Should I upgrade my controller now or wait

[RayStDenis]

Hi all,

I received my Radrunner Plus in November and due to a massive amount of rain and now snow, I have only been able to rack up 60 KM so far. I paid for the Rad assembly and delivery which means once I hit 150 KM, Rad mobile will come over and tune my bike for free. Being I live in very hilly West Vancouver, it wasn't long before I realized I needed the 35A Controller upgrade which I just received.

Question is: Should I install the controller now or should i wait until after Rad does the 150KM tuneup? I read posts that seem to suggest that once you upgrade, it voids the warranty.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

[JimInPT]

If you install it such that it's reversible, you might continue to get warranty service by setting it back to stock first, but I'm 99.9% sure they won't touch it for your tuneup with that 35A controller/display in place.  (Lawyers make all the business decisions now, you know.)  They might even "put a note into your file" for future contact reference.

I'm debating whether or not to install my 35A Bolton upgrade kit before my MiniST warranty expires in March.  A freezing-cold garage will make that decision for me for another few weeks.

[RayStDenis]

Thanks. That sounds like great advice. I will wait until after the tuneup and then install it, and if I need any warranty work, I will just revert it back. I'm in the process of waterproofing the controller as I can see several places where water could easily come in.

[JimInPT]

I'm in the process of waterproofing the controller as I can see several places where water could easily come in.

I've considered doing that as well, with some silicone sealant, but I don't ride in the rain, the MiniST's controller is mounted high enough to avoid puddle problems and my engineer brain keeps thinking that some moisture will accumulate inside from condensation over time and if it's well-sealed, how will that moisture ever get out, to avoid corrosion problems?

Would appreciate some input from others using this controller upgrade - does it get warm enough with ordinary use or sitting in the sun to drive any accumulated moisture out if sealant isn't applied?

[RayStDenis]

There is very thin gasket on the two ends, but I plan to put a bead of silicone around the edges.

Also, there are 16 small screws where water could get in under the heads, so I bought some 3mm o-rings and will be placing those under each screw (along with some blue Loctite since there will be less bite on the screws). Note: the 6 screws on the side are holding a component inside, so have to do one screw at a time so the component does not fall.

[RayStDenis]

Well that didn't go so well. The o-rings don't take much torque to flatten and spill out the sides so scrapping that idea.
Also, don't remove the 6 screws on the side of the controller. When you remove a screw, a small metal plate that the screw fastens to will drop out and is a b*tch to get back in place to rescrew.
For now, I just dabbed the two ends with some silicone and screwed them back on.

[JimInPT]

Thanks for that latest update, Ray, to help save the rest of us from running into the same headache.  So there are doublers behind the box to give the screws more to bite into?  That's a good design detail if so.

I looked at just popping off the ends and sealing them, but as I recall I noticed a gasket already there, so didn't bother.  As I mentioned, I don't ride in the wet and the MiniST controller mount is high up and toward the rear so I figure it'll be ok since the mfgr. would have been aware these things are used outside and would design accordingly.

Happy New Year!