Which components do I have to replace while being in Vancouver?

[Brasto]

We are visiting Vancouver on a regular base out of home country the Netherlands. Back home The wife and I ride an e-bike manufactured by Sparta having a frontwheel drive. In 2014 We bought a Chinese manufactured eWind bikes at a local shop here in Vancouver to make our rides in the area less demanding. About two years ago I have replaced the battery and notwithstanding the low workmanship the bike at a cost of C$ 1299 performed well during the few weeks a year I am using it.
Just recently one bike gives me a problem which I don't know yet how to resolve, during normal cycling it may suddenly stop to assist further suport. Display blanks and I have to restart to regain support..
Some details:
Controller is DAPU 36JK2TT1403A727, it has a 9 pin connector to the drivemotor
Motor is HLGE236V261400183
Display is LCDHTT1306A641 (36V)
Battery is Li-Ion 36V, 10 Ah it has ON/OFF key and 4 LED status panel
There is a PAS installed as well as a one position only throttle

The abnormal indications I see on my display during normal assisted ride are:
The battery level reads low (1-2 bars) and may return to FULL after a while, same as LED on battery it self.
The speed indicator is allways reading 0.0km/hr
The Pedal Assist Level indicator is oscillating from nil to full, even at standstill of the bike
When powerloss occurs, display is totaly blank.

My first approach to troubleshooting was to suspect an intermittent contact from battery mainsocket, I tried bumpy roads, speedbumps, letting rear wheel drop to ground but there is no relation to the problem.
I opened up the compartment housing the controller to discover a Chinese Mash of wiring, but no signs of overheating or poor contacts. Tried to duplicate the problem of loosing display by pulling wires and connectors. No result.
Also swapping batteries did not do any help, (my battery does fine in wife's bike)
Question:
Any recommendation to replace which parts for reasonable cost?, unfortunately the original bike vendor is no longer in bussiness....please note pictorials are not my bikes but very similar...

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

We are visiting Vancouver on a regular base out of home country the Netherlands. Back home The wife and I ride an e-bike manufactured by Sparta having a frontwheel drive. In 2014 We bought a Chinese manufactured eWind bikes at a local shop here in Vancouver to make our rides in the area less demanding. About two years ago I have replaced the battery and notwithstanding the low workmanship the bike at a cost of C$ 1299 performed well during the few weeks a year I am using it.
Just recently one bike gives me a problem which I don't know yet how to resolve, during normal cycling it may suddenly stop to assist further suport. Display blanks and I have to restart to regain support..
Some details:
Controller is DAPU 36JK2TT1403A727, it has a 9 pin connector to the drivemotor
Motor is HLGE236V261400183
Display is LCDHTT1306A641 (36V)
Battery is Li-Ion 36V, 10 Ah it has ON/OFF key and 4 LED status panel
There is a PAS installed as well as a one position only throttle

The abnormal indications I see on my display during normal assisted ride are:
The battery level reads low (1-2 bars) and may return to FULL after a while, same as LED on battery it self.
The speed indicator is allways reading 0.0km/hr
The Pedal Assist Level indicator is oscillating from nil to full, even at standstill of the bike
When powerloss occurs, display is totaly blank.

My first approach to troubleshooting was to suspect an intermittent contact from battery mainsocket, I tried bumpy roads, speedbumps, letting rear wheel drop to ground but there is no relation to the problem.
I opened up the compartment housing the controller to discover a Chinese Mash of wiring, but no signs of overheating or poor contacts. Tried to duplicate the problem of loosing display by pulling wires and connectors. No result.
Also swapping batteries did not do any help, (my battery does fine in wife's bike)
Question:
Any recommendation to replace which parts for reasonable cost?, unfortunately the original bike vendor is no longer in bussiness....

Visit Grin Technologies in Vancouver. They are pioneers when it comes to eBike components and they will help you better than any member here.

https://www.ebikes.ca/

You could also have them troubleshoot your bike and get it fixed. Their components are top notch.

