Disaster today, almost set two fires with BBSHD and 52v batteries

ryan1685

100 W
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Apr 3, 2015
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Well today I was playing with my new 52V battery I got from aliexpress. I have it connected to my BBSHD with an Anderson to xt90 connector I got from luna cycle. The connector is brand new, I just bought three of them a few weeks ago. Anyways, I had tried to plug the new battery in after removing my original battery which was a 52v 28ah I bought from luna cycle a few years back.

This was after a 30km ride. In the process I had a another disaster with the main data connector that goes from the display, throttle, break sensors to the bbshd controller ( the big thick black multi pin connector). I ended up bending a bunch of the pins but still was able to plug the two ends in without noticing.

After this, I proceeded to plug in the new battery into the bbshd anderson to anderson, then poof a huge spark. Subsequently, the discharge port (XT90) on my new $1300 battery was melted to the point of not being utilizable. So was the XT90 connector on the luna XT90 to Anderson connector. The battery was fully charged so It had a lot of current

After this I just said screw it and decided to connect my old battery THAT I JUST USED 5 MINUTES BEFORE AND FOR OVER 3000KMS WITH NO ISSUES. I went grabbed a new XT90 to Anderson connector and plugged it in, but this time it went up in flames. I was able to blow it out and pull everything apart before everything burnt to the ground, but this time the Anderson connectors on both the Luna connector and the Anderson on my BBSHD controller burnt to a crisp.

- There was no reverse plugging in of anything, I went back and looked, it has never been an issue. It pretty much impossible to do.


Could this all have been caused by that bent pin on the data connector. I doesn't make sense how seeing very little power goes through it. Makes no sense. I am totally confused.

Is my new battery destroyed? Can I just replace the discharge xt90?
 

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Yes, one of the data pins was pack voltage, and caused a short. The batteries should be ok though.

No telling what damage to the display. Pretty good short, possible damage to the controller too, anything possible, such as 48v went down a circuit meant for 5v.
 
Well, the BBSHD and the battery had nothing to do with that, and likely hadn’t suffered any damage. Sh*t connectors are dangerous, first lesson learned. Now cut off the XT90 and crimp some genuine pp75 Andersons. Then test the controller and battery to make sure. Replacement of the display connector will be the work of patience and precision. You could replace them with Audio XLR for reliability, or Molex for ease of repair.
 
Yep. All the display cables carry full battery voltage, I always wondered if it was current limited, but in the case of the BBS controllers, we see the answer is "no". The narrative fits better if the bent pin is 52V but I have to go by the BBSHD schematic.

BBS02-main.jpg

FQzHpBv.jpg
 
Your battery may have survived due to it's internal protections.. or in the worst case, you blew the battery's internal connections to either the first or last cell group.

A multimeter will let you know which scenario you're facing.
 
There is nothing here that is unexpected. You are lucky you got away with what happened. Never plug in something that is charred. Bad connection + big power = flame.
 
I suspect the BMS is damaged, and even if it still "seems to work", I would not trust it.

I still trust XT90 connectors. A shorted bent pin on the other connector is not an indictment against the other connectors. Nothing wrong with Andersons, if they work well for you.
 
Plugging your old battery in to the same connector that fried your new one probably wasn't the best next troubleshooting step if you own a DMM.
 
E-HP said:
Plugging your old battery in to the same connector that fried your new one probably wasn't the best next troubleshooting step if you own a DMM.

No. no. It was a brand new xt90 to anderson connector. The old one was to fried to use. From the other comments it sounds like the bent pin could have caused the short. Thanks for the response
 
docw009 said:
Yep. All the display cables carry full battery voltage, I always wondered if it was current limited, but in the case of the BBS controllers, we see the answer is "no". The narrative fits better if the bent pin is 52V but I have to go by the BBSHD schematic.

BBS02-main.jpg

FQzHpBv.jpg

crazy so it must have been a short, thanks for the pictures.
 
dogman dan said:
Yes, one of the data pins was pack voltage, and caused a short. The batteries should be ok though.

No telling what damage to the display. Pretty good short, possible damage to the controller too, anything possible, such as 48v went down a circuit meant for 5v.

