EVT America Z/R-20/30/...

1/31/2008

Scooter arrives!

2/7/2008

Charger stops working

2/28/2008

Received new charger from Soneil

3/5/2008

Speedometer broken. Turbine gear stripped -- no grease.

3/24/2008

Circuit breaker started to trip while riding. Attempted many "fixes" over the next
Attempted many "fixes" for circuit breaker problem

• re-seating all connectors
  
• securing rear break wiring bundle to frame (the wires/connectors were dangling next to the shock absorber spring.)
  
• tightened the contacts inside the molex connectors
  

Problem would come and go, so whenever i tried something i wasn't sure if it helped or not.
Finally got so bad that i couldn't ride a mile without the breaker tripping.

9/4/2008

Circuit breaker problem resolved!

1. Before taking anything apart, i can see that the connection going in to the circuit breaker has been very hot. The insulation of the two wires going in has actually melted together.
   
2. The end of the wires are very corroded.
   
3. The clamp in the circuit breaker is also corroded, and the contact is half-covered with melted insulation.
   

i've cleaned off the wire, cleaned out the clamp in the breaker, and put everything back together and tightened the wires.
i'll try riding to work again this morning and see if i can make it without the breaker tripping again.
My guess (and it's only a guess) is that when it was assembled, the insulated portion of the wire was clamped into the breaker and because of that, there was too small of an area of wire making contact. That led to the higher temperature, causing the melting insulation and the corrosion. The overheating under load tripped the breaker.

11/1/2008

Received new speedometer turbine from EVT -- 8 months to get this part. :-(

1/2009

Rear tire started losing pressure, and then one day while i was riding the valve stem popped out.

5/2009

Front tire did the same thing -- valve stem popped out while riding. Both times, the rubber boot that fits into the rim is all cracked, and the metal valve stem isn't held in anymore. Looks like really substandard rubber for a tire.

7/2009

One day i hit a bump on a railraod crossing -- probably 2"-3". When i hit the bump, the throttle came off in my hand. i've also attached a photo of this. The plastic ring that holds the throttle on the handlebar shattered. Again... seems like poor-quality plastic.
Pieced it together with superglue and electrical tape so i could keep riding, but it would still come off in my hand every time i hit a small bump.

7/2009

Range is getting shorter. 9 mile commute is taking 3/4 of a full charge. Time to start shopping.

9/2009

New batteries -- 5 x Werker WKA33-12C

9/2009

Nail in the tire. Finished the ride home on a flat. Plugged the hole, but after riding flat it leaked around the seal. Went to a cycle shop to get it re-mounted, and decided i really needed a new rear tire anyway.

9/28/2009

Received new throttle from EVT -- only a 2 month wait this time.

10/20/2009

DC/DC converter died.

10/28/2009

EVT replied to my 10/20 email. i had already bought a DC/DC converter from ThunderStruck-ev.com

11/2/2009

Controller died. Power transitors fried.

11/16/2009

i discover www.visforvoltage.com forum. Conclude that overall i have been pretty fortunate with my R-20, but there's no point in sending photos of the inside of my burned out controller to EVT because they have seen so many of them already.

11/30/2009

Rececived Kelly controller from EVT. Plug it in. Controller status is green. Scooter still doesn't work -- no response to throttle.

12/2010

Off and on troubleshooting. Simplified connections from throttle to controller. Potentiometer to controller's throttle input. Check controller programming through COM port. Still can't figure it out.

1/10/2010

Charger stops working.

1/20/2010

Oscilloscope on throttle and hall sensors from motor. All dead. The old controller apparently took out all of the other components with it. (The hall sensor in my old broken throttle works as expected.)

1/21/2010

Epiphany!!Another user on this forum has said "Think of the Z as a project, not a true option for transportation."

i did get 1.5 years of daily commutes out of it, so i don't want to complain. But now i need a new motor and throttle. In the past four months i've already invested in new batteries, tire, dc-dc converter, and controller, so i don't want to give up now. Here i am with a "project" sitting in my garage for 3 months that is 60% complete, and EVT hasn't even replied to my question about buying a new motor. Can't rely on them for support going forward.

Stay tuned... the R20++ is coming.

Maybe this was done by a V member...

http://consumerist.com/5394703/evt-america-delivers-slow-inaccurate-scooter-no-lemon-law-refund

Brett wants the EVT America electric scooter he was promised. A scooter that was supposed to have a top speed of 40-45 mph, and required a motorcycle license. Unfortunately, while at top speed the speedometer reads 45 mph, reality differs.

