C-Lyte Woes

TodayI went out for my first long ride on the M frame C-lyte 5304, 36V 35A, instant start controler. Everything was fine for about 10 - 15 minutes. Then it went to an odd low power mode where it had a bit of power in the first bit of movement of the throttle but the throttle was dead for the rest of its throw. I turned the controller off and on and it didn't change much. The controller was warm but not hot. I turned the controller off for 5 minutes or so and it came back to normal power for a minute or two then back to the same low power state. I switched to a different pack and there was no improvement - identical low power. I had to climb a steep hill to get home. In low gear I could repeatedly blip/pulse the throttle and get a small boost each time to make it half way up. Luckily I have the Shimano Megarange and that helped. Then I had to push/walk the remainder but that was good exercise on a beautiful day.

On a recent forum someone said that now and then a C-lyte controller was bad. Could be the throttle, probably not the new motor -- What do you guys think?

Thanks,
Al

Check the throttle signal with a voltmeter. If that checks out, the easiest thing to do would be find another hub motor owner near you and swap parts.

Do you have a 12v battery you can put in series to get 48v? Perhaps the low voltage cut out is kicking in early. A car battery would work nicely for stationary testing. Just support the bike off the ground, and use the rear brake to apply load on the motor.

Perhaps the low voltage cut out is kicking in early.

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That'd be the first thing I'd check. Especially if it's 36V of SLA. The LVC should be 29 volts.

Oh yeah...tidal force = 9ah NiMH in the front hub?

Still sounds suspiciously like the low voltage cut-off kicking in.

For batteries -- first I was using a 36v Nimh that has been sitting this winter and needs to be cycled and then I switched to a 36v Lipo. I'll top everything up and try again to make sure the packs are full.

If I were to check the throttle for voltage where would I tap into it and what voltage would I look for?

Thanks for the tips guys!

Al

If you don't mind opening the controller, the throttle wires are easy access inside, otherwise you can probe the wires at the connector by removing the heat shrink. You'll want to reseal afterwards though, which is why I would do it inside the controller given the choice.

The 3 wires are just like the TPS on a car. There should be +5v, gnd and signal. The signal wire should sweep from 0-4v or so as the throttle is opened.

Thanks guys -- I'll be working on all these suggestions. The predominant solution/theory relates to battery voltage and capacity. I'm thinking of making a harness that I can have both packs 36v in parallel for a test and that shouldn't have a low voltage/sag problem -- that's a 36v 12 ah Nimh and a 15ah 36v Lipo.
Al

Your NIMH and LIPO may have very different operating voltage.. I would assume your lipo would have higher of the 2.... if this is the case... your lipo will try to force charge into your NIMH.... not a good thing.

You can paralell similar packs of nimh or sla or etc.... but different chemistries have to be taken into consideration.

Definitely check the battery voltage under load. Tape a voltmeter onto your bike if you have to. When the battery voltage gets to the cutoff voltage, it reduces the throttle to keep the voltage from dropping any further.