E-Max Sped Restriction help

Chris V's picture

Hello... I own a 2005 E-max EP 2000 Sport and would like to remove the speed restriction on the controller as discussed many times in the Forum. The controller, located in the battery compartment, that is now on the scooter does not appear like any of the images I have seen in the V articles and archives- this is possibly an early model or replacement. I'd like to know if there is a way to change or adjust this controller to remove the speed restriction.

The scooter has 48 volts with SLA batteries in buddy packs and runs well. I have not got around to making it 60 volts. The rearrangement of the batteries increased the range to about 33 miles. When I checked the operation of the relay switches, the compartment appeared to be modified- does the controller belong in this compartment, rather than in the battery area?

Any help would be appreciated.

CHRIS V Rockport, USAP1040696.JPGP1040698.JPG

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Comments

PJD's picture

The thing depicted in your photo is not the controller, it is a unit we called the "black box" - it just operated the kickstand safety shutdown, and connected or disconnected the stock arrangement of two parallel-connected 20AH sub packs to provide the two-charger quick-charge function. This function was unnecessary, becasue charging the whole pack with two chargers (essentially connected in parallel) worked perfectly fine. It was a source of trouble on a lot of e-max's and I used to recommended eliminating the black box altogether with rewiring the batteries to parallel "buddy" pairs.

The controller is the big aluminum box on the left side of the scooter. If opened up, there is a jumper that can be removed disabling the 40kph (25 mph) restriction and allowing up to 60 kph (37 mph) provided the battery pack is very healthy. However, most people still find the acceleration unsatisfactory until a jury-rig modification to the controller's current measuring shunt resistor is done. This is all discussed here - and includes a post depicting where the jumper is:

http://visforvoltage.org/forum-topic/motorcycles-and-large-scooters/166-more-e-max-controller-mods-shunt-resistor-trick

You mentioned that you already modified the battery pack to parallel "buddy pairs". Just for anyone else's information, a discussion and diagram on the preferred re-wiring of the stock SLA battery pack is here. Ignore the mention of "powercheqs", they are no longer available:

http://visforvoltage.org/forum/motorcycles-and-large-scooters/1392

By the way, 33 miles seems very high for SLA batteries. 33 km seems about right though (the odometer reads in km). Then again I live in a hilly area.

regarding adding additional batteries and upgrading to 60 volt operation (requires controller mods), the following post discusses this, and included a diagram of how to wire things if the black box is eliminated:

http://visforvoltage.org/forum-topic/motorcycles-and-large-scooters/201-e-max-accelerating-over-40mph

To get much improved range and reliability, you may want to eventually upgrade to lithium cells and a BMS. SLA batteries simply don't last very long under cycle-usage - they cannot be balanced through equalization charging (deliberate over-charging) like flooded lead-acid can. So as soon as just one of the cells in one of the batteries fails, performance goes way down.

an article on upgrading to Thundersky Lithiums is here:

http://visforvoltage.org/forum/3765-emax-conversion-thundersky-lifepo4-cells

Hope this helps.

PM me and I can arrange to get a copy of the e-max wiring diagrans and service manual to you. They are large files and don't e-mail well.

Chris V's picture

Thank you PJD! I will use the information you provided to get to controller and remove the speed restrction. I have downloaded the manuals you suggested, so I have some fun and interesting work to do upgrading this E-Max. Your response was like a professorial treatise- again thanks.

Do you recommend keeping the black box with the Lithium batteries in a 48V system? Is it possible to put a larger (deep charging)12V 20 amp lithium battery to upgrade to 60V? I know that I need to change the capacitors to 100V to do this- does the black box remain?

My best to you
CHRIS V

Chris V

PJD's picture

If the black box is not causing any problems, it is probably best to leave it in. You will continue to have kickstand interlock functionality and it also protects the key switch from life-shorting current spikes when turning the scooter on.

