Possible Hall problem on MAC. Connectors, wires or sensors?

[ions82]

I have a MAC 8T motor (black version) that I recently got from EM3EV.com I power it with a 12s3p LiPo battery. It's been a fantastic setup thus far. However, I believe I may have a problem in the Hall sensor circuit. Today, I was running a bit late for a meeting, so I was riding my bike pretty hard. It was only for a few minutes (meeting was only two miles away.) Everything seemed fine. When I left the meeting, I encountered a problem. The throttle just quit responding once I started off again. Then, it would sort of cut in and out. I rode around for a little bit and tried resetting everything. The motor also took to "growling" at me. I decided to start heading for home before things got any worse.

On the ride home, the system would seem to cut in and out. At times, it seemed like it was working fine but would cut out again. Does this sound like a bad Hall sensor or a bad wiring connection? The plugs that came with the system are pretty crappy. So, I'm wondering if that is the culprit. Or, is it more likely that there is a bad Hall sensor? I'm still new to the e-bike scene, so I just wanted to see if the magic of ES could help point me in the right direction before I go and start tearing things apart. Part of me thinks that the intermittent nature of the problem would point toward a bad wiring connection. Then again, I've been wrong plenty of times in the past. I'm just guessing. I have an e-bike motor tester, so I figured I could connect that thing to see what it says. If nothing else, testing the Hall sensors might help me better understand this whole thing. I'm really hoping that I don't have to replace Hall sensors. It sounds like a tedious job, and I really don't want to start throwing money away on internal combustion again. I have about $1,500 wrapped up into my e-bike, and I probably haven't even gotten 200 miles out of it!

 

[dogman dan]

99% chance it's a wiring issue. 90% chance the problem is a contact that backed out of the plug, 50% chance it's on the halls plug.

But it could be the throttle, or any other plug on the bike. Look really hard for one contact that is not pushed as deep into the plug as the others.

One hint, they might look different when plugged in than unplugged. wiggle wires and see if a contact can pull all the way out of the plug housing.

 

[synthrider]

Howdy.

I'm dealing with a very similar situation right now, except its less intermittent at this stage...

One thing that has been very helpful are the following directions to do a Hall Sensor test (you don't have to tear things apart really, but you do need a voltmeter):

http://www.ebikes.ca/troubleshooting/HallSensorTestingFinal.pdf

(in the case of an already assembled bike, I think what you do is just unplug the throttle from the controller, turn on the power, and follow as above)

Let me know what your results are, b/c I'm trying to interpret my own results right now...

Thx and good luck,
Synthrider

 

[DAND214]

I'm with Dogman. Loose connection in the plug or a bad connection in the terminal. take the plugs apart and make sure the pins are straight so they plug in right. Pull on the wires and see if there is a bad connection or a bad crimp in the pins.

Pushing a Mac 8t on 44v won't even get it warm in 2 miles, unless it's all up hill.

Been running 15s4p lipo's for oaver a year now. Motor has never been a problem, it was either the throttle or a loose wire.

dan

 

[ions82]

The plugs and connectors that came with my setup are of very low quality. Would I be better off replacing them altogether? I figured it's probably not too hard to find plugs that are much better quality. There is an electronics supply store fairly close to me. I might try them. Have others replaced crappy/problematic plugs in an effort to get a trouble-free system?

 

[Architectonic]

The plugs and connectors that came with my setup are of very low quality. Would I be better off replacing them altogether?

In a word, yes. If you can replace them with higher quality connectors.

 

[ions82]

Turns out the problem was a faulty brake switch. I had inadvertently yanked on the wire previously (when it wasn't routed properly.) Then, the bike got tipped over twice (by my friend's garage door) and landed on that lever side. I don't use the cruise control, so I just disconnected the brake circuit. The brake levers are pretty crappy, too. So, I may just get rid of them and run regular levers and install a momentary switch for cancelling the cruise control (which I have never even used.)