Trouble Shooting
brake handle switches: when the brake handle switches are disconnected
from controller , the controller will be in run state (working).
Disconnect brake handle switches from controller see if motor runs.
When brake handles are depressed this makes continuity of brake wires from
controller (earth to another colour).
Regen braking: I usually connect regen braking (if available) to left brake
handle.
Disconnect regen braking see if motor runs
throttle: throttle has 3 or 4 wires. 4 wires if an led battery voltage
indicator is present. Colour coding depends on type of controller/throttle and
manufacturer
a. If three wires from throttle:
red is 5volts (approx!), black (sometimes yellow or blue also used) are earth
(0v), the other colour is output voltage from 1 to 4volts (approx. actual
voltages can vary from throttle to throttle depending on the hall sensors used
in the throttles). Note colour coding varies alot depending on manufacturer
b. If 4 wires from throttle:
extra wire goes to the positive battery terminal to measure battery voltage
(make sure don’t get this wire confused with others you could damage throttle
by connecting wrongly, i.e. throttle doesn’t like full voltage they are only
designed for 5volts supply). Crystalyte throttles use blue wire for leds, twist
throttles sometimes yellow, thumb throttles sometimes green.
One way to test if throttle is working or not:
a. have motor connected to batteries/controller short the 5v (red) and output
(1-4volts) wire together (the throttle wires) motor should run at full
speed (make sure motor is held securely in a vice by its axle or in the bike
before doing this).
b. with everything wired up and power on:
voltage from red (5v) to earth (0v) should be around 5volts (very approx!)
measuring voltage from output (1-4volts) to earth the voltage should vary as
thottle is twisted
Motors:
A. Brushless motors: ( the hall sensors seem to be the main thing thats
gives problems with brushless motors, they are electronic devices and so a small
percentage of them may fail at some time, it really depends on the quality of
the hall sensors used in the motors)
5 small thin wires coming from motor.
Red=5v, black=0v(earth), other colours are output of hall sensors from 1
to 4volts.
Test there is approx 5 volts across red and black.
Test voltage from output to black (earth) will vary from a low value (between 0
to 1 volts) to a high value (approx 4 volts sometimes higher). Move motor very
small increments hall sensors will turn off/on, voltage should go from a min. to
max value as motor is moved (move motor in very very small increments)
Motor doesn’t run smoothly almost
always a bad hall sensor connection somewhere. Check all connections are very
good. Wiggle wires in connections see if motor runs smooth. Also wiggle the
wires where they go into motor, maybe a bad connection inside motor. Recently
had one case where a hall sensor wire inside the motor had been hitting the
revolving outside casing and become disconnected. Measuring the hall sensor
voltage outputs showed there was a problem inside the motor (thanks to Peter in
Western Australia for that info).
Heres the info Peter sent me and a pic of the problem ( unfortunately it was a
new motor I had supplied to peter and thanks to him for doing the detective work
on finding the fault, it looks like i'll have to have all the gl-1 motors
opened up before sending out so this fault doesn't occur again)
"Hey Brett
I checked all the connections and all are fine. Those small wires going to
the motor checked out as follows.
Red - Black 5.4volts
Black - green 6.2volt and switching off and on with rotation of wheel
Black - blue 6.2volts constant not switching on an off with rotation of
wheel
Black - yellow 6.2volt and switching off and on with rotation of wheel
So given this data it must be one of the hall sensors in the motor, are
they replaceable or are they in the windings of the motor.
Peter"
Three thick wires: check windings
resistance, usually around 1 ohmn, test across two wires at a time the
resistance should get around 1 ohm. If get very high ohms means a short in the
windings.
Important: the three
thick motor wires must make a very secure connection to controller, if the wire
connection come apart while under load a large spark will jump across the bad
connection. Called a voltage spike, it will damage the mosfets in the controller
and controller wont work. Best to make very secure these motor wire connections.
B. Brushed Motors:
difficult to test winding
resistance due to commutator. Test motor directly to a battery to see if it runs
without controller (cant do this on a brushless motor). If it runs when
connected directly to batteries means problem lies in the wiring to controller
or in the controller or throttle.
If motor wont run when connected directly to some batteries means problem is
inside motor, open motor and check brushes are ok .
Direction motor runs in can be reversed ( brushed motors only, reversing
a brushless motor is more complicated)
For a brushed motor only: 1. when using controller: reverse the motor wires
where they connect to controller (do not reverse battery
connections that will damage controller).
2. when using directly to batteries (just for testing,with no controller
present) can simply reverse polarity
to reverse direction.
Batteries:
Never reverse polarity of red and black wires to battery. It will damage
controller.
Check
the voltage of each battery individually. Sealed lead acid (absorbed glass matt
type) should have a voltage of over 13volts when fully charged.
I usually only use the batteries down to about 12.6 volts or so. Controllers
have a low voltage cut off, so if one battery is a dud (i.e. has a low voltage )
it could be causing low voltage cut off of controller to activate.
Never use GEL cell type lead acid batteries, they have a very large
voltage drop and are all but useless on electric bikes.
In
General:
If
no power check all connections. Wiggle the wires alot, often I find its just a
bad connection somewhere.
beware of spray ebike company:
more info