If you want to commute faster but are not interested in a heavy motorcycle, an electric bike will be a suitable choice for you.
Among some top features, there will be new functions that you need to learn before riding your first e-bike. Here’s a list of electric bike controller problems for your safety on the roads!
The Root Cause of E-bike Controller Problems
First of all, we need to familiarize ourselves with the bike’s controller. But what is it anyway?
A controller, also known as the very heart of the vehicle, is connected to other parts of the e-bike, such as the motor, battery, and throttle. The controller serves to bring the power from the battery to the machine and get it running.
Similar to the heart, an e-bike’s controller can sometimes encounter quite a few problems. That’s why you need to know how to identify these quirks and solve them to smooth your ride. Here’s a list of e-bike controller problems you might have!
Power Device Damage:
Since it’s directly linked to the power source, an electric bike controller can malfunction if the former is somehow faulty or damaged. This can include power disconnection, depletion, motor overload, and/or poor design, leading to current disruption upon impact.
Controller’s Internal Power Damage:
The electric bike controller is quite a complicated machinery; thus, it requires its own internal power source. Like other engines, a controller running at full capacity can lead to short circuits in its inner-workings or a cut out of the outer load.
Controller’s Working Environment:
Can temperature affect an e-bike controller’s performance? The answer is YES, it will malfunction whether the harsh weather during a drift or machinery overheats. The sign of overheating from your control is very easy to recognize, as you’ll feel intense heat when you touch it.
All these problems are visible or at least available to the senses, so it’s not hard for you to spot them. Remember to pay attention to those signs and take care of the red flags instead of trying to power through. Or else, you will make things worse, and your e-bike will require more maintenance.
Now we all know what troubles can occur, we can start to find ways to solve them either temporarily or for good. Let’s move onto the next part of our article!
How To Solve Electric Bike Controller Problems
1: Take A Careful Look At The Overall Design:
Prevention is always better than cure, so you should choose for yourself a durable controller from the get-go. Since each electric bike model are designed differently, here are some signs of a standard controller you can look for:
Trustworthy branding: Not all expensive controllers have high quality! It would be best to look into brand reviews/product reviews before purchase, so you save more on periodic check-ups.
Corner cutting: Check the cables and controller weight for signs of corner cutting. If the cables are thick, they can endure heat and prevent short circuiting. If you choose a bulky radiator controller over light ones, you’ll take way less money out of your pocket to fix it!
Check For Heat Acceleration:
Heat acceleration can determine whether or not your controller is as effective as expected upon purchase.
To make a comparison, you’ll need a new controller for scale to make notes of your original controller. Here’s what you do:
– Break apart both controllers.
– Hold up the radiator to activate it so that you can check the controller’s top speed.
– Hold the brakes gently for 5-7 seconds.
– Let go of the breaks so the engine can reach the maximum speed. Repeat this a few times, and it should be clear – to you which one’s more efficient in its heat use.
The cooler the controller is after the test, the better it is. You can definitely run more checks when the controller is open to see if there’s MOS and loose screws. You can also tell how good the cooling design is by measuring the radiator’s temperature.
3: Test The Current Control:
Per the allegory we used above (electric bike controller = heart of the vehicle), the bike controller’s energy conductivity is key to its role in the bike. So the ability to control currents is pretty important to a bike controller’s performance.
Here’s how to check for current control and spotting problems along the way:
Connect the battery properly so it can start and work.
Select the short circuit’s line of output and rev the motor to achieve high speed.
You should use the short circuit wire and batteries anode multiple times to get a result that you can make a conclusion on.
If the MOS internal resistance is low, then congratulations: you got yourself a properly functioning controller that regulates the current well! But, just in case of any damage happening, you can always look at the controller’s chance of short circuiting. This also gives you a very solid idea of just how reliable the device’s software and hardware are.
If you fear that you might miss some other technical hiccups, even though you’re at this point of the guide, then go through this handy checklist and ask yourself these questions:
– Are the wires loose?
– Are the wires connected to the right outlets?
– Does the power switch involve the fuse? Is the fuse burnt?
– Does the throttle work while the bike’s at working speed?
– Are the wires burnt?
– Is the motor itself burnt?
That would be enough to check for certain where the troubles start and spread.
Without a controller, your electric bike is not going to be the same. If you take good care of it, your rides will for sure be as smooth as butter.
But don’t forget: Even if you can deal with electric bike controller problems that pop up every now and then, you’ll still need to take your vehicle to maintenance often too!
