Old Giant struggles with hill.

[saneagle]

Although I must have missed where you said that in the other thread.

LcD Display

Think i figured it out. Altered some settings. I have the pedal sensor working intermittantly. Think i need a reset and count the magnets in the motor like saneagle suggested The motor magnets setting doesn't stop anything from working, even if you have it wildly wrong.

www.pedelecs.co.uk

 

[jarnold]

LcD Display

Think i figured it out. Altered some settings. I have the pedal sensor working intermittantly. Think i need a reset and count the magnets in the motor like saneagle suggested The motor magnets setting doesn't stop anything from working, even if you have it wildly wrong.

www.pedelecs.co.uk

Ok, I thought you were referring to one of my threads. Anyway, it all makes perfect sense. I'll go for a test ride later.

 

[jarnold]

I set P1 to 117. Works great now! Have to put in a bit of leg power at the very top of the hill, where it gets a bit steeper, but I'm very pleased.
Thanks for all the help.
I may see if I can resurrect the rear dropout torque sensor now.

 

[Presterjohn]

If you have a KT controller, you can have a legal throttle with P4 =1 and C4=3. That way, the throttle gives 4mphwhen not pedalling and 15 mph when pedalling. It works like a boost button. You ride along at level 3 or whatever you want, then when you press the throttle, it goes immediately to level 5 to boost you across crossings, round roundabouts and up short hills. When you let go of the throttle, it goes back to level 3 - much easier than working your way up and down the buttons.

Hello, I would like to have this facility. Please could you explain it in more detail. The throttle I got with the psw power kit is a thumb throttle and I never fitted it because I understood that this was illegal in the UK. I don't know how to reprogramme the controller either. Thank you.

 

[saneagle]

Hello, I would like to have this facility. Please could you explain it in more detail. The throttle I got with the psw power kit is a thumb throttle and I never fitted it because I understood that this was illegal in the UK. I don't know how to reprogramme the controller either. Thank you.

Basically, the throttle becomes a level 5 button. Whenever you press the lever, you get level 5 and when you let go of it, power returns to whatever pedal assist setting you were on.

Example 1: you're pedalling along on level 1 getting just enough power to help you on a flat road. You come to a short steep hill. Normally you'd press up, up, up and up to get level 5 for enough power to help you up the hill, then you have to press down, down, down, down to get back to level 1. That's all a bit of a pain. Instead, when you start the hill, you press and hold the throttle to get level 5, then let go when you reach the top of the hill. Easy!

Example 2: You're pedalling alon at a relaxed 10 mpn on level 2, and you come to a dangerous cross-road that you need to cross quickly. Press the throttle to get level 5 power, which takes you straight to 15 mph. Once over, you let go of the throttle and revert to your previous mode. In that situation you don't really have time to go up through all the level buttons.

In every ride, there are multiple times that you need an instant burst of speed or power. The key word is "instant".

 

[Cadence]

And the important bit is that the throttle will only work if you are pedalling. That makes it legal as it is pedal assist only above 6km/h.

 

[Presterjohn]

Thank you. It sounds like it would certainly be worth doing. What about the scenario when you have to stop on a hill and can't get pedalling at all so that the PA S sensor will start the motor?

 

[saneagle]

Thank you. It sounds like it would certainly be worth doing. What about the scenario when you have to stop on a hill and can't get pedalling at all so that the PA S sensor will start the motor?

It will give 4 mph to get you started.

 

[Presterjohn]

Hi, thank you. Is it possible to use an ON/Off pushbutton instead of the thumb throttle?

 

[saneagle]

Hi, thank you. Is it possible to use an ON/Off pushbutton instead of the thumb throttle?

Yes. The best way is to use a 5K or 10K preset to divide the voltage down to about 4v, then put the switch on the red wire. The switch should be a normally off type push to make type, like a horn button.

 

[Presterjohn]

Ok , good, that is most helpful, thank you.

