Cyclamatic: The Beastamatic is dead! Long live the Beastamatic

[joeytwomugs]

Thanks NRG, I didn't even click that you were answering me!

D8veh, I am sorry to hear you and your cyclamatic parted ways. I am beginning to think that these red and white wires are supposed to be loose, I also have the ones on your pic (still connected) and they are not the ones I am referring to. I guess I'll have to wait for the battery to find out...

The battery I ordered is from BMS (and reading this thread has not filled me with confidence in them...) does anyone have any idea how long they take to deliver, the website said 6-10 which I assumed was days although it has been 11 so far and so in the meantime I am pedalling which is not conducive to maintaining my unsculpted physique.

BTW I love both of your and D8vehs signatures.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

No need to panic yet. delivery times are anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks, although 2 weeks is more common now. You just have to be patient. When they send you the tracking number, if it doesn't work, try typing it in upper case instead of lower case, or vice versa.

 

[Penlost]

Glad to hear that

So first bit of good news - the Battery Supplies 36v 10AH LiFePO4 unit delivered seems to be a 12AH one, judging by the size of it So it can supply up to 24A peak.

Was a pain to get it to fit - power pins were reversed compared to the old batt and needed to do some drilling / milling of the locator strip to get it to seat properly, but got there eventually.

Just got back from my first 3 mile mixed terrain test run with a very big smile on my face! Getting 26mph on the throttle on the flat and didn't come across a hill I couldn't get up in top gear! Wow!

Here's hoping the controller and sensors hold up, but in any case - thanks for all the advice. If it keeps going the way it is I will be more than happy.

Next stop, re-gearing - waiting on 52 tooth chainwheel and crankset...

Evendine, can you provide a link to the chain wheel you purchased? I am looking to replace mine as well and want to make sure it will fit !

 

[evendine]

Evendine, can you provide a link to the chain wheel you purchased? I am looking to replace mine as well and want to make sure it will fit !

Any 52t one, with square tapered crank-shaft should do...

 

[evendine]

Actually, although I went the new crank-set route, i think getting a 11T free-wheel from Cyclezee is likely to be an easier / cheaper option. I went the 52T chain-wheel route, as I needed to replace my bottom-bracket, but it's caused several problems - had to buy a new chain-guard, have had gear alignment issues and may need a new chain as the tension is rather high using the existing one...

 

[Penlost]

Actually, although I went the new crank-set route, i think getting a 11T free-wheel from Cyclezee is likely to be an easier / cheaper option. I went the 52T chain-wheel route, as I needed to replace my bottom-bracket, but it's caused several problems - had to buy a new chain-guard, have had gear alignment issues and may need a new chain as the tension is rather high using the existing one...

Would that be difficult to fit?

 

[flecc]

Would that be difficult to fit?

Easy with the correct tools. You need a chain wrench to hold the freewheel still against the freewheel action while undoing the retaining nut, a freewheel removal adapter for that nut and a suitable size socket spanner:

.

 

[Old_Dave]

Today is Aldi Thursday.. when their gone their gone

Although the quality is a bit pants, its more than acceptable for occasional use at the price of £19.99 for the complete kit.

 

[Penlost]

Thank you, that is brilliant

 

[evendine]

Motor drive problem...

Have been looking out for a cheap Cyclamatic without battery, so that I can put my spare 24v Li Ion to some use. Found one on Ebay, but after fitting the batt this afternoon, unfortunately motor drive is intermittent and works on throttle only.

I've been through the wiring harness with a meter and did a visual inspection. There were a couple of abraded power leads and one of the fine wires (motor hall sensor leads?) was broken at the point the wires enter the wheel hub. I soldered and insulated the offending wires, but same result.

Anyone come across this pattern before? You can hear the motor trying to turn when the throttle's opened, but 90% of the time it stalls immediately. Giving the wheel a manual spin sometimes gets the motor going, but it's noisy, although it keeps going, once it's going. There seem to be two motor speeds which occur when throttle is fully open - you get one or the other. Throttle works as expected once the motor's spinning.

I'm guessing motor hall sensors blown, or an intermittent fault with the controller? Any thoughts / ideas / ways to diagnose the problem much appreciated

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Try the connector on the chainstay. The one that's hidden in shrink-wrap.

 

[evendine]

Thanks d8veh - haven't checked that one - will take a look at it now...

