EM3EV Mac 12fet40A (ebike tester) troubleshooting assistance

[efergy kb]

I want to thank all the people on this forum; it is great that people are so detailed in their posts which has helped me to build my ebike!
With literally zero knowledge on electronics and also bikes in general i was able to put together a kit fairly easily (with some major swear words long the way. )

I got the got the MAC8T, 12fet 40A, 50V 12.3Ah Samsung Triangle Pack and it has been running smooth for 200km or so. One day turning i turned her on, however the throttle the wheel didn't spin!! I've finally gotten to the bottom of it (basically the throttle wasn't working 100%) however do still have a few questions if you can assist! This is predominately with the ebike test kit and reading the results

Reading through the forum, i invested in an ebike tester from EM3EV i've also found Lyen's kit & pdf which was much better than the instructions provided with the EM3EV kit (https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20413&start=75#p609473). However I am a little unsure if i am using this correctly. using the ebike tester it produced the following questions:

a) Throttle - My kit is connected to the Cycle Analyst. Turning the throttle i can see (on the CA) the input (Throttle INPUT on CA) starts at 0.83 and max at 4.22 for open throttle. This looks to me the throttle is working. Note: i have not used the ebike tester to validate (more on this later)
- What i didn't understand was there was no output (Throttle OUTPUT on CA) and what this meant...

Luckily i had a spare 3speed and put that into the CA and from the CA i was able to see the input increment however now i was also able to now see the output also change which lead me to believe it was the throttle.
I put in the new throttle and viola! the world is at peace again!

So back to the tester with testing the new throttle
- put the little alligator clips into each of the 3 output wire (1 was for cruise, 1 was for 3speed and the other for throttle)
- Cruise - i can see the light flicker when pressing the button so i was able to figure the cruise wire
- 3speed - changing each of the speeds, i can see the lights turning from dimmer to lighter and the 'steer' (green light) also turn on
- Throttle - with the final wire MUST be the throttle, i connected each alligator head to the tester, however even with the throttle going up. I cannot seem to make the tester light up at all (no green, no off and no red per Lyen's pdf)??? The LED, 3rd row, 3rd to right just wouldn't light up.
> Am i missing something there or doing something incorrect?

b) Motor phase - turning the wheel forward, no lights blink! However if i turn it backwards the lights rapidly blink simultaneously. Is this the way the ebike tester works?
- are the lights supposed to blink simultaneously or in sequence (per Lyen doc)?
- the lights blink really really rapidly (and simultaneously) - i wasn't sure what kind of results i was getting
- is it the fact i am using a Mac (geared motor) and have free wheel clutch that i can only see this when i spin the wheel backwards?
c) Motor halls sensors - turning the wheel forward, again no lights blink. Turning the wheel backwards, and you can see LED light up in succession as per Lyen's pdf. Seems to be working okay (i think).
- is the above correct?
d) Controller - i dont think i have tested this properly as i could get (1) throttle working or showing on the testing kit
At least the the 5V LED in the centre is on so power is supplied.



Infineon controller 12fet


3speed, cruise, controller


EM3EV ebike tester kit

 

[amberwolf]

I got the got the MAC8T

<snip>

b) Motor phase - turning the wheel forward, no lights blink! However if i turn it backwards the lights rapidly blink simultaneously. Is this the way the ebike tester works?

That's how a geared hub works--it freewheels when you spin it by hand forward, so motor inside doesnt' spin. But backwards it spins the motor many times faster than the wheel because of the gearing inside.

 

[teklektik]

One day turning i turned her on, however the throttle the wheel didn't spin!! I've finally gotten to the bottom of it (basically the throttle wasn't working 100%)...

a) Throttle - My kit is connected to the Cycle Analyst. Turning the throttle i can see (on the CA) the input (Throttle INPUT on CA) starts at 0.83 and max at 4.22 for open throttle. This looks to me the throttle is working. Note: i have not used the ebike tester to validate (more on this later)
- What i didn't understand was there was no output (Throttle OUTPUT on CA) and what this meant...

Since the CA shows a legitimate varying voltage from the throttle in the IN field of the Diagnostic Screen, the throttle is working fine - no need for a tester.

Since this happened when you powered the bike up, the most reasonable guess is that the CA detected a throttle fault (non-ZERO throttle on power up) and shut down the output. This fault prevents power from being applied when the throttle is not ZERO so the bike doesn't wheelie/run away when you turn it on. The fault is automatically cleared when you ZERO the throttle. The fault is indicated by a flashing throttle bar graph on the Main Screen and flashing IN voltage on the Diagnostic Screen.

The throttle can appear to be 'broken' if there is an improper ThrI->MinInput setting (too low). In this case the throttle can never actually reach the too-low setting so the throttle fault cannot be cleared and the CA will never generate an output (voltage doesn't change in the OUT field). Simply raising the setting as described by throttle setup procedure in the Guide 'fixes' the throttle. This can happen spontaneously because of temperature, throttle wear, weak throttle spring, etc so that a CA setup with an inadequate ZERO-end dead zone (actual throttle min voltage too close to ThrI->MinInput ) suddenly begins producing a throttle fault even though it was working in the past.

Luckily i had a spare 3speed and put that into the CA and from the CA i was able to see the input increment however now i was also able to now see the output also change which lead me to believe it was the throttle.

This does not look like the correct conclusion. Since each throttle has a different voltage range, changing the throttle probably just made the existing ThrI->MinInput setting okay.

You need to follow the CA throttle setup procedure in the [strike]Un[/strike]official Guide both initially and whenever you change the throttle to configure and verify the recommended 0.15V dead zone gap to prevent this. At the other end, this setup procedure ensures the CA can actually drive the controller to max on WOT.

 

[efergy kb]

Thanks for the heads up teklektik Re the CA and throttle I'll have to revisit this another time to check the details as mentioned. As I've put everything back into place (was just happy I fluked the fix and get her going again)

On another note, Would you have any ideas why connecting this throttle to the tester would not show anything on the tester when twisting it from zero to medium to WOT? No lights where blinking or moving at all (even the green light for throttle didn't light up)
Tried this on both throttle and same results in both
All I could get from the throttle testing was identifying the cruise and 3speed cable