Stuck in WOT

[woobydooby]

The throttle on my bicycle has been acting kind of strange, and I would appreciate any advice on how to fix it. When I turn my bike on and accelerate for a few seconds, the bike gets stuck in WOT and the only way to stop it is to turn off the battery. My ebike system is made by currie and I have a thumb throttle. What would be the best way to figure out what's wrong with my bike?

Thanks!

 

[gogo]

Your brakes lever housings should have switches in them that, when actuated, cause the controller to shut off motor power. What happens when you use the brakes while the throttle is 'stuck in WOT' operation?

 

[woobydooby]

Thank you for the advice gogo.

When I put the brakes on the motor doesn't stop. My brakes are able to stop the wheel from turning. But when I disengage my brakes, the motor keep on going at full speed.

Should I just go ahead and order a replacement throttle? Could my problem be anything other than a defective throttle?

 

[gogo]

I think the brake kill switch would cause the controller to interrupt any throttle related function, errant or normal. I'd suspect that your controller itself is misbehaving.

What kind of Currie product do you have? If its a brushed motor/controller (just 2 wires between) then its probably the controller, as WOT, or more accurately, full power, is a failure mode of brushed controllers. In that case it would be a short in the power MOSFET and the controller's functions have lost control in that case, meaning the brake switch wouldn't do anything.

Member amberwolf says that fixing these controllers is usually not worth it since they are so inexpensive.
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=26321&p=380516&hilit=+brushed+motor+mosfet+failure#p380454

If you want assistance in discovering why your controller failed you'll need to provide more details, such as whether there was water involved or higher than normal speeds down a hill.

 

[woobydooby]

I have a 24v currie electro drive motor. I am fixing this bike for a friend, so I don't know what caused it to start acting up.

Thank you for your help. I'll go ahead and buy a new controller. Is there anything I should look out for when shopping for a new controller?

 

[gogo]

If you don't want to buy a direct replacement from Currie, you'd need to make sure all the connectors are the same, or that all the functions are the same and then solder on the correct connectors if need be. Save yourself some grief and get an identical controller from Currie.

A spare throttle and controller for diagnostic purposes might be worth it for next time, no?

 

[dogman dan]

It's a brushed controller, when they fail, it results in stuck in WOT.

I have an old brushed ebike I got cheap with a burnt controller. Buying the cheapest possible replacement, it worked fine for a time, then started up with what yours is doing. Interesting that the ebrakes don't stop it, since stopping that is why some places have laws requiring e brakes.

New controller time for sure.

 

[woobydooby]

I am having a tough time finding an identical controller. It looks like currie stopped making 24v 40a 3-pin controllers. Will any 24v 40a 3-pin controller work?

 

[gogo]

This vendor pops into the forum occasionally and seems helpful:
http://www.eco-wheelz.com/catalog/rmb-controller-24v-p-181.php

 

[dogman dan]

Any brushed controller should work, but you might have to rig some new connectors. So just start looking for 24v 40 amps.

 

[Nineballboy]

The controller may not be the issue! You could try turning the system on, and removing the throttle at the connector. If the WOT stops, then you most likely just have a throttle issue. I've read the rest of this thread, but I still don't see if you have any connection to either or both of your brake levers. If it's a stock currie made bike, it will have special brake levers that not only have the brake mechanical function, but also a wire connected to the controller.

 

[dnmun]

yep, no pictures, no data. no idea what the voltage on the throttle is from reading this. so do like he said if you don't wanna measure voltages. disconnect the throttle and see what happens.

 

[woobydooby]

Thanks again for all of the suggestions. I finally figured out what was wrong, and I am surprised that I didn't notice it earlier. A wire was loose in the connector that connected the controller to the throttle. I replaced the connector, and everything worked as it should.

BUT, something strange happened when I plugged the bike into charge after riding it around the neighborhood. I smelled a burning electronics smell and immediately disconnected the bike from the power source. My best guess for what went wrong is that I might of messed up the order of the wires in the connector. But, it doesn't make sense to me why that would make a burning smell. What do you all think? How should I go about finding the cause of this mysterious odor?

 

[woobydooby]

Another detail: It didn't smell when I charged it right after I fixed the connector. It was only after riding around for a bit that the smell started happening when charging.

 

[etriker]

The throttle on my bicycle has been acting kind of strange, and I would appreciate any advice on how to fix it. When I turn my bike on and accelerate for a few seconds, the bike gets stuck in WOT and the only way to stop it is to turn off the battery. My ebike system is made by currie and I have a thumb throttle. What would be the best way to figure out what's wrong with my bike?

Thanks!

Had the same problem once.

Turned out puppy chewed on the wires going from the throttle to the controller.

 

[gogo]

Thanks again for all of the suggestions. I finally figured out what was wrong, and I am surprised that I didn't notice it earlier. A wire was loose in the connector that connected the controller to the throttle. I replaced the connector, and everything worked as it should.

BUT, something strange happened when I plugged the bike into charge after riding it around the neighborhood. I smelled a burning electronics smell and immediately disconnected the bike from the power source. My best guess for what went wrong is that I might of messed up the order of the wires in the connector. But, it doesn't make sense to me why that would make a burning smell. What do you all think? How should I go about finding the cause of this mysterious odor?

Any chance you can take some pictures?