Help Yescom / Battery Problem

[jebike]

So I finally got my battery from vpower and I went to plug it in to my yescom kit and got a nice surprise..... sparks! Im trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong, I plugged the yescom plug in the only way it would match to the battery. What am I doing wrong? View attachment 1View attachment 2View attachment 3

 

[wesnewell]

Probably nothing. If you didn't use a precharge resistor, it will spark and pop every time you plug it in. If you have it reversed, you will know it when it burns the plug up in a few seconds if you don't have it fused.

 

[USAEBIKECO]

Years ago we used to use Vpower packs. They are poorly made, which justifies the low price.

Is your battery currently working with your ebike? What's the problem?

 

[dogman dan]

The controller has large capacitors inside. When you first plug in, they draw current so fast it sparks at the plug.

Unless you did get the polarity wrong, it's normal.

Use a voltmeter, to determine which wire is + on the battery, if you don't know already. + on the battery connects to red wire on controller.

 

[jebike]

Thanks,

I read some more and looked at the plugs. It looks like the positive and negative on the yescom kit plug do not match the vpower battery. I made the assumption they would, given there is only one way to plug the cable in. When I plugged it in I got a pretty large spark and some smoke. I think I fried something and need to replace the battery plug with a new connector.

The bike motor would not run when it was plugged to the battery. (I was able to plug it in again, before figuring the polarity was probably off). The switch on the battery does not light up. I noticed it flashed the first time I plugged it in.

Another question, the BMS has 2 LEDs labeled Led one and Led 2. When I charged the battery I got Led 1 from orange to green and led 2 stayed red and the fan on the BMS turned off. I'm assuming this would be a full charge, but not sure as there is no documentation on the battery.

Thank you guys for your help.

 

[DAND214]

In your last pic there appears to be a fuse next to the plug, check it.

Dan

 

[jebike]

Thanks Dan, does that just pop out? And what would I need to buy to replace it? Assuming it will need to be replaced along with the plug if the polarity is off.

 

[jebike]

I was just thinking, do they make a female to female adapter that would switch the polarity so it correctly matches the battery and yescom plugs?

 

[r3volved]

Another question, the BMS has 2 LEDs labeled Led one and Led 2. When I charged the battery I got Led 1 from orange to green and led 2 stayed red and the fan on the BMS turned off. I'm assuming this would be a full charge, but not sure as there is no documentation on the battery.

Thank you guys for your help.

Do you mean the charger has two LED's? My VPower charger shows red LED if battery is connected (charging or full charge - always red, always on). The other LED cycles orange/green (orange = charging - green = charged)

Just because it flips green though, doesn't mean it's balanced, so leave it on the charger for an extra while and you might notice it toggling green/orange as it balances the cells.

 

[jebike]

Thanks. I'm going to grab a voltmeter today to check the battery polarity. R3volved are u using your battery w a yescom kit? Did you need to change the plug polarity?

 

[r3volved]

I used mine with a GNG kit and I chopped the plug right away and replaced with Anderson power poles. I didn't even attempt to connect it with factory connector.

BTW, that last picture looks like you need a new connection...it looks like you plasma'd that top pin in the plug.

Did your BMS come separated in it's own little box? Can you post a pic of the whole battery?
I would suggest opening the BMS enclosure if you can easily and make sure the PCB is secure inside (mine was just loose and rattled around for several months before I realized it...secured only by the wires fed through the case)

 

[jebike]

Thanks I'll take a look at the BMS it did sound like something was loose.

Regarding the plug, can you give me some tips on replacing with the Anderson power pole. I guess I would cut the yes com wire plug off and add those there and then cut the battery wires and put them on there. Does that eliminate the use of the fuse and power switch? When installing the power pole on the battery, the one wire will be hot right? How do I do that, my goal is to avoid getting electrocuted. Are those wires only dangerous if the contact one another?

 

[r3volved]

Sorry I'll rephrase

I trimmed that white connector. So battery to controller uses Anderson's (1red and 1black each, for controller and batt)
I left my charger plug as-is (came together anyway)

Anderson's do need a special crimper and are not waterproof but made for a good disconnect when I ran battery in backpack. PP45 are the ones I used.

You will still need a meter to check polarity. Make sure its a good enough one that accepts your full charge voltage. I would say it's a necessary ebike tool...as necessary as a pump.

Edit...yes wires are only dangerous if they contact each other or you close the circuit with your body (ie touching both). Cut one, crimp it and install connector before doing the other one (on battery). Controller doesn't matter cause there won't be voltage in it.

 

[jebike]

Thought I would edit my last post as it was not to clear. So its become pretty obvious that the yescom USA plug and the vpower battery plug receiver do match up positive/negatives.

I have attached a pic of the yescom plug w the label end cap (red positive) on top of the BMS that came w the battery align end as if I were plugging it to the battery. The BMS diagram shows the polarity does not match.

I have added another pic of the cable that yescom provided to connect the controller to the battery. One end being the plug for the battery and the other being the blue brown cable going into the white receiver.

I am hoping that simply reversing those would solve my problem related to polarity.

Am I correct or way off still?View attachment 1View attachment 2

 

[tahustvedt]

The fuse is bypassed. Why is that?

You need a meter to determine the polarity. Anything else is guessing. Colors aren't always the same standard, it's not movie bomb defusing.

 

[r3volved]

Ya
Hope in one hand, and save up for a meter in the other ...and see which one proves the right polarity first.

What exactly is that red and yellow/green harness?
Are you by chance mixing up the charge and discharge plugs? Are they the same?

 

[jebike]

I bought one. Just figuring out how to use it now. I have determined the yescom and vpower connectors are backwards. Negative to positive. Can I just switch the blue and brown cables that plug to the red black on the controller. The battery is showing about 90 on the multimeter, hope that is normal.

 

[jebike]

View attachment 1

 

[r3volved]

You could just cut and resolder if you can't reverse the pins on the connector. I would mark red/black

 

[jebike]

Thanks the pic of them is with them now reversed. New problem is that the battery is reading 90 at the prongs whether the switch is on or off. However the ends of the cables provide no reading on the yescom cable.

 

[jebike]

 

[DAND214]

90v??? I thought it was a 48v or 56/60 cjarged.

You must have the meter on ac not dc or the meter is funky.

Dan

 

[tahustvedt]

In this picture you have it set to AC voltage.

 

[jebike]

Yes. Still learning this stuff. Read 40-42v on DC setting. The battery is a 36v 20ah.

Looked at my yescom plug a little closer and I think the positive internal part is fried. Will need to get another.

 

[r3volved]

Thanks the pic of them is with them now reversed. New problem is that the battery is reading 90 at the prongs whether the switch is on or off. However the ends of the cables provide no reading on the yescom cable.

Unplug the cable and see if it reads anything on and off at the plug. I suspect your adapter harness is not getting a connection because you liquified your pin here: