2008 EVT Bravo 4000e - Dead!

[ProtonPozer]

It is a 48VDC system that runs a (I assume) brushless Rear hub Motor. At first I thought it was a throttle assembly problem, but changing it out for one "known good" did not make a difference. I tried disconnecting the brake circuits and removing the tail light bulb, No Bueno! Batteries are fresh and strong. Before I started troubleshooting, the throttle would work intermittenly - some of the time. Not convenient. Then after a few weeks it stopped working at all. I suspect the controller (pictured.) Purchased an off-brand replacement that hasn't yet arrived. Between now and then, I am hoping to locate a fairly accurate wiring schematic of the Scooter, so that I might identify what plugs will attached to the old controller. I'm guessing that many of you folks have done that before. Would be greatly appreciated if you would share yours. If I don't get one, I'll do my best to sketch one out,

 

[PtheDude]

Hey dude, we need to connect, I'm the EVT Guy, for the time being...

 

[ProtonPozer]

Hey dude, we need to connect, I'm the EVT Guy, for the time being...

Hey PtheDude! Thanks for responding. So what do you know about off-brand Chinese replacement controllers? (See my most recent post) Would enjoy a chat or a further discussion. I am in Seattle. You?

 

[Dui ni shuo de dui]

View attachment 357358It is a 48VDC system that runs a (I assume) brushless Rear hub Motor. At first I thought it was a throttle assembly problem, but changing it out for one "known good" did not make a difference. I tried disconnecting the brake circuits and removing the tail light bulb, No Bueno! Batteries are fresh and strong. Before I started troubleshooting, the throttle would work intermittenly - some of the time. Not convenient. Then after a few weeks it stopped working at all. I suspect the controller (pictured.) Purchased an off-brand replacement that hasn't yet arrived. Between now and then, I am hoping to locate a fairly accurate wiring schematic of the Scooter, so that I might identify what plugs will attached to the old controller. I'm guessing that many of you folks have done that before. Would be greatly appreciated if you would share yours. If I don't get one, I'll do my best to sketch one out,

In my experience, when a problem starts gradually like you described it is often due to corrosion on some plugs.
So if I were you, I would disconnect, inspect and clean every connector to make sure there is good connection everywhere.

It could also be a bad wire, when they start breaking it often does the same thing. A broken wire is a lot harder to diagnose so hopefully its just a plug.

One more possible cause: the brake signal. When you press the brake levers on most bikes there is a signal wire that tells the controller to stop giving power to the motor. It feels just like the athrottle isn't working. If your brake signal sensors are damaged, corroded or not oriented the right way because they moved, then the signal doesn't go to the controller anymore.
That is also a very common cause of problems on EVs, so maybe check that first.

 

[ProtonPozer]

In my experience, when a problem starts gradually like you described it is often due to corrosion on some plugs.
So if I were you, I would disconnect, inspect and clean every connector to make sure there is good connection everywhere.

It could also be a bad wire, when they start breaking it often does the same thing. A broken wire is a lot harder to diagnose so hopefully its just a plug.

One more possible cause: the brake signal. When you press the brake levers on most bikes there is a signal wire that tells the controller to stop giving power to the motor. It feels just like the athrottle isn't working. If your brake signal sensors are damaged, corroded or not oriented the right way because they moved, then the signal doesn't go to the controller anymore.
That is also a very common cause of problems on EVs, so maybe check that first.

Thanks Dui Ni Shuo de dui.
I have checked most connections and all seem really tight and clean. Most of the wiring is embedded in a tape-wrapped bundle with no signs of physical disruption or degradation. I thought the same thing about the brakes, and took them completely out of the circuit with no change. Have you ever replaced a controller before?

 

[Dui ni shuo de dui]

Have you ever replaced a controller before?

Yes, many times.
It's not too difficult don't worry, there's only a few wires that really need to be connected (throttle, hall sensors, ON/OFF switch, battery power and motor phase wires). Then later add the other gadget stuff like brake sensors, 3 speed switches, alarm and whatnot.

I suggest you have a look at a few youtube videos explaining how to crimp connectors, then buy waterproof connectors of your choice and the crimping tool, so that you can do a clean and easy job. Makes your life a whole lot easier, plus it makes the whole system much more reliable.

That being said, I'm not sure the issue is coming from your controller anymore since you said that you checked the connections and they seem ok. It could come from the motor hall sensors. Sometimes when they start dying they can behave like this. There are three sensors in the motor, if one of them is defective then the controller will not be able to send current to the right motor coils at the right time and the motor won't spin, or in some cases it will do some weird noises.
There are ways to check if hall sensors are still working, maybe try to search for youtube videos about how to check a motor hall sensor as it is a little bit complicated to describe by writing.

 

[ProtonPozer]

In my experience, when a problem starts gradually like you described it is often due to corrosion on some plugs.
So if I were you, I would disconnect, inspect and clean every connector to make sure there is good connection everywhere.

It could also be a bad wire, when they start breaking it often does the same thing. A broken wire is a lot harder to diagnose so hopefully its just a plug.

One more possible cause: the brake signal. When you press the brake levers on most bikes there is a signal wire that tells the controller to stop giving power to the motor. It feels just like the athrottle isn't working. If your brake signal sensors are damaged, corroded or not oriented the right way because they moved, then the signal doesn't go to the controller anymore.
That is also a very common cause of problems on EVs, so maybe check that first.

Dui ni shuo de dui,

That was helpful.
I would be very interested to hear more about your experience in changing out the controller.
I agree with you about hooking up all the extra stuff, as a secondary challenge. I'm trying to figure out the "bare minimum" of which wires have to be connected. For example, I have the battery, key switch, the throttle, and the multiphase wires to the motor. I have NOT hooked up the Hall Sensor wires to the controller.

The reason is, that the wire colors do not match. There is a 9-pin plug at the controller and they are not the same color as the wires from the Hall Sensor. Is there a chance you could take a picture of the Hall Sensor hookup that you used on one of your conversions?

 

[Dui ni shuo de dui]

Dui ni shuo de dui,

That was helpful.
I would be very interested to hear more about your experience in changing out the controller.
I agree with you about hooking up all the extra stuff, as a secondary challenge. I'm trying to figure out the "bare minimum" of which wires have to be connected. For example, I have the battery, key switch, the throttle, and the multiphase wires to the motor. I have NOT hooked up the Hall Sensor wires to the controller.

The reason is, that the wire colors do not match. There is a 9-pin plug at the controller and they are not the same color as the wires from the Hall Sensor. Is there a chance you could take a picture of the Hall Sensor hookup that you used on one of your conversions?

You can remove and switch the wires from your plugs relatively easily, just use a tiny flat screwdriver and try pushing some tabs, most connectors are built so you can switch the wires if needed.

Maybe share some pictures of your connectors if you don't know how to do it so we can help you better.
Basically the only colors that really matter are the red and the black ones. Just make sure you don't mix these up.

If I shared a picture of mine it wouldn't help because I always replace the original connectors with some other ones I like.

 

[ProtonPozer]

Dui ni shuo de dui, Thanks for looking at my post and replying. Turns out that I was able to re-pin the connector (as you mentioned) to work using a "best guess" on color match. When I added a new Hall Sensor throttle, the thing works!! I am happy with this progress. Appreciate the advice.

 

[Dui ni shuo de dui]

That's awesome, well done!

 

[Sadler1983]

Yes, many times.
It's not too difficult don't worry, there's only a few wires that really need to be connected (throttle, hall sensors, ON/OFF switch, battery power and motor phase wires). Then later add the other gadget stuff like brake sensors, 3 speed switches, alarm and whatnot.

I suggest you have a look at a few youtube videos explaining how to crimp connectors, then buy waterproof connectors of your choice and the crimping tool, so that you can do a clean and easy job. Makes your life a whole lot easier, plus it makes the whole system much more reliable.

That being said, I'm not sure the issue is coming from your controller anymore since you said that you checked the connections and they seem ok. It could come from the motor hall sensors. Sometimes when they start dying they can behave like this. There are three sensors in the motor, if one of them is defective then the controller will not be able to send current to the right motor coils at the right time and the motor won't spin, or in some cases it will do some weird noises.
There are ways to check if hall sensors are still working, maybe try to search for youtube videos about how to check a motor hall sensor as it is a little bit complicated to describe by writing.

