Need your help, elife infusion

RBhav

Finding my (electric) wheels
Oct 19, 2024
6
0
Hello everyone. I really need your help. I have been given an e-life infusion bike, a few months ago as a birthday present.

The bike is in pieces. It does not work currently, and I would like to bring it back to life. I actually need it to go to work.

The main problem was the battery and the charger, that I was able to bring to life today.

However, now there is another problem, the controller for the bike is of a different kind. The previous owner probably burned the original controller, and tried to replace it. The controller he has bought is for 36v instead of 24v of the original battery, and the controller. So I am stuck with not usable controller, and not working bike obviously.

The original controller was (TIANJAN SANTROLL ELECTRIC: B-WZKD24(Unknown)KA-JM10B-F4)
I have got WZKD3615KA-F4, 36v with a low protection of 31v, obviously it does not work.

Could you please help me choose a controller, on a very low budget, that will power up the bike, and use the breaks, and other stuff originally implemented in the bike?

Is the motor on the bike, brushless?
Can I use "universal" controller, from ebay?
Can I plug the breaks, to the new controller?
Will motor work fine with "universal" controller?

Really need your help, please. Thanks
 

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Az.

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 27, 2022
2,092
932
Plymouth
Your wheel is upside down.

Do you have 24V battery? How old is this bike? Did you measure battery voltage?
 

RBhav

Finding my (electric) wheels
Oct 19, 2024
6
0
Hi, I have 24v battery. The bike is of date of manufacture 2020. The bikes battery voltage is now fully charged, is 28.3.

What do you mean by wheel upside down? There seems, no meddling with the wheel. How does it supposed to be?

My main problem is the controller. The one I have got is of no use. Can you advice on any I can get from ebay?
 

thelarkbox

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 23, 2023
1,252
385
oxon
Common out of factory fit error is to install the motor wheel with the cut/open portion of the axle where the cable exits facing upwards, this will let rain/water into the motor, refit the wheel with the cut portion facing DOWN!!!

KT brand controllers are popular, BUT controllers and displays need to 'talk' together so replacing one will often require replacing the other too. KT brand controllers are popular because you can configure them and they have a wide range of compatible lcd displays.
 

thelarkbox

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 23, 2023
1,252
385
oxon
your looking at £80-100 for a kt controller display combo but searching ebay/aliexpress would probably turn up a much cheaper matching replacement of the original 24v controller.

The problem there is the bikes performance is probably not that stellar with a 24v supply which is why the original controller was burnt out ( uphill probably) and while a 36v controller will power the motor ok it will need a 36v battery..

If you have access to a 36v battery i would urge you to use that and fit the new 36v controller..

yes just add the brakes ;)
 

Az.

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 27, 2022
2,092
932
Plymouth
I was just going to write same thing as Thelarkbox. I would buy KT controller, display and 36V battery.
Can you post a picture of a whole bike? What wheel is it? 20"?
 

RBhav

Finding my (electric) wheels
Oct 19, 2024
6
0
Kinda hard on my budget. Anything cheaper maybe, with an option of resolgering, refitting? Any good source of information regarding controllers maybe?

Anyway, thanks for the advice.
 

RBhav

Finding my (electric) wheels
Oct 19, 2024
6
0
your looking at £80-100 for a kt controller display combo but searching ebay/aliexpress would probably turn up a much cheaper matching replacement of the original 24v controller.

The problem there is the bikes performance is probably not that stellar with a 24v supply which is why the original controller was burnt out ( uphill probably) and while a 36v controller will power the motor ok it will need a 36v battery..

If you have access to a 36v battery i would urge you to use that and fit the new 36v controller..

yes just add the brakes ;)
I will be just as happy making all this stuff work, on 24, and not be greedy about speed and distance. I have got about 5 miles to go anyway, everyday.
Going to 36, is currently not an option. I am very pressed for budget.

Any cheap controller and display you would recommend?
 

thelarkbox

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 23, 2023
1,252
385
oxon
recommended isnt the cheapest.. a like for like replacement for the original; silver box is probably the cheapest option with the highest probability of working ok.. however due to the number of manufacturers that 'customise' controller f/w its a bloody minefield.

A KT combo Will Work, even if in a rare case of the phase order needing reprogramming to match your motor..

So if buying cheap still buy from a no quible return source and dont be surprised if it takes a couple of punts.
 

saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
7,005
3,241
Telford
The problem I see is that your battery might not be any good. 28.3v is too low for fully charged. A healthy one would be 29.4v. What was the problem that you fixed?

Also, out of the three main components (battery, controller and motor), you don't know if any of them work or whether they're all OK.

Here's my guide on how to test an ebike.

