Checking power to the motor

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PJD
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Re: Checking power to the motor

My scooter has no SD card anywhere.

All the Current BCU software, plus the manuals in a separate folder, is here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/i6rkhus7l4f64p2/AABDGClcQ9ygWga6lx4qQbXMa?dl=0

To install BCU access - just copy the entire contents of this folder into a folder on your hard drive.

Read the "Bike Control Unit Software Tools" guide for info first.

Briefly, there are two interfaces with the BCU -

1. A 6X1 pin connector-to-USB cable, which connects to the straight row of pins on the BCU circuit board under the Velcro cover in the BCU case. This is used for changing various program settings via the BCU Access App.

2. A "USB Tiny" device which connects to the 3x2 set of pins on the BCU - this is only for loading the compiled firmware (.hex) files onto the BCU.

3. Then in addition to the above, the Kelly Motor Controller is configurable via their software from their website (free) and a standard old-style serial connector on the controller. Dig into thids forum for various improvements you can do there.

Unfortunately, I don't have the time to regurgitate everything I've slowly learned about CuMoCo scooters. The most important stuff can be found digging back in this forum.

andydamis
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Re: Checking power to the motor

Hmm. The SD card I was referring to is the BCU data logger.

Thanks for posting the software, etc. I had a copy of the BCU access software and the 6x1/USB cable, but I didn't have the firmware nor do I have a USB Tiny.

I've looked online and there seem to be many variants of the USB Tiny but am unsure which of them will work with the BCU Access software. Any idea where I can get one that is compatible?

I read through MikeB's initial delivery post as well as a few others and will continue to read them all so I can see what you and others have learned and shared.

I've downloaded the Kelly software and am going to pick up the USB/RS232 cable shortly.

I'm looking forward to getting my scoot up and running better than she ever has. Thanks for all your help.

Andy

PJD
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Re: Checking power to the motor

Andy,

So, you were having your scooter data logged? Was this installed by CuMoCo?

As far as I know, any USB Tiny and the appropriate driver (packaged with the app "WinAVR") will work. It seem that they come in kit form like this:

http://www.adafruit.com/products/46

...so hopefully you are not too intimidated by some soldering. Send the kit to me and I can build and test it.

The firmware is the .hex files in the "versions" folder.

I was hoping that in our "community" there would be an EE or software engineer who was familiar with AVR programming as it is used in a lot of prototyping or embedded controls in various appliances. I'm a civil engineer myself who does none of that kind of stuff. But right now, our "community" is all of perhaps three people.

LCJUTILA
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Re: Checking power to the motor

I was logging my data too with a little gizmo supplied by CuMoCo.
There are some posts on this topic from way back when.

LCJUTILA

PJD
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Re: Checking power to the motor

"I was logging my data too with a little gizmo supplied by CuMoCo.
There are some posts on this topic from way back when."

OK. I recall those posts and I thought it was something you were doing on your own.

At any rate, it seems that the CuMoCo community here is a very small one. I am still left wondering how many scooters - either test pilot scooters or production ones, were ever sold.

LCJUTILA
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Re: Checking power to the motor

I think I was either the last or very close to the last Test Pilot at number 35 in the production run.
This is going to take some time and patience to try and contact other owners.
I was thinking we could try and Private Email people through posts they have made to this site in the past and see if we could get them involved in forming a "Support Group."
The thing is I work and am in the middle of a very big long range project and I know Paul works too.
I have limited time to apply to this.
On another note, most of the components used in CuMoCo scooters are off the shelf items so if we could slowly nibble away at where to get them we would be well on our way to keeping our scooters on the road.
When I first got my scooter one of the plugs for the BMS was unplugged and I used the scooter for quite a while before I realized it. The scooter never went into balance mode with the plug disconnected.
Terry said the charger would work without it and if it was shutting off normally it meant the battery was getting fully charged and seeing the maximum charge voltage.
My point is it seems the BMS is the only proprietary system and the bike functions without it so we will not be left with giant doorstops should the BMS fail and it seems all other parts are available.

LCJUTILA

PJD
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Re: Checking power to the motor

Terry said the charger would work without it and if it was shutting off normally it meant the battery was getting fully charged and seeing the maximum charge voltage.
My point is it seems the BMS is the only proprietary system and the bike functions without it...

Yes, the charger will work and shut off when the "full charge voltage" is reached, but without the BMS, the "full charge voltage", say 88 volts in the case of the C124, may be reached by 22 of the cells getting to an average of 3.4 volts, and the other two cells going up to a ruinous 7 volts per cell. A BMS is definitely needed - especially for the variable-quality Chinese GBS cells and especially as the battery pack ages. Of course, you will never know that this is happening unless you have a way of checking individual cell voltages.

One thing I'd like to know is how they or TC modified the TC Chargers for use with the Current BMS - specifically, how it gets switched from the full 10-12 amp charging current down to the 0.5 amp charging current needed for "balance mode". We will need to know this if we have to replace a charger - or if we adapt a different BMS to it.

Without this mod, charger is presumably normally configured for a CC-CV charging protocol, where the current would taper-down as the max voltage is reached, but Current's design disabled this for a less efficient abrupt drop from full current to 0.5 amp current for balancing with their with their BMS. This lead to very long "balance mode" charging times in cold weather when the internal resistance is high so the voltage comes up in the poorer cells prematurely. Ideally, the BMS should instead gradually throttle down the charge current in balance mode as needed to hold the max voltage. This is what the Fecher-Goodrum BMS kit I built for my other scooter does.

And regarding scooter numbers, the last two digits on my VIN and invoice number are any indication, I am number 29 - and I doubt that there were actually 28 scooters sold before me - most of them were unsold prototype bikes.

PJD
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Re: Checking power to the motor

OK, here is the latest regarding service of Current scooters...

-----------------------------------------------
Hi Paul

We have heard that you may be having service issues with your Current Motor bike. If that is so we are sorry to hear it. While your bike is no longer under warranty, we are happy to assist you to keep it running by:

1) repairing it for you; or
2) by selling you the parts to repair it yourself (with a small fee if CM tech support is required).

Current Motor's repair rate is $80/hr. You pay actual shipping costs, non-rush less expensive.

Please do not hesitate to contact Stephen Price or Teri Anderson (email above is best) if you need our assistance or if you wish to upgrade to the new Current Motor electric motorcycle, the Nb.

Thank you for your support of Current Motor!

Best
Lauren
---------------------------------------------
The e-mails are:

Stephen.Price [at] currentmotor.com

Teri.Anderson [at] currentmotor.com

It appears that Terry Richards is no longer with the company.

PJD
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Re: Checking power to the motor

Well, still no answer to my e-mail to Mr. Price and Ms. Anderson regarding some technical questions...

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