Crazy, just my luck. At least I know that its not something wrong with the battery I just bought. Can I just splice into a fully charged batteries discharge wire and put on a new plug without killing my self ?
 
MadRhino said:
Well, the BBSHD and the battery had nothing to do with that, and likely hadn’t suffered any damage. Sh*t connectors are dangerous, first lesson learned. Now cut off the XT90 and crimp some genuine pp75 Andersons. Then test the controller and battery to make sure. Replacement of the display connector will be the work of patience and precision. You could replace them with Audio XLR for reliability, or Molex for ease of repair.

I can put Andersons on the battery? I should have asked for that to begin with. I always thought xt90 was a requirement. Ive been buying these crappy adapters for no reason. So I may have fired the display you are saying, how about the throttle? It looks like 52v touched both the throttle and the display pin
 
spinningmagnets said:
I suspect the BMS is damaged, and even if it still "seems to work", I would not trust it.

I still trust XT90 connectors. A shorted bent pin on the other connector is not an indictment against the other connectors. Nothing wrong with Andersons, if they work well for you.

So what you are saying is it destroyed both batteries ? Seeing they were both plugged in ? almost 3k in batteries down the drain because of a bent pin, that is sickening, everyone seems to be saying counter to this. The battery only discharged long enough for the plug to melt
 
ryan1685 said:
spinningmagnets said:
I suspect the BMS is damaged, and even if it still "seems to work", I would not trust it.

I still trust XT90 connectors. A shorted bent pin on the other connector is not an indictment against the other connectors. Nothing wrong with Andersons, if they work well for you.

So what you are saying is it destroyed both batteries ? Seeing they were both plugged in ? almost 3k in batteries down the drain because of a bent pin, that is sickening, everyone seems to be saying counter to this. The battery only discharged long enough for the plug to melt
He said the BMS may be damaged, not the whole battery.
 
E-HP said:
ryan1685 said:
spinningmagnets said:
I suspect the BMS is damaged, and even if it still "seems to work", I would not trust it.

I still trust XT90 connectors. A shorted bent pin on the other connector is not an indictment against the other connectors. Nothing wrong with Andersons, if they work well for you.

So what you are saying is it destroyed both batteries ? Seeing they were both plugged in ? almost 3k in batteries down the drain because of a bent pin, that is sickening, everyone seems to be saying counter to this. The battery only discharged long enough for the plug to melt
He said the BMS may be damaged, not the whole battery.

Seeing I messed up on something as fundamental as this, a blown bms might as well be the same as a destroyed battery.
 
ryan1685 said:
Seeing I messed up on something as fundamental as this, a blown bms might as well be the same as a destroyed battery.

Well, not really.. a BMS is a $10-$100 part of an otherwise much more expensive battery and can be replaced.

Personally what i'd do with a battery that's had an 'event' like that is put it in a fireproof area for a few weeks to let it go if it's going to go.. and after the 'probation period', open it up, check voltages of each cell group, and assess for any sort of physical damage, especially on the BMS board.
 
neptronix said:
ryan1685 said:
Seeing I messed up on something as fundamental as this, a blown bms might as well be the same as a destroyed battery.

Well, not really.. a BMS is a $10-$100 part of an otherwise much more expensive battery and can be replaced.

Personally what i'd do with a battery that's had an 'event' like that is put it in a fireproof area for a few weeks to let it go if it's going to go.. and after the 'probation period', open it up, check voltages of each cell group, and assess for any sort of physical damage, especially on the BMS board.

