StudEbiker
100 kW
I am having my problems stack up on me and am getting very frustrated. It seems like right now I'm not even getting one issue sorted out before another one pops up. After being frustrated with this most recent issue, I am completely stumped and am hoping someone can help.
I'll try and relate the problem and the sequence of events as best I can, but I've been messing with this for about a week now and I'm sure I'll get some things out of order.
I only have one battery. It is a 12s Headway pack with a Ping V2.5 BMS.
It has had a few problems over the year and a half I have been using it, but since putting in the Ping BMS it has been pretty solid except when one of the tab welds broke recently and now that connection is being help together by putting pressure on the batteries by wedging some paint stirrers wrapped in shelf liner in the battery case. This has been working surprisingly well.
I have been using this battery on the TidalForce bike, but recently I moved it over to the Bike E since I have been trying to use that bike more.
While I've been using it on the Bike E (which is equipped with a Nuvinci auto shift developer's kit) I have been trying to get the shift patterns correct and it has been a challenge. The Bike E is equipped with a Lyen 9FET 30A controller BTW. While testing the Bike E and Nuvinci some tests the gearing was set WAY too high and the Turnigy watt meter was showing a max amp draw around 40 amps. The controller is right at my tailbone too and I could often feel it get warm when I was doing the tests.
At some point, the Bike E started losing power. I thought maybe I was hitting LVC on the BMS because I was seeing Vms of 33v on the Turnigy after some of the tests. I could get the battery/bike to come back on by unplugging the battery from the Turnigy and replugging, but it kept getting worse.
Eventually the bike turned off and wouldn't come back on.
I thought maybe the watt meter was the problem, so I bypassed the meter and plugged the battery directly into the bike. Nothing.
Okay, time to check the pack. I take it off and check the power leads directly with a multi meter. It actually is reading 39+ volts. Hmm, that's weird. I plug the watt meter back into the leads and get nothing. Very bizarre. Once again, I'm left wondering if there is something wrong with the watt meter. I plug the watt meter into my charger and everything is A-OK. Watt meter is good....confirmed.
So why is the multi meter showing voltage??
I open the pack up and start checking things out. When I go to positive to main pack neg. I get a full 39+v, but when I go to the neg out at the BMS I think there is like no voltage (this is where I mean that I may not be able to remember everything.) To make this part of the saga a little shorter, I'll tell you that after thinking the BMS had gone bad I replaced it with another BMS I have on hand (Ping V2.5) and encountered the excat same problem. I eventually traced the problem to a short at the XLR plug that had gotten really hot and had melted insulation from the extra amps.
Apparently this short was causing the BMS to trip and stay tripped. I've been wanting to get rid of that damned XLR since I got the pack so this finally gives me a good reason for getting rid of it!
I take out the XLR and put Andersons on the pack's power leads. I plug in the watt meter and everything is good again. Time to put it back on the Bike E and continue testing.
I get the battery mounted on the bike. I plug in the watt meter ad it comes on. Then I plug in the controller to the watt meter and te watt meter clicks off immediately. :x I try that a couple more times and get the same result every time. Once again I try plugging the pack directly into the bike. No power to the bike.
Reading the "Big Fire Ball Today" thread http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=33523 I think I may have a FET short failure in the controller.
Meanwhile, I'm without a working E-bike.
Okay, time to get mobile again. I'll put the Headway battery back on the TF bike. Got it on the bike today, plugged in the watt meter and things are okay until...... I plug it into the controller. The same exact thing happens!! There was nothing wrong with this controller when I stopped riding the TF bike and it has not been pushed hard AT ALL (23amps max.)
I have tried reading the ohms of each controller based on gwhy!'s statement about they should read 8kohms, but maybe it's my MM, but I can't get a steady reading out of either controllers, but they both read the same way. Now I am hoping the problem is in the pack and not the controllers and that whatever the problem is it's not too hard to repair, but I am really at a loss as to what to try next. I have one more brand new Ping V2.5 BMS, but it is for a customer and I don't want to be experimenting with it.
BTW, when I cahrge the batt., all the lights come on on the BMS the way they should. Eveything seems to be okay with the battery right up to the point I plug it into the controller. I am relatively certain the controller on the TF bike is not faulty, but I am completely at a loss as to where to go from here.
