help- have I broken my battery?

[Seaside reCycler]

Hi, I'm new to electric bikes, having purchased a second hand Powabyke 5-6 weeks ago (about 2 years old). I love the bike and have been using it every day to get me up a big hill to work

Trouble is, my daughter 'helpfully' charged it up for me last night and I think she plugged the charging end into the unit below the seat rather than into the battery on the luggage rack. It seems like a basic design flaw if it can be so easily plugged into the wrong socket. I have charged the battery, the lights are on but there is no power at all.

Does anyone know what I can do? Thanks for any help at all.

 

[KirstinS]

I've seen a few powabyke but not one with same sockets as you describe. What model is it please?

Any chance of a couple of photos ? I'm not following
what she has plugged into

 

[KirstinS]

With you seaside name - don't suppose you are near Brighton are you ?

 

[Seaside reCycler]

Hi Kirstin, thanks for the reply. I'm at the other end of the UK, on the east coast of Scotland here are a couple of pics, I can't see a model number anywhere, probably hidden underneath somewhere....
basically I think she plugged it in to the left hand side of the power unit rather than the actual battery, it has the same fittings.

 

[KirstinS]

That's a bit far away for me

Does the battery have a lead that goes from the battery into the pack under the seat ? This pack contains the controller


Basically the battery should go into should supply power to the controller . And then the controller has cables going out to motor/throttle/pas


Your battery should be fine as your daughter didn't go anywhere near it !


Do you have a multimeter ? Your battetry should read 42v hot off the charger . Or near enough

 

[KirstinS]

My guess is that the battery connects to the controller via the socket your daughter used

As your battery is 42v and the charger is 42v it ought to not damage the controller , I think

Though there are far greater and more knowledgeable folk than me on here

 

[KirstinS]

I've had second thoughts about the above already

Let just start with what should go into that controller socket

 

[Seaside reCycler]

Yes, Brighton to Scotland would require lots of charging stops!

hmmh, I don't have a multimeter but I may be able to borrow one. The plug normally goes straight into the battery and this then connects into the controlling unit. Does that make sense?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

It shouldn't do any harm because the charger is the same voltage as the battery. I often do that to test motors without a battery. Are you sure that you're not just panicking, and you've just forgotten to switch on something.

 

[Seaside reCycler]

I certainly was panicking when I hit the big hill this morning and realised I didn't have my wings lol. I have double, triple checked all connections but can't see what the problem is....

 

[KirstinS]

It shouldn't do any harm because the charger is the same voltage as the battery. I often do that to test motors without a battery. Are you sure that you're not just panicking, and you've just forgotten to switch on something.

Hi d8veh

The second thought I had on this point was I wondered wether a charger which delivers , say, 2a at 42v constantly might damage a controller if left like that for any length of time without actually running the motor

A battery, I think, won't deliver 2a unless this is a draw on it. Just plugged in it will be 42v and near 0amps

Just a thought - not sure if correct ?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

There must be a problem somewhere, but I'm not sure that's it. The charger doesn't deliver 2 amps. It delivers the voltage and allows 2 amps.

Whatever it gives/allows, the connection goes two ways. Firstly, it goes directly to the FETs which block it. There's one or more capacitors across it, but if they blew, there'd be lots of smelly smoke. Secondly, it goes through the shunt and then through the big resistor/s to the 12v regulator, which is fairly robust. There's a couple of minor connections through a divider to the CPU to monitor battery voltage and current, but the voltage is cut right down by a factor of 10.

From what I've seen, Powayke stuff isn't quite as standard as the normal Chinese stuff, so maybe there's something different in there, but I can't think what.

If anything should get damaged, it should be the charger. The fuse could blow when the controller's capacitors take their initial surge to charge up.

I think we need to measure the battery voltage. Maybe it's not charged.

 

[trex]

I think you have blown a fuse - you'll need to get a multi tester to diagnose the fault.
Check the following:
1. output of the charger. Need to see 42V
2. output of the battery
3. find out where the fuse is. Check it.

If it's still does not work, you'll need to open your battery case and post some pictures of inside the battery.

 

[Seaside reCycler]

thanks everyone for your suggestions. I am going to try and track down a tester and take it from there. There has been no smoke or anything so I'm still hoping that just a fuse has blown. It does seem a design flaw if it is that easy to plug it into the wrong socket and the whole lot blows. I have been in touch with Powabyke, they have suggested I buy a new circuit board (£65) and try that or send the whole unit and battery to them for a full diagnostic. Bearing in mind I bought it second hand- hardly been used- I can't spend £100's on a ne power unit. I'm gutted that this has happened, I've been driving miserably to work every day this week.

 

[Alan Quay]

A cheap multimeter is what you need. £5 should cover it. Toolstation do a good one, or eBay.

One like this:
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/141093479832?nav=SEARCH

 

[Seaside reCycler]

thanks very much Mike, I have just ordered one via that link

 

[Seaside reCycler]

oh dear, I'm getting nowhere. The bike I have is an X6-LS model. there is power from everywhere, though I'm not sure what figures I should be getting on my meter, including power to the front wheel I think. There is nothing obviously melted or blown when I look at the circuit board. I'm at a loss

 

[Deleted member 4366]

To diagnose the cause of your problem, you have to do a series of logical tests:
1. remove the battery, switch it on (if necessary) and check the voltage on it's terminals. It should be over 41v when fully charged.

2. Connect everything up, but with the controller pcb exposed like in your photo. Is there a flashing red LED on the PCB? If so, what is the flashing sequence? If not, you need to measure the voltage between the thich red and black battery wires where they join the PC. You should have at least 41v there too. if so go to next step.

3 Check that you have 5v between the red and black throttle or pedal sensor wires. You haven't shown the connectors, so I can't give you specific instructions.

Do these tests, then report your findings.

The controller is pretty standard, so It shouldn't be damaged.