the lettuce a few times and didn't notice any detrimental effect apart from three hours of extreme sleepiness, which I guess is caused by the Gojis doing their anti-oxidising.
 

saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
9,137
4,078
Telford
That's a clever plan. I must put that on my Youtube channel on how to live forever.

Gogi berries? I'd not heard of them before. What is the active miracle ingredient? You'd have thought that we would all have seen those adverts on social media which say stuff like - 'The Trick Your Dietitian Doesn't Want You To Know', but I really haven't seen them. I must go and look them up on AI.

You are a mine of information as usual.
:)
About 10 years ago, they were all over social media and all the pop stars were eating them. It made them all young and fit.

I got this from Google AI:

"Yes, goji berries are often considered a "superfood" due to their high concentration of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They are a rich source of vitamin C, beta-carotene (which converts to vitamin A), iron, and other beneficial compounds. While research on specific health claims is ongoing, goji berries are a nutrient-dense food that can be a healthy addition to a balanced diet, according to health publications. "

See that it mentions a balanced diet. I'm pretty sure that it means they're no good on their own, you have to balance them with junk food.
 

Sparksandbangs

Pedelecer
Jan 16, 2025
241
87
Could you sum up the differences between the old lishui setup and your OSF implementation beside the change of LCD?
This may answer your question. Some of the information may be outdated though.

"Lishui controllers are used in many pre-built pedelecs in the "DIY store segment," such as some models from Fischer, NCM, Prophete (Zündapp), etc. The open firmware makes it possible, for example, to convert from speed levels to current levels, display arbitrary speed limits, retrofit thumb throttle, etc. The biggest step forward is certainly the connection of a torque sensor, which then puts the bike in the same league as pedelecs that are often twice or three times as expensive. Flashing the firmware is possible even for users with little computer experience thanks to a graphical user interface for Windows computers. "


Edited link. Thank you @chris_n
 
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chris_n

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 29, 2016
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Niedeau, Austria
This may answer your question. Some of the information may be outdated though.

"Lishui controllers are used in many pre-built pedelecs in the "DIY store segment," such as some models from Fischer, NCM, Prophete (Zündapp), etc. The open firmware makes it possible, for example, to convert from speed levels to current levels, display arbitrary speed limits, retrofit thumb throttle, etc. The biggest step forward is certainly the connection of a torque sensor, which then puts the bike in the same league as pedelecs that are often twice or three times as expensive. Flashing the firmware is possible even for users with little computer experience thanks to a graphical user interface for Windows computers. "

Might work better.
 
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Sparksandbangs

Pedelecer
Jan 16, 2025
241
87
Checked the battery bars all the way down and working really well. Pleased with the result of the code changes.
Changed to the on/off throttle just to see if it works. It does but how quickly do you get used to something better. Just couldn't get on with it. Switched straight back to the graduated throttle.

Charged the battery and the plan was to swap out with a 36V battery and test that out but another idea came up.

There has always been a known bug with the firmware that has become a feature for some people so has never been corrected. As the controller regulates the motor current and not the battery current this means that the gain in power increases with speed. I had moderated this by increasing the power delivered at lower wheel speeds. It improved it but it was still noticeable.

A way around it was to increase the assist level current slightly to bump it up at lower levels. Which got me thinking why not moderate the increase by linking it with battery current. Now if the battery current is below the point where it should be the phase current is increased to compensate. I now have the power delivery flat lining from 0mph to legal cut off.

I've almost removed any surging around the legal cut off but there is still a tiny amount. I can't see what's doing it so might have to draw some graphs to help me visualise the behaviour.

Will try to test out the 36V battery next week.
 

saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
9,137
4,078
Telford
Checked the battery bars all the way down and working really well. Pleased with the result of the code changes.
Changed to the on/off throttle just to see if it works. It does but how quickly do you get used to something better. Just couldn't get on with it. Switched straight back to the graduated throttle.

Charged the battery and the plan was to swap out with a 36V battery and test that out but another idea came up.

