Bolton controller leaky

[handlebar]

I got a Bolton controller for my Radrunner more than a year ago. I ride every day. A couple of days ago I set out 15 minutes after the rain stopped. As always, I avoided puddles because the front fender is too short to protect feet or the chain from what the tire picks up. Like Schwinn, Radpower seems to value fashion over function.

I prefer to pedal without assistance and use level 1, about 150 watts, intermittently. That day, there were a couple of incidents when I switched to level 0, which the display showed, but I kept getting pedal assist and throttle response for several seconds.

The opposite problem occurred the next day. At a stop sign on an upgrade, I switched to level 1 for assistance in accelerating across the road. The display changed, but the motor was still dead. I hopped off and pushed. I could cross the road faster that way. A few seconds later it worked again.

At home, I inverted the bike. All connections seemed clean, dry, and tight. I unscrewed the controller and found grit accumulated between the fins on top, at the front. It was crusty, meaning it had been deposited wet. It must have been thrown from the front tire, and the fashionable fender didn't block it.

The grit was against the back of the front end plate. There was a gap between the plate and the rubber gasket because the assembly was designed with too few screws. The back plate was the same way. When I removed the plates, I saw that dirty water had seeped in through the grommet, along the cables.

For moisture protection, circuit boards are often potted. This one wasn't. To pull it out, I would have had to unscrew a row of heat sinks. That was a potential assembly hassle, so I left the board in. In case any moisture remained, I left it in the breeze for two hours. The humidity was low that day.

The solution was quick and cheap. I sealed around the plates, around the grommet, and around the cables with Flex Shot. Some Bolton customers must ride through a lot more wet stuff than I. Why didn't the instructions warn the installer to seal the unit with RTV? Why does Radpower sell inadequate fenders?

[JimInPT]

Man, that sucks, but glad you got it going again.  I've very-occasionally had my MiniST2 motor just stop running for a few seconds (the stock controller, soon to be a Bolton 35A as well), usually after a gearshift or PAS change, but after a few pedal turns it kicks in again, so I've chalked it up to controller or cadence sensor brain farts and haven't worried about it.  Nothing like yours though, although I always avoid wet surfaces.

Your story does remind me though of how much I value the controller mounting location on the MiniST vs. the regular Mini and the Runners - much better protected from the elements and wheel splat.

I've considered opening up my new Bolton and hitting all the seams with RTV sealant, but that rubber gasket seems to be pretty solid all the way around so haven't decided yet.  I might just hit it externally across all the seams I can find.

[Radio Runner]

Not the prettiest solution but many people have for years cut up milk jugs, 2 liter soda bottles, leather scrap, rubber tubes or whatever and riveted them to make a nice mud flap that extends the fender line. Some bolt on commercial versions are out there for sale.

[handlebar]

Man, that sucks, but glad you got it going again.  I've very-occasionally had my MiniST2 motor just stop running for a few seconds (the stock controller, soon to be a Bolton 35A as well), usually after a gearshift or PAS change, but after a few pedal turns it kicks in again, so I've chalked it up to controller or cadence sensor brain farts and haven't worried about it.  Nothing like yours though, although I always avoid wet surfaces.

Your story does remind me though of how much I value the controller mounting location on the MiniST vs. the regular Mini and the Runners - much better protected from the elements and wheel splat.

I've considered opening up my new Bolton and hitting all the seams with RTV sealant, but that rubber gasket seems to be pretty solid all the way around so haven't decided yet.  I might just hit it externally across all the seams I can find.

It wasn't such a bad experience. If I didn't encounter malfunctions, I'd get bored!

I've loved RTV since the 1970s, but once it's opened, it's hard to keep moisture in the air from getting in and curing it before the next time I need it. Flex Seal is expensive, but they've pretty well solved that problem. It cures in the polyethylene nozzle, but now the nozzle unscrews in case I can't simply pull the cured plug out the end.

[handlebar]

Not the prettiest solution but many people have for years cut up milk jugs, 2 liter soda bottles, leather scrap, rubber tubes or whatever and riveted them to make a nice mud flap that extends the fender line. Some bolt on commercial versions are out there for sale.

Great minds like ours think alike! I've got black polyethylene that's about as thick as the fender. It was sold as edging for gardens. I've been thinking of using it. It would be a chance to use the pop-rivet gun I bought almost a year ago. I hadn't thought of the polyester of a soda bottle. It might be dandy. Plastic from a milk jug sounds too thin, and it gets brittle.

They used to sell mud flaps for bicycles. I didn't need one because I had an A B Jackson. It had good fenders because it was really a Raleigh. The factory produced them cheaply, but the British government put a high tax on those destined for America. Jackson was a farm-supply dealer in North Carolina. He set up a tiny motorcycle factory in England so he could have Raleigh paint his brand on frames and import the bicycles as motorcycle parts. An American kid could spend $70 on a 65-pound Schwinn that wasn't fit to rid around the block, or for $10 he could get a box of parts to assemble a 25-pound Jackson that he could ride 100 miles a day. Back around 1900, a similar smuggling scheme kept the Wright Brothers in business.

[crorris]

handlebar - Thanks for this. I'm getting ready to head to Florida at the end of next week to ride from Key Largo to Key West and back. I could run into some rain. I was worried about this for my controller and was working on ways to protect it. My Flex Shot is arriving from Amazon today. I was also worried possibly about the display. I just plan to put a clear plastic bag over it held on by a rubber band if it starts raining.

[handlebar]

Not the prettiest solution but many people have for years cut up milk jugs, 2 liter soda bottles, leather scrap, rubber tubes or whatever and riveted them to make a nice mud flap that extends the fender line. Some bolt on commercial versions are out there for sale.

The fender is 3.0mm thick. The polyethylene I found is 2.7. My longest rivets are for use up to 1/4". My first one went through the center ridge of the "mudflap." The rivet wasn't long enough to use a washer, and it pulled right through the fender. I hadn't thought to measure the center ridge. It's 4.1mm thick, for a total of 7.1mm. I'll get longer rivets and washers.

This is my first time riveting plastic.

[Radio Runner]

Cool! Your well on the way.

So speaking of Rad preferring cosmetic fenders over actual ones with good coverage. I was looking at the Rad Wagon the other day and noticed that they look to be using the same fenders on those 22" wheels. If you look close the dimensions and tire clearance are not quite right for a slightly bigger wheel. They are just stuffing 20" RR and Rmini fenders on the Wagon.