1. Measure the voltage at controller's battery connector. Obviously should be battery voltage. 24v - 29v for a 24v battery would be an acceptable range, but if you've fully charged the battery and it's less than 28.5v, it needs some sorting.
2. With everything connected and switched on, measure the voltage on the 5v rail. You can measure that between any ground (black) and any of the reds going to throttle, PAS or motor halls. It should be around 5v.
3. Check throttle signal wire voltage on it's connector while connected. It's the wire that's not red or black on the throttle connector. Should give about 1v to 4v when you twist the throttle. If there's more than one wire, your meter will find it. It's the one that's between 1v and 4v, assuming that it works.
4. Check that the pedal assist sensor is pulsing. Measure the PAS signal wire while turning the pedals slowly. Should pulse 5v on and off every time a magnet passes the sensor. The signal wire is the one that's not red or black.
5. Check the motor hall signal wires (blue green and yellow) on the motor connector at the controller. They should each pulse with 5v going on and off as you rotate the wheel BACKWARDS.
6. Mosfet test. Disconnect the motor cable and battery from the controller. Measure the resistance (200k scale) between the red battery connection and each of the three phase wire connections, then repeat with the black battery wire. Each set of 3 readings should be the same as each other and in the range 7K -24K. Though can be higher as long as they're all the same. Due to the capacitor across the battery wire, you can get a constantantly changing measurement while it charges. In that case, try swapping your probes round. Even though can be a moving result, the only important thing is that all three move in a similar way.

To test whether it's working, you should disconnect everything that's not needed, like Pedal sensor, lights and brakes. Listen for a tick or click from the motor when you operate the throttle, which indicates incorrect timing of the power pulses caused by incorrect connection sequence or faulty connection in the motor cable.

If your bike passes all those tests, it should work, so then you can look at any settings or other logical causes, like stuck brake switches, PAS installed backwards.
 

RBhav

Finding my (electric) wheels
Oct 19, 2024
6
0
recommended isnt the cheapest.. a like for like replacement for the original; silver box is probably the cheapest option with the highest probability of working ok.. however due to the number of manufacturers that 'customise' controller f/w its a bloody minefield.

A KT combo Will Work, even if in a rare case of the phase order needing reprogramming to match your motor..

So if buying cheap still buy from a no quible return source and dont be surprised if it takes a couple of punts.
Thank you. Will definitely consider. Might need a few months to save for a proper set up though. )
 

RBhav

Finding my (electric) wheels
Oct 19, 2024
6
0
The problem I see is that your battery might not be any good. 28.3v is too low for fully charged. A healthy one would be 29.4v. What was the problem that you fixed?

Also, out of the three main components (battery, controller and motor), you don't know if any of them work or whether they're all OK.

Here's my guide on how to test an ebike.

1. Measure the voltage at controller's battery connector. Obviously should be battery voltage. 24v - 29v for a 24v battery would be an acceptable range, but if you've fully charged the battery and it's less than 28.5v, it needs some sorting.
2. With everything connected and switched on, measure the voltage on the 5v rail. You can measure that between any ground (black) and any of the reds going to throttle, PAS or motor halls. It should be around 5v.
3. Check throttle signal wire voltage on it's connector while connected. It's the wire that's not red or black on the throttle connector. Should give about 1v to 4v when you twist the throttle. If there's more than one wire, your meter will find it. It's the one that's between 1v and 4v, assuming that it works.
4. Check that the pedal assist sensor is pulsing. Measure the PAS signal wire while turning the pedals slowly. Should pulse 5v on and off every time a magnet passes the sensor. The signal wire is the one that's not red or black.
5. Check the motor hall signal wires (blue green and yellow) on the motor connector at the controller. They should each pulse with 5v going on and off as you rotate the wheel BACKWARDS.
6. Mosfet test. Disconnect the motor cable and battery from the controller. Measure the resistance (200k scale) between the red battery connection and each of the three phase wire connections, then repeat with the black battery wire. Each set of 3 readings should be the same as each other and in the range 7K -24K. Though can be higher as long as they're all the same. Due to the capacitor across the battery wire, you can get a constantantly changing measurement while it charges. In that case, try swapping your probes round. Even though can be a moving result, the only important thing is that all three move in a similar way.

To test whether it's working, you should disconnect everything that's not needed, like Pedal sensor, lights and brakes. Listen for a tick or click from the motor when you operate the throttle, which indicates incorrect timing of the power pulses caused by incorrect connection sequence or faulty connection in the motor cable.

If your bike passes all those tests, it should work, so then you can look at any settings or other logical causes, like stuck brake switches, PAS installed backwards.

Awesome guide, will do. The battery did not show any life initially at all. Charger connector apparently was of a wrong type. I have opened the battery up, checked that the cans still have a juce, refitted everything I could. I have made an adapter for the charger, charger turned red. After few connections, the battery started working.

I did not wait for the charger to go green, disconnected the battery slightly earlier. So thanks for the advice that it should go up to 29. After all its a cheap stuff, unpredictable and kinda makes me jumpy. But so far it is not just dead yet.

Thanks again for the advice. All the best.