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I would have thought there would be more risk with them in series than parallel, why is it the opposite? I also just finished drawing a wiring diagram using a 4PDT relay which would automatically wire the batteries in series by default, and re wire them in parallel as soon as the charger is plugged in. All there batteries where bought new togheter and used in series ever since until now, where I am charging them individually one after the other for now. Thanks

Thanks for the explanation. I just got an idea, could I wire my 3 batteries in such a way that a switch could change them from being in series (to power the bike) to being in parallel (to charge all 3 with a 12V charger?) so that I could charge all 3 with a 12 volt charger with the batteries in parralel? It would act as a large 21 Ah 12 volt battery wouldn't it? Thanks

What is VAT? I keep seeing that on UK stores, is that what they call the tax there? By the way I just got a 500mah charger for 12v batteries and am cahrging them individually now, but the charger says for 1-2 Ah batteries, mine at 7 Ah, will it cause a problem? Wouldn't it just take 7 times longer? Thanks

After all the nightmares with my bike, now it's the charger that's dead. It's a 36 volt lead acid battery charger. It started by making weird buzzing sounds and working only when held at a specific angle, and then just gave out completely. Is there any way I could find and replace the damaged components? Any idea what part failure may have caused this? In the worst case I'll charge all 3 batteries seperately with my 12v charger. Are there any cheap lead acid 36 v chargers? I'd rather move on to Nimh but this was raelly not in my planned purchases, especially after I JUST got braend new lead acid batteries! Thanks

As I was saying on another thread I needed a new transistor and diode for my bike controller after breaking the pins on 2 of them, and then after one transistor jammed on. I just soldered a new of each on my controller and cautiously turned my bike's ignition key while holding the power wheel off the ground in case I got a jammed on situation again. So far so good, nothing exploded on the board, and neither was the motor running for no reason. Next step was to try and ride it, and indeed the assistance kicked in, then I stopped to see if it would jam on again as was the case the previous time, but as I stopped pedaling the motor also stopped (as should be the case). So I rode for a while, stopping and touching the heatsinks to make sure they weren't getting hot. Well I just got new batteries yesterday, fixed my controller today, and basically feel like I finally have a brand new e bike, I really was getting down with all the endless problems I was having. In any case I'm not expecting my luck to last too long either just not to be dissapointed if something fails. I also just have the controller wrapped in electric tape (except heatsinks) taped onto my bike frame, I don't even want to risk putting it in a case because that's exactly how I broke it before. I'll just have to remember to not power it on in the rain as it's not water tight. I may eventually put it in a box, this time knowing to be very careful with those tiny transistor pins with huge heatsinks on them. If I put it in a plastic box will it overheat if there's no air circulation around the heatsinks? Thanks

Thanks for letting me know how to identify the pins, I know which is which now but I can't access the link you posted for the pin outs of the IRF540, it says session timed out.

Is there a way to wire a mosfet with no or minimal additional components (no computer like in regular controllers, at least mine has a motorola 8 mhz cpu with a few KB ram and 32 KB storage space for the software that controls everything on the bike). Can I simply wire one like a relay? What voltage is needed to open it? Could I make a simple circuit with a push button that would activate a mosfet that powers the motor? I currently use a relay but I must accelerate to 15km/h before pressing the button otherwise the high amperage required for acceleration melts the relay. I'm hoping I could at least replace the relay with a mosfet to allow me to use the motor to accelerate also rather than only to help maintain speed. Thanks

As I've been saying my bike battery was literally dead, it barely lasted 1 km. I was going to spend $500 US on an nimh 12 Ah and charger but for several reasons decided not to and to get 7 Ah lead batteries for $57 instead (yes, that's $57 total, of $19 each for three 12 volt, 7 ah batteries). The price was just too good to pass, even though it's nearly half the capacity, I may keep them on the bike just temporarely and then find another use for them, at least my bike has a working battery now! My question is do I need to balance the 3 batteries before charging them togheter? For now I just plugged them in series and the original bike's charger is charging them, but is there a risk of cell reversal and that kind of stuff like with nimh packs? Is it dangerous to charge the 3 lead acids without balancing first? At last my e bike's main problem - a lack of working battery - is corrected! I'm finally starting to get some hope! Thanks

Controllers with pedal assist seem to be unexistant worldwide from what I could find. I found an IRF540, but how do I know if the pins are in different places than the original one? Thanks

Would the mosfet IRF540ZPBF also work? The onyl store I found that sells both parts has that mosfet.

Which companies sell e bikes with a 36 volt brushed motor and pedal assist? Could they sell me just a controller? Also, what does the battery have to do with anything? As I said many times my current lead battery has about 0.5 Ah left, it can barely do 1 km before dying and that's if I do most of the pedaling. I'm ordering a 12-13 Ah NiMH battery and charger to replace my completely dead lead acid (keep in mind I'm using a mecanical relay with no low voltage cut off so it's easy to damage the battery severely). You also said newer bikes have very different pedelec arrangements, what do you mean? How are they made now?

You know what, maybe I'll throw all this junk away and get a $2500 bionx instead of a new car. The bionx seems to be the only option left. I really hadn't planned on spending $2500 but apparently it's the only way I could get an ebike. I'm obviosuly discouraged like you can't possibly beleive. Please someone give me some hope, any hope.

