Sabvoton controller

[SkunkyFartz]

Hello! I really need some help with this it's regarding my second sabvoton controller.

You see when I purchased my first sabvoton controller. It came with a USB Bluetooth stick. Which allowed me to use an app called MQCON to change parameters on my controller. Such as amps or other stuff. I didn't mess around with it much. The controller worked great for a year and couple months. Until some of the display wires came loose and I believe it shorted itself out. That's fine and that was totally my doing. The first controller at the time was programmed to work with a 48v set up. At the time I did have a display but it was useless had a 30H error. But I still needed it to turn the bike on and off.

So couple months later I ordered the SECOND sabvoton controller after it arrived. It worked great for a month or so. Then one evening. It hit me with an Error 02H controller protection. That's fine too. I read online that you can bypass that by lowering the Amps or something.

So what I did was I took the Bluetooth dongle from the FIRST sabvoton controller and used it on the SECOND newer sabvoton controller. Once I plugged it in it was NOT able to locate it on the app. However! after my display shuts off. I was no longer able to turn it back on!

Did I just freaking bricked my own controller? I really do not want to shell out another 200 plus dollars for another controller man. If someone could please help me find a way to fix this.
I can send images if thar helps. But it won't help much I would assume.

 

[amberwolf]

Does it work without the BT dongle attached?

Does the system work without the display attached? (manually connecting the keyswitch/lock/ignition wire to B+ instead of having the display do that with the power button)

There's a slim possibility that the BT dongle is wired differently between the two, or that it used 5v TX/RX but the new controller uses 3.3v (but still powers the dongle with 5v); either one would keep it from talking to the MCU correctly, and if the TX/RX is not buffered but is directly to MCU pins the voltage difference could damage the MCU (the brain chip of the controller).

BTW, the display error 30 is usually communications, meaning it cant' talk to the controller or cant' get a response it understands.

If it worked originally but not after the wiring issue then that probably damaged the TX/RX lines of it or the controller or both.

If it never worked it was probably not compatible with the controlller (since displays are not generally intercompatible with any controller other than the one they come with, or identical ones with identical firmware).


If you do have to replace the controller, there *are* other brands that may do what you want better or for less money, or more reliably, etc. What features do you require, and what voltage range does it need to support, and what is your battery current limit? (the controller can't have a higher current limit than what your battery can supply, or else it has to be programmed to a lower one than the battery's, to prevent damage to the battery or other problems).

 

[SkunkyFartz]

Does it work without the BT dongle attached?

Does the system work without the display attached? (manually connecting the keyswitch/lock/ignition wire to B+ instead of having the display do that with the power button)

There's a slim possibility that the BT dongle is wired differently between the two, or that it used 5v TX/RX but the new controller uses 3.3v (but still powers the dongle with 5v); either one would keep it from talking to the MCU correctly, and if the TX/RX is not buffered but is directly to MCU pins the voltage difference could damage the MCU (the brain chip of the controller).

BTW, the display error 30 is usually communications, meaning it cant' talk to the controller or cant' get a response it understands.

If it worked originally but not after the wiring issue then that probably damaged the TX/RX lines of it or the controller or both.

If it never worked it was probably not compatible with the controlller (since displays are not generally intercompatible with any controller other than the one they come with, or identical ones with identical firmware).


If you do have to replace the controller, there *are* other brands that may do what you want better or for less money, or more reliably, etc. What features do you require, and what voltage range does it need to support, and what is your battery current limit? (the controller can't have a higher current limit than what your battery can supply, or else it has to be programmed to a lower one than the battery's, to prevent damage to the battery or other problems).

Okay so I managed to get the second sabvoton controller to work. Which is thr current one I have hooked up. All I had to do was remove the extension cable and connect the battery directly to the controller via its attached XT60 cable.

However a new problem occurred! When I turned it on. The battery made a weird click noise.
Now suddenly. I am unable to switch the battery off. It has an on and off switch. Now its constantly in the on position. Not sure if I should be worried or not. Or if the bms is toast.

Normally there's a button that lights up to show battery charge but that only works when the battery is switched to the on. But it does it when the switch is in the off as well

 

[amberwolf]

What does the switch actually control?

Where does it attach inside the battery?

Is the switch physically stuck?


BTW, since you won't actually answer questions, it's tough to know what's going on to help you. All we can do is make guesses, which is pretty frustrating and doesn't make us want to continue.

 

[SkunkyFartz]

What does the switch actually control?

Where does it attach inside the battery?

Is the switch physically stuck?


BTW, since you won't actually answer questions, it's tough to know what's going on to help you. All we can do is make guesses, which is pretty frustrating and doesn't make us want to continue.

I really don't know how easy I can make this. The issue is not with the first controller its with the second one.

The switch is literally an on and off switch on the battery. That's it. It's nothing overtly complex. It's a simple on and off switch that prevents sparking from occurring when connect it to the XT60 connectors.

The controller is a sabvoton controller from a place called Risunmotor.

The issue now is that the battery refuses to be set to off. When the switch is off. But it actually remains ON.

It's a downtube battery style with an on and off switch with led indicator.

 

[amberwolf]

I really don't know how easy I can make this.

Direct answers with the asked-for information to specific questions helps, because we ask these specific questions to find out which things to do, test, or ask next. Without those answers we can only guess based on whatever info was provided so far, and those guesses may lead you down the wrong path.

