Chinese controller modification/tracks reinforcement

Joined
Jun 30, 2022
Messages
3
Hi group, I've had a cheap Chinese controller from JRAHK lying around my house for a while and I plan to use it on a kart. Is it possible to reinforce the power paths with tin plating? The paths are pretty thin and together with the shunt modification, I think the paths would form a bottleneck through the passage of electric current. Does anyone have experience with such a modification? If so, I would be glad for feedback. And one more question, where to look for the circuit to shut down when the input voltage is low? I would like to reduce the controller shutdown voltage, for the sake of maximizing range. Have a nice rest of the day.
IMG_20230917_110038.jpg
IMG_20230917_105834.jpg
 
I think you would be fine. Be sure to use quality solder and when adding the layer try to distribute evenly (as possible) to could always upgrade the fets with a larger capacitor as well. Doing that with the shunt mod you stated you will certainly see a difference. Id recommend running it before though THEN do remaining so you can truly feel a difference.
Thickening it up you ll certainly feel more start up but if you do the rest put a 100v cap on there and if possible shunt mod with a copper wire and I'm sure it will be worth a little time for some extra power and fun! 😁
 
I think you would be fine. Be sure to use quality solder and when adding the layer try to distribute evenly (as possible) to could always upgrade the fets with a larger capacitor as well. Doing that with the shunt mod you stated you will certainly see a difference. Id recommend running it before though THEN do remaining so you can truly feel a difference.
Thickening it up you ll certainly feel more start up but if you do the rest put a 100v cap on there and if possible shunt mod with a copper wire and I'm sure it will be worth a little time for some extra power and fun! 😁
Ampsss 😁. Thanks for the reply, the capacitors are at 100V, a pretty decent margin, a fully charged Li 20S battery will voltage peak around 84V. This controller is a 15 FET. I'll start lightly with the shunt mode. Could it be that with a large bypass shunt I may destroy the transistors?
 
There are quite a few controller modification / "overclocking" threads for both the traces and the LVC/HVC mods over the years, but you'll have to look around for them; most are in the ebike technical and motor technology subforums. There are some clever ways of reinforcing the traces, and even of modifying the current limit without touching the actual shunt, and of modifying the LVC/HVC.

Keep in mind that when you modify the shunt in any way, you are preventing the controller from knowing how much current is ever actually flowing, so it can no longer protect itself against overcurrents. Even a tiny shunt mod could result in controller damage or destruction, depending on how close to the edge they designed it--many of these are very cheaply made, and are already at the edge of what they can do.

A fair number of these shunt mods go fine, even for people that have virtually bypassed the shunt entirely, but it depends on the controller's design and what the bean counters decided to do to that design before manufacturing it (reducing the cost of parts by using cheaper ones with lower specs, leaving out protection parts, etc).

You'll only know what happens after you try it out. ;)



FWIW, I didn't bypass my shunt on a generic 15FET I have on the SB Cruiser trike's right rear wheel, I just added another out of a dead controller in parallel with the existing ones, to get (in theory) about 1/3 more power out of it. It has been running for years without blowing up, but similar mods to other controllers haven't worked out so well. The Grinfineon on the left rear wheel is unmodified. Just in case, I keep a spare controller bolted to the bottom of the trike and already wired in except for the power and phase wires; if something does blow up I can just plug it in in place of the blown one and keep riding.



Regarding the LVC mod, if you're already using a battery that's matched to the controller's voltage range, then bypassing the LVC will be hard on the battery, especially if you force the system to depend on the BMS to save the battery from damage every time, and even worse if you have no BMS or the BMS has failed stuck on (not uncommon) so there is no cell protection against overdischarge damage.

Same is also true of the current--if the shunt mod exceeds what the cells can really handle (not necessarily what they're sold as being able to, which is often an "overstatement", to be polite), they will sag in voltage a lot, age faster, and heat up more, and possibly be damaged.

Damaged cells from either of those conditions can lead to fires...it's rare, but it does happen, and you can't know the damage is present until the fire starts.
 
There are quite a few controller modification / "overclocking" threads for both the traces and the LVC/HVC mods over the years, but you'll have to look around for them; most are in the ebike technical and motor technology subforums. There are some clever ways of reinforcing the traces, and even of modifying the current limit without touching the actual shunt, and of modifying the LVC/HVC.

Keep in mind that when you modify the shunt in any way, you are preventing the controller from knowing how much current is ever actually flowing, so it can no longer protect itself against overcurrents. Even a tiny shunt mod could result in controller damage or destruction, depending on how close to the edge they designed it--many of these are very cheaply made, and are already at the edge of what they can do.

A fair number of these shunt mods go fine, even for people that have virtually bypassed the shunt entirely, but it depends on the controller's design and what the bean counters decided to do to that design before manufacturing it (reducing the cost of parts by using cheaper ones with lower specs, leaving out protection parts, etc).

You'll only know what happens after you try it out. ;)



FWIW, I didn't bypass my shunt on a generic 15FET I have on the SB Cruiser trike's right rear wheel, I just added another out of a dead controller in parallel with the existing ones, to get (in theory) about 1/3 more power out of it. It has been running for years without blowing up, but similar mods to other controllers haven't worked out so well. The Grinfineon on the left rear wheel is unmodified. Just in case, I keep a spare controller bolted to the bottom of the trike and already wired in except for the power and phase wires; if something does blow up I can just plug it in in place of the blown one and keep riding.



Regarding the LVC mod, if you're already using a battery that's matched to the controller's voltage range, then bypassing the LVC will be hard on the battery, especially if you force the system to depend on the BMS to save the battery from damage every time, and even worse if you have no BMS or the BMS has failed stuck on (not uncommon) so there is no cell protection against overdischarge damage.

Same is also true of the current--if the shunt mod exceeds what the cells can really handle (not necessarily what they're sold as being able to, which is often an "overstatement", to be polite), they will sag in voltage a lot, age faster, and heat up more, and possibly be damaged.

Damaged cells from either of those conditions can lead to fires...it's rare, but it does happen, and you can't know the damage is present until the fire starts.
Thanks for the nice answer. The battery has its own smart BMS with data telemetry. I prefer more range over battery life, or a compromise in between. I can play with the trip voltage directly in the BMS so the controller can trip at crazy voltages. Since I tried a couple of plug n play Chinese controllers, most shut down too early, leaving plenty of juice left in the battery.
 
Back
Top