It broke...

Matty

Finding my (electric) wheels
Sep 4, 2010
8
0
Damn it!
I just acquired a currie electro drive but in installing it the thumb controller snapped off (the three wires sheared off)

Does anyone know what I can replace the thumb controller with? If i just turn on the battery now, the motor runs continuously at a low speed.

There are three wires that ran into the old controller - red black and brown. Not sure in what order they hooked up to the controller!

Typical - I'd been trying to get hold of one of these for ages and now it broke. Good old ebay...
 

Matty

Finding my (electric) wheels
Sep 4, 2010
8
0
Brilliant - thanks HittheroadJ.

Unfortunately, It looks like shipping would be over $30.
Is there any reason something like the below wouldn't work?

24v Thumb Throttle Electric 24 Volt SAFETY CUT OUT 046 on eBay (end time 01-Oct-10 12:09:22 BST)

36v Thumb Throttle Electric 36 Volts SAFETY CUT OUT 046 on eBay (end time 21-Sep-10 17:43:20 BST)

Finally, I'd quite like to switch out the thumb throttle whilst I have the chance for a switch - ideally a three position swith (no throttle, half throttle and full throttle). I've googled to the best of my abilities but had no luck as I'm not sure what I'm looking for exactly. Can anyone (or HittheroadJ if you have time) tell me what the 'constraints' are for such a switch ie. does it just have to be 24v rated and have 3 wires into it?

Thanks again. What a useful forum for heavy-handed bodgers like myself.
Matt
 

HittheroadJ

Pedelecer
Apr 22, 2010
152
16
Northern Ireland, BT1
Well Matty,

You may be in luck because someone on the forum just recommended
TNCScooters on ebay who do much Currie stuff. I do not have your exact type etc. so please check and double check whether they are the correct ones.

Just the cable for £6.80
NEW Twist Throttle Cable with 24 Volt LED Meter on eBay (end time 11-Sep-10 23:04:48 BST)

I think this is the right throttle.
NEW Currie - 5 Pin Half Twist Throttle With 24V LED on eBay (end time 11-Sep-10 15:34:29 BST)

You could also have a look here:
Bicycles Parts - Izip Electric Bike Parts

Good Luck
 

jerrysimon

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 27, 2009
3,292
112
Cambridge, UK
Some of these throttle sellers are making megga bucks on marking them up :eek:

Come on £40 for a twist throttle!

When I purchased my kits direct from China I think I paid an extra £3 for a thumb throttle. I wish I had ordered a few dozen :rolleyes:

Same with cutout brakes I think I paid £5 for a pair.

Regards

Jerry
 

jerrysimon

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 27, 2009
3,292
112
Cambridge, UK
That sounds more reasonable.

Jerry
 

Herb

Pedelecer
Nov 9, 2009
106
0
Damn it!
I just acquired a currie electro drive but in installing it the thumb controller snapped off (the three wires sheared off)

Does anyone know what I can replace the thumb controller with? If i just turn on the battery now, the motor runs continuously at a low speed.

There are three wires that ran into the old controller - red black and brown. Not sure in what order they hooked up to the controller!

Typical - I'd been trying to get hold of one of these for ages and now it broke. Good old ebay...
Depends if its a brushed or brushless motor

The older brushless Currie Drives usually use a 5K Pot Throttle not a Hall Throtlle

If you use a hall throttle the signal will never fall below 1 volt and the motor will always be driving

A look at EV Deals Website USPD will show the the two different throttles.

Herb
 

Matty

Finding my (electric) wheels
Sep 4, 2010
8
0
Yikes! More complicated than I thought, but thanks for all the help.
I will open up the motor and try and work out if it's brushed or brushless.

For the moment, I've just put on a simple switch (stop and go), which seems to work fine.
I connected the brown wire to one side of the switch, and the red wire to the other side.

There was no available contact for the black wire, so for the moment I've just gaffered it out of the way.

Is this a bad idea?

Sorry, I know this is basic electronics, but I'm a bit of a newbie to all this.

Thanks in advance for your advice.
Matt
 
Last edited:

Old Timer

Esteemed Pedelecer
Dec 5, 2009
1,279
12
Yikes! More complicated than I thought, but thanks for all the help.
I will open up the motor and try and work out if it's brushed or brushless.

For the moment, I've just put on a simple switch (stop and go), which seems to work fine.
I connected the brown wire to one side of the switch, and the red wire to the other side.

There was no available contact for the black wire, so for the moment I've just gaffered it out of the way.

Is this a bad idea?

Sorry, I know this is basic electronics, but I'm a bit of a newbie to all this.

Thanks in advance for your advice.
Matt
If there are only two wires from the hub to the controller then it`s brushed, a brushless motor will either have three or eight wires to my knowledge.
 

Matty

Finding my (electric) wheels
Sep 4, 2010
8
0
Hi everyone

See below a reply to an email for help I got from Tony Castles, who seems to know his eggs!

Unfortunately, I seem to have fried something by using my switch solution :( The battery won't charge any more! I'm going to try a spare charger just to make sure it's nothing to do with that, but it's not looking good. I think I may be cursed when it comes to electric bikes...

Hi Matt - ingeneous, but tricky as an on-off system! If you can get a ~10K linear potentiometer - from Maplin, or wherever - then you can restore the variable speed part.

Black to the 'no speed' end, red to the 'Full speed' end and Brown to the middle (wiper).

The only problem with on/off is if you do it when the bike's not moving - the shock won't do the system a lot of good, and could damage the controller, or snap/stretch the little chain.

The motor you have (black with big fins, I guess) is a BMC 400 brushless motor with internal controller. It can only use a potentiometer as the controller runs at 12-15V. This is no longer a standard way to control e-bikes and most everything else use Hall Effect (uses a moving magnet) device that operates at 5 volts.

You can use a 'pot' to replace a Hall device, but not the other way round!

In 2003 Currie moved manufacture from India to China where they changed to a brushed motor with a controller inside the (bigger) battery case. Mechanics otherwise the same.

I still have some spares for these - chain, plastic tensioner, metalwork, gears/freewheel, chargers and possibly a throttle.

The 'drive is a fantastic kit and it is baffling why it has been deleted. A group of us are working on keeping these on the road (which is why my website is still there): pretty soon we should be able to offer new motors with separate controllers and in 36V and with more power!

Tony Castles

mr-motorvator
 

daniel.weck

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 8, 2009
1,229
2
Oooh, I had no idea Tony Castles was still "active" :)

You can use a 'pot' to replace a Hall device, but not the other way round!
That's interesting.