 

[Presterjohn]

Hi, i've tried this and it's not working. I wonder if I misunderstood you. There is 36volts across the red and black wires. I have divided this down with resistors to about 3.5volt and switched this voltage onto the blue wire. it does nothing but the system still works but as before. The P1 is 88, P2 is 1, P3 is 1, P4 is 1 , P5 is 11. C1 is 2, C2 is 0, C3 is 8, C4 is 3, C5 is 10, C6 is 3. Are these correct? It's very easy to alter one by mistake. Thank you

 

[saneagle]

Hi, i've tried this and it's not working. I wonder if I misunderstood you. There is 36volts across the red and black wires. I have divided this down with resistors to about 3.5volt and switched this voltage onto the blue wire. it does nothing but the system still works but as before. The P1 is 88, P2 is 1, P3 is 1, P4 is 1 , P5 is 11. C1 is 2, C2 is 0, C3 is 8, C4 is 3, C5 is 10, C6 is 3. Are these correct? It's very easy to alter one by mistake. Thank you

You divide the 5v throttle supply, not the battery. You connect the red to one side of the preset and the black to the other side, then use the tap for the signal.

Also, the controller checks for a zero throttle signal (less than 1.2v) at start-up. If it doesn't see that, it won't give any power until it does.

 

[Sturmey]

I spent a bit of time with a push button throttle but I could never get it to work satisfactory. It seems to work great in the shed but when you use it on the road I run into problems. On first use it works fine with full power as expected for a very short while. But the power then seems to fade down until eventually it works at the level of the walk assist only. It stays at this level for the remainder of the journey. It will work again next day (or if you power down/up the controller) with full power for a short while and then fades again.
I have tried adding a capacitor (both 1 & 10 mf) between signal and negative in case there was a contact bounce problem and to give a slow ramp up but this done nothing other than adding a delay to the motor response (about 1 sec with the larger capacitor). I have tried this with two separate KT controllers (2018 & 2023). I am wondering if the controller is 'smart' and senses that the push button arrangement is not a proper throttle signal (e.g it doesn't vary). I have no error codes.
I measured the original throttle voltages at the time and adjusted the potentiometer to match.
The 5V power measured at 4.43V as its fed out via a diode in the controller. The original throttle signal measured .903v at rest and 3.69 v when fully pressed (flat out). The signal wire internal resistance in controller is 100K.
The circuit is something like below but I think I used something like 18K rather than 20k to get nearer the voltage of the original throttle but it did not make any difference.

 

[saneagle]

I spent a bit of time with a push button throttle but I could never get it to work satisfactory. It seems to work great in the shed but when you use it on the road I run into problems. On first use it works fine with full power as expected for a very short while. But the power then seems to fade down until eventually it works at the level of the walk assist only. It stays at this level for the remainder of the journey. It will work again next day (or if you power down/up the controller) with full power for a short while and then fades again.
I have tried adding a capacitor (both 1 & 10 mf) between signal and negative in case there was a contact bounce problem and to give a slow ramp up but this done nothing other than adding a delay to the motor response (about 1 sec with the larger capacitor). I have tried this with two separate KT controllers (2018 & 2023). I am wondering if the controller is 'smart' and senses that the push button arrangement is not a proper throttle signal (e.g it doesn't vary). I have no error codes.
I measured the original throttle voltages at the time and adjusted the potentiometer to match.
The 5V power measured at 4.43V as its fed out via a diode in the controller. The original throttle signal measured .903v at rest and 3.69 v when fully pressed (flat out). The signal wire internal resistance in controller is 100K.
The circuit is something like below but I think I used something like 18K rather than 20k to get nearer the voltage of the original throttle but it did not make any difference.

View attachment 64150

It should work OK with a preset. I've used potentiometers on a few different contollers as cruise control devices, and they all worked. Maybe 4.4v is a bit high. 3.8v would be more like a normal max throttle signal, or maybe your preset was faulty.

 

[Presterjohn]

I've got it working now, the sketch was very helpful. There are two connectors which fitted the throttle, I had plugged it into the one that went directly to the controller. That was why it gave me 36V, not 5V. So thanks for the help.