Electric vehicle controllers and control systems

My folks have a stock 48v mini van (Miles ZX40) we have upgraded the battery pack to a new old set of 6v Greensavers.

They perform OK (capacity wise) but seem to not output amps at a high voltage for very long which affects the top speed quite quickly once we burn of the initial charge.

I am curious there were several individuals running Curtis 1204 48v controllers with 60v (one was in a Miles identical to mine) However his voltage was generally at or below 60v due to the type/condition of the batteries he used.

I am curious if I could "Get away" with an additional 6v, 8v or best yet 12v battery that I would "switch in" once the batteries initial charge was burned off.

Also how do I setup curtis F/R contactors to "Switch in" an extra battery. I would prefer with no power to the contactor for the 48v path to stay put, with power applied to the contactors switch to 60v.

Anyone ever dissect a curtis 1204? They seem relatively reliable although underpowered, it may be a very simple mod to upgrade one to 60v (incorrectly), since they are a dime a dozen I could get one to play with and likely replace mosfets and diodes if necessary. I do no believe the control circuitry at 60v is massively effected as most 12v circuitry isn't hurt running at as high as 18v normally. And the caps if I remember "should" handle 60v after the pack has been run a while.

Anyone ever get ticked and do this to a 1204? How long did it survive?

I have also thought of just adding a single 2v cell to the pack, sadly it couldn't be a greensaver but likely it would allow the controller to survive.

Anyone have any comments on 6v greensavers and the curtis 1204, looking for a been there done that, I have a feeling the abundant 1204/1205 models would be excellent platforms for cheap voltage modifications. Especially for those of us who do not care about performance paticularly but would benefit from higher voltages.

Cheers
Ryan

I was just reading this post, and it sparked a question:

http://visforvoltage.org/forum/8480-bmc-400w600w-24v-motor-uspd-lashout-currie-synergy-cycles

Do some motors require an external controller, AND have an internal controller? What do each of them do? What is this person referring to when they say "internal controller". I am buying a BMC setup, and I was under the impression that the motor and controller were separate pieces of equipment.

Can somebody enlighten me?

Thank you,
Kellen

I have a Schwinn Stealth 1000 scooter that is usually powered by 3 12V 10Ah batteries in series with a 36V 30 amp controller. I would like to hook up 2 12V 50Ah batteries in series on this controller to power the scooter. Would this work or immediately fry the controller?

Thanks

Is it possible to run an electric motor without a controller? Perhaps through the use of a relay? What would the implications of this be?

Thank you!

Hi,

So recently I decided to try to shunt the controller of my Giobike so I could get some extra power. I went out and bought all the tools and stuff necessary to do the job based on this site http://www.giobikes.com/Blogs/electric-scooters/E-Scooter-Controller-Directions/ and http://visforvoltage.org/forum/3990-xb600-quotshunt-modquot-instructions.

I know the V post isn't my bike but I was pretty certain the Giobike web page was my bike which is a 500w Luyuan and they don't seem to have many kinds on their site. From what I can tell my bike is the LEV series based on the amps,volts and watts and the design but the documentation that came with the bike never actually said which it was and now I've lost it.

After following the instructions on the gio site I was able to remove the front shroud after much frustration. When it did come off it was really a fluke as a shook the cover in anger and it fell off. I then looked inside only to find that there was no controller there, that really irked me. After that I realized I was going to have to find it on my own and eventually I did at the very back underneath the seat.

Once I removed the controller I began to open it but again the instructions from the gio site didn't apply and now I'm stuck. The controller is totally different than anything I can see on here and I think it maxes out at 17amps and my ampmeter on the bike goes to 20 amps. So at this point I'm not even sure if I can get any more power out of this bike. My major problem is that I can't get the circuit board out of the housing to do a shunt. I've pulled and pried and I think I even broke a small piece of metal off but so far I can't get the board to budge. I really need some help with this, can I shunt this and if so is it even worth it?

I took some high res pics, sorry the full bike pic is out of focus.

I've been using powerpole connectors for years and love them. But I just had an experience that has me questioning them.

My bicycle had developed an issue where the power would cut out while riding. I finally worked out that it was a powerpole connector that didn't connect very tightly. I could hold it in my hand (while riding) and manipulate it and hear clicks as the connection came and went, and the power to the motor would come and go with the clicks. Obviously something had happened to the innards of this connector such that it didn't make a reliable connection.