 

[indianajo]

If you want to diy, you need a meter and some alligator clip leads with rubber boots over the clips. You have to skin the insulation off the power wire going to the controller to leave a bare patch, and monitor the voltage continuously as you ride until the problem occurs. Be sure to put your sensors in such a way that the wiring or clips do not hit the frame or other bare metal and cause a short. After the test is over, reinsulate the wires with liquid rubber as 3M windshield adhesive or equivalent.
so if the voltage is dropping below minimum, which is about 40 on a 48 v battery, something upstream is the problem. If not, the controller, sensors, or motor is the problem. It took me the purchase of 3 batteries before I found one that would maintain voltage at normal amperage, that is below 30 amps.
You can also load the battery off the bike if you have the connectors and some 15 ohm 300 W rated resistors (for example, that is for 3 amp test on a 48 v battery). I found the 2nd battery I bought, fully charged wouldn't maintain 3 amps (48/15) for more than a few seconds before collapsing to 18 v. the continuous discharge limit was 50 A.

 

[Brasto]

If you want to diy, you need a meter and some alligator clip leads with rubber boots over the clips. You have to skin the insulation off the power wire going to the controller to leave a bare patch, and monitor the voltage continuously as you ride until the problem occurs. Be sure to put your sensors in such a way that the wiring or clips do not hit the frame or other bare metal and cause a short. After the test is over, reinsulate the wires with liquid rubber as 3M windshield adhesive or equivalent.
so if the voltage is dropping below minimum, which is about 40 on a 48 v battery, something upstream is the problem. If not, the controller, sensors, or motor is the problem. It took me the purchase of 3 batteries before I found one that would maintain voltage at normal amperage, that is below 30 amps.
You can also load the battery off the bike if you have the connectors and some 15 ohm 300 W rated resistors (for example, that is for 3 amp test on a 48 v battery). I found the 2nd battery I bought, fully charged wouldn't maintain 3 amps (48/15) for more than a few seconds before collapsing to 18 v. the continuous discharge limit was 50 A.

Yes, I do have Digital Multimeter available here but as I said swapping batteries between our two bikes does not transfer or solve the problem. Also when elecsupport is stopped I can restart from the display and normal biking could be resumed for remaining part of the trip. I will check whether uphill driving does initiate the problem more frequently.
Using a 36 Volt battery, I measure 39 VDC when fully charged. Do you know at what voltage the controller shall cut off?
Even at normal elecsupported drive, I have no longer the speed indicated on the display. It was OK a month ago, is the speed sensor related to the drivemotor hall circuit?

 

[indianajo]

If you check lunacycle.com for 36 v batteries, the faq or something that links to the battery has a voltage chart. Your controller should stop at 10% charge.
If you are sure of the battery and there are no connectors after the battery to be faulty (which the above test would indicate), then I would take the housing off the controller and reheat the fat wire solder joints. Maybe add a little solder if the connections look dry.
My front motor controller drops out after I ride a few miles. I took it apart and there was no thermal connection between the TO-220 fets and the beautifully ribbed aluminum case. the aluminum case is a decoration and sales gimmick, not a heat sink. I added thermal washers and a aluminum bar between fets & case, but haven't been out to my summer camp with my new (working) battery to test that controller/motor yet.
In terms of replacing parts, the cheapest are the brake switches, followed by the PAS pickup, followed by the controller. The most expensive replacement part is the motor. Frankly, with the lack of specifications on amazon/ebay/alibaba and the inscrutable pictures of the connectors which must match what you've got already, the cheapest repair part is an entire new power wheel kit. My DD was $189 free delivery. It came with controller, brake handle/switches, throttle/battery LED. This one drops out after several miles of hard use, too. Intend to take it apart and see if these clowns saved $2 on thermal washers and a heat transfer bar, too.

 

[J.R.]

@Brasto My Dapu controller is fully potted. One cannot access anything inside to service. I don't know what controller your bike has. If you wanted to do the trial and error method, try to get a new controller. You very well could spend a lot more money than getting a tech to diagnose. I had to replace a controller and I received help diagnosing the issue by the manufacturer's tech on the phone. I understand yours may no longer be in business, but try Grin as @Ravi Kempaiah suggested, or another service. Good luck!

 

[harryS]

39V on a fully charged 36V battery is too low. It should read 42V. Your meter could be inaccurate or the battery could be low. Do a comparison check on your wife's battery to see if the numbers are consistent.

A battery that is used one month out of the year, and stored the other 11 months is seeing tough duty. It's a tough choice between leaving it partially charged or on 100% full charge all that time. The first option runs risk of it self discharging below cutoff and the latter is known to reduce service life when compared to charging to 90%.

I figure the speedometer in your bike isn't working with either battery. Speed is generally calculated in the controller. It either uses a speed sensor in the motor or on wheel. You can look for an external sensor to see if a magnet fell off or if it's misaligned. I do have an ebike that will stop running if the speed sensor isn't lined up. None of the others have that issue.

