Woosh Rio 17AH Battery ???

Damian.Doherty

Pedelecer
Jun 27, 2017
202
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Derry, Ireland
Hi Team,

Should I buy the Woosh Rio 17AH battery? That's the question, I currently have the Rio with the 13AH battery and its doing its job quite nicely.

What I'm wondering though is can I eek more speed/power from the bike with this bigger battery. I'm not that bothered about range as I only live 2 miles from work.

The Rio comes with a 17 amp controller, would I also need to buy a beefier controller in order to send more amps?

20 amps at 36 volts would be 720 watts? 25 amps would be 900 watts. Is this too much power for the 250W Bafang SWX02 motor?

I have read on other fourms that people have put as much as 1000 watts through these motors without them exploding!

(this is all planing for after the warranty runs out you understand!)

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated, a cruising speed of 25mph would be great.......anything beyond that and I'd be over the moon.

For reference, an unrestricted Woosh Rio running the 13AH battery set to 17 amps will cruise along at about 20mph on electrical power alone......sometimes 21mph if the battery is fully charged.

(I know this because someone else told me.....honest!)
 
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anotherkiwi

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 26, 2015
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You will go faster by adding Volts not Amps. Or rather you need a bit of both. The SWX02 gears melt at about 1.5kW BTW...
 
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D

Deleted member 4366

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The bigger battery won't give you any significant increase in power. If you want more speed, you need to replace the battery and controller with 48v ones.
 

Damian.Doherty

Pedelecer
Jun 27, 2017
202
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Derry, Ireland
If I could talk Woosh into building me a 48V battery, is it then simply a matter of finding a direct replacement controller and swapping them out?

Surely it could not be that simple?

(say that it is that simple!) :)
 

anotherkiwi

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 26, 2015
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Yes it is.
 
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Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
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If the controller had a main 63v capacitor to accept the higher voltage then you may well get away without changing the controller.
 

Damian.Doherty

Pedelecer
Jun 27, 2017
202
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Derry, Ireland
All I know if the controller is that the website lists it as a
  • Lishui 17A controller
No mention of what voltage it can handle!

I'm only starting to investigate this now but I always imagined this would need to be upgraded. I'm wondering if Lishui do a 48V model that would be a direct swap?
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
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All I know if the controller is that the website lists it as a
  • Lishui 17A controller
No mention of what voltage it can handle!

I'm only starting to investigate this now but I always imagined this would need to be upgraded. I'm wondering if Lishui do a 48V model that would be a direct swap?
I have a Lishui 20a controller it has 50v cap but have used it with 12s lipo charged to 4.1v per cell.
Undo the four small screws on the end (opp end to wiring output) often you can see the up right cap sitting adjacent to the copper shunt, the cap will read either 50v or 63v.
Chances are it will say 50v but if 63v you are in luck.
 

Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
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Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
still 36V :(
 

Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
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wooshbikes.co.uk
yes, Damian.
Dorado is the model of the casing.
 

Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
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Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
ah no. The casing is right but you can't just change from 36V for 48V.
At least the LCD and controller have to be changed to 48V. The ones fitted in the Rio are not dual voltage.
The motor wheel should also be changed to the 48V version. The 36V has winding code 13, the 48V has winding code 16 which is wound for torque and gives you more torque instead of speed.
When you run the a code 13 motor on 48V, the maximum speed will be over 30 mph, it will be too much for a 140mm motor.
The choices of speed and torque are actually related, you'll want to prioritize torque a bit more than speed when going over 20mph.
For 48V, you'll need either a code 15 BPM 160mm motor or code 16 SWX02 140mm motor for a balanced speed and torque.
 

Damian.Doherty

Pedelecer
Jun 27, 2017
202
111
47
Derry, Ireland
Thanks Tony, I was mislead a little by the sales pitch on Luna Cycles page. They offer the 48v battery as a quick and easy upgrade for a FLX bike. They say all you need to do is swap the battery and that's it, no other upgrades necessary.

I was hoping it would be just as easy for my Rio:

To summarise, if I buy that battery I also need (with torque in mind)

1. A Code 16 SWX02 140mm motor
2. A new controller capable of 48V
3. A new LCD also capable of 48V

Is that right?
 

Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
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that's correct.
The motor does not have to be replaced right away, as long as you keep your speed to less than 24mph, your motor is fine to run at 48V.
It's worth considering the upgrade in a few years when the battery needs replacing.
 

Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
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Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk

Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
20,461
16,922
Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
New pics from a Rio MTB customer in Spain. We sent his bike directly there late January.
doesn't it make you wonder what you are doing here in the rain?



 

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