The scooter in question is a Z20B ordered in March 2008. If you go back to that era of discussion on V there are many people who reported problems with the Z20B. Good luck, Brett.

I need to replace my R-20 batteries on my scooter. Long story short, I hooked them up wrong and at least one of them is bulding out with a reverse charge, so I think just replacing all 5 would be the best thing to do considering I haven't used the scooter in at least 4 months. The OEM batteries it came with are 5 12V 35Ah batteries and worked fine. However, EVT America as usual doesn't respond to willing paying customers and their support is horrible. Additionally, it appears that they don't sell those batteries that came with the scooter in the USA. The problem with this is that the trays that the batteries go in are specifically made to fit the dimensions of those batteries.

So here are my questions. (Thanks in advance).

1. Does anyone know where I can order the OEM batteries for a reasonable price?
2. Does anyone know of any replacement batteries that would work/fit for the R-20 for a reasonable price?

Like many others my controller failed on my R-20, so I replaced it with a Kelly. However, now the battery light will flash when riding the scooter or completely stay off and the range is very small. Any ideas on what could be wrong? Do I need to replace my batteries? Thanks.

Eric

My Z20 doesn't have the range it did when new. My odo reads over 1000mi. I'm thinking the batteries are just worn out (or I could have a bad cell). Given how an electric bike works, wouldn't batteries designed to be discharged and recharged be better than those designed to be constantly topped off? Would deep cycle marine batteries work better than what's installed now?
Overload in CO

I was replacing my controller and forgot to attached the wire that connects to key on the side of the seat, so now when I use the key to unlock the seat it does nothing. As you can imagine this creates a big problem. I can manage to pull the seat up in the back, so that I can see where the latch is, but where is the release?

If you're planning on using a Kelly Controller in your Z, and you live in a hot climate, hang on to your EVT controller. The Kelly Controller has cooling fins all over the top and sides but none on the bottom. As a result the bottom gets quite warm, especially here in the deep south with temps in the mid 90's daily. I was looking at the EVT controller today and suddenly realized that the top of the controller would make a good heat sink for the bottom of the Kelly Controller. I have not done it yet so don't take what I say as gospel yet but I will do a step by step instruction post when I do mine. For now my plan would be to get an aluminum plate the same size as the base of the Kelly controller 7" X 5 3/4". Put the plate under the controller and mark the holes. Drill holes through the aluminum plate in the same location as the mounting holes for the Kelly controller. Now go to the scooter and cut a hole in the steel tray that the controller mounts to the size of the BODY of the controller wich is 4 1/2" X 7" or a little smaller. Now disassemble the EVT controller, remove the circuit board (there are about a dozen little screws). Do not remove the heat sensor siliconed to the fins. You will end up with what looks like two U-channels, (the top and the bottom) . The bottom has very small fins so don't use it. Take the top half and use a hacksaw, or sawzall to cut the sides off so you are left with a flat piece that is roughly the same width as the body of the Kelly controller but a little too long. Measure the size of the hole you cut in the steel tray on the scooter and with your hacksaw or sawzall make the EVT controller top a little smaller than your hole. Drill one 1/8" hole in each corner of the EVT controller top. These will be used to mount the EVT controller top to the aluminum base plate under the Kelly Controller. Drill the holes between the fins, drilling on the fin side of the EVT controller (not the flat side) to be sure that your hole doesn't end up in the middle of a fin. Temporarily mount the controller and aluminum base plate on the top of what's left of your steel tray. Hold the EVT controller top against the base of the aluminum plate under the Kelly controller and mark the holes that you just drilled in the aluminum base plate. Remove the kelly controller and aluminum base plate and finish drilling the holes you just marked in the aluminum base. Choose what size screws you want to use and re-drill the holes in the EVT controller top if necessary and tap them. Now countersink the holes in the aluminum base plate that correspond with the holes in the EVT controller top. Use flat head screws to fasten the aluminum base plate to the EVT controller top. Make sure that you countersink them enough so that nothing is sticking up above the flat surface of the aluminum base plate. Now put the aluminum base plate in the steel tray with the EVT controller top protruding through the hole in the tray. Now put the Kelly controller in and fasten it and the aluminum base plate to the tray. The deep fins from the EVT controller top will be visible when you look under the rear of the scooter, in that nice breezy stream of air as you ride down the street, extracting a little more heat from the Kelly controller. If you want you can still use the temperature sensor in the EVT controller top to turn on the fans but I would test it to make sure it is really coming on. There may be a reduction in the amount of heat that sensor receives compared to how it was used originally. Incidentially, I checked with www.mpja.com and they have a 4 11/16" 12volt fan that throws 80 cfm of air for $4.95 and it only consumes .45 amps which is less than what both of the original fans consume but blows a ton more air. I'm gonna get one and see if I can get it to fit ok. The Ohm Depot