Hi PJD

I have been looking on the Visforvoltage forum for quite some time now. I have read a lot of your comments on the E-max (sport) speed restricition topic.
Though the comments are clear, I can't seem to get rid of the speed restriction.

20130507_111557.jpg
20130507_111608 (1).jpg

So I opened the controller and removed the jumper, as can ben seen in the images. My controller also differs from the one you and other members
posted in the several topics regarding this subject. The problem here is that i don't exactly know what year my E-max was build. This may sound
funny but I am only using the electrical coponents and wiring (including the wheels/motor) of the E-max for the assembly of another scooter as part
of my project for an engineering internship I am currently involved in. However my knowledge on electrical engineering is limited to say the least.

My question to you is what might cause the speed restriction to stay in place after I have removed the jumper? Or is it possible that the top speed of
my version of the E-max is limited to only 25 km/h, which I find hard to believe after reading a lot of topics discussing the speed restricition of
electric scooters in general.

I hope you will be able to help me, I would apreciate it!

PJD's picture

Can you try moving the jumper over to the other pair of pins? Are the pins marked on the PC board?

With no other information available, there is not a lot you can do. (For example, I've always wondered what those four blue trimpots adjust.) Is the battery pack healthy? You should connect a voltmeter to the pack and see what the voltage is when being ridden at top speed. It should be no lower than 46 volts or so.

Thanks for your response!

Actually we did try to move the jumper to the other pair of pins, but this only restricted the speed even more.
After we had relocated the jumper, the motor lost a lot of its power. When we put the jumper back at its original place
the motor ran as it used to. And like I mentioned in my previous post, when we removed it again it did nothing with the speed whatsoever.

The battery pack is healthy. We had to replace the old Battery pack, cause a few of the batteries were corroded and we only got a small amount off the voltage.
We replaced it with two, parallel linked li-ion polymer 48V 14Ah batteries (QWIC, Dutch brand). The voltmeter also confirms this, so the batteries should be fine.

I did manage to learn one of which types the E-max should be: EP1200/EP1500/EP1500L25/EP1500L45. I still don't know which year its from, but its something.

The pins on the PC board are marked as followed:

jumper.jpg

PJD's picture

What is the voltage of the battery pack under a load?

PJD's picture

The e-max sport that was de-restrictable to 37 mph was the "Sport" which used a 2000 watt motor. I believe the motor case will be labeled as such.

The voltmeter indicates 46.9 at full throttle. The E-max uses a 1500 watt motor, so it might be possible it can't be de-restricted?
Though it does come in a 25 and 45 kmh model.

Chris V's picture

How do you know that it is a 1500 Watt motor? Does it have this information on the motor hub? As in life, size matters and the "running" voltage would vary accordingly.

I have the 2000 watt Sport and the voltage output varies with the charge status of the batteries.

Chris V

Chris V

PJD's picture

You may not be able to get more speed out of it. You may need a different controller or the motor itself may be wound for maximum speed at full voltage of 45 kph.

Of course, you can still increase the voltage. Besides higher voltage rated capacitors, you need to determine the maximum voltage for the MOSFETS. Mine were 75 volts. Probably easier to just find a higher-voltage controller.

Bit of a digression, but in some places, people get a lot of use out of low-speed scooters. Higher-speed electric scooters don't seem to be available, or legal, in Canada (at least Ontario) at all, yet when I go up to Toronto, the streets are full of limited-speed electric scooters - if equipped with "token" pedals they need need no license plates or insurance.

@ Chris V: Thank you for your response. This information is indeed found on the motor hub.

@ PJD: I think I am going to leave it the way it is. We tried the regular ways to get rid of the speed restriction, but it did not work.
Removing the speed restriction is not necessary for the project itself, we just hoped we could make it go a bit faster.
Changing the controler for one which can run at a higher voltage does not fit the budget unfortunately. I also won't risk changing anything
at the controler, cause I lack the knowledge and experience. So I will settle with the 25km/h.

I want to thank both of you for the help provided!


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