New upgrade, several LCD functions not working properly!?!?

Every Sondors owner is upgrading from crappy components, thats why their price was so low.

Disconnect and inspect the connectors, blow them out with your breath and reconnnect.
Did you crash the ebike?
Might be a display problem, throw in a spare sensorless controller and see if it runs. Buy a spare throttle while your at it.

All of the main components are brand new. The only original components here would be the brakes and PAS sensor. I also tried with these not plugged in, same result. I will try another throttle tomorrow. I think I did try another LCD, but I can try that tomorrow too.

banshee28 said:

So the first thing I did was replace the "guts" of this new 750W hub motor into the case of the original 350W hub on the wheel. All went good and its back together. I am not sure if its possible something is wrong with this, or if that even is possible to cause my issues?

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iof the mtoor is working correctly, and drives the bike as expected, and the speed sensor works, then it's unlikely anything went wrong here.

if its' a geared hubmotro, then if the speed sensor doesn't work, it might be that the magnets on the hub shell don't line up with the sensor on the board on that face of the motor itself, or the motor may not even have a sensor there.

if you still have the old mtoro core and the enw motor shell, compare them to see if the sensor on the old mtor core lines up with the magnets on the enw mtoor shell, or if the new one even has magnets.

Display shows battery voltage, but NOT the green battery bar at all! Voltage is currently around 54 volts but no green bars.
When using throttle, the MPH, ODO, and the Watts display never change from zero! Even riding a mile or so it all stays at zero.
PAS 0 seems to be full speed PAS 5, when 0 should be OFF, lol.

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did the display come with the new controller? or is it original with the bike?

if it isn't matched to the controller, it might not communicate with teh controller in the same "language".

if the controller and display aren't connected correctly on the two data lines, no data will pass between them and the display can't show you anything. it'll still turn the controller on cuz that's a separate wire.

amberwolf said:

did the display come with the new controller? or is it original with the bike?

if it isn't matched to the controller, it might not communicate with teh controller in the same "language".

if the controller and display aren't connected correctly on the two data lines, no data will pass between them and the display can't show you anything. it'll still turn the controller on cuz that's a separate wire.

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So everything here is new, controller and display (LCD). There is only the "green" connector for that and then the black one for the throttle, right? Today I will test using another throttle I have and see if that works.

This sounds like somebody is trying to install a Bolton upgrade kit (basically a KT control and display with plug and play wire connectors to match the Sonders) on a Sonders bike without reading the directions.

Have you made any attempt at setting the controller parameters using the display?

Have you compared Bolton's recommended parameter settings to your current settings?

banshee28 said:

So everything here is new, controller and display (LCD). There is only the "green" connector for that and then the black one for the throttle, right? Today I will test using another throttle I have and see if that works.

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Were the display and controller come as a set?

AHicks said:

This sounds like somebody is trying to install a Bolton upgrade kit (basically a KT control and display with plug and play wire connectors to match the Sonders) on a Sonders bike without reading the directions.

Have you made any attempt at setting the controller parameters using the display?

Have you compared Bolton's recommended parameter settings to your current settings?

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LOL,,, Possible but not in this case, all these components were bough from electrobikeworld as a set that is fully compatible together. At this point the only thing still "Sonders" it's plugging into would be the brake cables and PAS sensor. So I think this should work fine right?
yes tried all of Boltons and others P settings, none made a diff

E-HP said:

banshee28 said:

So everything here is new, controller and display (LCD). There is only the "green" connector for that and then the black one for the throttle, right? Today I will test using another throttle I have and see if that works.

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Were the display and controller come as a set?

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Yes! At least its compatible as a set.
https://electrobikeworld.com/products/kt-lcd8h-usb-color-display
https://electrobikeworld.com/products/35a-controller

I have 2 ideas I am going to try this afternoon... A spare throttle I have to test with, and remove the LCD extension cable (green plug) from the LCD to the controller since it was needed to reach. Maybe there is an issue with it or THAT is the incompatible part!

