THROTTLES

 All the throttles use a linear hall type sensor and magnet inside them. All throttles run off 5v power from the controller . The led type throttles need to match your battery voltage for the led lights to run correctly, they come to suit either 24v, 36v or 48volt.

*(occasionally a controller will need a 12v hall sensor in a throttle but are very rare type).

Basically there are two types available: standard throttles and throttles which have led lights which indicate the battery voltage.

Standard Throttles (no led lights to indicate battery voltage):

1. Twist Type ($20aud plus freight)

2.Thumb Type($20aud plus freight)
This is the smallest throttle I can get in terms of size (will add dimensions as time permits).

Throttles with led lights to indicate state of battery charge:

1. Twist Type($30aud plus freight)

2.Thumb Type($30aud plus freight)

A few pics of twist throttle with leds:
Picture below(left): how leds appear in direct sunlight (still visible). Pic below (right) how they appear in shade.
 

Pic below left how they appear inside or at night. Dimensions shown also at right.
 

Other Throttles:

1. Large style with switches, no led lights. $40aud plus freight. Hall sensor runs off 5v power supply (most common type in controllers).
Left handle has left and right blinker switch, horn switch and on/off  switch for accessories. Right hand throttle has on/off switch for accessories.

About Throttles:

Below assembling throttles in Zhejiang china. Some very patient ladies at work assembling throttles below.

Below left shows a magnet which is inside the throttle case. The throttles have a return spring in them so the throttle will return to off position when let go. As the throttle is twisted there is a very minute change in the distance the magnet is away from the hall sensor, the magnet is slightly offset in its seating in the throttle. The hall sensor is mounted so it sits very close to the magnet , as the throttle is twisted the magnet moves position and its distance from the hall sensor changes.This change in magnetic field strength effecting the liner hall sensor adjusts the voltage output of the hall sensor. The hall sensors usually use a 5volt power source from the controller. Below the red wire on the hall sensor is the 5v power from the controller. The black wire is earth. The blue wire is the output wire which varies in voltage from about 1v to 4v (depending on how close it is to the magnet). Its called a linear hall sensor as the output is fully variable over a range ( hall sensors in motors are on/off type). That change in output voltage which goes back to the controller is used to vary the speed at which the motor runs. The signal from the throttle is directly related to the voltage the controller allows to go to the motor. In the controller the voltage to the motor is varied by the PWM chip ( pulse width modulator ). Its all a bit high tech really!!

Some throttles have an led indicator which shows the state of charge of the batteries ( battery voltage ). There is a circuit board which has components which switches on the correct led depending on the battery voltage. Unfortunately each different battery sytem ( 24v, 36v , 48v ) requires a different circuit board, so a throttle with leds for 24v , the leds wont work correctly on a 36v controller ( the throttle though will work fine). If you use a throttle with leds say for 36v on a higher voltage system you'll have to disconnect the led power wire, if you were to use a 72volt system on a 24v led light system likely will damage the led circuit. Note on the picture below that there is one wire ( in this case a yellow wire ) which goes directly to the positive end terminal of the ebikes battery bank. Its a good idea to be very careful when connecting up a throttle to a controller and battery that the battery voltage wire isn't mixed up with the other wires which go to the controller. For example if you mixed up the yellow wire on a 48v system with the red ( 5v ), you will put 48v through the hall sensor which is designed to operate on 5v, it will fail !!! very easy to mix them up, I"ve done it a few times.

If an ebike motor is not running at full speed or will not run at all, a good place to start to check things is the throttle. By shorting together the 5v power (from controller) wire ( usually red )and the output wire ( sometimes  green but can be different colour depending on manufacturer ), the motor should run at full speed. If the motor runs at full speed when those two wires are put together ( bypassing hall sensor in throttle ) but wont run when throttle is used, it means the throttle is not working, probably a failed hall sensor.

If you want to make up a pot type throttle which uses a variable resistor here are two different pot type ( variable resistor )ones can be tried. The pictures are adapted from information given on the oatley electronics website. One of these below should work with most controllers.

Examples of wire colour coding for throttles: note three wires usually go to the controller. The colour of the wires coming out of the controller to connect to the throttle will most likely not be the same colours as the wires coming out of the throttle. The good thing is the three wires which go to the controller from throttle, and the three that come out of controller to throttle, you can touch any of those 3 together and not cause any damage to anything in controller, so you can test to see which combination makes it work if its not clear. BUT!!!! dont get the battery voltage wire mixed up with any of the three wires that go to the controller.

Below colour coding and showing controller connections for Crystalyte controller only!!!! It has a four pin connector on the controller. 3 connections for throttle hall sensor and one for the battery voltage.
The blue wire inside the controller is the positive battery voltage ( take care!!)

Thanks to Tony in surfers paradise for showing me the all terrain quad vehicle throttles which have alot of different functions that might be of use for someone to know about: pic below not directly related to ebikes just for information only.

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Copyright 1998-2006 by Brett White on all images/text/information and graphical materials on this website.