Had the controller box apart today. No signs of condensation and all connections checked. Motor plug checked, pins look OK and seems fully inserted.

But the dam fault is still there. It seems that holding the throttle full open whilst still peddalling, defeats the fault. Hard to be certain though as it's so intermittant. It happens on rough or smooth road, uphill or flat. Led's don't go out, though fault duration maybe too short for this to show.

Took the bike out myself so I know that it's not the brake being touched or the throttle partially turned.

I'm stumped - any thoughts?

If you don't get the problem with the throttle, there's nothing wrong with the battery, controller, motor, LCD or wiring. That only leaves the PAS or brakes. How's the gap between the magnet disc and the sensor? Is the magnet disc tight on the shaft? Does it touch the BB?

 

I just looked at your photo. I don't like that washer on the inside. There should be a gap there to stop the magnet disc from being stopped by the stationary BB.

I just looked at your photo. I don't like that washer on the inside. There should be a gap there to stop the magnet disc from being stopped by the stationary BB.

That's a good point, I was a bit concerned about the rubbing potential there but hadn't thought about the disc stopping. The grip the disc has on the shaft isn't good and I did this to stop it wobbling. Next point of investigation - thanks.

OK, so that bridges out a proportion of the windings of the shunt, so reducing the resistance, so must increase the max current - is that right? How would this affect the rest of the circuitry in the controller.

On a slightly different issue, there is a direct connection from the battery to the bikes cabling - no fuse or switch. This unsettles my electricians brain, should there be one?

Soldering 25% of the length of the shunt gives you approximately 25% more current, so 25% more torque. There's no detrimental effect on the rest of the controller because it's basically a software setting. naturally, you'll use up more battery when using the higher power, but for normal riding, you can turn the power down with the LCD power levels.

 

You don't need a fuse because your BMS has over-current protection already.

 

You don't need a switch because your controller and LCD more or less completely isolate the battery when switched off. If you were going to leave the bike unused for more than a month, it would probably be a good idea to disconnect the battery.

I just looked at your photo. I don't like that washer on the inside. There should be a gap there to stop the magnet disc from being stopped by the stationary BB.

Well spotted D8veh.

The split magnet disc is great for not having to take the pedal off, but it's grip on the shaft is tenious. I've removed the washer and put a strip of rubber (roofing material) around the disc so that it covers the shaft hole and gorilla taped it in place. I put a knive through the rubber so it grips the shaft when slid on. This also prevents the disc wobbling on the shaft, which is why the washer was there in the first place.

Now out on a ride to try it.

Thanks for the info on the electrics.

Riding an Ezee myself, I felt the difference in power with the Panda. However, with my daughter riding it, her younger legs are coping fine, so it may not be neccesary. At least I know how now and why it works.

Yep, that sorted it ! 20 miles and no problem.

As suspected, the control box housing has proved to be a problem. The lid is held on with screws that only screw into plastic. There's a lot of wires and plugs in there and I think the combination of internal pressure and the jiggling from the poor road surfaces, has cause the lid to pop.

So I've sourced a standard black box (kind of thing that's used for cicuit boards) and fixed it to the carrier. I got all the plugs and cables through a 25mm grommet, will need some silicone at some point but the bike isn't used in the rain (unless we're caught out:eek:) so not urgent.

This also gets the box out of the stepthrough area, which helps.

Box was about £3.50 from CPC. Also bought some velcro cable ties, not convinced yet !