Hey I got a question for ya well any one who’s knows what thier talking about controllers my e-bike is fried ran all the tests for it event hooked it up to my older e-bikes I got like 6 of them but this one I love the most she sleeps in the house while the others freeze but I’m having a hard time locateing my e-bikes a dual motor 1000w in the motors each but only thing I can find are speed regular and mode I was on a new app I found they had small one motor watt like 350 some a couple hundred I’m honestly trying to not spend a fortune third a app called Ali something anyway I don’t know what the stock controller is it’s small but bike says 2000w in my two motors are thier and decent cheap controller shops in the USA every single one I find so far is either in China or somewhere else and every time I ask the questions they don’t know what they’re talking about or they don’t know. I was just told there’s no such thing as a two drive freaking controller. I really need help. I need to get my bike going again. Start making around again and get my kid to school and everything all the time. The pic the old one

 

[Dui ni shuo de dui]

Hey I got a question for ya well any one who’s knows what thier talking about controllers my e-bike is fried ran all the tests for it event hooked it up to my older e-bikes I got like 6 of them but this one I love the most she sleeps in the house while the others freeze but I’m having a hard time locateing my e-bikes a dual motor 1000w in the motors each but only thing I can find are speed regular and mode I was on a new app I found they had small one motor watt like 350 some a couple hundred I’m honestly trying to not spend a fortune third a app called Ali something anyway I don’t know what the stock controller is it’s small but bike says 2000w in my two motors are thier and decent cheap controller shops in the USA every single one I find so far is either in China or somewhere else and every time I ask the questions they don’t know what they’re talking about or they don’t know. I was just told there’s no such thing as a two drive freaking controller. I really need help. I need to get my bike going again. Start making around again and get my kid to school and everything all the time. The pic the old one

Sorry I'm not 100% sure to understand your question as this was quite difficult to read for me.
Do you mean you currently have a machine that has two motors and only one controller running both of them and the controller is fried?

If yes, then you can replace it with any dual motor controller of your choice as long as the voltage is the same and the delivered amps are in the same range. This one on aliexpress seem to be similar in terms of voltage and power output so it should work fine: https://es.aliexpress.com/item/1005...BZGhnRWw&utparam-url=scene:search|query_from:

You might lose a few functions, it's possible that the screen won't work or that some features will not be compatible anymore. Also the plugs will likely be different so you'll have to use new plugs or to find some way to connect the wires properly together.

It is not very difficult for an experienced user (for me I guess it would take less than an hour to get the motors spinning), but for a first project it isn't super easy so expect to be patient and settle for just the basic functions at first.

An other alternative is to use two separate controllers and share the same throttle input.

 

[Sadler1983]

Sorry I'm not 100% sure to understand your question as this was quite difficult to read for me.
Do you mean you currently have a machine that has two motors and only one controller running both of them and the controller is fried?

If yes, then you can replace it with any dual motor controller of your choice as long as the voltage is the same and the delivered amps are in the same range. This one on aliexpress seem to be similar in terms of voltage and power output so it should work fine: https://es.aliexpress.com/item/1005005709354065.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.11.1da41a341hCpsg&algo_pvid=3e0d0c3c-fc1c-44f5-b3be-cfdd2dff5c7a&algo_exp_id=3e0d0c3c-fc1c-44f5-b3be-cfdd2dff5c7a-5&pdp_npi=4@dis!MXN!961.78!826.64!!!46.26!39.76!@2103247417313952874176770edd46!12000036111192745!sea!MX!0!ABX&curPageLogUid=kuU4BZGhnRWw&utparam-url=scene:search|query_from:

You might lose a few functions, it's possible that the screen won't work or that some features will not be compatible anymore. Also the plugs will likely be different so you'll have to use new plugs or to find some way to connect the wires properly together.

It is not very difficult for an experienced user (for me I guess it would take less than an hour to get the motors spinning), but for a first project it isn't super easy so expect to be patient and settle for just the basic functions at first.

An other alternative is to use two separate controllers and share the same throttle input.

No sorry that’s my tbi I over explain thing but no I was widening a throttle and over time it arched some how and the bike was like a real person it just wanted to ghost drive it self and e7 e8 then e10 error codes popped then it stayed on e10 I tryed that link well I found that store app and none of them new what I was talking about even argued with about the existence of a two drive controller he told me there’s no such thing so we argued about it for about a half hour hour and I said take a picture of it so I took a picture of it. We don’t know anything about those we just sell them so yeah, they won’t be getting my support team. At least they went off the deep end and went and searched the search to search all the facts of the merchants whatever you wanna call and the only thing we can find was a two mode universal controller that they swore up and down. I haven’t got it in writing on messages that it is compatible it will work. There will not be long-term damage. I don’t know if that’s true or not but I got it in writing so it doesn’t matter on either end screw my bike up I guess but she’s been sleeping in the garage naked my best friend my bike next to my kid but thank you though I appreciate it. I still don’t know. Honestly if this dual mode freaking universal will work. I’ve never seen any of them. See universal this one a few other throughout time now.