How do I short the 3 speed wire

[dgk02]

The controller has a three wire connector (the three speed wires at the bottom of this page: http://www.elifebike.com/peng/iview.asp?KeyID=dtpic-2012-37-QE18.0KCPB). I've been told to short pins 1 and 2 in order to get the high speed setting. Fine, but right now all three wires are connected from the throttle to the controller. Do I just strip the wires on one side of the connector and short the two wires together while leaving all of them connected through the connector? Or maybe just short 1 and 2 on the controller side and leave just pin 3 connecting the throttle and controller? I can't see how that would work.

 

[d8veh]

The throttle goes into the throttle connector- nothing to do with the three speed switch, which is an independent part of the control system. You just take a piece of insulated wire (like you find in normal 3-core mains wire); strip the ends and poke them in the connector to test it. It should stay in place itself, but the best way is to put one end in the middle pin; get someone to lift the motor wheel and give it full throttle, while you touch the other end of the wire to the high-speed pin, so that you can see/hear the difference. When you're happy with the results, you can either cut the connector off and twist the middle and high-speed wires together, or run them up to a switch. With a switch.you can test the difference in hill-climbing ability and slow-speed response, which might be compromised by leaving it permanently connected.

In the tests I've done, it always boosts a sensored motor. The one time I tried it sensorless, it had no effect.

Please let us know the results

 

[dgk02]

I see. Or rather I don't see. This controller apparently has no three speed switch. The wiring doesn't really match the wiring in the diagram, in fact there are two pale red/pink wires that connect to each other but don't seem to do anything and those aren't mentioned at all in the diagram. The brake wires are there, the throttle connection (with two connectors from the throttle that are apparently the switch and the voltage display but those aren't doing anything at the moment). There is a PAS connector and that is working nicely. The three wires from the motor are connected. The display unit has the power and voltage displays and those work. That's a four wire connector. The controller has a five wire Hall Sensor connector that goes nowhere at the moment. And there is a cruise and a limiter wire, both of which are not connected to anything. But I just don't see any other connector so maybe the controller doesn't have one. I suppose I can order another controller and see how that works.

For the moment though it actually works pretty well. I can use the throttle for lower speeds as needed, and let PAS take over when I'm at more of a cruising speed. I'm not pushing it at all since the torque arm hasn't arrived yet - it should be in tomorrow I think.

 

[bachmaninoff]

On my KU123 I also have a three speed switch input, which I keep in the high setting by shorting two of the wires together since I control speed with the throttle. So if you want an actual switch for it, looks like you need to get this:

http://www.elifebike.com/peng/iview.asp?KeyID=dtpic-2011-1A-GDAS.52NPF

And from what I'm reading, it wouldn't be the first time the wire color coding on a controller doesn't match the diagrams! EDIT: Maybe you have a different controller altogether!

 

[dgk02]

The switch would be handy but I just don't see the three wires. I see them on the diagram but all of my wires/connectors are connected to something and there is nothing left over that looks like the speed wires. I'll take a picture tomorrow but it's difficult because the controller is in the battery rack and it was a bitch getting all the connectors through the little hole. I just looked earlier today and the only wires still inside the battery housing are the cruise, limiter, battery, and Hall Sensor connectors. The rest come out through the hole and link up to something.

Yup, this is the one I have: http://www.elifebike.com/upfile/dtpic/2013/5G/GN9P.6Y9KM/87RKF2_2H745.jpg

No three speed wire here.

Does anyone know what to do with this one to get the speed up? This is a 24 volt Q100 running at 36 so it should be faster on the throttle than it is. The PAS is running much faster than the wide open throttle.

 

[d8veh]

You're correct. The controllers with LED displays don't have the three-speed switch. The only way to get more speed is with higher voltage.

What speed are you presently getting? No load speed should be 335 rpm or 25mph in a 26" wheel, but it won't have much power, so 15 to 18mph on the road depending on your weight. You can get more road speed by soldering the shunt in the controller. Aim for about 30% of the length of the shunt soldered. Don't be greedy, and try and go for more. 18 amps is a safe limit.

 

[dgk02]

Oh good, I really was going nuts trying to figure that out. I'll see what the top speed is on throttle and PAS. I'm hoping the torque arm arrives today so I can work on it when I get home tonight.

 

[dgk02]

Torque arm arrived from Grin and is now installed. A short checkout ride shows that it runs around 15mph on throttle, and around 19 on highest PAS (I'm 190). That's actually ok. I guess I'd like faster but I'm not confident that the Schwinn MT bike is up to much more so it's fine. The lowest PAS mode wants to run at 13, which is actually faster than I'd like since some of my riding is in crowded conditions where even 13 is pretty fast. I'm already getting used to just holding the brake enough to kill PAS while not actually engaging the pads. The throttle does the same thing; if I'm using the throttle then PAS doesn't kick in. I'll hook up PAS to the switch on the throttle soon.

I don't think I'll operate on the controller; it's good enough as it is. There's even that 6km button. I know it moves the bike at just about a fast walk and that might come in handy.

The one problem is that the gearing on the bike (18 speed) isn't enough for the speed of the motor. In highest gear it just about works with PAS mode one. Since I do want some exercise out of this, I think I'll need to get either a faster cassette or more teeth on the cranks. Someone gave me a link on another thread, but I think that was for a UK distributor. I'll dig it up and see what I can do.

 

[d8veh]

Could we see a picture of your bike? If your gearing is too low, it means that you've probably got a free-wheel gear-set with 14T top gear. You need to find out if it's a free-wheel set or free-hub (cassette). Assuming a free-wheel, you need to get a used cassette wheel from Ebay, flea market, or any other junk sale. Don't worry too much about the number of gears, you can change the cassette very cheaply, but you'll need to buy or borrow the cassette removal tool. Cassettes normally have 11T top gear, which gives a substantial reduction in pedal speed. Cassette and free-wheel wheels are interchangeable.