So I'm only asking these things to help you, not just to get answers. I wouldn't waste time asking things not needed for the process--there's a lot of people to help, and not enough time to do it all.

The issue is not with the first controller its with the second one.

No, but I provided the information so you can know what may have caused the problems, and what consequences there may have been from it, for future reference when you have the same problems again.

Also, since you are using the display from the first one on the second one (as far as can be determined from the information posted so far), it may affect how the second one operates.

The switch is literally an on and off switch on the battery. That's it. It's nothing overtly complex. It's a simple on and off switch that prevents sparking from occurring when connect it to the XT60 connectors.

The issue now is that the battery refuses to be set to off. When the switch is off. But it actually remains ON.

It's a downtube battery style with an on and off switch with led indicator.

Ok, so, the switch is not physically stuck on, at least externally.

But what the switch actually does and how it is wired is unknown, so we can only guess about what is happening:

If the switch is wired up as a direct switch between the cells or BMS (if any), it may have welded the contacts together, since it usually takes a specially designed switch (like a circuit breaker) to not be (eventually) damaged by the spark from the inrush of current to charge the controller capacitors. This usually physically sticks the switch in one position, but if it's the common cheap rocker switch that's used on many of these batteries, the little contacts inside slide back and forth and can be easily broken off the rocker part when this happens, so the rocker moves but it's not connected to the contacts anymore and cant' switch. This can make the noise you heard.

Even when the contacts don't weld, the switch can still break this way.

If the switch is wired up as a control switch for a BMS, so that it simply turns the BMS charge / discharge ports on/off, then the switch may be fine, but the BMS FETs may have failed, which usually means shorted (stuck on), so it cant' be turned off. This doesn't usually make a noise, however, so it's less likely than a mechanical failure of the switch.

If the switch is wired up to control a relay or contactor, that device could have failed welded closed (on), and could make the noise you heard.

There are other possibilities, depending on how the battery is internally wired between all of it's components.

The controller is a sabvoton controller from a place called Risunmotor.

While appreciated, unfortunately that's not info that answers any of the questions.

 

[fechter]

It sounds like the contacts in your switch welded and stuck on.
You will likely need to replace the switch. If you put a resistor across the switch, it will precharge the controller caps when you plug in the XT60 and prevent the contacts from welding, but you'd have to unplug the XT60 to completely turn things off.

 

[SkunkyFartz]

Direct answers with the asked-for information to specific questions helps, because we ask these specific questions to find out which things to do, test, or ask next. Without those answers we can only guess based on whatever info was provided so far, and those guesses may lead you down the wrong path.

So I'm only asking these things to help you, not just to get answers. I wouldn't waste time asking things not needed for the process--there's a lot of people to help, and not enough time to do it all.



No, but I provided the information so you can know what may have caused the problems, and what consequences there may have been from it, for future reference when you have the same problems again.

Also, since you are using the display from the first one on the second one (as far as can be determined from the information posted so far), it may affect how the second one operates.


Ok, so, the switch is not physically stuck on, at least externally.

But what the switch actually does and how it is wired is unknown, so we can only guess about what is happening:

If the switch is wired up as a direct switch between the cells or BMS (if any), it may have welded the contacts together, since it usually takes a specially designed switch (like a circuit breaker) to not be (eventually) damaged by the spark from the inrush of current to charge the controller capacitors. This usually physically sticks the switch in one position, but if it's the common cheap rocker switch that's used on many of these batteries, the little contacts inside slide back and forth and can be easily broken off the rocker part when this happens, so the rocker moves but it's not connected to the contacts anymore and cant' switch. This can make the noise you heard.

Even when the contacts don't weld, the switch can still break this way.

If the switch is wired up as a control switch for a BMS, so that it simply turns the BMS charge / discharge ports on/off, then the switch may be fine, but the BMS FETs may have failed, which usually means shorted (stuck on), so it cant' be turned off. This doesn't usually make a noise, however, so it's less likely than a mechanical failure of the switch.

If the switch is wired up to control a relay or contactor, that device could have failed welded closed (on), and could make the noise you heard.

There are other possibilities, depending on how the battery is internally wired between all of it's components.



While appreciated, unfortunately that's not info that answers any of the questions.

The second controller came with its own display and the display works fine.

The first controller came with a faulty display but I'm no longer using that controller with thr faulty display.

The issue right now is with the battery. I've already managed to figure out how to get the second controller to start up again. But it caused a new problem. The battery not being able to shut off

 

[SkunkyFartz]

It sounds like the contacts in your switch welded and stuck on.
You will likely need to replace the switch. If you put a resistor across the switch, it will precharge the controller caps when you plug in the XT60 and prevent the contacts from welding, but you'd have to unplug the XT60 to completely turn things off.

Wow it can do that? All cause I used the used the Bluetooth dongle stick and I guess the controller didn't like that.
Then once I removed the XT60 extension cable and attached the battery directly onto the controllers built in xt60 cable.
It made a clicking noise in the battery. Suddenly I wasn't able to switch the battery into jts off mode.

It's on all the time. And im kinda afraid to plug it back in.

 

[amberwolf]

The issue right now is with the battery. I've already managed to figure out how to get the second controller to start up again. But it caused a new problem. The battery not being able to shut off

I covered the major possiblities for that in the post you quoted. But you will have to open the battery and test things to find out which one it is, or see that the switch is wired in some other way than any of the common ones I listed, tell us / show us that, and then we can see what else might have happened.