Did I get ripped off?

[dogman dan]

You are on the right track. The load tester you used may not be giving it anywhere near the load the bike does. So it's possible it passes that test, but fails a heavier load. Under load, the battery may be sagging enough to engage the lvc of the controller.

Now that I get it that the bike has a replacement controller, I would make a bet that the controller is too strong for any sla pack of the size you have. It's just so common, go buy a huge controller, wreck your battery. Your controller may have a very high low voltage cutoff setting, perhaps it's not the right voltage controller for your 5 battery pack. Lots of possibilities.

Furthermore, now I suspect everything, suspect plugs and wires even more than when stock. But do go through the wiring as soon as you have some free time to squander. It could easily be an intermittent bad connection to the battery pack, often at the fuse. Holds power for 5 amps, but roll back the throttle for more and it goes dead.

Those are the ones that are so hard to track down, not the obviously screwed melted plug, but the one that looks good but isn't.

 

[justlooking]

after reading this, i think its the batteries,
when i first came on E-S i had a 48v scooter,with lead acid batteries, - charged the batteries and they held the voltage fine, but they did not hold enough current and just faded soon after turning the wheel. then after leaving it for a few seconds, the batteries recuperated enough to turn the wheel abit more,
but once i put on new batteries the scooter would do about 4 miles,
needless to say i sold it and then built a gng bike, and a lithium battery [48v 10ah] and it is so much better than the scooter, well over 10 miles on one charge and dont get any interest from the police, where the scooter needed insurance, mot, tax and a license .

the other thing i thionk it might be is that the motor just dont like the volts,
is it a brushed motor?? or brushless ?? if brushed then sell it m8,

 

[fechter]

Just because the batteries reach 13v on charge doesn't mean they're good. You really need to measure the voltage under some load. A sulfated battery will show full voltage after charging but drops quickly under load. Using the light as a load will give a pretty good indication.

 

[dogman dan]

Right, he said he load tested them. But I bet it wasn't much load. Other things to consider since the controller has been replaced. If he's running the false positive wire combo's, load will be very large.

Bet just one problem is really unlikely.

 

[nechaus]

lipo it!
be done with the pb, use it for home backyard lighting, ultra low current draw and those things may last a good amount of time

 

[alsmith]

lipo it!
be done with the pb, use it for home backyard lighting, ultra low current draw and those things may last a good amount of time

If he has the money. He said 'Sorry I'm strapped for time with school and such'- when I was at school there is no way I had enough money when I was at school.