Can electric scooter controller specs be found on outside of controller casing?

I asked a seller (of a 48v 15ah LifePo4 battery for 700w ebike) if he had any comments on the compatibility of his battery for my mobility scooter which currently uses (4) 12v 20ah sla batteries for it's 48v system with 800w motor. His reply was to request the specifications on my controller.

Since I am 74 and physically impaired, I can't simply turn over my scooter to see if the specs are imprinted on the casing of the controller. Unfortunately I did not get any paperwork with this scooter, and the dealer went out of business.

Can anyone tell me if the specs can be found on the outside of the controller? If they can, I'll take the scooter to a service station and let them get the info for me.

most of the controller have a label on top are down.
48v 800W sla scooter controller have a max discharge 25-35Amp and the low voltage stop between 42-43 Volt.

Why you like to go Lifepo??they have long live and wurk perfectly for enegie storage,not for EV e-scooters bikes.

Chances are, the specs are on the outside of the controller, but possibly in Chinese.

Chances also are, that a 48v 15 ah lifepo4 will be able to handle the demands of your mobility scooter.

You know the specs of the motor, 800w. Very unlikely that it has a controller than can give it more than double that, for a peak burst of power when starting up. so take 1600w, divide by 50v ( because most of the time your 48v battery is at 56-50v) and you get about 30 amps. A decent 15 ah lifepo4 should be able to handle 30 amps, and 45 amps peak.

Just make sure your seller has not limited the amps of the battery below 30 amps, and you should be okey dokey.

I'd also be willing to bet your scooter has a 20, or 22 amps controller, and your actual peak watts is more like 1200w.

Thanks Dan...that's a big help

dogman dan said:

Chances are, the specs are on the outside of the controller, but possibly in Chinese.

Chances also are, that a 48v 15 ah lifepo4 will be able to handle the demands of your mobility scooter.

You know the specs of the motor, 800w. Very unlikely that it has a controller than can give it more than double that, for a peak burst of power when starting up. so take 1600w, divide by 50v (because most of the time your 48v battery is at 56-50v) and you get about 30 amps. A decent 15 ah lifepo4 should be able to handle 30 amps, and 45 amps peak.

Just make sure your seller has not limited the amps of the battery below 30 amps, and you should be okey dokey.

I'd also be willing to bet your scooter has a 20, or 22 amps controller, and your actual peak watts is more like 1200w.

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Just wanted to let you see the seller's reply when I asked him about your comment above that you made about the battery's amperage........"The battery can handle 30Amps and 60Amps peak current." Unless I hear some other contrary comments on this post, I think I'll go ahead and take a bit of a gamble with this Lifepo4 battery because it will probably only cost me about $40-$70 more than (4) 12v 20ah sla batteries. Thanks again, Dan.

Joachim said:

most of the controller have a label on top are down.
48v 800W sla scooter controller have a max discharge 25-35Amp and the low voltage stop between 42-43 Volt.

Why you like to go Lifepo??they have long live and wurk perfectly for enegie storage,not for EV e-scooters bikes.

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I think I understand you to say that lifepo4 batteries are good for storing energy but inappropriate for use with e-bikes or e-scooters. If my understanding is correct, then that's the first time I've heard anyone make that assertion. Do have some further information that you could provide that would help me more clearly understand their flaws or shortcomings for scooter use?

Yes Lifepo is the best for EV :wink: Al the EV and china EV is using lifepo because they are big-heavy-long life and not cheap

If that rating is true then it probably is a really shitty lifpo4 battery pack he is selling. I expect a repackaged aliexpress type battery considering the cost. A proper lifepo4 battery built from thundersky cells for example should be able to deliver 10~20 the power that without a sweat.

It always pains me to see people taken advantage of like this...

I have buy a Lifepo4 battery from china 15s 15Ah.
After 1 year 3000km the battery compleet sucks under max amp drawn(20A max) cold temps the voltage under load drops from 53V to 46Volt :x top speed goes down from 46kmh to 37Kmh :|
range sucks after 1 year and i pay 500Euro for the pack

I ride for 3 years now on a 13s 25ah sanyo nmc battery and the range is stil perfect and voltage under load drops only 1Volt under max 60Amp load :lol: smaller lighter cheaper more range

self discharge is also seen alot on the life batteries...IR after 300 cycles sucks on these chines life batteries.

flippy said:

If that rating is true then it probably is a really shitty lifpo4 battery pack he is selling. I expect a repackaged aliexpress type battery considering the cost. A proper lifepo4 battery built from thundersky cells for example should be able to deliver 10~20 the power that without a sweat.

It always pains me to see people taken advantage of like this...

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Okay Flippy, you've got my undivided attention. Thanks for your comments, and I take it from your avatar that you have a distinct interest and knowledge of Lithium batteries......to the contrary, I have virtually none. I'm not even sure what you meant by your last comment; "...should be able to deliver 10-20 the power that without a sweat." Did it mean that a well constructed lithium battery should be able to provide 10 to 20 times the power of the battery that, according to the battery seller's comment "...battery can handle 30 amps and 60 amps peak current."?

