BBS01b Controller: Why is there a current when battery is disconnected?
- Thread starter guerney
- Start date
Probably a capacitor on the controller battery connections? My 'bare board' controller (not a BBS01b) has a 1000uF in that position. Won't be dangerous at 36-40V but could be discharged more slowly with a suitable resistor across the appropriate connections?
Cheers! I have a two core cable soldered onto the battery wires for lights (to be run directly off the battery), which I haven't soldered onto the lights yet, and I still need to cut that cable to size... I don't have a resistor - can I connect one light, until it's discharged? The lights are rated for up to 80V.
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I'm not an electrician but I guess your light (presuming it to be the old tungsten filament type) is effectively just a resistor. I doubt that it will even light for a noticeable time. And to be on the safe side don't short the terminals with your body - I can't see how it can produce a noticeable shock but you can never be too safe. I've no doubt someone better qualified will correct me if I'm wrong.
I was more worried about killing my controller, while shorting it briefly by cutting the cable. I've only just got my bike working again... I've only got LED bike lights, but I do have an old household tungsten bulb and bulb holder I could connect - it should do?
It's perfectly safe to short the battery connector on the controller side to discharge the capacitor with the battery removed, it won't cause any damage. Turning on your display will do the same if you don't like the sparks. When cutting into power cables, it is best practice to do them individually as one day you may find yourself working on live ones.
Cheers Wheeliepete - your advice that I should learn how to solder was very wise too.
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Although no damage will occur ( to the controller not so the battery if it occurred) it is best to use a proprietary connector like a deans or xt type so that wire tails can't touch, if the controller has bullets by the sounds of it the battery must have as well though likely females. One should really with bullets have one female and one male so one can't connect up incorrectly. Females usually being fully insulated.
Thanks Nealh! I've soldered the battery wires directly to the controller, using a 100W Silverline soldering iron, 60/40 Weller solder and acid-free soldering flux. To that, I have soldered a long cable for two LED lights (which will soon be trimmed to size) - I've capped both of the wires with insulating tape for now, but two lights will be activated by a waterproof motorcycle switch on the handlebar... plus there's an inline 3A blade fuse in a waterproof housing, to solder on. Getting there...
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I would not rely on tape to insulate wire ends, it has a habit of falling off. Order yourself a pack of ass. shrinkwrap, it's a much better option.
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One of the bullet connectors on my old controller was heat damaged, on it's clear sheathing; this leads me to believe that bullet connectors, even when crimped by "Professionals", can be rubbish! I'll stick to soldering from now on! I've never heard of "Deans", but they look quite sensible - and they come attached to cables, so you can solder them on, plus they're likely assembled by reliable robots, therefore less likely to overheat because of bad internal connections? I'll definitely consider Dean's when I burn this new controller out. Looks like a genuine Bafang part, or has a label saying such. Not sure how much mileage there is in it's claim to be better than before, but we shall see. I don't mind burning through controllers, I used to be a smoker. Looking at the internal silicone mass of the dead controller, it looks like something has burned out underneath... there's a discolouring in a small part, and I recall teh smell of dead electronics when the controller died. Digging through that silicone would be tough! I could dissolve it with acetone, but that'd probably dissolve some component materials too. The seller of my kit wants to have a look - so it's being sent off to China.
My bike works better than ever.
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You're right - it fell off! Why didn't I think of using shrinkwrap? I bought some a few months ago - the trouble with the shrinkwrap sets, is that they never give you enough of the size you need. This 4:1 self adhesive shrinkwrap arrived in the post, just when I needed it - I like it! Shrinks very small, plus you can buy the size you need by the metre:
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It adds a decent rigidity around the solder job, with a bit of flexibility, which is somewhat similar to that of the surrounding cable sheathing.
Phew! I didn't kill the controller.
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That's interesting! Hmm... I haven't posted it yet, I think it's about a tenner for a 2 week tracked delivery. Worth doing if he gives me a discount or replacement, which he might have to - Amazon.
I've got a 4 digit security code lock on the display, and I wondered where the memory of the code was stored - controller or display? I changed the controller, display is unchanged, therefore the security code is stored on the display only. So if anyone stole my bike, they'd just need to buy a new display lol.
i cant even change the wheel size on my bosch ebike and had to pay £150 for a dongle to remove the speed limit.
and today i tried to remove a security nut holding a sensor in place on my old motor so i can remove the crank shaft and was ceased solid after 7 years 17mm socket never worked and slipped tried to drill 2 holes and use my cer clip plyers and that broke so Dremel time and ground down a edge so could use a hammer and screwdriver and brake it free.
That sounds like a nightmare - my bottom bracket was stuck, took me hours to hammer it out when I first installed the kit - oil seems to become glue eventually... the controller replacement today was a breeze. Bit of silicone sealant around the new rubber gasket, connected the phase wires so that the casing closed (only slightly tricky), and the rest was soldering and cabling and zipties and heatshrink. It was a huge relief in the end, when the bike was working again - the seller thought the display might also be dead. Just the new brake pads to install...
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I could do that with my wallpaper steamer - might take a long time, by the looks of things...
Now that I have those two motorcycle lights wired to the battery wires via a switch, they flash on very briefly after the battery has been removed, and I turn the switch on. It's a complete discharge, doesn't happen again with subsequent activations of the switch. I recall getting a small shock before, from the old controller - but the short circuit between battery connectors (damaged insulators around wires - a knick or melt?) or it was that trash power module killed it.
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