BBS01 programming - that doesn't fry the controller

[Nealh]

Not completely computer techy here but does one need to have Microsoft Office loaded to be able to make changes to the programming ?
I have found the port number for my programming cable that has arrived but can't acces the download from empowered cylces though the driver has downloaded.

 

[Fordulike]

Not completely computer techy here but does one need to have Microsoft Office loaded to be able to make changes to the programming ?
I have found the port number for my programming cable that has arrived but can't acces the download from empowered cylces though the driver has downloaded.

You don't need Microsoft Office, but you may need to unzip the files, as they are compressed.
If you've already unzipped the files, then find the controllerst.exe file and run that.

If on the other hand you are having a problem actually downloading the software, then after you have clicked on the link on the EMPowered Cycles page, click the downwards facing arrow at the top of the page. Save the file, then unzip by right clicking the folder and choosing 'Extract All'

 

[Nealh]

Thanks Fordulike I will try what you have said, but aside to that it all sounds a bit gobbledygook to me. You and the forum may have to bare with me on this one.

 

[Nealh]

Yay !!! Something happened I managed to save it to Desktop some how, opened controllerrst and the " Basic /Pedal Assist/ Throttle Handle settings page appeared.
Got to go soon as I have to go and inspect my bees, so next step will have to wait. Tell me if I'm wrong but I guess I need to connect up the controller connection to the computer/ programming cable to see what my current settings are and then decide if or what settings may need tweeking. Will take a screen shot of the settings and post them for the forum to see before any changes are made baring in mind any changes will be for off road use to aid performance rather then on road riding.

 

[Fordulike]

Yay !!! Something happened I managed to save it to Desktop some how, opened controllerrst and the " Basic /Pedal Assist/ Throttle Handle settings page appeared.
Got to go soon as I have to go and inspect my bees, so next step will have to wait. Tell me if I'm wrong but I guess I need to connect up the controller connection to the computer/ programming cable to see what my current settings are and then decide if or what settings may need tweeking. Will take a screen shot of the settings and post them for the forum to see before any changes are made baring in mind any changes will be for off road use to aid performance rather then on road riding.

Change 'Keep Current' to 100%, you'll notice a big difference in performance.

 

[brightonebikes]

Yay !!! Something happened I managed to save it to Desktop some how, opened controllerrst and the " Basic /Pedal Assist/ Throttle Handle settings page appeared.
Got to go soon as I have to go and inspect my bees, so next step will have to wait. Tell me if I'm wrong but I guess I need to connect up the controller connection to the computer/ programming cable to see what my current settings are and then decide if or what settings may need tweeking. Will take a screen shot of the settings and post them for the forum to see before any changes are made baring in mind any changes will be for off road use to aid performance rather then on road riding.

You are welcome to drop by mine in Hove for a simple crash course on computer (com port set up), and discuss my findings. I have a number of .el files saved that offer different benefits depending on the style of riding planned. It's all a compromise, more power equals less range and vice versa. The stock programming can be pretty good for most people but improvements can be made by/for more advanced users. My off road set up is a lot keener than my road set up that's for sure!

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

 

[Nealh]

A day out with the bees all looking fairly ticketyboo some very nice honey to harvest late Aug/Sept.
Back to programming once cable is hooked up to bike and computer do I need to connect battery power up to the controller ?

 

[brightonebikes]

A day out with the bees all looking fairly ticketyboo some very nice honey to harvest late Aug/Sept.
Back to programming once cable is hooked up to bike and computer do I need to connect battery power up to the controller ?

Has the computer installed the drivers and happy the prog. cable is working properly?
If so, once battery is fitted, clicking 'connect' should show the controller's details on the right hand side, this confirms it's communicating okay.
If you then click 'read all' it will bring up the controller's current settings.
The three separate pages can then be saved before doing anything else do you have a copy of the stock settings. At this stage you can also grab screen grabs of the 3 different setting pages if desired.
Is this making sense?

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

 

[Nealh]

Has the computer installed the drivers and happy the prog. cable is working properly?
If so, once battery is fitted, clicking 'connect' should show the controller's details on the right hand side, this confirms it's communicating okay.
If you then click 'read all' it will bring up the controller's current settings.
The three separate pages can then be saved before doing anything else do you have a copy of the stock settings. At this stage you can also grab screen grabs of the 3 different setting pages if desired.
Is this making sense?

