Motor not working/ dunno what happened

[newbie electric rider]

I was riding around yesterday, then I had no power.

I checked the fuse BLOWN?

Before this happened it seemed the bike only had 3/4 power. Like it was misfiring.

Replace fuse, same 3/4 power for 5 minutes, then......when i gave it throttle , complete misfiring. With no throttle applied, the motor would not free wheel, I would get resistance at certain points of a revolution.

So I disconnect the battery, and ride the five miles home.

One thing happened, a couple of days ago, i hit a bump, and some how the battery fell off, it seemed ok, i pluged it back in, and rode home. (feeling like a comlete bone head for not double checking the security of the battery, i usually check all nuts , bolts, etc.. every time i ride. )

So where do I start?

 

[safe]

With no throttle applied, the motor would not free wheel, I would get resistance at certain points of a revolution.

That doesn't sound good like maybe something mechanical is wrong. You need to make sure that whatever is preventing the motor from turning is removed. It might be that some part inside the motor broke off while under heat and now is jamming your motor. The brushes might have broken or the bearings might have failed. Once you rule the mechanical problems out then you turn to the electrical.

 

[newbie electric rider]

Thanks Safe,
The motor I just took it off (406 ), the wheel will not spin freely with the battery connected. with the battery disconnected it spins freely. With the throttle off, it is like the magnets are drawing current.( which i suspect that is definately a problem ) when i apply throttle, the wheel makes a click clunky type of noise and barley moves.
I am off to Radio Shack , Canadian tire to get a volt meter.
The battery is hooked up to the charger and seems to be normal.
I hope it is not the contoller, and just a frayed wire some where, or water got into something.

 

[xyster]

Which controller you got, N.E.R.? What voltage are you using it at? (blown FET maybe...? The fuse wouldn't blow because of a screwed up hall sensor, would it?)

 

[newbie electric rider]

Hi X, I have 406, 48 volt ni cads, 36 volt 20 amp clyte controller.

 

[newbie electric rider]

One other thing, The bike seemed to work, if i hit a bump, then hit another bump and it wouldnt, at 3/4 speed, I am thinking it was the vibration at that speed that was causing what ever is shorting or blowing . Then it just stoped working completely

 

[The7]

One other thing, The bike seemed to work, if i hit a bump, then hit another bump and it wouldnt, at 3/4 speed, I am thinking it was the vibration at that speed that was causing what ever is shorting or blowing . Then it just stoped working completely

Wondering that your controller is the old version without the 3 big capacitors!?
If so, a loose connection will cause a very high voltage spike in the controller during a high motor current. Then this high voltage spike will damage the electronic components.
(In fact it happened to my AL1020 and it damaged the FET driver in the old version Xlyte controller. Then I changed to the new version.)

Seems that some FETs were short-circuited (blown) and caused the non-freewheeling of the drive wheel when the battery was connected.

 

[newbie electric rider]

It seems one of the connectors experienced some heat, the middle one that connects to the motor. There are three, blue , yellow, and green. The green one looks a little bit damaged from heat. I wont know anything till i get a volt meter. G.F. just came over, and i am trying to get a ride from her. She is resisting.

 

[xyster]

G.F. just came over, and i am trying to get a ride from her. She is resisting.

:lol: Hmmm.... so you've got two major problems now. Neither your motor nor your girl is taking you where you want to go. That's the brakes!

 

[newbie electric rider]

The gods are shining on me, I was denied, then her car wouldnt start, the battery terminals were loose, so I fixed it. Now I have sucessfully guilted her into helping me. :lol:

 

[xyster]

The gods are shining on me, I was denied, then her car wouldnt start, the battery terminals were loose, so I fixed it. Now I have sucessfully guilted her into helping me. :lol:

Ah, the ol' Jedi Master mind trick -- good job! Next step in your training: guilt your ebike into working.

 

[newbie electric rider]

I took off the controller, appears to be moisture inside. One of the ( ok excuse me I have very limited knowledge on electronics ) capacitors is oozing a coffee colored substance. The description is sl 36 m RA 105 c

The7, yes I have the newer one with the bigger caps, the third one is the one that looks irregular. The wire leading into the board actually is severed. Looks like i will be able to get at it, without taking the board off. Should I while doing this pick up any other better replacement parts?

Any sugestions for what type of meter i need.

 

[fechter]

Sounds nasty. The dark liquid is probably "liquid smoke". It's still bad when it comes out. Sounds like the caps need to be replaced.

If there's resistance to turning the wheel when powered, but not any when the battery's disconnected, then the FETs are probably still OK.

The problem could be a blown gate driver or a short in one of the hall signal wires.

 

[newbie electric rider]

Hi Fetcher, was just reading your excellent sticky on clyte controllers.
Yeah one of the capaciters is blown, and there is coffee coloured stuff all over the board, that came out of the blown capacitor. everything else looks ok, ie, nothing burnt or showing signs of heat. It looks as though the capaciter that shorted, caused the blown fuse, whcih caused the wire leading into the hall sensor ( the green wire ? ) to over heat after I replaced the fuse, then the capaciter just gave up entirely, as amps were applied.
All caused by GF watering plants, overtop of bike. My bad of course for placing bike there.
Will get battieries for camera, and post a pic.

 

[mvadventure]

Not being an expert on GF's as my wife won't let me have one, it is likely time to get a new one. After all she required cajoling to give you a ride, destroyed your controller and probably next will want to quit supporting you.

IMHO she needs to buy you a new ebike, wash and iron all your laundry, fix a nice dinner with a great wine and beg for forgiveness. Plus promise to make sure your rent is paid ON TIME. That's for starters.

Mike

 

[xyster]

All caused by GF watering plants, overtop of bike. My bad of course for placing bike there.

With your skills, you should be able generate sufficient guilt from this incident to extract at least a week's worth of rides with the GF.

 

[newbie electric rider]

You guys are too funny. GF is always full of surprises, My attitude is if the women in my life are not happy, then I am not happy. I keep a copious amount of Bordeaux wine on hand, to dull my logical ways, after a couple of glasses, nothing really matters.

O.K. just got back from radio shack , they didnt have 100v caps. They had 50v ones, and I asked the guy there for some shrink tube, a ohm volt meter,solder tape, etc. they just had a crummy $20 meter and the sales rep didn't even know what it was. Radio Shack sucks. So GF has volunteered her services to take me to a proper electrical store thats tommorrow. ( Cost $40 lunch )

 

[newbie electric rider]

gf was commenting on expanding midriff. As were my so called friends in front of gf. This could be some sort of conspiracy propelled by big oil to dispose of ebike.

 

[xyster]

I keep a copious amount of Bordeaux wine on hand, to dull my logical ways, after a couple of glasses, nothing really matters.
...
So GF has volunteered her services to take me to a proper electrical store thats tommorrow. ( Cost $40 lunch )

I'll take you to an electrical store for a $40 lunch...just nothing weird afterwards, OK? And no amount of wine is going to change my mind.

 

[newbie electric rider]

You come from sheep country right? Um let my people get back to your people

 

[xyster]

You come from sheep country right? Um let my people get back to your people

:lol: Touche' (that's with a "T", not a "D", OK?).

 

[newbie electric rider]

cool cool punny man,