Swytch Max biker looking to add an extra battery

received my Swytch Max this year and love the ease of assembly. Less love for the range, about 10 - 11 miles. But at 14 stone I suppose reduced mileage is to be expected.

My medium term plan is to add a generic battery to give me more freedom to roam.

Presently chatting to Swytch about the failing voltage regulator.

received my Swytch Max this year and love the ease of assembly. Less love for the range, about 10 - 11 miles. But at 14 stone I suppose reduced mileage is to be expected.

 

My medium term plan is to add a generic battery to give me more freedom to roam.

 

Presently chatting to Swytch about the failing voltage regulator.

Well unless Swytch supply an 'extra battery' pack I would imagiine modifying the Switch Max\Controller to accept dual batteries, would void any warrenty.

Edited May 22, 20232 yr by StuartsProjects

received my Swytch Max this year and love the ease of assembly. Less love for the range, about 10 - 11 miles. But at 14 stone I suppose reduced mileage is to be expected.

 

My medium term plan is to add a generic battery to give me more freedom to roam.

 

Presently chatting to Swytch about the failing voltage regulator.

Last time I looked, it was a standard controller, so you can connect any battery you want of the correct voltage. best way to do it is to put a nice easy connector between the Swytch battery and the controller, then put the same connector on your replacement/extension battery, so you can switch them over whenever you want.

Failing voltage regulator doesn't sound right. They either work or they're blown. How did someone come to that conclusion?

Last time I looked, it was a standard controller, so you can connect any battery you want of the correct voltage. best way to do it is to put a nice easy connector between the Swytch battery and the controller, then put the same connector on your replacement/extension battery, so you can switch them over whenever you want.

 

Failing voltage regulator doesn't sound right. They either work or they're blown. How did someone come to that conclusion?

Thanks for the reply.

The voltage regulator was my guess. Swytch keep asking for videos of the wheel being rotated backwards. Twice so far.

I am not sure how the battery/controller on the latest swytch is set up. The battery just plugs into the handlebar unit. So unsure how to split off the feed to the motor. Any help gratefully received.

Well unless Swytch supply an 'extra battery' pack I would imagiine modifying the Switch Max\Controller to accept dual batteries, would void any warrenty.

I agree. But I am getting sick of the range anxierty

Thanks for the reply.

 

The voltage regulator was my guess. Swytch keep asking for videos of the wheel being rotated backwards. Twice so far.

 

I am not sure how the battery/controller on the latest swytch is set up. The battery just plugs into the handlebar unit. So unsure how to split off the feed to the motor. Any help gratefully received.

You have to look inside the bag.

You have to look inside the bag.

I have the latest version of Swytch kit. The battery is wrapped in tough plastic and is then secured to a unit which I assume has all the gubbins in it.

I have the latest version of Swytch kit. The battery is wrapped in tough plastic and is then secured to a unit which I assume has all the gubbins in it.

On the latest Swytch kit, is not the battery and controller all connected together and sealed in the case that mounts on the handlebar connector ?

Yes, everything is in a rather nice grey plastic tablet. It looks very smart

.

I would like to buy a cheap battery /controller that I can add to my bike to extend the 30k range.

Yes, everything is in a rather nice grey plastic tablet. It looks very smart

.[ATTACH type=full" alt="51840]51840[/ATTACH]

 

I would like to buy a cheap battery /controller that I can add to my bike to extend the 30k range.

Open the box and show what's inside.

Yes, everything is in a rather nice grey plastic tablet. It looks very smart

But is not the controller inside the case that mounts on the handlebar ?

But is not the controller inside the case that mounts on the handlebar ?

no, it's very smart looking now:

no, it's very smart looking now:

I thought the controller was in the black case\mount the battery fits to ?

I thought the controller was in the black case\mount the battery fits to ?

It is. Somebody needs to open one so that we can see where to tap in. Also, tell us how many electrical connection points on the battery. It looks like two, but I can't find any clear photos. People always ask us for stuff, but they never give anything.

On the battery connector, there appears to be two large pins (battery?) and 4 smaller ones.

The two large ones make sense, but the 4 smaller ones might suggest some form of intelligent interface between battery and controller.

I can't see anything that looks like a contact in the smaller ones, but I have nothing to show details.

Edit; I found another picture that shows something metal in the outer pins.

Many people got their kits with a charger that had a standard two-pole jack on it, which they could connect. Some were lucky enough to get an adaptor as well that apparently converts the jack to a connector that's the shape of the two connection points on the battery. That implies that there are no comms for charging. The connection pins don't match any standard connector, but you might be able to adapt an XT60 or XT30 by filing up the middle or cutting it into two halves.

Edited June 1, 20232 yr by saneagle

[ATTACH type=full" alt="51843]51843[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH type=full" alt="51844]51844[/ATTACH]

I'm wondering if the pins are for pre-charging because without pre-charge, you'd get a frightning zap noise and spark when connecting the battery to the controller. On a normal battery, you don't notice it because the connection point is well-shrouded at the point of connection and it's away from your hands, but not on the Swytch. I also thought about a remote switch, like you get on some bikes, but then the charging wouldn't work with only two pins, so that can't be it.

received my Swytch Max this year and love the ease of assembly. Less love for the range, about 10 - 11 miles. But at 14 stone I suppose reduced mileage is to be expected.