I wrecked my R30 today and had to go to the hospital. It was a chain of unlucky events, but one link in the chain was a quality problem with the R30.

I had to mail a small package today, so I took it to the post office on my R30. My brakes were being kinda sticky and making scraping noises on the discs. I squeezed them both down hard to realign them, something I had done before many times. This time, the front brake cable burst and leaked fluid. It was useless.

The cause? The front brake cable routinely would scrape against the inside of the front wheel cover. It made an annoying sound when this happened, so I would routinely adjust it. The braking pressure would always move it back to the position in which it rubbed, so I would always have to move it back. I have heard of other people having a similar problem. This seems like a design flaw.

Well I guess over time the rubbing created a weak point in the cable. The last squeeze was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Oh s***," I thought, "I'll have to get this fixed. OK, ASAP, but first I'll just go home because the shop is closed already anyway. The back break is pretty strong and reliable."

When I was almost home, something bad happened. A car wasn't looking and pulled out of a driveway right in front of me. I screamed with all my might and got her attention and she slammed on the brake. But it was too late. I crashed into the front of her car at about 25mph and flipped over the bike. Thank God I was wearing a DOT helmet because my head did hit the ground on the second bounce. I got scrapped up here and there, but my right foot was the big victim. It has swollen up and got a deep cut and a lot of bruises. I think I sprained it or something. Fortunately no bones broke, but damn it hurts. I'll be on crutches for at least a week. And the bike is totaled.

I don't know if having both brakes could have stopped the collision. But it might have, or least have reduced the impact speed.

So in summary, you can have a very nice motor and Kelly controller and battery equalizer and automatic charger, but if you don't have a quality build of the things that aren't specific to electric bikes, it can cause serious problems. The bike has some nice components but overall the build is cheap Chinese junk. They pass the savings on to you. Great deal until you have an accident.

I rode my z20b to work yesterday for the first time ever (a 10 mile trip) and it worked great! It only consumed about 1/4 or less of my battery charge.

But on the way home, I ran into a problem. In retrospect, I think this has been a problem with the bike for a while (before I got the new controller). The problem, I believe, is that the rear brake is clamping down and not releasing. This happens even when I don't have my hand on the brake.

What happened was: I left work and the bike was riding fine. About half way home, the bike started to slow down. Then it would only go about about 5 - 10 mph. Then not at all. I pulled off to the side of the road. With the ignition on, I found I could not push the bike (as I normally can do). I turned it off and on. The bike would go very slowly for a few feet, then stop. Again, I could not push the bike any distance at all - as if someone were squeezing the brake. I waited, thinking the bike needed to cool down (it was 102 F yesterday). I waited in the shade. But the next test, same result. Finally I threw off the circuit breaker and waited a bit longer. Turned everything on. Even though I could not push the bike very easily, it seemed to be better. I started riding down the road slowly. Eventually, things started working again and I was able to travel full speed. But by the time I got home, almost all my charge was gone. The gauge was blinking red when I pulled into the garage.

I started thinking over the ride home. I remembered that before the bike stopped, the bike had started to act strange. When I was approaching a stop and I took my hand off the throttle, rather than rolling to a stop (like I was used to), the bike was stopping fast, like I had the brake on. And I've seen the brakes lock up before, but I thought it was something wrong that I had done. For example, some time ago, I was backing up out of the garage (sitting on the bike and pushing back with my legs) and noticed it was very hard to move the bike. But I had the ignition off. So I thought it had some connection with that. Again, I turned everything off and turned it all on, and the problem corrected itself.

Can anyone tell me how the brakes work? Can the controller or anything else activate them? What do I need to diagnose and fix the problem? Can someone send me some pictures of how to dismount and inspect the brake pads to make sure everything is working like it should? Can you think of anything else this could be?

Thanks,
Fred
z20b