I made a grocery store run this morning (four bags of groceries in a trailer - leaving the store another bicyclist commented to me I had a regular pickup truck) and couldn't get the connector to work at all. Obviously it was time to stop putting off fixing this connector.

I first tried scraping the inside of the powerpole to roughen the surface thinking maybe there's some scorch marks or some such interfering with the connection. That didn't help.

What I just did is to cut out the whole powerpole business and replace it with a completely different kind of connector. I don't know the proper name - but it's this kind that has a rubber body and ribbed posts that stick into holes. Each connector is hermaphroditic rather than "male" and "female". Connectors of this sort are often used on trailer lights and indeed I bought the connector at an auto parts store in the trailer lights section.

Wired it up and took a ride ... not only is the connection robust now, the bike has more power.

This bicycle has an 800watt controller going to an old wilderness energy BD36 motor rated for 35 amps. Theoretically this should be a powerful combination but it had always been slow acceleration and felt like low power. It wouldn't readily go above 15 miles/hr. I didn't mind too much because it's mounted on my Electra Townie and those bikes are so completely laid back that the slow speed just fit the genre.

Now with this new connector the bike feels peppy, decent acceleration and easy to get above 15 miles/hr.

Obviously the new connector doesn't have the scarring from a couple years of zaps that were inside the old powerpole connector. But this kind of connector also would hold itself rigidly together much better than the powerpole connectors do. I'm impressed and am going to think about using this kind of connector more often in the future.

Hi, I have been into scoots for awhile now and need a little help with wiring direct my lights and horn to a 12v 7ah battery I have fried 2 converters and I have a 60v battery system. One converter worked ok from EVParts until I added the other battery, just wasn't thinking 13.8v was only thinking 12v x 5=60. Then ordered a so called 72v converter from Thunderstruck and when I pulled the sticker back it had read the same as the 1st one I fried 30-60, but was lasered printed w/ 72v?; called and asked about it and was told don't worry it will work. I said if it fries I want my money back, he said yea no prob. I had it at a automotive electrician they hooked up and it fried...My delemia is I am out of work and can't afford any more burning of money I don't have and can't afford the $90.00 for a real 72v converter! I don't know what scooter I have it's not named! The wires going into the converter from the scooter are 1 red, 1 black and one green w/red strip. Then the converter was wired w/ 1 red, 1 black and one yellow. So here is my question: what the hell is the green w/ red stripe for? (My guess is the horn). Can someone please help me and tell me just how to wire this setup; (toggle + lights and horn to 12v 7ah battery) up correctly without fring anything else?
I would appreciate any help you can offer me here please!
Thanks a lot,
Steven

I have built a push trailer which has a Mars etek brushless motor and uses a sevcon millipak controller all with system voltage at 36.,100ah. On initial test using pin 2 as fwd direction it ran backwards,ie clockwise! SO I used pin 3 also had to use pin 10 and not 11 for the pot..Main problem now is that it will not run under load I.e on the bike it trips out with 9 flashes but on the bench,wheels up, it starts up and runs fine does any one know what pin 4 (FS!?)does and if it needs to be grounded (like the seat switch pin 5)

I have a 48 volt LiFePO4 battery pack. Board is smashed. I have Google-ed BMS and Lithium Iron battery packs and can't find a replacement board. I am using a battery charger for charging Ni Cad battery pack till I get to proper voltage. It is battery charger from QST in the 70's and it good for Ni Cad, but Lithium is to be charged with the proper charger Constant voltage tapering current. I just ordered a new battery pack from eBay and hope it is better-er quality. My bike uses a 1000 watt front hub motor and I think it is supposed to use a 40 AH pack but maybe a twenty AH pack will be OK for a short ride. Are all or most battery packs from China using same BMS with lots of skinny wires and three big wires?
I will post my mountain bike pictures on EV page in future after a decent test ride.

Hi,

I've got a Kelly KDS48100 and I need to limit the current to protect my motor. Allegedly it is programmable but I've had no luck programming it. It'll say "sure, current limited to x%" but then not limit current at all. Kelly's help support is abysmal.

Is there a way to "trick" the controller into thinking that I am only going to 25% throttle when I am going to full throttle? It would be a piece of cake if I had a 0-5k Ohm throttle. I have no clue how the Hall Effect works. I tried putting a potentiometer in series with it (0-5k or 0-100k) and got weird results. Either no difference or at some point the controller would take off while i had zero throttle.

Anyone overcome this particular hurdle before?