Electric CycleKart using GM 3kw BLDC

[Marek.Z.N]

Hi all, I hope I have done this first post thing right.

I am a 17 year old in England and I am making a cyclekart (pre war styled gokart usually powered by a gx200 engine) which I am documenting on youtube and on the cyclekarts GB forum (www.cyclekartsgb.com) and I am using a Golden Motors 48V 3KW BLDC fan cooled motor to power it. I cannot find much information about how to install and set up Golden Motor's motors online and just came across this forum and it seems like the perfect place to get answers! The wiring diagrams on the golden motor website seem quite confusing, is there somewhere on the forum that explains about each bit of the wiring for sine wave controllers and what is needed to run each bit.

Many thanks,
Marek

[Bikemad]

Hi Marek andto the forum.

The wiring for the 3kW BLDC motor and controller should be relatively simple:



Unfortunately, none of the diagrams show details relating to the connections required for the 3 position speed switch.

If you are wiring your controller via a contactor, check out this post regarding my concerns over the e-lock connections shown on the above wiring diagram.

The connections between the motor and the controller should be straightforward but the throttle and switches are not very well documented.

The throttle uses three wires (+5V [Red&White], Ground [Black&White] and Throttle Signal [Green&White]), and these wire connect to either a potentiometer or Hall Sensor type throttle.

The e-lock wires can be connected to a simple latching On/Off switch (a key switch can alternatively be used for additional security).

The Brake wires connect to a momentary switch connected to the brake pedal (contacts are automatically closed when the brake pedal is operated).

The Reverse wires connect to a simple latching On/Off switch which activates the Reverse function when the switch contacts are closed.

The Cruise wires connect to a momentary push button type switch which closes the contacts each time the button is pressed.

If you want to search this forum for further information, I recommend using Google Advanced Search for written articles (or Google Advanced Image Search if you're searching for Images).

After entering your search criteria, simply enter goldenmotor.com/SMF into the site or domain: section.

I hope this helps.

Alan
 

[Marek.Z.N]

Thank you so much Alan!! That is all so useful. Im sure I will have more questions to come but this will really help as this is my first time using motors like this in a project before and it all seems very daunting. good to know that it should be relatively simple

[Marek.Z.N]

Is there an input voltage range for the motor controller by golden motor ( the one for the 3KW BLDC motor).

[Tommycat]

Model: VEC200
Voltage:48V/72V/96V

As seen here...
https://www.goldenmotor.com/frame-bldcmotor.htm

Which also has other helpful links at the bottom of the controller page...

VEC200 Drawing(.STEP)   VEC Controller Guide(.pdf)   VEC Controller Programming Software(.rar)   VEC Controller Wiring(.jpg)




Regards,
T.C.

EDIT: Direct links added

[Marek.Z.N]

I have the 48V one. is there a maximum voltage it can take? (to help decide how many cells in a battery pack to put in series)

[Bikemad]

I don't know what the absolute maximum acceptable voltage for the 48V controller is, but is should be fine for fully charged 14S x 3.7V LiPo/18650 cells (58.8V) or 16S x 3.2V LiFePO₄ cells (58.4V).

Alan
 

[Marek.Z.N]

Hi all. I am currently wiring the drivetrain in my cyclekart and have a couple of questions. Are the switches for forward/reverse, arm, etc toggle switches or momentary switches? My throttle pedal from golden motor has a 3-wide connector that matches the throttle connector on the harness but then has 2 more wires going to a different type of connector with nowhere to go. This pair of wires get continuity when the pedal is pressed passed the initial switch stage. Any Idea what these are for? and finally I have the brake wires connected from the harness to a hydraulic pressure switch on the brake system, is this the correct thing to do?

Marek

[Bikemad]

Hi Marek,

The switches for the  Reverse and e-lock functions must be latching switches (not momentary) as these functions will only work while the switch contacts remain closed.

The throttle switch is sometimes used on golf buggies for feeding the control signal (B+) to direction changeover (forward / reverse) contactor to ensure that the electric motor cannot be powered without the throttle foot pedal being depressed.
This prevents accidental activation of the motor if the throttle signal output was higher than 1.25V with the throttle fully released, which could otherwise occur if there was a broken or high resistance ground connection on the throttle Hall sensor.

The brake wires should work reasonably well connected to a hydraulic switch, but a mechanical switch operated by the initial brake lever movement will usually allow the regenerative braking to be activated on its ownbefore the mechanical brakes start to grab (dependant upon the switch sensitivity and the amount of free play in the hydraulic mechanism).
With a hydraulic switch, the brakes would already be working slightly before the regen would be activated.

Alan
 

[Marek.Z.N]

Thanks Alan thats really helpful