 

[evendine]

Hmm - seems ok - no obvious water, cleaned it out both sides, checked the rear of the wheel end connector which looks fine and WD'd the whole assembly...

Can see the heartbeat LED on the controller, which is flashing.

One unusual thing about the loom in the controller casing - there appears to be a 10k mini-pot in series with a fine white wire. Ever come across that before?

A connection / voltage test sheet for the rear wheel assembly would be useful - would be helpful to narrow things down a bit. Thought about trying the post-motor connector from the other bike, but it runs direct from the controller to the motor...

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Hmm - seems ok - no obvious water, cleaned it out both sides, checked the rear of the wheel end connector which looks fine and WD'd the whole assembly...

Can see the heartbeat LED on the controller, which is flashing.

One unusual thing about the loom int the controller casing - there appears to be a 10k mini-pot in series with a fine white wire. Ever come across that before?

A connection / voltage test sheet for the rear wheel assembly would be useful - would be helpful to narrow things down a bit. Thought about trying the motor post-connector from the other bike, but it doesn't have that connector...

Mine didn't have that pot. Is it on the white wire that comes out of the throttle cable, which is the 5v for the pedal sensor? If it is. that might explain something.

Are you saying that it works perfectly on throttle. If so, another yhing yo check is the distance of the magnet ring from the pedal sensor isn't too much.

 

[evendine]

Ah - no, getting nothing at all on pedal assist, which may tell you something. The hall sensor does look a bit further away from the centre of magnet ring than on my other bike although the gap is about the same. Will double check that.

Not sure about the pot (whether it's the throttle wire or not) - my other bike doesn't have one. Have tried tweaking it to different positions, but doesn't seem to have any discernible effect (at least on getting the motor running).

I just noticed that the position sensor wires on the brakes have been cut and soldered at some point. Checked the voltage across them. One has 5v when brake not applied, 0v when applied. The other is showing 5v in both positions, which I guess should be ok for now, but indicates the sensor needs adjusting.

Also checked the motor windings - about 0.4R. Not sure about the motor hall sensors? Not quite sure how they're wired-up...

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You didn't answer my questions:
Does the motor work normally with the throttle?
Is the pot on the white wire that comes out of the throttle cable?

 

[evendine]

Sorry, no the throttle only works intermittently, athough when the motor starts up occaisionally, the throttle works normally...

As I mentioned in the original post: 'you can hear the motor trying to turn when the throttle's opened, but 90% of the time it stalls immediately. Giving the wheel a manual spin sometimes gets the motor going, but it's noisy, although it keeps going, once it's going. There seem to be two motor speeds which occur when throttle is fully open - you get one or the other. Throttle works as expected once the motor's running.'

The pot doesn't seem to be related to the throttle cable as far as i can see - certainly not linked to it in the loom. The white wires from the pot go directly into the controller.

Btw: i've been attempting to check the motor hall sensors through the back of the connector before the wheel with power on, controller connected. Getting constant 0v for all three when spinning the wheel manually, so perhaps either the 5v or 0v line to the sensors is open circuit?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Do a search here or on Endless sphere of how to chech hall sensors. You can't just put a meter on them because they only make short pulses while the wheel goes round; however, you should have constant 5v between red and black.

 

[evendine]

Hmm - I'm a bit confused - can't find any method other than using a meter and turning the wheel very slowly to allow the magnet to activate the hall sensor, which should give you closed circuit, apparently:

Have taken a look at these:
Endless-sphere.com • View topic - Testing and Replacing Hall Sensors in a MAC Motor
http://visforvoltage.org/forum/4194-testing-hall-sensors
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/10830-wisper-faulty-pedelec-sensor.html

With the circuit tester approach, i get open circuit on all three (no matter how slowly i turn the wheel) and 5v on all three signal wires when i tried the 'in-circuit' approach (connecting to the back of the connector nearest to the wheel, powered up).

If these results are valid, not sure what to do next. Sensor-less controller? Disassemble the motor and replace / double check the wires / sensors?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Sorry, I can't understand at all what tests you've done, but hey don't sound like the ones on ES,so let's go back to the beginning:
First, set your meter to volts and measure between the black and the red thin hall sensor wires. Please report your result.
Next, with your meter still on volts, measure between black and blue; while your probes are still on, rotate the wheel slowly for a whole revolution. You should see at some point 5v and most of the time 0v. Please report the result.
Repeat for black and yellow and black and green.