As noted previously:

if the controller and display aren't connected correctly on the two data lines, no data will pass between them and the display can't show you anything. it'll still turn the controller on cuz that's a separate wire.

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then you can get the symptoms shown, because all of the data you're not seeing is generated inside the controller, and sent to the LCD, where it then decides what to do with it. Additionally, the preset responses are preprogrammed into the controller, and only overriden by the display once communication is established.

I can't imagine how a throttle could cause the problems you're describing, unless the system is factory-badly-miswired internally to the cables, controller, or display, connecting throttle wires to data wires, which is an unlikely failure. Also, the motor would NOT operate by using the throttle, if the throttle were the cause of the problem. You can still test it, but I'd like to see the wiring that could cause it if it is found to be the problem.

I would recommend that the first test be to verify the connections between LCD and controller. If you have a multimeter, one simple test if you can access the actual wires inside the cables at the LCD end, you can set the meter to 20VDC, put the black lead on the battery negative or any other known-good ground wire (that is connected to battery negative direclty or indirectly), and put the red meter lead on the conductor of each of the two data lines. When the system is on, you should get about 2.5vdc on each line, because there's actually a data signal rapidly switching from 0-5vdc in there, and on a meter it looks like 2.5vdc or so. If one wire has this, but the other doesn't, there's a broken connection somewhere on that particular wire.

If you don't know which is the data wire, then set the meter to 200vdc instead, and use the red lead on each wire in the cable in turn. Usually there's only 5 wires, two of which will read battery voltage, one of which will read 0vdc (battery negative), and two of which will read about 2.5vdc or so.


Potential problems include, in order of probability:
--poor seating of the connectors together, causing insufficient contact between data lines to/from controller/display.
--poor seating of the contacts inside the connector shell, so one is backing out slightly as it's plugged in, preventing good connection. (most likely the data line from controller to display, rather than the one from the display to the controller).
--broken data line wire at the base of teh connector shell or back of contact, on either ocntroller or LCD end of cable
--broken wire or cold solder joint on the data line(s) inside the controller or LCD boxes, at the PCB itself.
--the two data lines could be swapped in the wiring harness on either LCD end or controller end or at one of the two connectors.
--the controller is defective or is simply not sending it's data to the LCD for whatever reason.
--the LCD is defective or simply not receiving the controller's data.

Post your parameter settings please. All of them. They can't all be right.

AHicks said:

Post your parameter settings please. All of them. They can't all be right.

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Here is how they were recently. Very much ready to test the controller to LCD cables today, I think that may be it!

How did you determine P5=22? Try 15 to start with.

E-HP said:

How did you determine P5=22? Try 15 to start with.

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I had 15 to start with, the vendor asked me to try 22. Will be going out to test a few things now...

ITS WORKING!!!!
Yep, so long story short here is how it looks now, instantly worked once hooked up. All settings immediately started to work as they should:

Settings:


So, here is what fixed this...........

I have another identical Sondors fat tire bike that I recently upgraded to this same LCD, along with a smaller but upgraded 25a controller. I first decided to pull that LCD off and use it here. IT WORKED! As soon as I hooked it up, battery bar was green, mph and speed all started to work first try! I then set the P settings and it continued to work fine!
I guess the LCD was bad (?) but the wire looks perfect and these are identical units. Weird...
Here is a pic of each of them.


So once that was working, I then tried to hook up the original LCD back to make sure it still did not work. It did exactly as it did before. This time I had it hooked up on the side of the bike for testing...


I then put back the working LCD and everything in place on the bike. I did not have time to fully fasten everything down including zip ties, but the side cover closes and everything seems to work great! I will ride it tomorrow but I think this did the trick.
So.....Is it common for the LCD to fail this way? The cable seemed fine, no bent pins and I must have plugged and unplugged like 10+ times before and it never made a difference.

It is good that youv'e narrowed down the problem to which end of the system it is probably on.