 

My medium term plan is to add a generic battery to give me more freedom to roam.

 

Presently chatting to Swytch about the failing voltage regulator.

Hi [mention=39467]John Bucklebury[/mention], I am trying to do the same thing. Did you get to any conclusion? I will try to purchase the XT60 or XT30 connectors and adapt them to check if they fit

Hi [mention=39467]John Bucklebury[/mention], I am trying to do the same thing. Did you get to any conclusion? I will try to purchase the XT60 or XT30 connectors and adapt them to check if they fit

If I were trying to solve the problem, I'd be looking inside the battery receiver thing to see how the controller is connected. There might be an easier way to connect a battery to it. At least you'll be able to find out if the outer connectors do anything.

Could somebody with a Swytch Air or Max battery who knows what they are doing please put a voltmeter negative probe in the discharge slot numbered 1 in my attached image below and report the measured voltages on the positive probe across slots 2, 3 and 4? Include any negative signs and be very careful not to short any of the slots through the probes!

Thanks.

Hi.

I’ve just found this thread and it seems to be about exactly what I’m intested in - adding other battery packs onto the Swytch Max set up. I’ve got a number of Makita 18v packs for my power tools and I would like to use them for my bike by having two Makita batteries in series - giving 36 - 40v at 6Ah capacity.

As a newbie - both to this forum and to pedelecs - I‘ve no wish to upset anyone by either gate-crashing another thread, or spouting off a load of b*locks. I’m nevertheless keen to try and glean as much info I can from this forum about adding different batteries.

As I posted on the wrong thread, if you measure the charge connector in the middle you get full battery voltage (around 42v). If you measure at the output slots you get 32v. When the battery declares that it’s flat, the battery is 32.6v. I Accept that my crude analysis of this may well be wrong, but in my experience as a humble electronics engineer I would feel that there is a power transistor circuit in the battery housing taking it down to 32v in order to keep the feed at this voltage, and the 0.6v is the voltage drop across the semiconductor junction.

Any thoughts?

Hi.

 

I’ve just found this thread and it seems to be about exactly what I’m intested in - adding other battery packs onto the Swytch Max set up. I’ve got a number of Makita 18v packs for my power tools and I would like to use them for my bike by having two Makita batteries in series - giving 36 - 40v at 6Ah capacity.

 

As a newbie - both to this forum and to pedelecs - I‘ve no wish to upset anyone by either gate-crashing another thread, or spouting off a load of b*locks. I’m nevertheless keen to try and glean as much info I can from this forum about adding different batteries.

 

As I posted on the wrong thread, if you measure the charge connector in the middle you get full battery voltage (around 42v). If you measure at the output slots you get 32v. When the battery declares that it’s flat, the battery is 32.6v. I Accept that my crude analysis of this may well be wrong, but in my experience as a humble electronics engineer I would feel that there is a power transistor circuit in the battery housing taking it down to 32v in order to keep the feed at this voltage, and the 0.6v is the voltage drop across the semiconductor junction.

 

Any thoughts?

Look on the controller side connector. There are just two wires - red and black. That means that the controller is completely dumb regarding the battery. Inside the box is a normal controller, probably KT as the LCD is the same as KT LCD4, but there are a load of clones. The controller is dumb and works on 36v (42v-31v) There wouldn't be any sense in restricting the battery voltage to 32v. it would be a lot easier to restrict current. Put a 36v charger to the controller or any opposite pair of outer pins on the connector and you'll see whether the bike works, which it almost certainly will. Make sure you get correct polarity.

I don't understand you guys at all. It's a very quick job to open the controller box and look inside. Then you get all the answers. Instead, you waste everybody's time in making trumped up theories and asking unanswerable questions when you have the answer right in front of you. If you're two scared to undo two screws or whatever it is, you shouldn't be messing around with these things.

Please, for the love of god, open the 'kin box and show everybody what's inside.

Look on the controller side connector. There are just two wires - red and black. That means that the controller is completely dumb regarding the battery. Inside the box is a normal controller, probably KT as the LCD is the same as KT LCD4, but there are a load of clones. The controller is dumb and works on 36v (42v-31v) There wouldn't be any sense in restricting the battery voltage to 32v. it would be a lot easier to restrict current. Put a 36v charger to the controller or any opposite pair of outer pins on the connector and you'll see whether the bike works, which it almost certainly will. Make sure you get correct polarity.

 

I don't understand you guys at all. It's a very quick job to open the controller box and look inside. Then you get all the answers. Instead, you waste everybody's time in making trumped up theories and asking unanswerable questions when you have the answer right in front of you. If you're two scared to undo two screws or whatever it is, you shouldn't be messing around with these things.

 

Please, for the love of god, open the 'kin box and show everybody what's inside.

Thanks Saneagle.

What you say is exactly what I want to hear from this forum - the voice of experience. I shall take onboard what you say and learn.

I was hoping that someone would offer up some photos of what is inside the controller box. I’m no coward when it comes to opening things up to explore, but my kit is currently under warranty and I don’t have enough money to break it needlessly. I want to set myself up so that I’m ready to proceed when the warranty expires.