PowaCycle Power Switch

[CameraDealer]

After some great help from this forum I bought two new bikes. They're for holiday use and I didn't want to go mad so I bought a eZee Liv for me and a PowaCycle Windsor with Li-ion battery for my wife. I'd have preferred a Liv for her as well as it's a better bike but she wanted the step-through frame of the Windsor, which isn't available on the Liv.

Anyway, having bored you to death with that, here's the problem. On my Liv power is 'on demand', which means that you can pedal as much as you want but you only consume power when you twist the throttle.

Now on the Windsor, there's a handlebar switch that says 'Off' and 'On'. It's got three positions but the first two are both pedal-assist-on. The third is 'moped' mode but even in this mode you still get power assist.

So, if you're riding on a nice flat road, you cannot stop the pedal-assist! The only way to conserve the battery on your outward journey is to switch it off, which means stopping! Two minutes later of course you come to a hill and decide that you need power, so you stop again and switch the battery on!

What a farce! What is the point of a switch that has an 'off' setting, but doesn't switch anything off?

Has anyone come across this problem and has anyone found a way to get the switch changed or altered so that you can switch the power on and off as required?

Thanks.

 

[flecc]

The switch is like the Giant Lafree one, and on that, Off means Off. I'm not familiar with your switch, but it sounds wrong. Failing confirmation in here, I think you ought to ring Powacycle and ask what it is normally. Your switch may be wrongly wired or just have a short at one point.

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[CameraDealer]

The switch is like the Giant Lafree one, and on that, Off means Off. I'm not familiar with your switch, but it sounds wrong. Failing confirmation in here, I think you ought to ring Powacycle and ask what it is normally. Your switch may be wrongly wired or just have a short at one point.

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Thanks but I've done that and they confirm that it's the norm. The dealer from whom I bought it told me to put my hand down and switch off the battery. But I will not let my wife do this. It's a dangerous manoeuvre and cycling can be dangerous enough already.

I think that the problem is that it's a generic switch that they use, but it's crazy. The switch has an 'Off' position but it doesn't switch anything off!

I can't believe that no one has complained about this before. I phoned PowaCycle and some chap said that he'd have a look at it to see if it could be changed but I'm not holding my breath.

This is a definite safety issue as there is no doubt that some people will risk putting their hands down between their legs to switch off the battery using the key.

 

[flecc]

Yes, that does sound dodgy advice, and I wouldn't want to rely on the equivalent on my eZee bikes which have a similar key position. As you say, strange that no-one has objected to this before, A to B magazine not mentioning it in their test. The Henshaws are powerful riders, so possibly they just ride much of the time in their fairly flat area beyond the 15 mph cut-off when the motor isn't operating anyway. They have a Windsor on long term test with Peter Henshaw, so he may mention it when the report comes out in due course.

Thinking back to the Powacycle batteries I've stripped to scavenge the cellpacks, the keyswitch operates the full battery current of course, which could reach 15 amps. It wouldn't be practical to switch that at the handlebars without a very heavy cable feed and a heavy duty switch, so that's probably why it's like it is. The Twist I mentioned does the switching via it's mainboard, using semiconductor switching of the main current there. The hub motor Powacycle has a rather simpler controller arrangement which might not easily accommodate independent switching.
.

 

[Jennykins]

I found that switch issue too when I had my test ride of a Salisbury and Windsor.

The dealer laughed it off and I assumed it was because they had used a generic switch.

I'm not too fussed since I'll be happy to use it on all the time anyway.

(About to purchase a NiMh Windsor)

jen.

 

[frank9755]

I can confirm that there is no fault - that is how the switch works!

I think Flecc has hit the nail on the head - to enable the switch to control whether the power is on or off altogether you would need either heavy duty wiring or more sophisticated electronics. The PowaCycle is made to a price point so something has to give.

Personally I think it is a better compromise than the probable alternative of having a pedelec mode where you have to twist the throttle. I really enjoy the ability to ride with assistance without having to twist the throttle, as per PowaByke/Ezee. No more wrist-ache!

Having said that, I do sometimes reach back to turn off the key at the battery, so it can be done and I haven't fallen off doing it yet!

Just in case there is any doubt, the switch settings are
Off/Neutral - Pedelec, no throttle boost
On - Pedelec with throttle boost

Frank

 

[frank9755]

For some reason this post came back to me as I was riding home. I was movng towards some lights which were red, but which I know the timing and sequence for . Without thinking, I changed down a couple of gears, carried on pedalling gently and slightly squeezed a brake lever to engage the braking cut-out and thereby prevent the pedelec operation from wasting battery power when I didn't need it.

As I did it, I remembered this post and looked to see where the various switches were, and basically the three-way switch is in the housing for the brake lever I was pressing. Presumably it would be relaively easy for someone who was competent and minded to do so to wire the brake cut-out in series with the three-way switch to enable it to give a handlebar mounted cut-out, as requested by Camera Dealer earlier in this thread.

It's not going to get on to my to-do list but it was an interesting thought as I rode home!

Frank

 

[flecc]

Good idea Frank, maybe a suggestion to Powacycle would be appropriate?
.