Cycle Analyst: Auto shut off after idle

SFIFTWbAZdsK

1 µW
Joined
May 30, 2023
Messages
2
Location
USA
I regularly leave my CA powered on after riding (the display is out of the way, not visible, I usually don't see that it's still on). Is there a setting that will auto shut off the CA if it detect no movement after x seconds? I looked through the manual but didn't see anything.
 
Maybe install an on/off switch on the handlebars with an indicator light where you will see it. What controller do you have?

SOLVED: CA3, HiGo, Key Return ? Where does the key switch connect to?

https://ebikes.ca/documents/CycleAnalyst_V31_Web.pdf
"The CA3 turns on whenever there is voltage on the CA plug. With direct plug
connections, if the controller has an on/off switch this would also turn the CA on
and off. If the controller does not have an on/off switch or the Stand Alone CA
shunt is used, then the the battery itself should have an on/off switch for turning
the CA on and off."
 
The CA has no idle mode because it is already very low power.

How do you power the system on and off when you stop riding? If you wire the CA's power source to only supply Vbatt+ when the whole system is powered on, then you don't have to build a complicated automated switch.

Otherwise, you'll have to build a switch with a relay or transistor to disconnect Vbatt+ from the CA whenever it's not moving (what kind of sensor do you want to use for that? speedo? vibration? GPS?***) for however long.

If your system's throttle is provided by the CA, then this switch also has to detect that you've started moving again and re-power the CA, then you have to wait for the CA to boot up, and then your system will begin running again. Or you have to have a manual reset button, perhaps on the handlebars.

Note that your automated switch will continue to use power, so you'll want to design it to use as little as possible. The CA uses <100mA IIRC (you can measure your actual usage in your system to verify), so if your reason for the switch is to reduce power drain when not using the system, your switch will need to use less than the CA does, or else it will actually make the problem worse, assuming your reason for doing this is to decrease power usage.

***Whatever sensor is used by the automated switch will have to be powered by the switch itself, or not require any power from any source, so you can't use whatever sensor the CA uses if that sensor uses power, because it won't be operating when the CA is off, so it can't be used to reactivate the system after autoshutoff. If the sensors require anything ohter than battery voltage to operate, you'll also have to include a DC-DC to provide power to them, and that will use current all the time, so again, if this uses more power than the CA does, the problem is now worse....
 
The CA has no idle mode because it is already very low power.

How do you power the system on and off when you stop riding? If you wire the CA's power source to only supply Vbatt+ when the whole system is powered on, then you don't have to build a complicated automated switch.
I was just assuming he was forgetting to turn off the whole system because he doesn't have the display mounted to the handlebars to remind him that it is turned on. The CA itself does not have an on/off switch. It turns on when the controller is turned on.
 
Sorry for the late reply, but I turn the whole thing of w/ the key on the battery.

My solution was to just put my bike lock key on the same key ring as the battery key. Then I never forget =)
 
Glad to see this thread. I'm newly on the Grin system, and it's driving me nuts that I have to remember to turn the CA off. I have my lights on the 5V output (grin purchased lights) and they are always on = fine for riding, but now the system takes 8W at idle, which means more of a penalty when turning it off - especially if I leave it on.

I was at their location today and was told that unfortunately the programmer passed away, and it's a difficult programming language, so there won't be any updates in the near future.

I feel compassion for the programmer and the company's loss, but wow - this is not heartening to hear as a customer. V4 of the CA is apparently in the works
 
On my old bike I had my lights on a separate 12V system that I turned on via a handlebar switch. The problem was that I'd sometimes forget to turn the lights on during the day. While I don't need lights during the day, I do like having them on to increase visibility. With the new system, I have the lights come on when the battery and hence the CA is turned on. I prefer this arrangement. I may lose a few watt-hours here and there if I forget to turn the battery off. But I'd rather lose a bit of battery power than to forget to turn the light on during the day.
 
Glad to see this thread. I'm newly on the Grin system, and it's driving me nuts that I have to remember to turn the CA off. I have my lights on the 5V output (grin purchased lights) and they are always on = fine for riding, but now the system takes 8W at idle, which means more of a penalty when turning it off - especially if I leave it on.
I thought the DC output of the CA was battery pack voltage. I'm not aware of a 5V output. Maybe I'm missing something and some of the Cycle Analysts have a 5V output?

I was at their location today and was told that unfortunately the programmer passed away, and it's a difficult programming language, so there won't be any updates in the near future.

I feel compassion for the programmer and the company's loss, but wow - this is not heartening to hear as a customer. V4 of the CA is apparently in the works
I understand, but the CA is a very mature product and what we are talking about here is a new feature request that we hope can be implemented via software update. I'm not sure that it can (or can't). In the meantime, you might be able to solve your issue with something like this (assuming the light is actually 5V or 12v). If I understand it correctly, vibration will toggle a relay on and you can set a timer to turn the relay off after no vibration has been detected for a set time period. I've never used one, but if you like to tinker ...

 
With the new system, I have the lights come on when the battery and hence the CA is turned on. I prefer this arrangement. I may lose a few watt-hours here and there if I forget to turn the battery off. But I'd rather lose a bit of battery power than to forget to turn the light on during the day.
Same. I also used to have switches for everything, but it's just more stuff to fiddle with, wire route, and forget; not worth it at all.

I have everything wired up so that one key does it all. The key switch is wired up to my Phaserunner mains cable. When that turns on, I'm taking the 12v +/- from the pas plug on the PR and turning on a relay that lets battery voltage through to a 12 dcdc which powers everything on the bike (gps, lights, video recorder, etc).

Turn key, whole bike and everything turns on. Remove key, bike fully off. Thats it.
 
I'm actually going to speak (write) against this. In my case, I have lights powered by rechargeable batteries, and I look for replaceable standard cells for these, but that's not the main point.

"it drives you nuts" - perhaps you are setting too low a bar for yourself? One way to approach this is to make your entire life so thoughtless that you never realize how thoughtless it is. Or...
Perhaps think of it as exercise for your brain? Or practice maintaining some awareness of where you are and what you are doing?

Why is everyone so desperate to fade into unconscious, unaware mush?
 
I feel compassion for the programmer and the company's loss, but wow - this is not heartening to hear as a customer. V4 of the CA is apparently in the works
This is just wild conjecture on my part, but I'd bet that the superharness is "CA v4 lite" and is running an entirely new platform. (Because, yeah, I believe there's posts around here spelling out that the CA is programmed in assembly for some very old cpu architecture, very hard to work on, and they're basically out of memory space as-is with current features.)
 
Tell you what tho.... i love the CA display .. after building 100's of kit bikes i can totally appreciate the ruggedness and reparability of the CA .... i get calls on the daily from people with bikes that have nice fancy led displays ... .. lol .. sorry man.. can't help with that problem ...
 
<snip>

Why is everyone so desperate to fade into unconscious, unaware mush?
Counterpoint: Convenience is a perfectly legitimate thing to pursue. I have plenty of things to think about. Eliminating trivial tasks does not send my mind down a path of unawareness or mush. This is especially true if it is my mind that has consciously arranged things to handle the trivia. That said, every person gets to choose for themselves what they find trivial or worth mental effort.
 
Back
Top