Bought a 1500watt 52volt Calibike kit. Used for about 1 month and the controller burned up. Rafe finally sent a new one but was very hard to contact. Put new one on for about 2 months now and this one almost burned up after only 3 miles. I tried contacting Rafe but no answer. The first time I questioned him if the controllers aren't too small for this kit but he insists they aren't..(rated current is 11A with max of 22A) These controllers use the 9pin plugs which i think are harder to find.. Any suggestions?
Controller burning up
- Thread starter Matt2022
- Start date
Gionnirocket
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Y. O.
Are you saying that the motor rating is 1500w?
If so, it's simple math 1500w/52v = 28.8a
You should have at a minimum of a 35w continuous controller as adding 20% is best practice
If so, it's simple math 1500w/52v = 28.8a
You should have at a minimum of a 35w continuous controller as adding 20% is best practice
Gionnirocket
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Y. O.
An 11a continuous seems to me to be a pretty low rating.
Max current should only be allowed for few seconds at a time
Not sure what hardware you have.. But it doesn't sound properly matched to me.
Max current should only be allowed for few seconds at a time
Not sure what hardware you have.. But it doesn't sound properly matched to me.
john peck
Well-Known Member
Cali used to have a 1000w kit which I bot only to plug & play the whl to an exsistant bike´s
harness. Just checked the unused controller, 12A. The wheel still works fine.
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
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- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Matt, it's pretty clear to me that if you are cooking the controller it's because you're overloading the motor and/or the controller. My bet is you are working with a 500w or possibly a 750w motor. Either will handle 1500w - but not for long. Fine for crossing a busy road, catching up with a riding buddy, or climbing a hill that will not take more than a minute.
Those with ANY experience I think, will all agree that controller is not going to handle 1500w for more than a couple of minutes. If you want to believe differently, I would suggest you speak with the guy that sold it to you.....
That controller is generally marketed (more honestly) for use with a 500w motor, and it will also wok with a 750w - but you're pushing it at that point. It's not going to handle much in the way of abuse (like more than just a few seconds at full power).
I'm pretty familiar with this controller, as I have 3 of them in use. I KNOW they'll indicate WAY more than they are rated at - but you are expected to use your head/be conservative, using that kind of power for just a few seconds. Mine are all working fine, and have been for several months on bikes with 500w motors.
Moving forward, you can install a larger controller pretty easily (assuming you're handy), up to one rated for 35a. The first problem is that 35a is a much bigger controller than the 22a, so if that 22a is located inside the bikes frame, the 35a will likely need to be mounted externally. Then there's the motor connector. If the motor is a 500 or 750 as I expect it might be, the connector that comes on the 35a controller will be wrong - as it's designed to handle more power. Both are considered 9 pin, but they are totally different.
If your setup behaves anything like the ones I'm using, you need to operate it within it's specs. You have a display showing watts real time, so if you want to keep what you have reliable, keep that watt meter under 500w most of the time, knowing full well there's PLENTY more on tap, while realizing that things are warming up quickly while using that "turbo mode". -Al
Last edited:
Tom@WashDC
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Loudoun County, VA.
I am running the same controller a 500w-750w Shengyi Geared Hub, 48V battery, and a KT Display that shows watts. I've been running it for two weeks. Riding very hard, but also pedaling equally as hard on the uphill. I do tax it up to 700-850 watts for short bursts uphill, with a throttle. Running fine. Runs much smoother than my previous setup.
FYI great article on Motor Power Ratings - https://ebikes.ca/learn/power-ratings.html
FYI great article on Motor Power Ratings - https://ebikes.ca/learn/power-ratings.html
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