Watts Up Always Shows Small Amps

[AliasMrJones]

OK, got my Watts Up mounted and wired. Ended up using industrial-strength velcro with adhesive on one side to attach to middle of handlebars. One piece on handlebars, one on back of Watts UP. This isn't regular velcro -- it feels very secure. Unsoldered the connector on the wires coming from the controller that used to connect to the battery, soldered wire running to the Watts Up and then wires running back from Watts Up to the same spot, soldered on the connectors I previously took off, plugged in battery and....it worked! Zip ties all around and I'm in business. I now have all kinds of info available -- too much! I have to remember to watch where I'm going rather than looking at speed/avg speed/time, etc on my GPS and volts/amps/watt hrs, etc. on the Watts Up lol.

Anyway here is my question: Voltage, max amps and watts look normal, I think, but at rest it always shows a very small number of amps -- like .02 or .03 amps -- and about 1 watt. When I'm riding downhill with the throttle all open at about 24 mph (I'm guessing so fast the motor isn't adding anything) it reads actual 0.0. But, at rest, it always shows this little amount of current and about 1 watt. For anyone else with a Watts Up, do you see this as well? I'm just wondering if this is normal or if I should be trying to track a problem down.

 

[xyster]

That may be the quiescent current drawn by the controller (even when switched off). This is yet another good reason to have a separate main power switch or connector between the batteries and the controller.

 

[mvadventure]

According the the .pdf file on the watts up website it's the power draw from the controller. This is an exciting document chock full of wonderful information, easy to read and simply begs to be printed and read over and over again for the sheer prose.

Mike

 

[AliasMrJones]

According the the .pdf file on the watts up website it's the power draw from the controller. This is an exciting document chock full of wonderful information, easy to read and simply begs to be printed and read over and over again for the sheer prose.

Mike

I read through the whole manual before I installed and just did again. I didn't see that mentioned anywhere. It says the Watts Up draws 7 mA from the source side, but does amp measurements from the load side.

 

[fechter]

When you're going downhill, you can reach a speed where the motor starts to regenerate. When this happens, the current will actually go negative. Your meter might not register this, but most of them do. If you go real fast downhill and pedal, you might see a negative reading.