XH-18 display with TSDZ2 running OSF - My build

[neixian]

Originally I had a kit with stock controller, new version, so no OSF possible.
I bought an old version controller from China and flashed it with OSF, using stock display VLCD5, which worked great.

However, the reliability of VLCD5 is questionable, so after a few crashes, the internal spring connectors went dodgy, and the display stopped working eventually.

So, I bought a XH-18 display, which is 6 pin, with a 8 pin to 6 pin adapter cable, and rebuilt the conversion.


I like it because the twist assist level control is very nice to use.

The build base is a Rocky Mountain ETSX-10, which is very solid and capable, featuring 140mm front air fork and 5" adjustable Fox FloatR in the back. I like how it handles bumpers very much.

Being a dual suspension bike, it has just enough space for a battery in the frame triangle. Not many bikes can do this nowadays.



To fit the motor to a dual suspension bike, one can't use the stock fitting, so I made something like this in the picture, without which the motor housing will rotate to touch the tube and eventually most likely crack the housing.


This how it looks like when finished.



I only used the 8 pin to 6 pin adapter cable for testing, and used the 8 pin cable from old display instead, by soldering all lengths of wire needed together.

The pinout of the cable to the controller is as following:

The Xh-18 pinout is here:


I need connections as such:

TSDZ2 < - > XH-18
Blue green
Red white
Yellow Orange
Brown Brown.

This is for the display, I need throttle too as sometimes I don't feel like peddling, such as after a long hard day.
The throttle connections are as such:

TSDZ2 < - > Throttle
Orange Blue
White Red
Black Black

And brake sensors are also very helpful, as I need lights to flash when braking. I Also love the feature of startup assist without peddling, for the sake of which when I am waiting for green traffic light I put my foot on the peddle while braking, if I loose the brake lever and it will assist startup immediately, which is a very nice feature.

The brake sensors for hydrolic brakes need to be bought separately, and they are installed like this using double-side sticky tape:


The connection for brake sensors are as such:

TSDZ2 < - > Brake sensor
Black Black
Green Red

It is just a switch controlled by a magnetic metal object. If you have two sensors, just connect them in parallel.

It looks like for XH-18 to work, when you configure it with brake sensor while flashing OSF, you will need all the sensors in non-braking position, which means no signal passed to the controller.

The lights are controlled through a cable connecting the speed sensor, it is like a Y adapter, which splits the cable from the controller to the speed sensor and light. This Y adapter is part of new speed sensor cable which needs to be purchased seperately too.


Front light is my old headlamp (very bright and adjustable), while the rear light can be any rear reflector, on which I drilled a hole and insert a super bright straw hat 3V LED bulb in.




As to light configuration, I set E02 to 2, and E03 to 6 (press light button to get to E02 and E03 displayed,while assist level is set at 4. For setting details, please read the manual here TSDZ2-Smart-EBike-1/manuals at master · emmebrusa/TSDZ2-Smart-EBike-1. ) I prefer 6 as it flashes even the lights are no turned on. If you don't want them to flash, just select E02.



You don't want them to flash all the time, as at night you need steady front light.

This conversion makes the bike so powerfull that I can climb up downhill trails with ease. Therefore I feel like upgrading the front brake disc to 200mm from stock 160mm will help.


It is a very easy upgrade, just buy the disc and a PM adapter.

I am very happy with the build. Now I love riding it more than driving.

Only issue is, that the odometer reset itself occasionally, not back to zero, but to 1.6km, which is the strangest thing I have ever wondered at.

 

[kgingeri]

Thanks for all this info collected in one place. Someone (in another thread I read) suggested that the odometer reset may be from removing the battery/power without turning off the display. You might want to check that out.

 

[dgc]

neixian, I like your ebike build, what size frame is it, in my case to stop the the motor rotating I used the later securing ring from the TSDZ2B which has similar serrations to the Bafang securing ring along with forming a anti-rotation wedge placed between the motor case and the down-tube using Quiksteel aluminum reinforced epoxy putty. I run180mm front and 160mm rear rotor on all my current builds but do have a couple of 203mm rotors with adapters in the cupboard. I am about to mess around with the TSDZ2 Parameter Configurator, one setting I am interested in trying is the "Hybrid Assist Mode" as in Luke Lorusso's YouTube video.

 

[dgc]

Daft question I guess but got to ask it, as the 36v and 48v motor wattage is set up in the controller ie 36v 250w / 350w do I set the wattage via the TSDZ2 Parameter Configurator or the STVP program. I see you can set on and off road figures in the Parameter Configurator but in the STVP program from memory you can change a parameter and set the motor to a specific rating. I have used the STVP program before a few years back on an AKM mid drive to load a firmware update from the manufacturer. The AKM was a good drive, looked like a TSDZ2 but worked like a Bafang,

 

[dgc]

Well just bit the bullet and updated the firmware as per Luke Lorusso's YouTube video "Install the OSF and KEEP YOUR DISPLAY" so I could try out the "hybrid assist mode", to be fair I do like it, smoother pickup from standstill, will have to see how the drive behaves, range, battery etc. Only thing I found so far is that on power up 10mph is displayed but directly you move the bike very slightly so the sensor picks up it goes back to 0mph. But then Luke had a slightly different speed indication issue on power up that disappeared that disappeared. One byte or two somewhere in the hex code I assume. I did back the original firmware but can always read it of my other bike.

 

[dgc]

The TSDZ2 Parameter Configurator doe's not list the VLCD13 display which I have my hard-tail any idea if I could get away with using one of the available display options?
Doe's anyone have the original instructions where you modify the hex code using the STVP software which is what I had to do on the old AKM drive I had. I remember they gave you the two digit codes for the motor volts, wattage etc etc. I may try writing the hex code with just the "hybrid assist mode" added using the Configurator and then compare it with the standard so I could then perhaps insert it into the drive with the VLCD13 display. Use to program PLC's and HMI's so happy to have a play, at worse, I do have spare controllers.

 

[dgc]

That's interesting, a comment made in another thread, got one of my spare controllers out of the cupboard just plugged the programing cable into it and downloaded the firmware straight onto the computer. Still would like the original instructions where you modify the hex code using the STVP software. We are learning.

 

[neixian]

Hi mate, my bike size is large.
With VLCD13 you probably need to flash the display as well.

 

[dgc]

That's two problems I have, nice display needs as you say a bit of flashing, that's why I would like to get my hands on the hex code and modify the firmware via STVP, secondly a bit short in the leg and think the large frames are a bit too large for me, I ride the small / medium frames so cannot get the larger batteries in to a full suspension frame. But I do have a used Specialized S-Works M5 Epic frame in good condition which I may clean, strip and repaint, will have to do a dab test with the Barrettine Paint Panther Paint and Varnish Remover as it took Hammerite off.