Can anyone tell me why in the world bike controllers are not being made anymore? The only thing I find is the motherboards and I have to solder all the stuff and heatsinks and case and all that around the motherboard and that's how I broke them all. All I'd need is ONE pre built bike controller and my problems would be over with, that's obviously too much to ask for, I've been without a working ebike all summer, was on the verge of getting a new one a few times, and now just don't know what to do. My current bike is worthless without a controller. No e-bikes seem to be for sale anywhere around here except a peicew of junk strong 240 or whatever. What am I ****ing supposed to do? I'm addictied to ebikes and now it looks like mine was the last built on the planet, with no controller. What am I supposed to do? All I want is a damn ebike that actually works, nothing more, nothing less, but apparently this is inexistant.

So should I just throw it out? I just bought it, this is like my 4th controller I buy and blow without ever being able to use it. I'm really getting sick of waisting so much money on controllers. I'm still using a mecanical relay as a "controller" for now. But I have only on/off ability and must accelerate to 15km/h manually before engaging the motor or the relay melts from the high amperage. This means it takes me much longer to cross a street than someone by foot since it's so hard to accelerate 260 pounds with no motor, cars HATE me since I barely have time to cross before the light returns to red for them. It really is pathetic when walkers go faster than an ebike, but it's the case with my "e-bike".

What information would you need to be sure? I'd rather not buy another mosfet if it's gonna last 10 seconds like the others. I'd really like to know why this is happening. My battery is also extremely, extremely, severely damaged, it was a 12Ah but I think there's about 500 ma left, it barely does 1 km with pedal assitance before dying (I want this problem fixed before getting a new battery).

By the way, the replacement T1 I used is labeled: NEC K3435B 6XKS This is the one that lasted about 10 seconds before the circuit stuck on "always on". The model number seems almost identical. Will a new one cause the same result? What could be causing it to get stuck on? Thanks

Thanks for the replies. Yes it is the same bike. Would any of those 2 parts failing cause the problem I mentioned (motor goes to 100% power as soon as the key is turned, the board also works properly for about 5-10 seconds after putting a new of those 2 components and then reverts to always 100% power no matter what). Also, I thought it was weird that the other was labeled "D" as for Diode but I had never seen a 3 pin diode, let alone a 3 pin diode that needs a heatsink. I also searched for Skottky diode and most seem to have only 2 pins like regular diodes, why does this one have three? Thanks

OK I changed it with a similar one from another board and amazinlgy it worked for a short while, then it got stuck in "always on" and my only way to stop the motor was by turning the key. What could have caused this? Is it because it wasn't exactly the right transistor? That's why I want to know how to find an equivalent one from that jibberish printed on it.

To those who know electronics well, I need to buy 2 transistors but have no idea which I need. There are 2 transistors on my bike's controller which on the board are labeled T1 and D1 and the pins accidentaly broke off while mounting a heatsink, from a google search it seems T1 and D1 refers to a Transfer transistor and a Driver transistor. The numbers on them are: T1 transistor: NEC K34351 55KS D1 transistor: F05 Y2010DN Does anyone know where I can find transistors like these? Thanks

Since I doubt I'll ever get the pedal assist back on my bike, I need to start looking for new models or possibly even better bike upgrade kits so I can choose my own bike. Is there any kit to build your own ebike with a pedal sensor other than the $2000 bionx kit? Otherwise what pre built bikes are available with pedal assist? I would also want a throttle override as my current bike also has (comes in useful when I have chain/gear problems so I can at least get home on battery power, was useful for just this reason many times).

The reason I wanted the Bionx is because it's the only kit i've found with pedal assist, and as with mine, the sensor is built into the rear motor hub, so changing the motor isn't an option, if anything, I'd get just the motor and compatible controller.

Coops: One of the sensors you posted is a torque sensor built into the pedal assembly, my bike has exactly that, but instead of in the pedal assembly, the sensor is built into the motor hub, measuring the torque being transfered by the chain through the multi gear freewheel, it's the same thing, but the sensor is on the back gears in the motor hub rather than the pedals, I think it makes much more sense that way than having additional hardware on the bike. It's obviously not the motor itself that senses the pedal torque, it's the sensor that's built into the hub motor (5 wires come from the hub motor, 2 for DC power, and 3 for the data from the pedal torque sensor). Yes it does have throttle too to override the sensor's/controller's decision. The controller blew entirely by my fault, it was not due to poor quality, it was a VERY good bike until my myself broke it by accident. In the worst case, could I buy an additional pedal sensor and new controller that works with those sensors (or do all pedal assist sensors work the same anyway? If so I'd prefer to keep my built in sensor). Otherwise, where can I get a simple 36 volt, brushed controller to at least get my throttle back? I'm using a relay and push button for basic on/off functionality of the motor in the meantime. Thanks

What's "direct transmission drive only"? My current pedal assist sensor is built into the hub motor, it's not like the ones you posted. MY question though was not regarding the sensors, I already have that, I just don't have a controller to plug it to. How can there be bikes being sold with pedal assist feature yet there are no controllers at all for sale that offer this function, I don't get it. Can you not purchase a replacement controller when it blows? Do you all throw your bikes away if the controller blows as it did in mine? How come replacements are nowhere to be found???

I noticed the excessive cost of the bionx kit seems to be mostly from the battery, it is far more expensive than any other of the same capacity, I could cost hundreds off the cost by using my own battery. So is it possible to buy all parts of the bionx kit individually except for the battery and charger? Would it make any sense to mount a bionx kit on my current electric bike (replacing the motor wheel) or would I be better to sell it, buy a new non electric bike, and add the bionx kit plus my own battery? Thanks

I noticed many people here have bikes with auto pedal assist. My controller blew and I'm dying to find one with this feature. How come so many people have this feature and many bikes are for sale with it, but no one sells any controllers with this feature. Otherwise, I at least need a 36v brushed controller for use with a regular throttle. Thanks