So, sorry for sounding stupid, but it seems like now

1) BBSHD controller could be destroyed
2) Display may be destroyed
3) throttle may be destroyed
4) BMS on both batteries may be destroyed
5) cell groups on both batteries may be destroyed.

this just seems like a lot from a bent pin, I appreciate the help, but at this point I don't know. I am even more scared, I live in my truck camper at the moment and have no fire proof location to put the batteries
 
ryan1685 said:
So, sorry for sounding stupid, but it seems like now

1) BBSHD controller could be destroyed
2) Display may be destroyed
3) throttle may be destroyed
4) BMS on both batteries may be destroyed
5) cell groups on both batteries may be destroyed.

this just seems like a lot from a bent pin, I appreciate the help, but at this point I don't know. I am even more scared, I live in my truck camper at the moment and have no fire proof location to put the batteries
I think it would be better for you to slow it down a notch and just start with basic troubleshooting. You're jumping to a lot of conclusions without even taking some simple trouble shooting steps.
 
ryan1685 said:
So, sorry for sounding stupid, but it seems like now

1) BBSHD controller could be destroyed
2) Display may be destroyed
3) throttle may be destroyed
4) BMS on both batteries may be destroyed
5) cell groups on both batteries may be destroyed.

this just seems like a lot from a bent pin, I appreciate the help, but at this point I don't know. I am even more scared, I live in my truck camper at the moment and have no fire proof location to put the batteries

It's possible for this to be the case because battery voltage flows through all these things.

You don't know until you start opening things up. The really blown parts will be easily identifiable visually.
In some other cases where a small diode or chip went, it won't be so apparent.. that is a matter of testing.

I think the most likely survivor would be your battery cells.. most likely victim is the bbshd's various electronics and your BMS. But tear some stuff open and let's see.
 
E-HP said:
ryan1685 said:
So, sorry for sounding stupid, but it seems like now

1) BBSHD controller could be destroyed
2) Display may be destroyed
3) throttle may be destroyed
4) BMS on both batteries may be destroyed
5) cell groups on both batteries may be destroyed.

this just seems like a lot from a bent pin, I appreciate the help, but at this point I don't know. I am even more scared, I live in my truck camper at the moment and have no fire proof location to put the batteries
I think it would be better for you to slow it down a notch and just start with basic troubleshooting. You're jumping to a lot of conclusions without even taking some simple trouble shooting steps.

Well I have a new controller on order, I have a new throttle kicking around from another project that never happened. I guess that will be the first step. My problem is, The BBSHD sounds sick to begin with, it sounds like a baby rattle when in operation and has for the last 1500kms. If I am buying all these things, I might as well buy a new kit. Seeing this is my only means of normal transportation, piece mealing everything will be a real pain. I just wont to remedy the issue and move on. Going back and forth will take forever.

When it comes to the battery, is it safe to remove the fried xt90 and pop on a new one when the battery is fully charged? Tear apart all the protective covering to look at the bms on both batteries really scares me
 
neptronix said:
ryan1685 said:
So, sorry for sounding stupid, but it seems like now

1) BBSHD controller could be destroyed
2) Display may be destroyed
3) throttle may be destroyed
4) BMS on both batteries may be destroyed
5) cell groups on both batteries may be destroyed.

this just seems like a lot from a bent pin, I appreciate the help, but at this point I don't know. I am even more scared, I live in my truck camper at the moment and have no fire proof location to put the batteries

It's possible for this to be the case because battery voltage flows through all these things.

You don't know until you start opening things up. The really blown parts will be easily identifiable visually.
In some other cases where a small diode or chip went, it won't be so apparent.. that is a matter of testing.

I think the most likely survivor would be your battery cells.. most likely victim is the bbshd's various electronics and your BMS. But tear some stuff open and let's see.

alright, Expensive lesson . Wish my Sondors Rockstar would just show up so I can retire this beast.
 
ryan1685 said:
Wish my Sondors Rockstar would just show up so I can retire this beast.
This seems like the best solution. Throw that DIY ebike piece of garbage in the dumpster.*

*PS. Let me know where the dumpster is located.
 
E-HP said:
ryan1685 said:
Wish my Sondors Rockstar would just show up so I can retire this beast.
This seems like the best solution. Throw that DIY ebike piece of garbage in the dumpster.*

*PS. Let me know where the dumpster is located.

I am just frustrated, obviously it is a superior bike. I spent almost as much on the bike I used with my BBSHD setup than I did for the entire Sondors rockstar. Last year it was a controller issue and a clutch issue, this year its bent pins, plus all the fall out. If things were not constructed so poorly, this would have never happened.
 
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