The initial description sure sounds like weak battery. A 36V controller is designed to shut off at 31V. They do go blank when that happens. It's possible for a battery showing 39V to sag 10 volts if cells are weak under a heavy lead. However, you imply the battery does not malfunction in wife's bike, and I assume her battery has the same failure in your bike. So it cannot be battery.

I would agree with J.R. Probably replace the controller. Controllers are inexpensive, but it's the labor of going thru all the connectors that is horrible, plus you probably have to replace the display too, since they're rarely compatible. Even the 9 pin motor plug doesn't help much unless you can get a controller that uses it.

Perhaps you can buy a controller (and display) at a local shop. This still leaves open the slight chance that the motor is faulty (internal speed sensor not working), which may mean it's best left to a shop to diagnose if you don't have all the tools.

 

[Brasto]

Today I turned the bike upside down and was happy to see somerhing that at first sight very
Ikely was the culprit. The motor cable appeared to make contact with the screws securing the brakedisc. A severe shaving had been the result so I decided to take the wheel out and investigate the damaged cable.

The cable is enclosed by some steel braided hose and the shaving had done no cutting of the braid (yet). I managed to reinstall the wheel and using a tywrap to pull the motorcable away from the previous interference with the brake disc mounting screws...

While being in the service position I decided to inspect the controller and battery connections, again I thought eureka finding the minus batt cable to controller input showing signs of arcing at its contact. Cleaned the contact and applied solder as well as thightening the mating connector.

Found another multimeter to do a comparison to my initial readings of 39 Volts for a fully charged battery. It appeared that the other DMM reads 3 Volts more so a more realistic value for a fully charged battery.....

Decided to apply solder to all crimped contacts and applied contact cleaner to all the connectors.
Cleaned up and dressed cabling back into bike frame and went for short test ride......

The original problems have not disappeared, i.e. No speed indication, low or erratic battery reading, oscillating PAS indication on display. The good thing is I had NO power shut offs.....

My assumption is now that display is a dum indicator and that Controller shall do the comptational work for PAS and Speed?

Following the advices I received, I will be shopping for a matching controller and display

 

[Brasto]

@Brasto My Dapu controller is fully potted. One cannot access anything inside to service. I don't know what controller your bike has. If you wanted to do the trial and error method, try to get a new controller. You very well could spend a lot more money than getting a tech to diagnose. I had to replace a controller and I received help diagnosing the issue by the manufacturer's tech on the phone. I understand yours may no longer be in business, but try Grin as @Ravi Kempaiah suggested, or another service. Good luck!

The controller in my suspect bike is a DAPU 36JK2TT1403A727 and I have opened it up to see that it is as yours potted which will be a painstaking job to remove. Maybe one of these days I will swapp controllers from wife bike into mine to make sure it is at fault....

 

[J.R.]

The controller in my suspect bike is a DAPU 36JK2TT1403A727 and I have opened it up to see that it is as yours potted which will be a painstaking job to remove. Maybe one of these days I will swapp controllers from wife bike into mine to make sure it is at fault....

Those numbers do not match mine, I just checked a photo I took of it. Your bike having a Dapu, I would call Scooteretti in Ontario. They should be able to get you an Easy Motion Dapu 36 volt controller. They might be able to help you figure out if it would be a direct replacement.

https://scooteretti.com/contact-us/

 

[harryS]

Let's hope the power shutoffs were due to that intermittent battery connector. Good work in finding it.

Displays are not quite dumb, but many controllers will run w/o their displays (if the cable is jumpered) It could be that the LCD driver in your display is just messed up and the bike will operate normally. You just need it to start the bike and select PAS levels, and I assume it does that.

You can pick up a $10 bike computer and have a more accurate reading of speed. By now, you know how far you can ride on a freshly charged battery too.

Often, there's a connector on the display cable before the main harness. It might be just better to leave it alone, but you could try the display from the other bike. A replacement might be hard to find or have it arrive in Vancouver before you leave.

 

[Brasto]

Hello everyboddy responding to my post, I must say I learned a lot more about ebikes and its logics while being on this forum.
Unfortunately my Vancouver-time is almost over, but I will continue to check for replacement parts from home town in the Netherlands. The Internet is unlimited and has no frontiers....
Bye for now!!!