DPC-18 Initial Thoughts

[Luv2ebike]

I wanted to share my initial thoughts on the DPC-18. I've included some pictures of the display too. First, I have to say that ordering from Luna is always painless and the display got here fast. Eric's crew is great. Second, I have the BBSHD 1000w with a 52v 13.5ah shark battery.

I want to be honest, so here goes. I am underwhelmed. After playing with it for an hour, I think this is a step back from the 750c. There are a few things that are cool, like the usb port, seeing amp usage, auto backlight to name a few. But not enough, initially, to switch from the 750c. We'll see though.

First, I put the display on my bike. That went smooth. Then I played around with the display settings. To get to the settings page you double click the "i" button. There is only 1 settings menu, no advanced menu like the 750c. I changed the wheel size to 28 and the PAS setting to 9 from 5 to match my settings on the 750c. It also has a setting to see the current (watts) or power (amps) on the display. I kept it at current. I also set the clock. We'll see if it keeps the correct time or not when I turn it on later tonight. It dispIays the correct voltage for my 52v battery which is good. I do have to say the buttons are more responsive than the 750c which was nice to click and have a instant response, changing the PAS, changing settings in the menu, etc. It does have a light sensor for the auto backlight so if your riding and it gets dark, the display comes on automatically. That's kinda neat. It also has a USB plug so you can plug in a phone. I haven't tried it out yet.

Then I took a ride around the neighborhood. Here is where I had my biggest gripe so far. The only digital part of the display is the speedometer and that is easy to see. But unlike the 750c, the watt meter (or amp meter, whichever you have it set to) is barely legible in the sunlight because it is analog. The numbers indicating wattage or amps are so small. That is kinda a deal breaker for me. I love seeing the watts I'm using so I can gauge my cadence accordingly. Like I said, this is preliminary and I won't be able to take my normal long ride until this weekend to test it completely.

Cheers everybody and happy riding!

The pictures show display with amps, display with watts, and the settings page.

[Kocho]

DPC-14 seems to have great visibility even in direct sunlight for me, even with polarized glasses on. Shows W or A digitally and it appears to be fairly close to reality. My voltage on the 52V battery is also realistic, if not accurate - it gives me 59.4V or so on a fully charged 58.8 battery and goes down from there consistently, so while it may be off by a bit less than 1V in the upper ranges, it is proportional and close enough to the actual SoC of the pack, which is what matters. Keeps time too :), although its clock seems to have gained about 8 minutes over 500 miles. I've had 1 unwanted reset during these 500+ miles with my DPC-14, which set it back to factory settings (but it kept its time!). The PAS controls are instantaneous, no delay at all that I can perceive. And I have not tried the USB either, but it is there.

So, other than the consolidated menu (for which I don't really care as I tend to set and forget those settings) and auto dimming (nice, but between the day/night mode I don't seem to care for auto dimming), there does not seem to be anything there for me to upgrade, really. Are there any other features differentiating the DPC-18 from 14 that would make it a worthwhile upgrade? Suppose your 14 breaks, would you replace it with another 14 or the 18?

[Kocho]

Mine does. Very useful while charging and riding. It scared me the first time I saw it go above 58.8V while charging. I kept stopping the charge to measure the actual voltage to make sure my charger was not overcharging the battery. It stops at 58.8V actual and the DPC-14 shows 59.4 to 59.5V at that point.

[Kocho]

I just measured the battery voltage at the battery terminals and compared to the DPC-14 displayed voltage at different SoC. Mine seems to be consistently 0.6V higher on the display vs. the battery terminal. For example, 48.8V on battery (low SoC) vs. 49.4V on the bike display. And at hi SoC, 58.8V vs. 59.4. Similarly, in the middle of the SoC range I got also 0.6V difference between displayed and actual. So, seems my DPC-14 is very consistent across the SoC range and always 0.6V higher.

[kcaravelli]

Hi, I realize this post has aged a few years but I was reading it and realized you set only one "reset".
I am trying to understand why my DPC14 on my BBS02 with 48v Shark battery reset back to factory defaults.
I had not programmed it but I do have the USB cable for that.
I had not gone into the display settings in months so that can't be it.
It just suddenly reset earlier this week out of nowhere. All my configurations were gone like wheel size, battery voltage, 9 level power settings were back to 5 etc.

Have you seen this happen with any other Bafangs?

My system is about two years old. We ride the local trail a lot but no long touring and nobody has access to my trike but me.

[cajk]

The only digital part of the display is the speedometer and that is easy to see. But unlike the 750c, the watt meter (or amp meter, whichever you have it set to) is barely legible in the sunlight because it is analog. The numbers indicating wattage or amps are so small. That is kinda a deal breaker for me. I love seeing the watts I'm using so I can gauge my cadence accordingly.

From just hanging around this forum for several months and reading the posts, I have noticed that many riders are obsessed with the question "How fast can I go?". If "speed" is indeed the most important number to a majority of riders, then perhaps the DPC-18 was designed with that in mind. It's called "Give The Consumer What They Think They Want".

If it sells, it will mean the designers are on the right track. If it doesn't sell, they'll try something different in the next model revision.

[Scott S]

Just how is the amp/wattage analog?? It is all part of the speedo readout display.

[max_volt]

The 14 has analogue/digital power display options but not this one.

[shaowned]

How did you make it show 1500W? Mine stops at 750W

[kuba]

does anyone know where i can buy glass for dpc18?, car hit me when i was riding my bike, glass is broken, dpc18 is working, also just in case if i have to buy new dpc18 , how can i restore milage?

[Robertiiino]

I have 750c right now, and in my opinion, it is waaaay better than dpc18. I have a power bank to charge my phone, can't understand the usability of usb plug.

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[dibiya]

https://www.google.com/