I'll try and relate the problem and the sequence of events as best I can, but I've been messing with this for about a week now and I'm sure I'll get some things out of order.
I only have one battery. It is a 12s Headway pack with a Ping V2.5 BMS.
It has had a few problems over the year and a half I have been using it, but since putting in the Ping BMS it has been pretty solid except when one of the tab welds broke recently and now that connection is being help together by putting pressure on the batteries by wedging some paint stirrers wrapped in shelf liner in the battery case. This has been working surprisingly well.
I have been using this battery on the TidalForce bike, but recently I moved it over to the Bike E since I have been trying to use that bike more.
While I've been using it on the Bike E (which is equipped with a Nuvinci auto shift developer's kit) I have been trying to get the shift patterns correct and it has been a challenge. The Bike E is equipped with a Lyen 9FET 30A controller BTW. While testing the Bike E and Nuvinci some tests the gearing was set WAY too high and the Turnigy watt meter was showing a max amp draw around 40 amps. The controller is right at my tailbone too and I could often feel it get warm when I was doing the tests.
At some point, the Bike E started losing power. I thought maybe I was hitting LVC on the BMS because I was seeing Vms of 33v on the Turnigy after some of the tests. I could get the battery/bike to come back on by unplugging the battery from the Turnigy and replugging, but it kept getting worse.
Eventually the bike turned off and wouldn't come back on.
I thought maybe the watt meter was the problem, so I bypassed the meter and plugged the battery directly into the bike. Nothing.
Okay, time to check the pack. I take it off and check the power leads directly with a multi meter. It actually is reading 39+ volts. Hmm, that's weird. I plug the watt meter back into the leads and get nothing. Very bizarre. Once again, I'm left wondering if there is something wrong with the watt meter. I plug the watt meter into my charger and everything is A-OK. Watt meter is good....confirmed.
So why is the multi meter showing voltage??
I open the pack up and start checking things out. When I go to positive to main pack neg. I get a full 39+v, but when I go to the neg out at the BMS I think there is like no voltage (this is where I mean that I may not be able to remember everything.) To make this part of the saga a little shorter, I'll tell you that after thinking the BMS had gone bad I replaced it with another BMS I have on hand (Ping V2.5) and encountered the excat same problem. I eventually traced the problem to a short at the XLR plug that had gotten really hot and had melted insulation from the extra amps.
Apparently this short was causing the BMS to trip and stay tripped. I've been wanting to get rid of that damned XLR since I got the pack so this finally gives me a good reason for getting rid of it!
I take out the XLR and put Andersons on the pack's power leads. I plug in the watt meter and everything is good again.
Time to put it back on the Bike E and continue testing.I get the battery mounted on the bike. I plug in the watt meter ad it comes on. Then I plug in the controller to the watt meter and te watt meter clicks off immediately. :x I try that a couple more times and get the same result every time. Once again I try plugging the pack directly into the bike. No power to the bike.
Reading the "Big Fire Ball Today" thread http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=33523 I think I may have a FET short failure in the controller.
Meanwhile, I'm without a working E-bike.
Okay, time to get mobile again. I'll put the Headway battery back on the TF bike. Got it on the bike today, plugged in the watt meter and things are okay until...... I plug it into the controller. The same exact thing happens!! There was nothing wrong with this controller when I stopped riding the TF bike and it has not been pushed hard AT ALL (23amps max.)
I have tried reading the ohms of each controller based on gwhy!'s statement about they should read 8kohms, but maybe it's my MM, but I can't get a steady reading out of either controllers, but they both read the same way. Now I am hoping the problem is in the pack and not the controllers and that whatever the problem is it's not too hard to repair, but I am really at a loss as to what to try next. I have one more brand new Ping V2.5 BMS, but it is for a customer and I don't want to be experimenting with it.
BTW, when I cahrge the batt., all the lights come on on the BMS the way they should. Eveything seems to be okay with the battery right up to the point I plug it into the controller. I am relatively certain the controller on the TF bike is not faulty, but I am completely at a loss as to where to go from here.
