controller repair

steve93

1 µW
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Jun 12, 2017
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So i've accidentally exposed to the one of the three throttle wires coming out of my controller to pack voltage! (52v)

The controller no longer produces 5v at the throttle + lead



im just getting into circuitry but i've replaced caps to repair old LCDs and such before. I was hoping one of you all would know exactly which components to suspect

thanks!
steve
 
Battery voltage applied to either the 5v line or the throttle signal line could blow up the MCU itself, which basically means replacing the controller. Or it might just have destroyed the 5v regulator, if you're lucky. Depends on the design of your specific controller, so I couldn't say without knowing what that design is.

Unfortunately, since there are dozens, perhaps hundreds or thousands of controller designs, then no there are no exact component lists for such an event (especially since you've provided no information on which controller you have--but even knowing which controller would probably not help enough to give a list).

However, there are many many controller repair threads here on ES, some of which include repairing the low-voltage-power-supply section, which might help you, though it will take a lot of looking around and reading to find them. :(

The best I can recommend is to get out a volt meter and start measuring voltages from the battery input at the PCB, where the "keyswitch" or "ignition" or "lock" wire is soldered to the PCB, probably near the largest input capacitors, and note down your results on a photo of the PCB so you'll know what voltage is at which points.

At some point you'll find no voltage where there should be some, and then you'll know that most likely between that point and the previous point, there is a problem.

But if it's the MCU that blew, it could just be grounding the 5v line, and the regulator could be fine if the MCU werent' attached. You'd have to trace the power line to the MCU and cut the trace somewhere along the way, and see if 5v comes back. If it does, the MCU is toast.

If not, then you'd have to find the problem with the 5v regulator (or previous stages) and fix that, and then reconnect hte MCU trace and see if it still works. If not, then the MCU is toast, too.



FWIW, if the problem that caused B+ to be connected to one of the throttle connector wires is that the throttle you ahve also has a battery meter on it, I *strongly* recommend not only not connecting battery power to the meter up there, I *also* recommend making sure there is no B+ wire from the controlller (or anywhere else) to the throttle connector on either controller or throttle.

THis is because anything at all (dust, rain, wiring shorts, etc) that manages to conduct battery power to the other throttle wires can blow up not only the throttle but also the controller. It happens enough that you'll probably run into a fair number of threads about it over the years, where people keep replacing throttles (or fixing them by replacing the hall sensor) after riding in rain, etc.
 
the controller is some cheapo chinese one from my first ebike kit. its out in the shop but i figure the diagnosing process should be similar

thank you very much for the detailed and speedy reply. that's exactly what i was looking for. ill have time to do testing in the upcoming week. it's already been replaced, but i was thinking if its fixable for very cheap, why not?

it wasnt due to throttle in the rain; i dont like those mixed voltage throttles especially after this experience. i was rebuilding; trying to weatherproof my new (at the time) prototype battery chassis for the upcoming wet season. and was rushing and brushed the wrong red wire XD one largeish spark later...
 
5v regulators (78L05) are very cheap and easy to replace, so change it for a good one, and if that doesn't fix it, chuck it in the bin.
 
Please post detailed images of the controller!!!

Maybe if is a KU63/xxx controller: http://www.avdweb.nl/solar-bike/electronics/ku63-motor-controller.html

Or any Kuteng / BMSBattery controller: https://opensourceebikefirmware.bitbucket.io/Controllers--BMSBattery_S06x--S06S.html
 
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