To get to the heart of the matter, how much do you think I would have to pay (minimum) for a well constructed lifepo4 to replace my (4) 12v 20ah batteries, and where can I find them for sale? For that matter, how can any buyer tell if a battery is of quality construction, or not? Are there any particular set of specs,materials or other specific info that can be requested from a seller because I don't see much information posted with any sale?

thank you for taking the time to question what your dealer is peddeling.

please note that i have no profit from providing information here, but to be perfectly open: i do build and sell custom batteries for specific needs and projects so i do have experience in this and there are only a handful of specialists like me that can build proper high quality batteries that can last a decade or more with proper care.
most people just want the cheap way and 2 years later they complain lithium batteries are shit because they spent 500~2000 dollar/euro on a chinese P of S battery made by a 6 year old in a factory in wang chong china with the cheapest cells they could find on the market that morning.
i personally refuse to do such work and recommend to find someone else. i only do a order or project if you want reliable stuff you need quality components that you know will last the time you expect from a battery that costs hundreds or even thousands of dollars. most orders i do are one offs for racing cars, bikes, electric scooters or bike battery rebuilds for people that need a daily driver that "just works".

you can really find a builder (near you) that uses quality cells and you want to acutally get 20Ah of usable capacity (the SLA only gets you 12~15 on a good day) you are looking at about a price of 600~700$ with a bms that ensures each cell is within spec. and if a cell should die for whatever reason you can replace the one cell for 30$ and keep on going. such a pack would weigh about 10kg versus the 30kg of SLA. so if you would tip it for whatever reason it is MUCH simper to get upright again, it also increases range and they will not "droop" or lose power, not until the battery is down on its last 10~5% or so.

here is a example of the cells i would use: https://www.ev-power.eu/LiFePO4-small-cells/LiFePO4-High-Power-Cell-3-2V-20Ah-Alu-case-CE.html?

these cells can deliver 60A continuous and peak at 200A. so basically you can start a 18 wheeler semi with a 24v pack of these cells. if you would get 40 or 60Ah the power one can draw would increase massively. and these can still deliver 14Ah at a temperature of -20c (-4F) if you feel like taking a 50 mile trip in a freezer...
so a standard 25A controller you probably have is not a single problem in even the worst conditions like having to drive uphill for miles on end without losing capacity or wearing out prematurely. i would expect 10+ years of life if you treat the battery right before you notice a real capacity loss.

there are other cells you can use naturally but just to give a indication about what is possible and how much more reliable you can have a battery. it would be such a waste to spend hundreds on a cheap aliexpress-blue-heatshrink-battery and seeing it slowly die after a year or so forcing you to -again- buy something, probably SLA again after such a shitty experience.

as noted above, you can also build a regular 13S battery with 18650 cells. it would be a bit cheaper and more reliable. but you would need to make it a tad bigger then needed as you probably cant use the full range of the 18650 cells as the controller thinks it still runs on SLA batteries and cuts out well before the battery is really empty. but that depends on how picky the controller is.

please look at the total cost for a 5+ year timespan. if i read correctly you are dependant on your scooter for your mobillty for the rest of your life. i would recommend you think hard about how much problems you are willing to accept for the next few years because of skimping out on the most imporant bit of your means of transportation.

Thank you sincerely Flippy for your comprehensive reply.

You've pretty well convinced me, as I suspected all along, that most if not all of the lower cost ebay/Chinese made Lifepo4 batteries are not going to "cut the mustard", especially over time. That being said, however, the price range of a quality Lifepo4 also rains on my parade. As I've pointed out in past related posts, I have been unable to find anyone in my region who is willing to service this scooter, my dealer has also gone out of business, so to make a long story short, if this thing develops any mechanical or electrical problems then I'm pretty much SOL. Putting 6-7 hundred into a battery alone strikes me, at best, as a very risky investment. I'm not even sure how much longer I'll be able to keep riding....it may be down to a matter of months instead of years due to my physical ailments.

It's hard to say thanks for the bad news, but I am very grateful for your advice. You have saved me from a decision that probably would have cost me dearly....not only in wasted dollars, but frustration and down time to boot. Thanks for your suggestions nonetheless. If I learn of anyone needing a good lithium custom battery, I'll be glad to pass along your contact info.

Happy Holidays!

thank you for your kinds words.

dont forget before you make the final desision: the lithium battery is universal. you can just take it with you to the next scooter as long as it is a 48v model. plenty of scooters on ebay with busted batteries that are sold for 3 potatoes and a pinecone. just drop in your nice lihtium pack and you can keep on going. any mobillty scooter repair shop (even the mobile ones) no matter their "brand"can do the conversion in 30 minutes. just drop in the pack, replace the connector and bolt the battery down. and if you cant use it anymore you can sell it for good monety again.

however you decide i wish you the best.

flippy said:

thank you for your kinds words.

dont forget before you make the final desision: the lithium battery is universal. you can just take it with you to the next scooter as long as it is a 48v model. plenty of scooters on ebay with busted batteries that are sold for 3 potatoes and a pinecone. just drop in your nice lihtium pack and you can keep on going. any mobillty scooter repair shop (even the mobile ones) no matter their "brand"can do the conversion in 30 minutes. just drop in the pack, replace the connector and bolt the battery down. and if you cant use it anymore you can sell it for good monety again.

however you decide i wish you the best.

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I get your drift Flippy, and you are right again of course. My prime limitation, as I mentioned earlier, is that my personal health issues and restricted ambulatory abilities (which continue to regress) may deny me the ability to use my scooter altogether not so far down the pike.
Otherwise, your suggestions are right on the mark and much appreciated. Adios mi amigo!