Alien Gents Special II - Improvments and Modifications

[eddieo]

they look very handy

CrampBuster - The Original Motorcycle Cruise Control


on ebay, but I prefer the stumpier versions above...more like a thumb throttle

Scottoiler Cramp Buster Cruise Control Std CrampBuster on eBay (end time 26-Mar-10 21:59:56 GMT)

found stumpy version as well..

Cramp Buster Cruise Control fits VTX & Shadow Cruisers on eBay (end time 24-Mar-10 09:15:25 GMT)

 

[NRG]

Been tight I wonder if its possible to put something together DIY style with a large P clip...

 

[Stumpi]

Been tight I wonder if its possible to put something together DIY style with a large P clip...

You watched a lot of Blue Peter as a child didnt you

 

[NRG]

Sticky back plastic anyone!

 

[Old Timer]

crampbuster fitted

I fitted the standard crampbuster today. Now that I have the titec barends in place and with the grips on I`ve adjusted the crampbuster so that when I`m holding the barends the crampbuster/throttle is right on the end of my index finger superb. I can also use the throttle via the crampbuster when holding the bars in the normal position. That`s on my Powertrek.

I have a puncture on my Evans/Alien at present and am waiting for a pair of Slime inserts but can`t wait to try the crampbuster on that bike as I find the pedelec arse about face to be honest on that bike and being able to use throttle control from either the normal grips or the barends will be a 100% improvement I`m sure.

Thanks Stumpi for pointing me to the crampbuster, I owe you one

Dave

 

[Stumpi]

Thanks Stumpi for pointing me to the crampbuster, I owe you one

Dave

After all the tips and advice I had from this forum and indeed all your posts on the alien kit which helped me choose my GS2 its quite nice to give a little something back

 

[jbond]

they look very handy CrampBuster - The Original Motorcycle Cruise Control

Anyone still looking for something like this, Motrax do a copy and virtually all motorcycle shops now have a Motrax wall display so very likely to have them in stock.

 

[NRG]

Time to update this thread.

First I updated the brake blocks a while back so I now have Avid 20R V Brake Blocks front and rear....I also replaced the brake cables. Feel is much better and stopping power has increased.

The next change and reason for the update is to see if I can replace the controller to a) give a touch more power and b) add a three way speed switch and c) allow for retro fitting of the original.

The standard controller is a neat 6 Fet 15amp controller. I've been running an E-Crazyman 20amp controller on my Peugeot with three way speed switch and found the selectable speeds made a great improvement to its ride-ability. The single speed GSII controller is good but has the disadvantage of taking off at full pace when the pedelec is used hence the desire to tame it a bit. The new E-Crazyman controller shipped within 5 days to me from a postal address in London and cost a most magnificent $48 including postage, pedelec sensor and three way handle bar mounted switch!

Replacement will be not be an easy task though as the new controller is larger and won't fit into the same space as the original plus the wiring is very different. So new JST connectors will need to be grafted on and a new mounting location found.

So progress so far, new v old:

The original controller in place:

Rats nest wiring:

The first thing I felt needed changing was to replace the bullet connectors used for the battery feed and also to beef up the wiring a touch. I used the power connectors below from HobbyKing and replaced the connectors on both of the controllers and the battery feed.

The consequence of replacing the controller is I will loose a few functions, the battery LEDs on the throttle will no longer work and I have a problem to solve for the lighting as this is operated via the original controller....I hope that will be easy to solve.

The order for the JST connectors has been placed so work is now halted until later this week.

 

[jbond]

- Which controller is this, by spec?
- Can you re-program it or tweak the settings? Is the serial-USB port exposed?
- Where did you buy it? Was that e-crazyman's ebay shop?

 

[NRG]

Sensor-less 36v, 20amp. I understand it is programmable but you need the serial cable and USB converter interface...you would also need to solder the cable to the board for programming as far as I understand. Bought from E-Crazyman on Ebay after asking him if he could supply.

OK here's the update: JST connectors arrived promptly from Farnell and I set about replacing the existing connectors to make them compatible with the Alien wiring loom. I also extended the leads as the mounting location I've chosen is under the battery rack. I tried a couple of saddle bags but just could not get them to fit any of the 4 saddles I had to hand, what is it with manufacturers, do they make these things to only fit one style of saddle!? Anyhow after that frustration I'm happy with the location, the intention is to use the now vacant space in the plastic controller housing as a junction box hence the need to extend the cables.

I also added a second brake cut out connector wired in parallel with the single original one. So the good news is: It works! The only small issue I had was the pedelec sensor only worked when peddaling backwards! Simply rectified by rotating the sensor so it pointed in the opposite direction.

The three speed selection works well and I get the top speed unloaded as the single speed controller. I've lost the use of the battery status lights on the throttle and the lights are temporarily out of action but they seem to run directly off the battery voltage so a simple switching relay cct should get them running again.

Here's the bare controller:

...and now with the new cables and connectors:

Reversing the pedelec sensor. Before:

After:

 

[John L]

Hi NRG - thats great info and photos thanks

One thing did you manage to get any extra speed? I've been thinking about this controller as I would like to be able to fit a pedelec sensor and get a little more speed. The idea of a 3 speed switch hadn't occured to me. Presumably keeping it at lower assist will increase the range of the battery?

John

PS
I was just checking out ecrazyman's ebay shop but couldn't see any reference to a speed switch - is there another website?

 

[NRG]

The bike is not finished yet but the unloaded wheel speed is the same as before. If I want extra speed I would have to up the voltage or change the motor....the controller is rated for 20 amps, the original 15. You have to email E-crazyman for the spec you need.

