Electric Bikes - New crystalite pheonix hub motor... max speed 5mph

Yes... five miles per hour. Something doesn't seem right. I'm thinking I have a faulty motor or controller.

Everything hooks up just fine, but when I turn the throttle, I get about 2-3 seconds of motor pushing and then it cuts out, and won't respond to the throttle for about 5 seconds, then again I get 2-3 seconds of pushing.... and that repeats over and over.

-my batteries are fully charged, according to the green light on the charger and the green indicator light on the throttle.

-Everytime the motor kicks in though, the green light on the throttle goes to yellow(low) for the 2 seconds it is pushing.

-Motor makes a rattling noise inside, sounds kinda like static-electricity noise, or like a small metal piece is loose and is rattling around in there.

Here are my components:
1. Raleigh mountain bike (hard tail)

2. 3-12Volt batteries (for total of 36 volts). (SLA batteries).

3. 36 volt controller that comes with the motor/throttle hook up.

4. Motor- Pheonix Racer 36volt

Any ideas? Do you need my wiring specs? I followed the instructions exactly, and rechecked them again. If this is faulty equipment, would it be the controller or motor?

thanks in advance!

ps- I will call the dealer on Monday, but I would like to have an idea what is wrong.

are the 3 sla all new?

a few things

bad cell low voltage cutoff under load
bad fet in controller or a bent pin in one of the connectors

could be a few things phone the dealer :)

phone the dealer

Yea, I think that's what I'll have to do.

... the batteries are new. As for the controller, not a clue, it came with the motor.

I'll let people know what went wrong when I figure it out- I'd hate for others to have to deal with this.

Considering the strange sound coming from the motor, I would guess that the batteries are fine. I would also consider the controller a more likely culprit than the motor, because brushless motors don't have very many fragile parts. From your description, the system is behaving as it would if either the motor or controller is providing very little resistance (sort of like a short circuit) because you're seeing low voltage and then no power (as though the low voltage cutoff is tripped).

...low voltage and then no power...

I've narrowed it down to one culprit- I think. My battery charger.

I have an older 36 volt charger that does not seem to charge. I have a volt-meter and the voltage across the leads when plugged in is around 0.9-1 volts. (yes, I checked to make sure that wasn't amps, it's on volts). So I was running on low batteries- just not realizing it.

So I'm off to go check out a new one at the store and see if it helps.

... I will report back if that worked after turkey day.


**Thanks for the help everyone**

You should get the Soneil charger from ElectricRider.com. If you get a cheap charger it can cook your batteries. The good chargers can be left on without damaging the batteries. Electric Rider has some good notes on caring for your batteries. It's worth reading. I just bought a crystalite roadrunner - it's great.

replaced the charger...

and it works!!! Whoo!

Note to others for future reference- a fully charged 36 volt battery actually supplies between 40-46 volts, and if it supplies at 36 volts, it is low.

Thanks for the help!