Sabvoton repair

[Silentbutdeadly]

Okay so I'll preface this by saying...Always disconnect your battery before working on your controller. So I was getting a communication error on my 100A Sabvoton. I traced the source of the problem to the connector coming from the display to the controller. I was rushing to do the repair and forgot to disconnect my battery. I had all 5 wires stripped and was beginning to tin them for the new connector and in my haste the hot wire shorted against one of the other 4...and poof that fast I bricked a $400 controller...

So my question is what possible options do I have to get it running.I've ordered a new 100a Sabvoton for this build but would like to possibly utilize this controler on another build instead of trashing it...any help would be much appreciated. Or if anyone knows anywhere in the US I can have it repaired.

 

[amberwolf]

The five wires are
ground
battery voltage
keyswitch input to controller (uses battery voltage)
data tx (logic level voltage)
data rx (logic level voltage)
So the only ones that can damage a controlelr with battery voltage is the data lines, and those either directly go to the MCU (in which case the controller MCU is damaged or destroyed, and unfixable), or to data transceiver buffers, which could be replaced and fix the controller if they didn't pass anything htru to the MCU.

If the controller still powers on and operates the motor via throttle control, but doesn't talk to the display and/or respond to it, then it could be those buffers.

If it doesn't operate, then the MCU is almost certainly destroyed, and you'd have to replace it with a new one and flash that MCU with the right firmware for that specific controller version and model...but that firmware is not usually available to do this with--and it may require using an MCU flash device rather than doing it in-place on the controller, unlike the way some controllers can have flash updates done to them. You could try it, if you have a firmware file that's compatible.

You could check with the manufacturer to see if they repair this kind if failure, though I suspect with shipping costs to/from China plus the repairs it might be as much as a new one. Worth asking them, though.

BTW, the display itself would also be damaged by this short, if it was connected at the time, in the same possible ways--MCU if it's a direct connection, or buffers if not.

 

[Comrade]

a 400$ controller

No input protection for that much money? The cable could have been pinched, frayed, cut, ripped, all causing a similar short.

 

[E-HP]

so my question is what possible options do I have to get it running.

Can you get it to turn on (keyswitch to battery+ )?
If so, can you connect via Bluetooth?

 

[Silentbutdeadly]

Okay so a lot of people on this forum building stealth clones know "Anne" and have had the pleasure of trying to decifer her broken english..you guessed it I'm struggling with NB Power and thier supposed tech support. So I'm gonna look for my answer here instead...bottom line what could cause error 30h communication error with a tft ck1 display running a sabvoton 150a controller. I have double checked every wire connection and am 100% certain they are all correct and connected. So my assumption is it is a faulty display. However Anne won't even sell me a new one because she says the problem is and I quote "you demeged the connect must come out comm err you deed this why you break" I'm assuming that translates to I damaged it because I cut off the shitty connector it comes with and replaced it with a waterproof 5 pin instead...anyway any thoughts other then a faulty cpu in the display...and yes the 3 pin is connected so that's not it...even when I do disconnect the 3 pin and connect via Bluetooth the app doesn't populate and reads zeros across all parameters...
Please someone help before I fly to China and shove the demeged connect doen Anne's throat..

 

[Adrian_]

Last sentence did make me giggle :lol:

I bought stuff from NBPower before through AliBaba not directly so I'm protected and I always spoke to someone called "Raina" who's English was spot on. Never spoke to anyone called Anne unless their reps changes since last time I bought from them or you're using a different platform. They even sent me a replacement controller for free when they sent me a dead shorted one.

When you turn it on, ignoring the 30h error, does the controller react to throttle input - Does the motor spin? If it does, then it's probably a display issue, if it doesn't, then MCU inside the Sabvoton controller is dead especially since it only reads 0s in all parameters inside the app, I had a Sabvoton die in exact same way before. Is it possible that when you were changing the plug, you had the battery connected and the high voltage/red wire touched one of the data wires/pins? that would be one way how the MCU could've died or they just sent you a dead controller. If that's the case, it's going to be hard proving that they sent you a faulty controller because you changed the plug so they can easily blame it on you. If you tested everything as is when you recieved it, it probably would've saved you this headache.

 

[amberwolf]

30h is a comm error.

This means the display can't read data from the controller that it expects.


That can mean it isn't getting the data at all, because of a connection failure or miswire.

It can mean the data is not readable because of a poor connection.



It can mean the data is wrong for that display, if it is not specifically made for the model of controller and the firmware that controller has installed.



It can mean the controller's data transmitter line electronics is damaged.

It can mean the display's data receiver line electronics is damaged.



