Bad Controller

[Adamsavage79]

I think my throttle either has issues or is failing. Twice now I've turned the bike on, only for the throttle to not respond. The first time, I simply unplug the battery and plugged it back in again. The 2nd time, I did the same but it didn't respond. I was bringing the bike inside with the power still on, and suddenly the bike started to move forward on it's own. I was not touching the throttle that I'm aware of either. I was able to go out and do what I needed to do without any issue. I came home, unplugged the battery and plugged it back in again, and the throttle worked just fine. It's very bizarre. I can't see it being the controller as I just replaced it. I do have a spare throttle but It needs to be connected to the spare wiring harness. Maybe I will switch them out and see if the problem is persistent.

EDIT: Tried my spare throttle and spare wiring harness. The problem is still present. There seems to be a short somewhere, as one time I plugged in the battery and didn't touch the bike and after the a few seconds the bike launched forward a little bit. I've had it do this before and the common thing is rain. I never had a lag with the throttle.

So far I've tried letting it sit unplugged without the display connected, and I still have the lag. The display also doesn't seem to know when the throttle is not connected either as I get no error message. The controller does however will give me a double click when I plug the battery in.

[Bikemad]

When the motor doesn't respond to the throttle, are all the battery gauge LEDs on the throttle lit up as normal or do they stop working as well?

If the fault only occurs when it's wet, it could be due to water inside one of the connectors, or even inside the controller housing itself:



Check out this post for more details of a very similar fault.

I tightly wrap a piece of insulation tape around the main 8/10 Pin connector joint to ensure it cannot work loose and come apart and to prevent water getting inside.

However, if the motor running by itself is not being caused by water, it could be a poor connection somewhere on the ground wire circuit between the throttle and the controller.
If the throttle is working properly, with the bike powered up and the wheel raised off the ground, try gently wiggling the wiring and connectors etc. between the throttle and the controller to see if you can reproduce the fault.
If the fault reoccurs, you may be able to locate the precise position on the wiring and hopefully locate the cause of the problem.

Alan
 

[Adamsavage79]

I dunno about it not being due to water. The motor only has a mind of its own after it's rained pretty good. As for the throttle, after few seconds. The bike will work as if nothing is wrong, and will do so even if I unplug it and plug it back within a few minutes. If I wait too long, then I have to wait for the "lag" to catch up, and then bike is good to go. The only good thing with this, is that the time frame seems to be consistent. It's always under 10 seconds before it will respond. I've never actually timed it yet. This just needs to work till spring. By then I will most likely be going with a brand new E-bike from a local shop.The bike I'm looking at is a 29 inch wheel frame. It's a great community here, but the Golden Motor kits have caused me nothing but a headache the last 2 years. Some of it my own fault to be fair.

[Adamsavage79]

The problem is still here, but is more puzzling. When I started it up Saturday, the lag was shorter this time around. Then today, sometimes it would only engage when I started to roll the motor, or it would seem to take longer to respond. IF this is the connectors on the controller, would removing it and cleaning them with rubbing alcohol be of any use ? It's a good 1 hour time investment to do this at the most. If I'm quick, id say 30-45 min.

[Adamsavage79]

I cleaned the plug contacts for the controller and it didn't help at all. It's now taking several minutes to engage the motor now. It seems to get worse daily. I decided to try my old controller, and the problem has gone. It was indeed the controller. I wonder if this is even the proper controller, as it doesn't even look the same as the one that came with the bike.

[Bikemad]

I'm sorry to hear that your new controller is faulty but I'm glad to hear you have been able to locate the cause of the throttle delay.

I suspect that your new controller now has a problem with a weak +5V regulator output, which could have been damaged if water had found its way into one of the connectors and allowed current to flow between the battery + and the +5V or throttle signal wire.

Was there any sign of water inside the controller housing itself or inside any of the connectors?

Alan
 

[Adamsavage79]

Aside from what seemed to be a white residue on the plug contacts on controller, there is no indication of water damage. My old controller has been in the rain plenty of times and it never did this. I did notice that the two controllers do not look the same. The faulty one has a large blue capacitor, and the old one does not.The wires going into it, are the only thing not water tight. Everything else on the controller is sealed up with an epoxy.