Electric scooter speed contoller

[George Herold]

Hi guys, I scored an electric scooter on trash day. (A Schwinn zone
5)
Of course the SLA batteries were toast. (2 X 12V @10A-hr.) But I’ve
got two old power wheels from when the kids were younger. (What, me
throw something out?) 4 x 6V @12 A-hr. I charged up the old
batteries but found one of those was dead also. (It refused to have
any charge pushed into it.) So I figured with three I’d have 18V
which should be enough. And it is, it runs fine. (maybe 10mph on a
flat.)
Now here’s the problem. There’s an electronic speed control (hidden
somewhere.. I haven’t found it yet.) And there must be a low voltage
cutout in the controller. So when the current draw drops the battery
voltage below some point the controller cuts out.
So I’d like to find out first where the speed control is hidden. And
then I’m hoping I can hack it and drop the voltage cut-out.
I’ve done a few web searches, but I mostly find sites where they want
to sell me something... nothing useful. Any hints on finding
schematics for something like this would be appreciated.

As a side note: I took apart the thumb throttle control on the handle
bar and discovered only a pot. The sad news is that it looked like a
little trim pot... I guess those last a bit longer than their 200
rotations spec.

Thanks
George H.

 

[Jamie]

Hi guys, I scored an electric scooter on trash day. (A Schwinn zone
5)
Of course the SLA batteries were toast. (2 X 12V @10A-hr.) But I’ve
got two old power wheels from when the kids were younger. (What, me
throw something out?) 4 x 6V @12 A-hr. I charged up the old
batteries but found one of those was dead also. (It refused to have
any charge pushed into it.) So I figured with three I’d have 18V
which should be enough. And it is, it runs fine. (maybe 10mph on a
flat.)
Now here’s the problem. There’s an electronic speed control (hidden
somewhere.. I haven’t found it yet.) And there must be a low voltage
cutout in the controller. So when the current draw drops the battery
voltage below some point the controller cuts out.
So I’d like to find out first where the speed control is hidden. And
then I’m hoping I can hack it and drop the voltage cut-out.
I’ve done a few web searches, but I mostly find sites where they want
to sell me something... nothing useful. Any hints on finding
schematics for something like this would be appreciated.

As a side note: I took apart the thumb throttle control on the handle
bar and discovered only a pot. The sad news is that it looked like a
little trim pot... I guess those last a bit longer than their 200
rotations spec.

Thanks
George H.

integrated controller in the motor?

Jamie

 

[George Herold]

integrated controller in the motor?

Jamie- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I think that's what it must be, several (three or more) wires head
into the motor housing. It's says Currie Electro Drive on the
aluminum cover but no numbers. There are four screws holding the
alum. cover to the motor. Of course I can't take one of them off
without taking the whole back end apart. :^(

George H.

 

[Tom Biasi]

I think that's what it must be, several (three or more) wires head
into the motor housing. It's says Currie Electro Drive on the
aluminum cover but no numbers. There are four screws holding the
alum. cover to the motor. Of course I can't take one of them off
without taking the whole back end apart. :^(

George H.

So, take it apart. Did you forget where you posted.

 

[George Herold]

So, take it apart. Did you forget where you posted.
- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yeah yeah... A project for my son and I this weekend.

George H.

 

[Tom Biasi]

Yeah yeah... A project for my son and I this weekend.

George H.

Good luck. Help is here.

Tom

 

[George Herold]

The low-voltage cutout is more of a feature than an inconvenience. Since the
original SLAs had a higher voltage rating, the old, used, lower rated ones
will likely only give a short duration of running time before the cutoff
level is reached.
You may be able to modify the controller to operate in a different range of
voltages, but the way circuits are made today it could be unlikely.

Curtis is another manufacturer of a lot of bike/scooter mobility
controllers, and may be a source of useful specs and other technical info
wrt the controller and motor.

BTW, discharging lead-acid batteries into an over-discharged state will
generally cause damage that will significantly decrease the useful life of
the batteries.
That might not be an issue with the old used batteries, run 'em till they
die, but generally all batteries are damaged by over-discharging them.

If the controller is also the charging circuit, there would be an issue of
trying to charge an 18V pack with 24V.

Thanks Bill, Well we took the motor apart this weekend (only a few
minutes of work) and indeed the electronincs is built in to the
motor.. but it's all potted in the base, and buried underneath the
rotor. I guess the 'easy' solution is to buy another battery.

I was thinking that the voltage cut-out is really too low for 24
volts. Since we could run the thing for a while with just 18
Volts... If we get another battery I'll warn my not to drain it all
the way down.

George H.