trumpetfish said:
I'll try and clarify my problems after getting a new Battery. First Heinzmann motor 500W 36V 151 min Controller just says Heinzmann.
You'd need to look at the wiring to the motor to tell which kind it is, brushed or brushless, should you need a new controller. It is probably brushed, if it's from a decade ago, but you'll still want to check before buying anything. If you get the wrong kind it won't work and though unlikely may damage the new controller as well (probably not the motor, depending on how it's tested with the new controller). My guess is you don't have a controller problem, but rather a battery problem.
Trottle is Magura. The voltage measured at throttle was 4.80 with everything turned on (trottle not open) When throttle is turned voltage goes to 00 .
This is opposite to what it should read, for any system I've worked on. That usually means the throttle is wired backwards, but I suspect in this case it means you are not using the battery negative for the black meter lead (which is what you should use, as I noted in my first reply), and instead are using the 5v throttle wire for the black meter lead, to do your test. If that is the case, then your throttle is probably a potentiometer throttle (all the Maguras I've worked with are), and the voltage starts at 0.2v and goes up to 5v, so the throttle is operating properly.
If you *were* using battery negative for black meter lead, then the throttle is probably not wired correctly and you'd need to swap the "5v" and "ground" wires to it from the controller. If the throttle wiring hasn't changed from the time it worked to the time it didnt' work, this is almost certainly not the problem.
With wheel off ground and throttle turned the wheel turns slowly ( probably 1 or 2 mph)
That can mean either the motor is damaged (overheating, etc) (unlikely unless your recent trips are much higher load on the system than you used to use it for), or the motor-to-controller wiring has a faulty connection (always possible), or the controller is damaged (unlikely since most controller failures cause no operation at all, or different failures than you're seeing), or the battery is simply not charged enough to run the motor any faster.
I would be happy to purchase a new throttle or controller if I could find somewhere to buy them.
You have to know what kind of motor it is first (brushed or brushless); see my first post in this thread on how to tell. Throttle is almost certainly not the problem given it varies voltage over the whole range. Myself, I think you have a battery problem, based on the symptoms, test results so far, and usage vs charging.
I put this bike together about ten plus years ago and wonder if the controller is digital or analog.
Doesn't matter, they both work. Any new controller you may get would almost certainly be digital. (most are not even specified anymore, and you could only tell by opening it up to see if it had an MCU or an analog control chip)
I assume the Battery is good as its brand new .
When troubleshooting you cannot assume anything, everything must be tested that can affect the system in the way you see. That includes the battery in this case.
I've only charged it one time and it read 41 volts after charge.
41v is low for a typical full 36v battery. Normally they read 42v when full, for Li-Ion (10s). A LiFePO4, if 12s, would probably be nearly 44v full, at least until the cells age and no longer hold their surface charge, at which point they'd probably only stay at nearly 41v, but your shouldn't be that old yet.
Yours may be different, depending on it's design and chemistry and specific cells used, or BMS design or settings. Not knowing any of that about yours, I can only guess and make general statements, so the below covers a lot of possible things that may have nothing to do with your battery.
There are several reasons for a battery not charging to full--the charger could have a problem or not be set right, or if you are using a charger from a different battery it may be the wrong voltage. The cells in the battery may not all be the same capacity / capability, so they may be at different voltages (unbalanced). The BMS may be set incorrectly (if it has settings) or have a problem. Broken sense wires to the BMS from the cells. Etc.
If a battery is not balanced it may well stop charging before it reaches full, and shut off discharging before it is really empty, because one or more cell groups is low. UPP offers some batteries with no balancing function, so if it *is* unbalanced, you have to open it up and manually balance the cells every time this happens (or else it gets more and more unbalanced on every charge and discharge cycle). Or replace the BMS in it with a balancing BMS. Or live with the growing loss of capacity and range over time. Or replace the battery with a good one with a balancing BMS.
If it has a balancing BMS, then leaving it on the charger at least overnight (longer, possibly much much longer if the imbalance is severe) may correct the imbalance, and allow the battery to operate closer to it's ratings. If the charger shuts off, leave it connected, and wait to see if it turns back on after a while. It may take minutes to hours for this to happen, depending on the condition of the cells.
If it does not turn back on, it may mean there is no balancing function in the BMS, so it will never fully charge or discharge (you'll never get the rated capacity of it, and thus not the full range you could otherwise, and the problem will get worse over time).
Does the battery have a label? Or do you have a link to the sales page you bought it from? Either may give us more info to help you figure out a potential battery issue. At present we know virtually nothing about the battery, which is the heart of your system, and if it isn't working right then nothing else will either.
Was the only time you charged it before using it the first time? If it has not been recharged after the four trips you've made with it, it may well be empty or nearly empty and simply require recharging again.
The bike worked fine until I let sit for too long and the batterie would not take a charge. (Ping) the old Ping BAt now shows about 14 volts I tried another charger but nada.
That means the BMS has shutdown charging input to the battery to prevent a potential fire from charging overdischarged cells. It's possible to replace groups that have overdischarged, but it is a lot of work to fix a Ping pouch cell battery (there are a lot of threads that show how to do it, if you want to try).
