Help with Kuberg Controller

AMM118

1 mW
Joined
Dec 7, 2017
Messages
16
Hi Everyone,

Having trouble sourcing a controller that will work on the Keuberg Cross we got second hand for my son. Here is a photo. Anyone know where I can get one of these? The two small plugs seem to go to a switch to turn the bike on and off. The other plug go to the throttle (5pin) and then the battery / motor.

Kuberg controller.jpg
 
Rather than start a new thread, I figure I might bring this one back to life...
First off, I am wondering if anyone knew of controllers that would be compatible with this bike? We do have a Kuberg dealer here in the US (Florida) that carries the parts, but the pricing is enough to scare me off, having purchased controllers and throttles for scooters etc for 1/4th the price.
Not to mention, I am not even sure if replacing the controller will help out my bike.
The throttle has no LED indicators working, so it COULD be the throttle...but I really HATE the Kuberg throttles. They vulcanize the hard plastic grips in place making them very difficult to remove.
Next, it COULD be the controller. As I have another issue with the bike, and that is it will completely cut off during a ride...sometimes the bike recovers by cycling the key from ON to OFF and then back ON. Sometimes being the key word, as sometimes cycling the key does NOT work, and I have to disconnect the battery. Which is a 36V LiPo with XT60 connectors.
I should put in a switch (2 pole) that breaks the battery connection, but for now I need to disconnect the XT60 to get the bike to continue.
Finally, i suppose that it COULD be the BMS on the LiPo, but I suspect that is not the case. Unfortunately, when we got the bike the batteries were getting long in tooth which means not many rides on it before the LiPos were installed.

Now, I am hoping to get this bike dialed in, as my 9yo daughter and I are able to have some trail rides near our house and it is something that just the two of us do together...
Any and all help is appreciated.
 
MDW195 said:
The throttle has no LED indicators working
what specifically are the "led indicators" for? what do they indicate when they are working?

what specifically happened between the time they *were* working, and the time they stopped working?


As I have another issue with the bike, and that is it will completely cut off during a ride
if all power completely shuts off, then that is a power issue, and is usually a battery's bms shutting the output off to protect the pack from overdischarge that does this.

if the pack dosen't have a bms, then that's not it.

but it could be literally anything between the cells of the battery, and the controller, cutting off power.

put a multimeter set to dc volts with it's leads directly on the battery outputs, then ride, and note what you see on the display. if the display never drops significantly, then it's not the battery itself, or it's bms (if any). if it drops way way down when the problem happens, the problem is between where the meter leads are connected and the cells of teh battery.

if it isn't there, then move the meter leads further downstream, to where the battery connects to the next thing, whatever taht is. if the problem shows on the display there, then ti's between that point and hte previously tested point.

and so on.
 
Not sure how much of this info may be useful to you, but anyway:

I have a 36V OSET controller hooked up to a 36V 800W OSET DC brushed motor.
From the picture above and the number and type of connectors, the controller looks similar to mine.
One of the 2-pin connectors goes to the throttle charge indicator LED's, and the 3-pin connector goes to the throttle hall sensor, which may be similar to yours.

If you put a 36V (nominal) voltage source on the controller, it should ideally light up the throttle LED's and provide drive to the motor.

I used to run three 12V 9AH SLA batteries in series on this controller, and the LED indicator would go from 4 LED's down to 1 as the voltage dropped. I never experienced a cut-out like you mentioned.

Then I recently converted to LiPo, so now the controller is running off 10s 5AH LiPos. I don't have a BMS on the LiPo's but I do have low voltage piezo alarms on them.
I have noticed I can run the cell voltage down to 3.8V without the LED indicators dropping even one LED - I haven't yet run them much lower than that.

I have however noticed that the low voltage alarm goes off periodically when the cell voltage is showing around 3.8V, and I then pull a lot of power on an uphill or similar. This would indicate that at least one LiPo cell is dropping below 3.3V (alarm threshold) momentarily. If I don't pull anymore power from the battery, the alarm goes off and the cell voltage recovers to around 3.8 again.

Now, if your LiPo pack has a BMS, and one cell drops below a set threshold, it may in fact be cutting the battery pack power similar to when my low voltage alarm goes off. This could explain the cutting out you experience.

I doubt that the motor controller has a BMS or low voltage cut-out, but I could be wrong. Mine doesn't seem to have anything like this.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I do appreciate it.
The throttle LEDs have never illuminated for me, as I purchased the bike second hand. I did previously have a Kuberg Start for when my kids were really small, and it had a similar setup, and the throttle lights went out within the first week or two of owning the bike, so another was sent to me under warranty, and never had another issue. Sold that bike (24V) and found this larger (16" wheels) on craigslist, and the LEDs were not working, but the bike was.
There are a few things that I would like to do with the bike, but that is another topic.
The LiPo battery that is in place now does have a BMS. Rated for 30A peak, and I suspect the battery is the issue.

If anyone has suggestions on a good switch that I can mount to perform that task of disconnecting the battery, I would very much appreciate it. I imagine that the switch would have to be failrly high capacity as it would be conducting full power, up until the power shuts off that is. But I would like to be able to hold a button to disconnect the battery leads, and release the button to re-engage the leads. rather than having to reach into a very tight spot to disconnect and reconnect the XT60 connector.
 
Domestic/hobbyist switches are normally rated for resistive loads, you may need to uprate them by 2-3 times to cater for inductive loads. That being said, using a lower rated switch will just decrease its lifetime (contact wear), so you may be fine with a 30A resistive rated switch in the short term.

The battery voltage would probably by 42V fully charged (if 10s), so look for a 50V or higher rated switch.

You also get industrial motor-rated starter switches, which are going to be expensive.

It might be cheapest to get some XT60 connectors and simply extend the connector to where it's easy to get to.
 

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