Hi everyone,
I'm new to the forum, and electric bikes in general.
I've gotten my hands on an old Powabyke Shopper (MK2?) and I believe it's from about 2002. I thought it would be a good introduction to electric bikes without breaking the bank. Just to see if I use it as much as I would hope, before upgrading in the future.
Unfortunately, the bike has an issue...
When I turn the key, the bike lurches forward about an inch before stopping. The LEDs on the throttle show nothing.
Things I have checked:
I'm learning towards it being a problem with the controller board. The PCB has the IDs TC213254 and K3603 written on the top, and the label on the controller box says it is a Wistom WST-K3603.
I've checked the voltage regulator on the board, which drops 36v down to 15v, and that is working fine. I've checked the MOSFETS and they don't seem to have issue.
However, there are two chips on the board, both of which have helpfully (!) had any identifying details ground from the tops of them.
The main chip is a 20pin DIP which is socketed. It has a crystal oscillator between pins 3 and 4 which when checked with the scope, is not oscillating. When checking the voltage pins of this chip one of them is reporting 1V, which I believe is the power pin. When the chip is unsocketed and the circuit checked again (without the chip in place), the same pad is reporting 3V. Problem could be an internal problem with the IC?
The second chip is an 8pin DIP.
Can anyone could shed any light on the two ICs, or at least an indication of what they are? Might one be a microprocessor and the second a brushless motor driver?
I could get a cheap controller board from eBay, but one of the features of this bike is the assisted pedalling, which I am lead to believe is not available with the cheaper controllers, and which I would like to keep. Is this true? If not, it will be easier to just replace the controller.
Any thoughts or ideas welcome.
Cheers!
I'm new to the forum, and electric bikes in general.
I've gotten my hands on an old Powabyke Shopper (MK2?) and I believe it's from about 2002. I thought it would be a good introduction to electric bikes without breaking the bank. Just to see if I use it as much as I would hope, before upgrading in the future.
Unfortunately, the bike has an issue...
When I turn the key, the bike lurches forward about an inch before stopping. The LEDs on the throttle show nothing.
Things I have checked:
- The batteries. Brand new and fully charged (36v).
- The hub motor (seems fine). Its a brushless unit. I connected 36v to it directly, wheel turns with no problems.
- The cabling (seems fine). Checked continuity and all seems okay. One of the connection blocks had some corrosion on the pins, but I cleaned it up and then seems fine.
- The throttle (seems fine) - hall sensor is fine and working, checked each of the 3 leds in the throttle by hooking up a 9v battery and a 360ohm resistor. Each LED lights up when powered.
I'm learning towards it being a problem with the controller board. The PCB has the IDs TC213254 and K3603 written on the top, and the label on the controller box says it is a Wistom WST-K3603.
I've checked the voltage regulator on the board, which drops 36v down to 15v, and that is working fine. I've checked the MOSFETS and they don't seem to have issue.
However, there are two chips on the board, both of which have helpfully (!) had any identifying details ground from the tops of them.
The main chip is a 20pin DIP which is socketed. It has a crystal oscillator between pins 3 and 4 which when checked with the scope, is not oscillating. When checking the voltage pins of this chip one of them is reporting 1V, which I believe is the power pin. When the chip is unsocketed and the circuit checked again (without the chip in place), the same pad is reporting 3V. Problem could be an internal problem with the IC?
The second chip is an 8pin DIP.
Can anyone could shed any light on the two ICs, or at least an indication of what they are? Might one be a microprocessor and the second a brushless motor driver?
I could get a cheap controller board from eBay, but one of the features of this bike is the assisted pedalling, which I am lead to believe is not available with the cheaper controllers, and which I would like to keep. Is this true? If not, it will be easier to just replace the controller.
Any thoughts or ideas welcome.
Cheers!