The first two of those are user-repairable, and the latter two usually are not. If you've already eliminated the first half, that leaves replacing the display, or the controller, or both.

The middle issue is fixed by replacing the display with one that is known to be compatible with that specific controller and it's firmware version. Or trying different ones until one works.

I tried to find pages with google search that include both Sabvoton and CK1, to locate a place that sells both together (which would imply the work together), or any user that has used them together successfully, but there were no relevant hits, just word-salad pages.

My best guess is that they ones you have are not compatible with each other.

Did they ever work together correctly?

Did they come together as a kit?

 

[Silentbutdeadly]

Okay in my frustration I must have typed that wrong it is a TFT UKC1 display my applies @amberwolf they are compatible and do come as a set. However this display came with a different controller of the same model. Another issue that may help narrow it down is I can turn the controller and display on and off using the key switch. But with the key on if I push the power button on the touch pad it turns off but if I push it again it does not turn back on. I have to turn the key off and back on to get the display to power back up. I'm going to rewire it all again this weekend just to be certain it's not a faulty wire or connection. Is there a way I can narrow it down to being a faulty display ? Also is there a way I can run it without the display if I can atheist get the Bluetooth to work.

 

[Adrian_]

Is there a way I can narrow it down to being a faulty display ? Also is there a way I can run it without the display if I can atheist get the Bluetooth to work.

I told you how to narrow it down in my first reply

When you turn it on, ignoring the 30h error, does the controller react to throttle input - Does the motor spin? If it does, then it's probably a display issue, if it doesn't, then MCU inside the Sabvoton controller is dead especially since it only reads 0s in all parameters inside the app

Displays with Sabvoton controllers are purely optional and they function fine without one, so if you have 30 H error but the display still turns on the controller then the controller will continue to function just fine even with 30 H error, or you can connect the red wire (battery voltage) to blue wire (keyswitch to controller) in the display plug, this will jump the controller to be permanently on bypassing the need for a display. Be careful as the red wire is battery voltage, probably 72v nominal in your case so don't short it on anything.

As you previously said that MQCON apps reports 0s in all parameters inside the app, I'm 99% sure that one of the data lines got shorted to battery voltage at some point and essentially bricked the controller. It will still turn on and off and let you connect via bluetooth but that's about it, it will not accept any input via programming, react to any input or output any data to the display. I had a Sabvoton die the exact same way before when salty snow sludge got inside my display plug and shorted battery voltage to data lines.

 

[Silentbutdeadly]

Okay I disconnected the display and jumped the red and blue to get the controler on and now when I connect via Bluetooth all the parameters populate and I can use all programming features. Now when I went to run the hall test instead of spinning slowly the wheel jumps once then nothing the test ne er finishes it just continues to say in progress in the status column. So today I am going to rewire the motor. I've wanted to replace the phase wires with something a little beefier then the doubled up 10 gage wires it comes factory with. Also I want to replace the chunky hall wire connector with a slimmer waterproof 5 pin. I'm hoping that's what is causing the hall test issue. Prior to all these problems when I was running g the original controller I high bottomed the bike and it pinched the wire look running under the frame coming from the motor and I belive when I cut the heat shrink back I'm gonna find some damage. After that accident I started getting a controller protect error that's what started all these issues.

 

[Silentbutdeadly]

Okay I'm running a sabvoton 100a controller and having no success getting it to respond to the throttle. The controller is showing no faults but it is not responding at all to the throttle. On the parameters page of the mobile app it shows throttle voltage at .04 when I test it with a voltage meter I get 5v at the + and 2.5 at the - when I twist the throttle voltage on the - goes to 4.97v but when I twist the throttle nothing happens...what could be the issue here

 

[E-HP]

Okay I'm running a sabvoton 100a controller and having no success getting it to respond to the throttle. The controller is showing no faults but it is not responding at all to the throttle. On the parameters page of the mobile app it shows throttle voltage at .04 when I test it with a voltage meter I get 5v at the + and 2.5 at the - when I twist the throttle voltage on the - goes to 4.97v but when I twist the throttle nothing happens...what could be the issue here

Were you able to successfully run the hall test? If not, that’s likely the issue. I wouldn’t start changing wires/conductors yet, until you diagnose the problem. Otherwise it can make troubleshooting more difficult. What was the result from inspecting the pinched cable? If the cable is good, you can manually test the halls.

 

[Silentbutdeadly]

The blue wire in the hall connector was cut.. I replaced the hall connector and ran new wire. Then I gutted the phase wires and replaced em with 3 fat 6 gauge cables and she's running like a beast.