type of infineon controller

[SamJax]

I am new to the ebike world. I recently, 2 weeks ago, bought online my first ebike kit: front 26inch brush-less 36v 500w. there wasn't much description about the type of motor or controller etc...

when i received the kit, it turned out the motor is 9continent and the controller is an infineon. The kit did not come with any documentation to describe the specifications. in addition, the label on the controller which is supposed to have specification is missing, in other words, the squares on the label which should normally be ticked to indicate the voltage, amp, etc... are quite empty. plus it doesn't indicate what type of infineon controller it is.

i bought a 36v 10AH lifepo4 battery and i put everything together. the bike goes fast and i managed to go 13.5 miles without paddling at all.

now that i want to improve my ebike and do some upgrades, i am stuck with few problems and i was hoping someone would be able to help me answer some of my questions:

1. how can i tell what type of controller do i have?
2. how can i tell if i can use a 48v 10AH battery with this controller? or 48v 15AH? or 60V 10AH?
3. I found some information about programming infineon controllers using a PC and usb interface, but my controller seems to be eb787 which doesn't come up in the drop down menu using the "parameterdesigner.exe" program i downloaded online; is there a newer version? what i'm trying to do is to turn on the regen and cruise control.

here's a picture of the inside of the controller:


i would really appreciate any input i can get from you guys. Thanks in advance.

 

[dogman dan]

Typically, kits with 9c motors or similar type dd motors tend to come with 36v 20 amp controllers. Many are actually 22 amp controllers, quite capable of a 30 amps or more spike when doing a start on an uphill grade for example.

Since 30 amps is 3c discharge rate from a 10 ah battery, I tend to recomend 15 ah size batteries. Though a battery might be rated 3c, that does not mean the battery lasts it's full expected lifespan if you hammer it into the ground.

I'd say go for a battery upgrade first, and untill then ride easy on the jackrabbit starts. Cruising at 20 mph should take only 10-15 amps, so that's plenty safe.

Lots of options for upgrading your performance, so lots of thinking about what you want to spend and what you want to do will be needed. If you just want 4-5 more mph, and longer range, it's extremely likely that your controller can handle 48v. If you see 63v capacitors in there, you can go for it. A 48v 15 ah battery would give you more range, more speed, and you could let the throttle rip on your starts.

What to do with the battery though, depends on how much performance you are looking for. If you want to join the 40mph club, you'll be needing a new 40 amp controller. At that point, no 3c battery is going to cut it for you. You need at least 5c discharge rates, and preferably 30c. 5c x 10 ah = 50 amps possible. So real performance by adding one more identical 3c battery to make a 72v pack will not cut it.

 

[Jeremy Harris]

First off, that's definitely not an Infineon controller, as it has a different chip. It maybe a Xiechang, but I've been digging through their website and can't find the details of an EB787 plus I can't see the Xiechang logo on that board (take a look underneath, their logo looks like this: often just in black without the text).

My gut feeling is that this controller may come from another manufacturer, although I may be wrong. If we can positively identify it then the chances are we may be able to give you an idea of what it might be able to do.

 

[SamJax]

Thanks Dogman and Jeremy for your answers,
i think you're right it might not be an Infineon. but there's no logo what so ever so it's hard to tell what it is.
here what i could find on the board:
1. the microprocessor: stm8s
2. the capacitator is 63v and 1000 uF
3. there is 7 FET: p75nf75

I'm adding some more pictures if this is helpful:

 

[wesnewell]

You've got 63V caps and 75V fets, so a 48V pack isn't a problem although LVC won't be high enough to protect the pack unless you can change it.

 

[Jeremy Harris]

It's definitely not an old Infineon controller, neither is it a Xiechang (which are often mislabelled as Infineon controllers).

As wesnewell says it should be OK for 48V, but those FETs have a fairly high on resistance of 9.5 mohms so it's going to get warm if the current limit is increased appreciable. The controller may be programmable, but if it is then I'm not aware of a way to do it. At the moment, the only cheap programmable controllers that are available are the Xiechang range, followed by some more expensive ones from Golden Motor, Kelly and then Sevcon. Other cheap controllers are almost certainly programmable, but the programming interface details and protocol hasn't yet been made readily available.

 

[SamJax]

Great, thanks, so i'll definitly be upgrading to a 48v. do you guys think 20AH would be a problem?

To compensate for the low and unchangeable LVC, i'm planning to build a 16cells battery and monitor the cells on the road using 2x cellmeter7, or even better 2x BVM-8S as these come with an alarm that would tell me if the voltage drops down to a certain limit. do you guys think it's a good idea?

as for the FETs, if they warm up badly, can i simply change them and everything will be alright? or would i need to change other components and perform some more surgery to the board?

 

[Jeremy Harris]

The battery capacity will only change the range, not the performance, so won't have any effect on the controller or motor. The higher battery voltage will increase the top speed and make the bike feel a fair bit quicker. The controller shouldn't get appreciably warmer on 48V than it does now.

The LVC on a controller is pretty useless with lithium batteries, so your plan to monitor the pack is a very good one. Just be careful to disconnect the cell monitors when your not using the bike, to prevent them running down, and unbalancing, the pack.

If you want to change the FETs, then for 48V the very best FETs you could use are probably IRFB3077s. These have an on resistance that is around 1/3 of that of the FETs you have at the moment. There will be 6 FETs on that board, the 7th chip is a voltage regulator, probably an LM317. Personally I'd try the controller as it is on 48V and see how things go, and only consider modifying it if it gets a bit too warm.

 

[dogman dan]

Yeah, size of the battery won't change the controllers amps output, or overload it in any way. Increasing the volts will increase the wattage total since amps x volts = watts. There could be more heat with more watts, but generaly many types of generic 36v 20 amp controllers have run just fine on 48v without serious overheating. Just don't smother the controller by trying to mount it inside a bag to waterproof it. Let it get wind, and it should run fine.

Later on, for a programable higher voltage controller, Lyens is one source many here have used. I've not programed any of mine, but I've been happy with three different controllers from him, two 72v and one 100v.

Again, battery choices depend a lot on whether you have plans to head for 40 amps or more. Don't buy any low amp rate 2 or 3c type batteries if you plan on a real hot rod later.