Benchwheel Cutting Off

[jmack549]

I've had a Benchwheel for about a month now, and suddenly it will only run for about 30 seconds before it cuts off and the power light begins to blink. I emailed the dealer and was told the batteries have gone bad, but to me it almost seems like the ESC is overheating. It will work for a short duration and cuts off, and if I reset it it will go again for a short time before cutting off again.

I've opened it up and I don't mind replacing the batteries if that's really the issue, but I do not want to replace them if it's not going to fix it. Any ideas?

 

[Ianhill]

Check the cells individually to see if the pack is well balanced and no dead cells then test the packs voltage with it operating to see if the volts sag if it holds its volts well then run it for the 30 seconds till it cuts out and inspect straight away for heat on the controller etc also look for any components with burn marks around them on the board, you have opened it now so u can not send it back.

 

[jmack549]

So I tested the whole pack and it was a steady 24.9 V. I put it under load and it held steady at 24.5 Doesn't seem to be any sagging at all.

I can't find a way to test the batteries individually, any advice? They are all held/glued together.

 

[Ianhill]

24.9 ÷ 6 = 4.15v per cell group so that sounds about right for a fully charged pack with a small volt drop under load this would suggest your problem lay elsewhere.

 

[Brooklyn]

I have a Benchwheel as well, that died after about 5 miles of use. Something on the controller shorted out causing balance leads to short and the battery to almost catch fire. The number 4 cell set burnt up and melted the connection to the board.

I guess what I am trying to say is the build quality of the controller and battery is pretty bad, you should consider ditching them. Buy a 6s battery and charger, pair of ESCs, and controller/receiver and rebuild as a custom board. This is what I am doing with mine. Plus, you can mount the trucks directly to the board instead of on the aluminum extrusion enclosure. (lower board to a standard height from the ground)

 

[mooseknuckel]

Having same issue. Just started tearing mine apart to find what I assume is a thermal breaker. No luck, but there are wires coming off the battery pack in addition to the +/- leads. Anyone played around with this circuit board enough to identify these extra wires?
Either way, the premature motor cutoff is getting old. Thanks, and carve on!

 

[MrYetiMan]

Hey Guys

i have a benchwheel and had some simular problems this can happen because of the Fuse at the top of the board get a new fuse and put somthing like a small peice of spondge and tape it so it does not rattle around seemed to fix it for me.

 

[jmack549]

I have a Benchwheel as well, that died after about 5 miles of use. Something on the controller shorted out causing balance leads to short and the battery to almost catch fire. The number 4 cell set burnt up and melted the connection to the board.

I guess what I am trying to say is the build quality of the controller and battery is pretty bad, you should consider ditching them. Buy a 6s battery and charger, pair of ESCs, and controller/receiver and rebuild as a custom board. This is what I am doing with mine. Plus, you can mount the trucks directly to the board instead of on the aluminum extrusion enclosure. (lower board to a standard height from the ground)

I'm open to building my own, I like the style of the motor enclosures so as long as I can re-use those I'm fine. What else could potentially be re-used? Also, is anyone aware of any DIY "clean" enclosures like the Benchwheel one? I would prefer a DIY board but the pre-made ones look so much nicer and cleaner.

 

[jmack549]

Hey Guys

i have a benchwheel and had some simular problems this can happen because of the Fuse at the top of the board get a new fuse and put somthing like a small peice of spondge and tape it so it does not rattle around seemed to fix it for me.

I will try this, any idea what type of fuse it is? I'd like to pick it up while I'm at work but I don't believe it's a regular auto fuse, it seems a bit bigger.

 

[MrYetiMan]

It's a 80AMP Car fuse, Take the old fuse out you will probaly notice small black burn marks on it if it did the same as mine... Replacing with a new one seemed to fix the problem for me make sure you secure the fuse with some spundge under it to stop it shaking i beleive this is what fks up the fuse.

 

[jmack549]

It's a 80AMP Car fuse, Take the old fuse out you will probaly notice small black burn marks on it if it did the same as mine... Replacing with a new one seemed to fix the problem for me make sure you secure the fuse with some spundge under it to stop it shaking i beleive this is what fks up the fuse.

Were you able to find the fuse locally? I am searching around but can't find anyone that carries on that high.

 

[MrYetiMan]

a Car Garage should sell it.

 

[MrYetiMan]

Like this http://www.darvex.com/store/pc/Stinger-80-Amp-MAXI-Fuse-61p183.htm

 

[MrYetiMan]

The fuse sits at the top of the board behind the white spacers you can pull it through the top and replace the fuse easly.

 

[Ianhill]

Don't use an 80 amp it will leave you no protection I use a 60amp maxi on a 12s 50.4v 16ah lipo pack and have drawn 60amp through it for a few months now with no problem even though they are used widely for 12v they are tested to 36v so just replace it with the same rating in the maxi fuse rating to stay safe but only lose the resetablitity as it is a weak spot for sure..

 

[jmack549]

The good news: The amp seems to have fixed my issue. On about a 10 minute ride earlier it didn't cut off once.

The bad news: I somehow severed the wire that leads to the transmitter. I tried to attach another wire, but I obviously used the wrong type/wrong gauge of wire and it doesn't seem to be helping. I have to hold the controller downwards towards the transmitter, which obviously isn't ideal and is a bit scary. As you can see it's severed quite far down into the board too which doesn't make this any easier. Any ideas on how to safely extend the range of this?

Edit: Sorry, the images were enormous so I'm just linking to the album: http://imgur.com/a/KKBn3

 

[MrYetiMan]

Ahh good stuff man im happy that this solved you're problems happy you are now riding

 

[MrYetiMan]

Don't use an 80 amp it will leave you no protection I use a 60amp maxi on a 12s 50.4v 16ah lipo pack and have drawn 60amp through it for a few months now with no problem even though they are used widely for 12v they are tested to 36v so just replace it with the same rating in the maxi fuse rating to stay safe but only lose the resetablitity as it is a weak spot for sure..

if we use a 60amp fuse will it stop it geting black marks on the fuse and stoping the board like the problem this guy had ? I Have to say since i changed fuse and stoped it rattling around in the case my problems stoped.