Is my controller toast?

[JayS]

re: http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=60644

Connected the ebike tester (Lyen type) to the hub Hall Sensors, the yellow Hall Sensor LED stays on (the others blink as the wheel is turned).
Multimeter shows a short between the hub yellow Hall wire and black ground wire.

Connected the ebike tester to the Controller and the Controller 5V is dead.
I suppose the yellow Hall shorted to ground and damaged the controller 5V cct.

Do you think the hall sensor will be ok and work again if the ground is removed

Thanks for your time.

 

[gwhy!1]

re: http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=60644

Connected the ebike tester (Lyen type) to the hub Hall Sensors, the yellow Hall Sensor LED stays on (the others blink as the wheel is turned).
Multimeter shows a short between the hub yellow Hall wire and black ground wire.

Connected the ebike tester to the Controller and the Controller 5V is dead.
I suppose the yellow Hall shorted to ground and damaged the controller 5V cct.

Do you think the hall sensor will be ok and work again if the ground is removed

Thanks for your time.

quick answer is the hall sensor should be fine.. but you never know....

 

[JayS]

I know what you mean - but, Great!
Thanks

 

[d8veh]

If you've got no 5v anywhere from the controller, the 5v regulator is blown. They're very cheap and easy to replace. The 5V regulator is pretty easy to find, but if you can't identify it, post a picture of the pcb.

 

[JayS]

If you've got no 5v anywhere from the controller, the 5v regulator is blown. They're very cheap and easy to replace. The 5V regulator is pretty easy to find, but if you can't identify it, post a picture of the pcb.

I replaced the 78L05 regulator and now I get 4V at the Controller Hall plug. I touched the large blue resistors with my finger and they were VERY hot, almost too hot to touch.

Do you think it's time for a new controller or is there hope

 

[d8veh]

Disconnect everything except the battery from the controller. If those resistors still get hot, there's a short in the 5v somewhere outside the controller, which made the regulator blow. Warm is OK. The resistors also get hot if you over-volted the controller. Which is not necessarily a problem.

 

[JayS]

(48V 1500W controller; battery at 52V)

I disconnected everything from the controller except the battery.
With my finger on the resistors, I turned the battery to ON, after about 7 seconds I had to remove my finger because of the heat.

Tested the throttle with an ebike tester - ok (green, off, red).
Connected the battery and ebike tester (Controller Hall plug, phase wires and throttle); the 5V light blinks but there are no spinning lights.
There is 42V across the big blue resistors.
Three 1000 ohm resistors in parallel with 42V across them = 126mA
An eighth of an Amp with no load
It's not toast, it's a toaster...

 

[JayS]

Disconnect everything except the battery from the controller. If those resistors still get hot, there's a short in the 5v somewhere outside the controller, which made the regulator blow. Warm is OK. The resistors also get hot if you over-volted the controller. Which is not necessarily a problem.

the yellow hall sensor wire was shorted to ground at the hub

 

[d8veh]

Sorted then? I thought you'd find a short on the 5v somewhere.

 

[JayS]

Sorted then?

No, not really.
I bought the bike not working.
I started reading the forum.
I built a hall tester from old bits and found the Yellow Hall Ground and Sensor wires shorted together.
I got 0V at the controller Hall plug, so I ordered an ebike tester.

the 5v regulator is blown

started me looking for the regulator, so I bought a new 78L05 and replaced it. Instead of 0V, I got 3.9V and that's when I accidently touched the hot three parallel 1000 ohm resistors.
I couldn't find anything about hot resistors, so I plugged the controller into the ebike tester, the 5V LED lit but there were no spinning lights.

I measured 42V across the three parallel resistors (42V/333 ohms = 126 mA) - thats quite a lot of current - but can't figure out what is causing the high current through the three parallel resistors (there's nothing connected to the controller except the battery).

I removed a transistor, 2N5401 (next to 3 parallels), and tested it in a multimeter hFE slot and got a gain reading of 200 - consistent with the data sheets, I connected the battery to see if the resistors still get hot without the transistor, they don't.

So I guess the high current has something to do with transistor circuit - that's as far as I've got.

 

[d8veh]

The battery voltage is dropped through those resistors to the 12v (14v) regulator. The 12v goes to the 5v regulator and also to the FETs, but is blocked by transistors when the motor isn't running. The 5v powers the CPU and the sensors. If there was a short or overload on the 5v, the 5v regulator would get hot. The big resistors often run hot.

 

[JayS]

from
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20413&hilit=ebike+tester&start=75

5v light blinks on, but no spinning lights from controller. I am more confident that this controller is not sending out a signal anymore. Sigh.

When I connect my controller to battery, throttle and lyen tester, the red LED blinks but there are no spinning lights on the tester. Are 'no spinning lights' normal or a bad sign?

 

[d8veh]

Controllers don't cost a lot. It'll be a lot less hassle to get a new one.

No spinning lights on the tester mean that either the controller doesn't see the correct conditions to give poer or it's faulty. The controller's red blinking LED should blink with a constant interval. If there's any repeated pattern, the CPU has detected a fault.

 

[JayS]

It'll be a lot less hassle to get a new one.

Ordered from ebay.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/111344653432

wiki have a free online electronics course - how awesome is that!!!

Thanks d8veh, for your time and advice.

 

[JayS]

"Hall sensors are easily burnt out if the signal wires short to power or ground."
"Reverse voltage can cause misfunction or damage Hall sensor."

The yellow Hall sensor had 8 ohms between signal and ground, so it's

http://www.taiwansemi.com/DSfile/TSH181_B13.pdf