Trouble shooting a broken bike

[Ajax]

Sounds good to me, and far easier than getting a new one from China. The price is pretty good too, certainly nice to see a UK supplier that's selling parts at reasonable prices like this.

Just a word to say i've also been having issues of late with my bike/controller cutting out. Given the faults diagnosis described here, i've now opted to replace the controller.

I thought it might be weather related, just because its quite nippy of late, but the battery seems fine, and problem is getting progressively worst, so much so, that turning the key on and off doesn't always restore power.

I just purchased from the source mentioned above, and at £24 it seems reasonable to at least have a spare controller. I'll let you know how i get on.

As an added thought, the controller, as pictured, seems to have standard connections but what do I do if those connections doesn't match my existing setup? I could cut the connectors off my existing controller and botch that on to the new controller, but I recon there should be an option to get a matching set of connectors, just so these can be soldered or crimped on, as necessary.

I am of course assuming these aren't already part of the package.

 

[Gdread]

Send the seller (Spencer) a photo of existing connections and also tell him where you got the original kit from and he'll advise you accordingly. The experts on here will confirm but the connections seem fairly standard. I did a PAS/Throttle/Controller kit and all was obviously ok. He's very helpful and replies quickly.

 

[Ajax]

Send the seller (Spencer) a photo of existing connections and also tell him where you got the original kit from and he'll advise you accordingly. The experts on here will confirm but the connections seem fairly standard. I did a PAS/Throttle/Controller kit and all was obviously ok. He's very helpful and replies quickly.

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?

I changed out the controller, and after a few minor mods, eg swaping the pedelec control wires, and adding a 3-speed switch to cope with the extra speed, this beast is now back on the streets. It would seem the answer to making a good bike even better, is to change out your stock controller.

Sweet.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?

I changed out the controller, and after a few minor mods, eg swaping the pedelec control wires, and adding a 3-speed switch to cope with the extra speed, this beast is now back on the streets. It would seem the answer to making a good bike even better, is to change out your stock controller.

Sweet.

Time to solder the shunt for a bit mor zip perhaps.

 

[Gdread]

Time to solder the shunt for a bit mor zip perhaps.

Which is exactly what I just did to mine and it makes a difference, I'm only running a 250/350w gbk front hub (a cute?) with a Panasonic 9ah battery but a little blob on the shunt on Sunday made my journey today a bit quicker, it's a 5 mile round trip so range is not an issue. The blob may get bigger !

 

[Deleted member 4366]

About 1/3 of the length is as far as you should go.

 

[Gdread]

About 1/3 of the length is as far as you should go.

Thanks, the shunt on these appears to be quite small and the up stands/seats have a fairly heavy amount of solder so would the 1/3 advice be the total length from pcb post to pcb post or just the flat piece across the top?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

About 1/3 the top length. You can always scrape some off it back off with the soldering iron if it's too much. It's best when you have a wattmeter so that you can see the new maximum current, but not essential.

When you solder it, be careful that the solder doesn't run down the shunt and make blobs on the other side of the printed circuit board, or drip onto the top of the pcb and short something out. I always turn the board up on its edge so that gravity prevents this.

 

[Gdread]

About 1/3 the top length. You can always scrape some off it back off with the soldering iron if it's too much. It's best when you have a wattmeter so that you can see the new maximum current, but not essential.

When you solder it, be careful that the solder doesn't run down the shunt and make blobs on the other side of the printed circuit board, or drip onto the top of the pcb and short something out. I always turn the board up on its edge so that gravity prevents this.

Cheers d8veh, much appreciated especially the advice about turning the board. Thanks

 

[NRG]

Yes, don't go too mad, I found just adding more to the solder pads and upright leg Of the shunt on my controller increased battery current by about 10%...

 

[Gdread]

Thanks NRG, I've just added a third and will test it tomorrow on my daily commute. Thanks all!

 

[103Alex1]

Just for my general education, what exactly is a "shunt" and where is it found on a PCB ?

 

[Old_Dave]

Its about 1" of heavy wire.. looks like a bit cut from a wire coat hanger bent into an upside down U, lives close to the edge and is on the Left hand side on a lot of controllers

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Just for my general education, what exactly is a "shunt" and where is it found on a PCB ?

There it is nice soldered for a bit of extra power. Bigger controllers sometimes have two or three because of the extra current. The KU123 has two. You can see them in the photos in this link:

Controller Mod: KU123 100V ! | Jacopo.tk

 

[Ajax]

Time to solder the shunt for a bit mor zip perhaps.

yep, i did that too, but it seems the problem isn't or wasn't the controller, but my dam battery. Not many sources for these, so i'll have to go to the supplier to see if they have a reasonable solution.

Incidentally when the battery is on charge, at the point where it should be fully charged, the light instead of remaining on green, dithers between green and the red and then back again.

I'm not sure what this says about the battery, but either way i doubt there's a simple fix for a knackered battery.

 

[NRG]

My Alien Ocean battery / charger combo did that near the end of the batteries life. The battery never quite reaching full charge voltage...

 

[Gdread]

About 1/3 the top length. You can always scrape some off it back off with the soldering iron if it's too much. It's best when you have a wattmeter so that you can see the new maximum current, but not essential.

When you solder it, be careful that the solder doesn't run down the shunt and make blobs on the other side of the printed circuit board, or drip onto the top of the pcb and short something out. I always turn the board up on its edge so that gravity prevents this.

Job done and it's quicker off the mark and seems better up the hills. Strongly resisting another blob of solder!

 

[Deleted member 4366]

If you overdo it, you can get battery cut-outs when going up hills. If your battery is bigger than 10aH, you can go quite high, but some of the 8 or 9aH bottle batteries are already struggling as standard.

Don't forget that your range will be a probably be bit less as well.

 

[RobF]

The title of this thread is beginning to annoy me.

If the OP has trouble shooting his broken bike, he should take better aim.

 

[jackhandy]

The title of this thread is beginning to annoy me..

Still makes me smile - Unlike "Haibike's" - Now that really does itch where I can't scratch