New eBike EVG (New to Me)

[ronaldo]

I just recently acquired a 24V EVG eBike and don't know where to start on it.

I charged the batteries and installed the pack, the rear light came on and the pack beeped, also the headlight would turn on and off. The bike wouldn't go.

I took the side cover off to expose the control module and noticed that one of the plugs was half off. I reinstalled the plug and and battery pack. The pack when beep-beep-beep and then sounded like it was dying. I recharged it and installed it several times same effect. I've also disconnected the motor and tried putting 12V across it, no movement.

Can anyone suggest a starting point to find out what is wrong with this bike. My plans are to learn from it and upgrade it to a higher voltage while keeping its general outward appearance.

Never even rode an eBike before. Just want to mess with it.

Ronaldo

 

[amberwolf]

Unless you changed the batteries, they're probably dead from age, and didnt' really take a charge. (cuz it doesn't take much to run the lights, vs the motor)

You might want to look up "EVG" or "EV Global" here on ES; there's a number of good threads about them, including conversions to various degrees.

 

[ronaldo]

Thank you. I will try that.

I did use a car battery to try and put 12V across the motor leads as suggested in one of the posts. Since nothing moved, I'm assuming the motor is dead. Is that a good assumption?

 

[dogman dan]

Yes, the motor is dead. Difficult to open, to change the brushes too. Since the motors , though nice and torquey, are very inefficient, and louder than a dental drill in your mouth, I'd say your best bet is a complete do over. It was a great bike in 1985, but that was 20 years ago.

I'm sure the batteries are dead as hell too. But that is a very nice e bike frame, if you didn't pay too god awful much for it.

Best bet is put a nice rear hub motor kit on it, at least 36v. Then the battery will be a bit tricky, you really want to have it fit inside that frame space, if not even actually in the original box. Lithium battery of course.

this will be somewhat spendy, but when done you will have a very nice bike!

 

[ronaldo]

The frame was only $30. Both mirrors are missing and the rear tire has a slow leak. Other than that it looks complete and in pretty good shape.

Any suggestions on which controller will fit in the small triangle section the original one is located? I'm thinking I should go at least 36 volts if not 48 volts.

I'll keep reading here and searching the sight but, I'm really committed to getting this thing running by the end of December.

 

[dogman dan]

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I thought your motor was no good.

Brushless controllers are generally 2-3 times the size of brushed controllers. So I doubt you will find one that fits that space if you buy a kit to put on your bike.

 

[ronaldo]

Just an update.

I took the motor apart, cleaned the commutator and brushes. The motor runs now when you touch it with 12 volts. As everyone said these are very loud motors. It was a bear to take it apart but not impossible. If I had to do it again, it would be pretty easy.

Surprisingly, One battery is pretty good and one is pretty shot. I was able to acquire a replacement battery for the short run and try to test out the rest of the bike.

The second problem is related to the breaks. I notice that when I installed the battery pack the break light came on. I unplugged both break cables rather than try to find out which handbrake switch is bad and it seem to bypass the problem. Now when I hit the throttle, the rear wheel spins.

Next up is sliming the rear wheel and try a test drive.

I still plan to upgrade to a brushless hub and lithium battery. If anyone has a specific recommendation for a kit or kit source, I'm all ears. I'm likely to use this for hills (paved) and short (10-15 miles) rides. I would like to be able to get up to about 20 mph. The only critical feature is to be able to haul at least 250 pounds up a 300 yard 10% grade. The rest will be level or downhill.

 

[dogman dan]

I'd just run without the brake switches.

Good Job cleaning the brushes! It's easy to open the motor, but accessing the brushes means digging into another layer. The brushes themselves are fairly standard, so a generic motor repair place could have suitable replacements.

One cool thing about that motor is the double brushes, so it can run with one set not so good.

Just about any 750-1000w motor kit will get up your hill fine. But the more expensive geared motors will do a bit better on short steep grades, and weigh less.

Have fun!