Bolton 35amp controller. Any issues?

[wkindred]

we had our first issue with a bolton 35a controller last night. a group of us were riding with full lights on a little after 11 p.m. when one of the riders had his rad premium headlight do a slight flicker then went completely dark. we were unable to reset his headlight for the remainder of our ride and assumed the headlight had failed. we swapped headlights with another rad premium headlight but still no joy. we metered the headlight connection on the failed bolton 35a controller and it currently reads 5v when active...not good! any suggestions?

[RiderDan]

I was surprised at the weight of the new controller compared to the stock unit on a Canadian Radrover 5.  It's larger, but quite a bit lighter than the stock unit.  The stock unit is built like a tank, whereas the new 35A unit is a thin sheet metal enclosure.  Longevity is up in the air in my opinion, but I've experienced nothing negative so far for the short time I've had it. 

Performance wise, it's working out great.  I ride with pedal assist and rarely throttle only.  What I wanted was a bit more grunt off the line to get me through intersections quickly and get me up to speed, pedaling on chain gear 6 usually at most.  More speed isn't my priority.  This new controller provides a much needed torque boost to help out my aging knees.  Using the Bolton settings seems just about perfect.  His C5=6 setting limits the power slightly, probably to reduce wear on the stock motor.  I did change C4 to 3, allowing me to use the throttle while in PAS0. 

Wattage wise with the Bolton settings, the max I've seen is around 1200 watts or so off the line on PAS5 while accelerating (or throttle only acceleration), but quickly drops back down when you hit a steady speed.  I tend to ride at PAS 1 or 2, and it draws around 60watts and 200watts respectively at speed.  If I remember correctly, PAS5 steady speed draw on is around 500-600watts.  Range given the way I ride hasn't really changed at all.  An excellent upgrade!

I do have some money put aside for the 750watt motor upgrade down the road though.  I don't expect the stock motor to give me problems the way I ride at the moment, but I think prolonged heavy use like riding up hills will certainly stress the stock motor to burning out given the wattages this controller can supply.

[Tsf]

Has anyone mounted the Bolton controller on the RR ST? It doesn't look like there is enough room to mount it where the stock controller is mounted and I'm not sure the cables are long enough to mount it some place else.

[Tony]

I am running the 35 amp controller and very pleased with the performance peaking about 1650 watt on a Rad Mini.   The std front light has failed so I'm now using a rechargeable battery light.  Now the tail light has failed but the brake light still works. Looks like I'll buy a battery tail light now.   Tony.

[Tony]

we had our first issue with a bolton 35a controller last night. a group of us were riding with full lights on a little after 11 p.m. when one of the riders had his rad premium headlight do a slight flicker then went completely dark. we were unable to reset his headlight for the remainder of our ride and assumed the headlight had failed. we swapped headlights with another rad premium headlight but still no joy. we metered the headlight connection on the failed bolton 35a controller and it currently reads 5v when active...not good! any suggestions?

My front and rear tail light have now failed.  Brake light and flashing light still work.  We have now opened up the KT 35 amp controller to find a small circuit board has burned. The controller still powers the bike fine but not the lights. I was running with standard Rad lights which pull really minimum power . I have now heard a few other people with this problem so it seems like a fault with the KT 35 amp controller.

[JimInPT]

My front and rear tail light have now failed.  Brake light and flashing light still work.  We have now opened up the KT 35 amp controller to find a small circuit board has burned. The controller still powers the bike fine but not the lights. I was running with standard Rad lights which pull really minimum power . I have now heard a few other people with this problem so it seems like a fault with the KT 35 amp controller.

I'm interested in any updates if you have them later on; I have the Bolton 35A upgrade, delivered in December so recent production, ready for installation when the weather warms up the garage a bit.  Have you contacted Bolton about a warranty replacement?  I think this is the only thread about problems with this kit that I can remember.

[Veggyhed]

I'm most curious about this burnt out part of the board for the lights.
Question to anyone here who is knowledgeable with the Bolton controller. Does the Bolton controller allow you to set the controller so it doesn't go over 750 watts?

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