Will an Aftermarket Throttle Effect Speed?

[DonLovejoy]

Hi all!

I am interested in building my own scooter but my introduction into the hobby has been repairing a Jetson Cruise that I picked up for $50. They guy who owned it beat it up pretty good. I figured, if I was able to take it apart and possibly repurpose some of the guts it would be worth the money.

One of the issues with it was the throttle was snapped off and when powered up the motor would just run full bore. I picked up a cheap aftermarket throttle and now I have control over the speed but it seems really slow (slower than the 12mph spec), my question is will the throttle effect speed at all? In my limited experience it seems that it would be any other part other then the throttle but I thought I should ask before I go replacing other parts.

Thanks for your help and I look forward to chatting with the community. I dream of making a Raspberry Pi/Wii Remote controlled skateboard I saw online

-Don

 

[DonLovejoy]

I have tried testing to make sure the throttle is getting power using this guide (https://electricscooterparts.com/throttletestingguide.html) but when I do it shuts the unit down.

I continue to do my research and homework but to no avail.

-Don

 

[DonLovejoy]

I thought this was a simple question but based on the answers I guess not! :lol:

I'm going to say its not the throttle and its just a slow scooter and/or im just too fat (thanks quarantine)

The throttle seems to me like its to simple of a part to have any adverse effect on speed since its only power and signal. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions on how to measure your speed, I tried to use the map app on my phone, it claimed I got up to 4 mph! Of course I was going up a hill that was roughly equivalent to a 2 on 12 roof. Coming back down the "hill" I got up to 8 mph.

ANY input is appreciated, even if your just correcting my poor grammar.

Thanks!

 

[fechter]

The throttle normally wouldn't limit your speed. Virtually all of them will have a 1-4v output.

There may be a speed selector switch. I'm not familiar with your particular model, but many controllers have a 3-speed switch. In your case, it may have broken off with the throttle. Are there any extra loose wires?

 

[DonLovejoy]

I replaced the broken throttle with a cheap thumb style one (3 wires), I spliced the wires in the... ummm... "neck" of the scooter? I took it apart a few days ago to check those connections and one wire did slip out, so I redid all 3 of the connections and used heat shrink. I think the connections came apart while I was disassembling the unit to check them because it went from slow to not working at all. Once I reconnected the wires I had the same speed as before checking them.

While looking over the unit there was a wire with scraped insulation that went from the control to the motor which is built into the back wheel. I spliced that and used heat shrink on that as well.

In my unexperianced mind I think it could be one of two things, either I am in fact too fat to get up that hill (190 lbs) or maybe the battery isn't really holding a full charge preventing full power. Does that sound logical?

Thanks for the input!

 

[fechter]

A saggy battery or underpowered motor can both certainly reduce speed.

How does it look when you lift the wheel off the ground? Sill slow or goes fast?

 

[DonLovejoy]

It seems to be close to the same, slow.

The specs say it can handle up to 225 lbs and 12 mph.

 

[fechter]

If it runs slow with no load I would suspect a speed selector switch or some speed limit in software. One other thing you can try is to measure the throttle signal voltage. The throttle has 3 wires. One is ground, one is around 5v and the third one is the signal, which normally ranges from near 1v to 4v at full. If the 5v line is lower than about 4.3v, it might indicate a problem in the controller.

Another possibility is an issue with the motor or controller so it is only running on two phases. This would normally make the motor run rough, noisy and overheat.

 

[DonLovejoy]

Fechter, thank you for all of the advice. I will try to test the throttle tonight, it might take me a few days to figure out (Im new to using a multi-meter) but I will do the homework and report back with my findings!