 

[NRG]

Here's the mounting of the controller:

I needed to enlarge the hole in the plate and junction box a little as two set of wires would now enter/exit here:

Connecting up was a touch fiddly due to the lack of space and wires that I hadn't extended quite far enough! The battery plate was also tricky as the battery needed alignment to the junction box but it all fitted eventually.

The three way switch was straight forward to fit and I even managed to run the cable inside the crossbar along with the other wires with the help of a coat hanger.

 

[NRG]

With every thing connected up I took the opportunity to lower and level the rack a touch. It looks quite neat:

I'm hoping the controller will have some protection where it is, its sealed and there's only one exposed connector that I've sealed with silicon sealant.

On the road the bike feels much perkier, the top speed is the same but now I have the luxury of setting the top assisted speed. Max. speed is the same around 19mph but using the mid setting speed drops to a more relaxed 15~16mph. Low mode gives about 10~11 mph.

This seems to work really well and on my short test ride I found myself not using the throttle only the pedelec switching between modes if necessary.

Hill climbing is much better, the extra power is really noticeable and the bike now climbs just as well if not better than my Peugeot.

I still have the lights to sort but that seems straight forward as they run right off the battery at 36v....the only negative is the loss of the handle bar LED's.

I'll have to wait 'n' see about the range, I'm expecting a drop to 25miles or so from the previous 28~30.

 

[neilmeansneil]

Hi NRG
Great photos/info as usual, was wondering if the 3 way switch can be fitted into the standard controller set up and if so where can I get one.
Cheers
Neil

 

[jbond]

There's a few people on pedelecs now who've used these controllers with SB geared hubs. Has anyone tried messing with the control parameters? I've read lots of posts both here and on ES and I have to say I'm thoroughly confused, particularly about what the three modes actually do.

My perception is that the modes are an rpm limit so the top speeds you report for the lower modes of 10mph and 15mph are the point at which the motor reaches its rpm limit and the hub starts to freewheel (with pedal effort). If this was purely set by the voltage being applied (because motor speed is governed by voltage applied), then I'd expect the power available to also drop. To put some figures on that, a 10A limit with voltages of 35,30,25 gives power available of 350,300,250w. You'd then expect the torque available below 10mph to be less in low mode than in high. That's not what I find although others say they do.

On a direct drive motor I can see how max speed would be purely set by voltage (given enough power). But on these geared hubs, it feels like the motor rpm is being limited in some other way and the hub then freewheels. It's not that the motor is running at it's noload max rpm for the voltage, but rather that current is cut to near zero when the rpm goes over a fixed value.

What I'm thinking is that 36v should give a no load rpm quite a bit above the 18mph you're getting. If your battery can supply the full 20A and the hub can cope with it on heat dissipation, there should be 720w available. This should be enough to get well above 19mph. So what is it that's holding it back and can that restriction be removed? I'm back to my dream of a controller strategy that makes the throttle+mode setting a purely torque/assist power control with no limit on speed. At the moment it seems to be a max speed control.

You do realise you're going to have to take it all apart again and fit a serial-USB cable, right?

 

[NRG]

There's a few people on pedelecs now who've used these controllers with SB geared hubs. Has anyone tried messing with the control parameters? ..........

.......You do realise you're going to have to take it all apart again and fit a serial-USB cable, right?

Yes, the realisation hit me last night! Luckily my Peugeot uses the same controller and that's very easy to access. The cable from E-Crazyman is $15 shipped so I've ordered one and intend to play around with the settings to try and work out what's going on...

As to your other points remember these controllers and motors use PWM to drive the phases so RPM and power can be contolled by limiting the duty cycle of each phase...

 

[John L]

Hi guys - this gets more interesting.

NRG - thanks for taking the time to upload photos and letting us know how its going Fixing the controller under the carrier is a great idea.

Like jbond I was under the impression that the 20amp ecrazyman controller could add some extra top speed. When you get the usb cable I would again love to here it goes.

Thanks

John

 

[NRG]

No problem John glad you are finding it interesting.

I decided to dig out the oscilloscope today and have a look at the drive signal on one of the motor phases. What I found was interesting and not what I was expecting.

As I mentioned above the three motor phases are driven by a pulse width modulated signal and what I was expecting to see was a noticeable variation in the duty cycle of the signal and perhaps variation in the pulse amplitude, however, between the three modes there was only a small variation in duty cycle and the amplitude was the same between modes.

I checked at full speed in each mode and found going from low to medium to high the duty cycle was: 50, 55 and 60%. The pulse amplitude measured 40volts, the same as the battery output for each mode, no variation. The big variation was in the switching frequency which I calculated as 111, 161 and 208Hz.

So it would appear the switching frequency is the main parameter that affects speed. I'll post some 'scope pictures later, maybe tomorrow.

John, upping the voltage alone will increase speed but it seems that it may also be possible to do something similar by changing the controller parameters. Don't forget these motors are wound with a specific voltage / wheel size / speed in mind. The easiest one of these to change is the voltage.

 

[John L]

John, upping the voltage alone will increase speed but it seems that it may also be possible to do something similar by changing the controller parameters. Don't forget these motors are wound with a specific voltage / wheel size / speed in mind. The easiest one of these to change is the voltage.

Unfortunately increasing the voltage is also the most expensive option 2-3 extra mph is all I'd like to achieve - if it can be done by changing the parameters of the controller that would be great. Also its nice to tinker a bit

John