There are many different displays sold with the BBS02/BBSHD drive units. Some vendors allow you to choose, others will ship you whatever you get and that’s what you’re stuck with. Any of these displays should work with either the BBS01, BBS02, BBSHD or the Ultra Max.
C961
C961 the cheapest and easiest to get of the three displays
The C961 is the oldest and has a small display with the three buttons separate from the unit. It has the least amount of functionality but is the most commonly seen with the BBS02 drive unit. It has no watt meter unlike the other two. The manual for the c961 is here. The C961 has a PAS speed limit of 50km/hr which can override the programming on the controller. You can work around this limit by setting the wheel diameter to a smaller size than it actually is, although then your speedometer will be inaccurate. The C961 can support 9 levels of PAS on the display.
C965
The C965 is usually a little extra but has backlighting and a watt meter. Five-button version shown here
c965 Three button version is very similar to the 5 button version.
The C965 is the rarest display I’ve seen, usually, it is priced somewhere between the C961 and the C963. This unit has a unique vertical configuration which some people seem to really like. There are two versions, one with 3 buttons and another with five buttons making menu navigation far more intuitive. If you don’t care about stealth but want a watt meter and can’t get the C963 this unit is might work for you. The watt meter does not show total watts used, only the current power draw. When compared against a more accurate watt meter it becomes obvious that the watt meter is also wildly inaccurate. The manual for the three button version is here. The manual for the five button version is here. The C965 has a PAS speed limit of 99km/hr which is more than you will ever get to on any BBSxx unit.
If your display is showing error code 30 then you probably have a bad C965 display. There was a large number of BBSHDs that shipped out early 2016 with bad displays. Contact your vendor to replace it with a newer display and the problem should go away. Replacing the controller will not fix the problem.
C963
The most expensive, hardest to find and our favorite display unit
The C963 has an auto-backlight as well as a watt meter. This is probably the smallest, stealthiest and best looking display unit of the B&W displays (although the 500c color display is much smaller). The fit and finish look much higher quality than the other B&W display. Like the C965 this unit only shows current power output and is not particularly accurate. The manual for this unit is located here. The C963 has a PAS speed limit of 40km/hr which can override the programming on the controller. You can work around this limit by setting the wheel diameter to a smaller size than it actually is, although then your speedometer will be inaccurate. With my fatbikes I set their wheels which are close to 29ers in diameter to only 18 inches which then shows me in kph how fast I’m going (approximately) in mph. The C963 is the only display here that will not display in mph only in kph. It is also limited to showing only 5 levels of PAS. The C963 watt meter also only goes up to 999 and if you’re pulling more watts than that (both the BBS02 & the BBSHD will) then the display will basically read nonsense.
If you want to access the advanced features of this display you will need to look at the Kingsong manual right here . The first half of this manual is Chinese so you need to jump to page 32 where the English version starts. If you want to change the number of PAS levels displayed the instructions on doing that start on page 50, there is a bunch of other parameters you can change without having to program your controller as well.
DPC10
The DPC10 is the newest and most expensive of the 4 options, not recommended
The DP C10 is a larger B&W display that is pretty hard to get. Most ebike dealers will charge a premium for this display. The biggest difference is that there is a built-in USB port so you can charge your phone off your ebike battery. This is a nice add-on if you want to use your cellphone as a GPS unit or if you want to use a normal automotive GPS unit or dashcam. Just plug it in and go. Without a drive unit this display runs about $75 from Lunacycle.com right here. This display is quirky, has no programming manual and a lot of people don’t really like it. The USB port not power up unless an active device is plugged into it before powering up the display, and it is limited to about 1Amp of power at 5v which is enough to charge your phone or run your GPS but is not going to be enough power for a bright LED headlight. At this point, I do not recommend this display. Here is a crash course on brief instructions on how to program it written by Sakkie from this thread.
Click “i” twice to enter the menu then click it once to move to the next option. Double click to save.
TC = Trip Clearance. Choose N or Y
S7 = Miles or KM. Use plus or minus to choose one then double click “i”. This will take you out of the menu but is the only way I found to keep the setting.
BL= Back light sensor. How sensitive the sensor is to turn BL on.
BL-1 = Back light brightness
OFf = Screen auto off time
nna = Maintenance reminder. 0 = off 1 = on
SB = password. 0 “i” 5 “i” 1 “i” 2 “i”
LUd = Wheel diameter
SPl = Speed limit
601 = ???????
TC = Trip Clearance. Choose N or Y
S7 = Miles or KM. Use plus or minus to choose one then double click “i”. This will take you out of the menu but is the only way I found to keep the setting.
BL= Back light sensor. How sensitive the sensor is to turn BL on.
BL-1 = Back light brightness
OFf = Screen auto off time
nna = Maintenance reminder. 0 = off 1 = on
SB = password. 0 “i” 5 “i” 1 “i” 2 “i”
LUd = Wheel diameter
SPl = Speed limit
601 = ???????
DPC-14
While Bafang missed the mark with the DPC10, they hit the nail on the head with the DPC14
The first full-color display for the BBSxx drive units is the DPC-14 (reviewed here). This display has all the features you would expect on a display that often seem absent or missing from earlier displays. It has a clock, trip meter, real-time Watt or Amp meter, and a battery power meter that actually works properly for any voltage pack. On top of all that the display is also full color (none of the other ones are). If you don’t mind having a larger display, the DPC-14 will not disappoint.
The DPC-14 is bright and beautiful, just like you.
If you want to see the manual for the DPC-14 then click here, for a short video on how to program it check out this short youtube video from Lunacycle.com. One of the nicest features is that you can set it with a password so someone else can’t easily jack your bike. That will come in real handy in my crappy neighborhood.
DPC-18
I got a DPC-18 with my Ultra Max build and I liked the display a lot. I believe that the only display the Ultra Max will work with is the DPC-18 although this display will work with any BBSxx drive unit. There is a lot of features on this display located here and there is a review coming. This is a nice color display which does not have any serious issues that I could find. If you like green then you’re going to like this display.
The 500c is sexy, small and discrete
500c
The 500c display is much smaller than any other display and is my current favorite. The only downfall is that the display can sometimes be hard to read in direct sunlight, if you need a large clear display then the DPC-14 or DPC-18 might be a better bet, but if you want a small discrete display, the 500c cannot be beaten. A full review of the 500c can be found here. It has a watt meter with a bar graph and native support for 52v nominal packs.
After I posted a review of the 500c color display for the Bafang BBSxx drives a bunch of readers asked me if it would work with the Bafang Ultra Max 1000W Torque sensing drive unit. There is something of a rumor that only the DPC-18 color display will work with the Ultra Max, so I went out and tested it with the C961, C965, C963 and the 500c. In short, I didn’t find any difference in the performance of using any of these displays. Typically Bafang tries to make their displays so they are compatible with most of their drive units (although this is not always the case). What most people don’t realize is that Bafang does not actually build their ebike displays, but contract other companies to make them for them. This explains why many of the displays have totally different settings in the menus and different user interfaces.
How many displays can you cram on one bike?
What do I buy? A lot of vendors won’t give you a choice when you purchase the drive unit, some vendors will. I recommend the 500c but if you can’t get the 500c the DPC-14 is a good 2nd bet. I would avoid the DPC-10 and the 500c is my current favorite and is highly recommended for it’s size and functionality. The watt meter, while useful is not something that usually matters that much to us. What we really need is a temperature meter showing the current temperature inside the unit. For instructions on how to install your own temperature gauge for <$5 check out step 12 in this link.
Ride on.
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