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

Yep , computer confirms driver up to date and working , prog. cable shows up under port in device manager as Com 3. Not going further tonight will have to wait now till I have some free time during the day. So far so good.

 

[brightonebikes]

Well it all sounds good.
Popping the battery on and clicking connect will confirm that when the controller details appear on the right hand panel.
Then ,read all, and see what settings you've got...

 

[Nealh]

Must say thankyou so far to Fordulike and beb for the help as I don't always find it easy navigating around progamme systems, once I have navigated my way through a few times it does become a bit clearer. Also the ES topics make for good reading.
By the way prog.cable was orderd from Insat and arrived 36 hrs later.

 

[Nealh]

Plugged in this a.m. and all was fine, taken 3 screen shots of the settings will post later tonight or tomorrow as have to get ready for work as my weekend shift is about to start.
Of note was the " Keep Current " at 20%.

 

[brightonebikes]

20% keep current seems to be quite a common factory setting out of the box, from what I've seen anyway. Depending on battery capacity and desired range, this setting is sometimes increased to between 40 and 75% (some even 100%) if increased power is desired (in practice it generally means lower assist levels are used whilst maintaining the same cruising speed).This combined with 100% speed limit on all assist levels certainly increases battery consumption and reduces range. - It's all a pay off to a degree.
At 75% I have not noticed an increase in running temperature; riding uphill on full assist whilst in an unsuitably high gear being the test.

 

[Fordulike]

Just to add to brightonebike's comments, the 'Keep Current' setting at 20% is great for economy and cruising. When it comes to hills though, it tends to force the motor to bog down, as it wants more current to run optimally.

The system is already limiting the current when in PAS modes other than the highest one. The last thing you want is to reduce the current available even further.

20% IMHO is far too low to keep the likes of the BBSxx motor happy.

I run mine at 100% and let the PAS modes limit the current. It is a compromise on battery life though, but what's battery life when you've got a big fat grin on your face

 

[Nealh]

The settings as said seem to be the bog std factory ones also backed up on ES. I have seen the settings that Cellman aka Paul @ em3ev recommends and may well try them, the keep current I will go steady on as I tend to want the range from my lipo's but wil see how it goes at 60%.
The basic settings I will play with and see how it goes with Cellman's guidelines, other wise I am open to suggestions. The throttle is another setting I might have a tinker with.

Basic setting.


PAS.


Throttle Handle.

 

[Nealh]

A few other settings I'm thinking of changing:
In PAS start current is set to 100% which will give max power on start up causing max strain from the off so will set to a lower rate 10 or 20%.
Current decay is set to 8 may set to 6 so amps reduce as I pedal faster.
Keep current will be set to 60 to start with.
In Throttle Handle mode is set to speed and I did find this to be jerky in use so will set to current.
Start current is at 20% will lower to 10% to hopefully get a smoother reaction.

 

[brightonebikes]

A few other settings I'm thinking of changing:
In PAS start current is set to 100% which will give max power on start up causing max strain from the off so will set to a lower rate 10 or 20%.
Current decay is set to 8 may set to 6 so amps reduce as I pedal faster.
Keep current will be set to 60 to start with.
In Throttle Handle mode is set to speed and I did find this to be jerky in use so will set to current.
Start current is at 20% will lower to 10% to hopefully get a smoother reaction.

Sounds like you're getting along just fine. Enjoy!

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

 

[Nealh]

Oh dear !!! Was going to ride out today for my 1st ride after making some programming changes, but no power, no throttle or pas. Its as if the controller is dead, is there something I am missing or have done wrong. Have I messed up the new controller.
The procedure was;

1. Connect cable to puter and controller ( green plug), open the programme.
2. Turn batt on and clicked 'connect' after entering com port setting.
3. Visually confirmed the controller info was correct.
4. Opened each of the 3 settings tabs and in turn clicked 'read' made changes and clicked ' write' to upload info to controller. A small box opened that read changes have been made and clicked ok for it to close.
5. Close programme and turn off batt.
6. Reconnect lcd to green plug, turn batt on and lcd. Apply throttle and nothing turn pedals nothing.

Any ideas??

 

[brightonebikes]

Sounds odd. Did you use 'write' or 'write all', or both?

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

 

[Fordulike]

Is the LCD showing as normal?

I can only think that you might not have aligned the arrows on the display connector, when connecting the display back to controller.

Edit: One other thing I can think of, is that you forgot to read your controller info first. You've opened up the controller program, which appears to default all parameters to 10, then write flashed that to the controller.