The LCD itself is probably perfectly operational. It is almost certainly the cable, wiring, connections, etc., that are at fault. There could be an electronics failure, but it's not common. Unfortunately "seemed fine" is not a test. You would have to do the tests (such as those suggested) in order to determine what is actually wrong with it.

The problem could still be in the connector, and if the controller side uses female pins, it is even possible for it to be in that side of the connection.

Without any pictures of the relevant connectors (just what appears to be a 3-pin throttle connector, but could be anything other than the LCD/controller data connector (which typically has a minimum of 5 pins)), we cant' even see that part (though typically the problems you've had are not externally visible, and require electrical testing to determine).

If it is under warranty from the manufacturer, then there really isn't any need, unless you just want to know, but if it is not under warranty you might want to do those tests rather than having to buy a new one.

Yea everything should be under warranty, I will verify. The above picture of the green connector is directly connected to the LCD unit, which also goes directly to the on/off power switch and PAS up/down, all of this is a single unit.
So by hooking up the non-working LCD multiple times even after the good one works, would that not show the problem is most likely the LCD unit (Which has the cabling built-in) being the problem?
It seems like the LCD as a package would be the issue here? I have tried 2 controllers and each did the same thing.
I will reach out again to the vendor but so far it seems like this may be it. I agree the LCD itself is prob ok, but since it has all the connectors built in, maybe its something there?

If you're swapping back and forth between 2 displays, with one working and the other not, with no other changes, I think it pretty safe to assume one of the displays is defective.

If you're swapping back and forth between 2 displays, with one working and the other not, with no other changes, I think it pretty safe to assume one of the displays is defective.

AHicks said:

If you're swapping back and forth between 2 displays, with one working and the other not, with no other changes, I think it pretty safe to assume one of the displays is defective.

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Agreed, yep thats exactly what I ended up doing.

Whether its the built-in cabling on that unit or something else, something with that unit is not working. I may also try this "bad display" on the other bike and see if it does the same there. That should be pretty solid further proof the LCD unit is not working, multiple bikes at that point. Will try this today.

banshee28 said:

AHicks said:

If you're swapping back and forth between 2 displays, with one working and the other not, with no other changes, I think it pretty safe to assume one of the displays is defective.

Click to expand...

Agreed, yep thats exactly what I ended up doing.

Whether its the built-in cabling on that unit or something else, something with that unit is not working. I may also try this "bad display" on the other bike and see if it does the same there. That should be pretty solid further proof the LCD unit is not working, multiple bikes at that point. Will try this today.

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If you're going to replace the LCD, then maybe open it up and check the soldering connections for the signal wires.

Pswpower is a great source for KT "stuff" in my experience, at great prices, as long as you don't have to have them right away.


https://www.pswpower.com/products/colourful-kt-lcd8h-lcd-meter-with-waterproof-plug-and-usb-mobile-charge-port-for-kt-series-controller-68

40.00 plus freight for that display...

Good news Update!!!

So first I hooked up the LCD that was not working back on the other Sondor's bike I pulled it from. Originally it was working perfectly there for months. That is a 36v system still. This LCD does exactly the same thing there, no battery bar, MPH, etc. Tried with the original throttle and new one, same. Tried with extension cable and direct, same. So at this point I am done troubleshooting the old LCD, it seems 100% non functional, even though this one was brand new. I will be working with the vendor on that to return it since it was new.
Pic on the other Black bike:

Next up is the good news. I got everything connected on my "blue bike" and went for a ride! Wow, so much better than the stock setup (prob 3x power), although I did expect that its pretty much what I wanted, so very happy with this setup now. When I could briefly look down at the LCD I noticed over 1500w at times so i think its working pretty good, not sure if I can get more out of this setup, lol.

My MPH is still a little off but I think that should be something in the P settings I can play with and get right.

Blue bike battery box: (is the foam safe? I rode it rather hard for a while and it never got hot that I could tell touching it)


Two pics of a local site I just rode to today for a quick ride. I do have a few misc things to still fix on this so will work on that and post if needed... Thanks for all the help guys, hopefully a new LCD will fix that and I will reply back once I have an update...