There has always been a known bug with the firmware that has become a feature for some people so has never been corrected. As the controller regulates the motor current and not the battery current this means that the gain in power increases with speed. I had moderated this by increasing the power delivered at lower wheel speeds. It improved it but it was still noticeable.

A way around it was to increase the assist level current slightly to bump it up at lower levels. Which got me thinking why not moderate the increase by linking it with battery current. Now if the battery current is below the point where it should be the phase current is increased to compensate. I now have the power delivery flat lining from 0mph to legal cut off.

I've almost removed any surging around the legal cut off but there is still a tiny amount. I can't see what's doing it so might have to draw some graphs to help me visualise the behaviour.

Will try to test out the 36V battery next week.
The normal KT software gives absolutely constant power on any level, regardless of speed, except when the back emf is enough to reduce the current. I showed that on the chart I provided in a post above somewhere. Can't you chuck out all what's in your software and make it like that?

That's the best thing about KT controllers. The selectable costant current allows you to pedal as hard or easy as you want. As soon as a controller starts choosing or adjusting the current without your input, you've lost control. That's why speed control is shite and those diabolical ones that give power according to pedal speed.

I thought the idea of this firmware was to put the KT software into a Lishui controller, but it's starting to sound like the normal abominations you get when people start messing with something that's already pretty good.
 

Sparksandbangs

Pedelecer
Jan 16, 2025
241
87
I've produced graph for illustration purposes. The numbers are made up so don't read too much into it.

64022
Left axis power in Watts, bottom axis wheel speed in kmph.

The controller uses phase current in all it's calculations. As a result when the speed increases the power delivered increases (blue line). In the original software this is seen as a feature for travelling around in flat conditions with few hills.
The ideal for me is a constant level of power delivery (orange line). I had tried to correct this by increasing phase current using a speed based calculation. The lower the speed the more phase current delivered. It had improved it and made the line flatten but there was still a noticeable difference between slow and higher speed.

I do wonder if my eyes hadn't been glued to the Watt meter on the LCD3 whether I would even have known.

The change I have made is to remove the speed based correction and correct using battery current. The controller sets a target battery current say 13% of maximum and increases the phase current until that is reached. This has produced an output as far as I can tell like the orange line.
 
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saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
9,137
4,078
Telford
I've produced graph for illustration purposes. The numbers are made up so don't read too much into it.

View attachment 64022
Left axis power in Watts, bottom axis wheel speed in kmph.

The controller uses phase current in all it's calculations. As a result when the speed increases the power delivered increases (blue line). In the original software this is seen as a feature for travelling around in flat conditions with few hills.
The ideal for me is a constant level of power delivery (orange line). I had tried to correct this by increasing phase current using a speed based calculation. The lower the speed the more phase current delivered. It had improved it and made the line flatten but there was still a noticeable difference between slow and higher speed.

I do wonder if my eyes hadn't been glued to the Watt meter on the LCD3 whether I would even have known.

The change I have made is to remove the speed based correction and correct using battery current. The controller sets a target battery current say 13% of maximum and increases the phase current until that is reached. This has produced an output as far as I can tell like the orange line.
What do you mean by power? Constant current gives constant torque, which is what we feel as power and is constant power from the battery. Output power is torque times speed, so the constant input power gives increasing output power as the bike speeds up until the back emf starts limiting the current.
 

Tony1951

Pedelecer
Jul 29, 2025
110
27
What do you mean by power? Constant current gives constant torque, which is what we feel as power and is constant power from the battery. Output power is torque times speed, so the constant input power gives increasing output power as the bike speeds up until the back emf starts limiting the current.
Last year, thanks to Guerney linking me to a web page which allows a serial connection to adjust the parameters of my BBS01, I was able to make changes to the settings.

I adjusted the PAS power levels to 100% of the max set power (15 amps) to the two higher PAS levels up to the MAX speed setting, which is 25KPH.

I set my lower PAS levels which I normally use to lower settings.

In the high settings (15 amp constant current up to max legal speed) I certainly get this feeling of real power as the bike speeds up on hills.
 

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