Mystery controller

[Mycroft]

Hi All

I have purchased a replacement controller for my wife's 36V brushed motor Powabyke.

The photo in ebay showed a distinctive controller model number for which I easily found a manual online. Unfortunately the controller that arrived, while labelled as 36V 500W (what I want) is a rather anonymous "Model B" - not what was shown on ebay. To make matters worse, only 4 of the 10 connectors are labelled in English!

Rather that send it straight back I wondered if anyone might know this type of controller and offer any advice in identifying the connectors...

1. Thick red/black. No label. Probably battery connection?
2. Thick yellow/blue. No label. Probably motor?
3. Red/black/green. Labelled "derailleur". I'm fairly sure this is the throttle.
4. Red/black. Labelled "charger".
5. Blue/blue. Labelled "lock".
6. Red/black. Labelled "battery capacity".
7. Red/black/yellow. Labelled only in Chinese.
8, 9, 10. Three identical connectors, all black/green. No labels.

Any thoughts about 7, 8, 9 & 10?

A Taiwanese colleague has tried to translate the Chinese label on 7 and came up with "double (or parallel) speed" or "dual range". The connector has 3 wires, so I wondered if it might be a Hall sensor for the crank although that doesn't really fit with the translation. Any ideas?

As for 8, 9 & 10 - I thought maybe front and rear lights and on/off switch. Or perhaps switches from front and rear brake (plus something else) to cut the motor when braking..?

One further question - can you identify the types of connectors and suggest where I can get matching ones in the UK as (of course) they don't match the existing wiring!

Thanks in advance.

John

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Do the basics first. Connect the battery, motor and throttle. Make sure that the sequence of wires in the connector matches your throttle. If the throttle doesn't give any power, you need to switch on by connecting the two blue wires on the lock connector.

Some vehicles, like invalid scooters and other scooters have two-speed operation: 4 mph and 8 mph. Maybe that's what the two speed connector is for.

The black and green are probably for brakes.

You don't need matching connectors. Cut them off and solder the wires directly.

 

[Mycroft]

Hi d8veh - thanks for the quick reply and advice. I'll see how I get on...

Cheers
John

 

[Mycroft]

Well, here is what I have found...

Connecting the battery, shorting the two blue "lock" wires and connecting the throttle, I get an output on the yellow and blue motor wires when the throttle is twisted. However, it's all or nothing - 0V or full battery voltage 38V and nothing in between. I assume I should see an increase in voltage as the throttle is twisted rather than just "on/off"?

The throttle does appear to be giving a variable signal - measuring across the black and green I see a gradual increase from 0.9V to 4.4V as the throttle is twisted.

On connector 7 I see 0.24V between red and black and 0.47V between yellow and black.

The three black/green connectors have 0.28V across them.

 

[mikew8760]

I have a Taiwanese friend who could translate the 'chinese' for you, if you can show a fairly good image of them; just a thought!

 

[Mycroft]

Thanks for the offer Mike, but I think I'm OK now.

I did some further testing but actually connected connector 2 to the bike motor (previously I just measured the voltage with a multimeter). In fact the motor speed WAS controllable by the throttle, not just all or nothing as I had thought.

I found that connecting the black and yellow of connector 7 seemed to give a faster speed of motor.

So the bike is all back together now and my wife is pleased with the result!

Cheers
John