Cycle Analyst V2 or V3 or something else?

[MikeSSS]

I'm not interested in PAS, cruise control, etc. Programming throttle curve is not needed with my present motor/controller/throttle setup. I'm using a Luna Shark 48v 14ah GA cell battery and sometimes a 36v gel cell battery rated at 12ah but actually more like 5ah. My Aotema brushless, DD setup works with both 36v and 48v, no LVC at 48v though.

What I want is to keep track of watt hours or amp hours used and the voltage of the battery both under load and unloaded, and the amps used both peak and instantaneous. Put another way, when I'm riding I want to know the amps and voltage of the battery and how many amp hours and watt hours have been used.

A possible problem is that I do stops and disconnect the battery when I'm in a store and often carry the battery with me into the store.

For a couple days I used a Luna Watt Meter / battery gauge, after about 10 miles it died, but when it worked I liked the voltage and amps peak and watts peak feature. It seemed that the amp hours and watt hours measurements did not work. Sadly, the display was not visible when riding.

Problems with the LWM were that its shunt is built in and so it is best mounted between the battery and controller, positioning it on the handlebars would require thick wires run forward and back again on the bike. Then there is the problem of the LWM erasing its data when the battery is disconnected.

The Batt-Man uses a shunt that can be mounted back at the battery - controller interface, I think. That is nice, only thin data wired go forward to the BM display. Don't know if the CA2 and CA3 use shunts, it seems to me that they probably do.

I'm leaning towards the CA. What do you advise? If CA, which model?

Thanks

 

[dogman dan]

CA V2 stand alone is all you need.

 

[teklektik]

Don't know if the CA2 and CA3 use shunts, it seems to me that they probably do.

I'm leaning towards the CA. What do you advise? If CA, which model?

Yep. If you want to measure current you need a shunt.

The CA can use either the shunt in your controller or an external shunt. It can get it's speed information either from a hall signal at the controller or using a wheel pickup. A number of controllers now come with CA connectors already installed so you can pick up power, shunt, and speed signal by just plugging in - the generic kit controllers generally lack this feature.

• The easiest way to add a shunt to a CA is to get the CA external shunt and hook it up as described in Appendix D. "Adding a CA-DP Connector to a Generic Controller" of the CA V3 Guide. This hookup also works for CA V2 models and gives you all the features normally available on controllers with a ready-made CA-DP connector (CA V2 - buy CA-SA; CA V3 - buy CA3-SA. These are CA-DPS or CA3-DPS models with the SHUNT-CA3 thrown in).
  
  If you hook up your CA this way you will get programmable LVC so your 48V pack will be covered.

There is a feature comparison for CA3 and legacy CA2 in section 3.2 of the V3 Guide. There's also a bunch of new stuff available for the V3 in the new beta 3.1 software, but it's probably fancier stuff than you're looking for just now...

I understand you don't want a lot of features and may be trying to low-ball it here, but for an extra $30 the CA V3 will put a lot of stuff on the table. Notably in your case, it has presets for two battery packs so you can switch battery setups with a couple of button pushes. It collects lifetime stats separately for each pack so you can see how things are going as they age. You specifically called out that you don't need PAS, but the V3 can make it available in the future for the cost of a simple PAS wheel.

• It sounds like the V2 will do the job for you today, but the V3 will give you some additional convenience swapping packs and a bunch of future-proofing on this bike or your next.

 

[MikeSSS]

Two battery presets and gathering lifetime information for each battery makes the decision. V3 is the one.

My Aotema brushless hub motor is also sensorless, only 3 wires to it, and it is direct drive.

Because of no Hall sensors, speed information must come from something like the magnet on the spokes and the pickup like a cyclocomputer uses?

For a shunt, just buy a CA shunt and put it inline in one of the wires from battery to controller?

Am I on the right track?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Ykick]

I believe you're on the right track. Use a standalone shunt and spoke magnet.

 

[teklektik]

There's a little ambiguity on the Grin CA order page - it says the order number 'CA-SA' is either a V2 or V3 so they may be expecting you to add a note. This really needs two different designations: CA-SA and CA3-SA.

• In any case, you seem to need the wheel pickup and external shunt so you can order a CA3-DPS and SHUNT-CA3 ( 130.00 + 24.00 = 154.00 ).
  This is actually a few bucks cheaper than the more confusing CA-SA-with-a-note (158.00) but exactly the same parts.

You also want to order a CA programming cable so you can upgrade your firmware. The present CA3 is shipping with 3.01 which really does all you want (today), but 3.1 will be out in the 4th quarter and may have something that you like. This will also allow you to configure your CA3 with a laptop using the Software Setup utility and collect the serial data stream (Speed, Distance,V,A, Ah,etc) with a laptop or phone (see the Guide).

The V3 is a very different product than the V2 and takes a bit more effort to set up. Eyeball the Installation section of the Guide to make sure you are comfortable before ordering. In any case, any CA3 issues usually get a quick response by posting to the "Cycle Analyst V3 preview and first beta release" thread where you download the Guide.

FWIW: The shipping from Canada is not good, so I recommend filling the box with little goodies since you've already anteed up with the primary order and the shipping is essentially free for little add-on stuff.

 

[dogman dan]

For your needs, get the CA V2,, stand alone. Then you get all you need, the shunt, the wire to the bars, the speedo pick up. Easy peasy.