running 24v controller at 36v

deacon · #1 08-24-2009, 12:59 PM

I did this post because I thought I had learned something but now I'm not sure. My bike with the 7ah pack ran about three miles then started to shut down and come back. I finally came to the conclusion that it was low voltage and that the controller shut down based to the amps not the volts but now I'm not sure. The battery pack seems to have regenerated or I had a really bad connection. I am checking it out now but I wanted to change this post before I left the wrong impression with someone.

If anyone knows what a controller does when over powered as far as voltage shutdown I am curious to know now. I have based my rhino bike range based on the controller running to lower battery pack voltage because it is a 24volt controller. I will have to run more tests now and not rely on my intuitive thinking.

deacon · #2 08-24-2009, 03:03 PM

I have done some further tests and this might help anyone else going electric. running 36v on a 24v controller will not increase the range of the battery pack. It will not run at reduced voltage for the extra time that it would seem that it should. The controller cuts out at a volt or two under 36 just as it would a volt or two under 24. It obviously has more to do with the available amps than the volts in the pack.

One more thing I learned that confused me at first and was the reason I pulled the first post. After a couple of hours the batteries read a higher voltage than they do when under the "fatal" load. So when I went back to check them again they read 38v. Seemed to me like I had a connection problem, so I redid the connections and it looked just fine. I took the bike out with 38volts showing. It ran very slowly so I brought it back and it was down to 37v in less than half a block. Obviously the reading was a surface charge kind of thing. Like a dead flashlight that will come back on for a second or two.

Well hope this makes sense to you. I'm going to have to work on extending my range by adding more batteries to increase the AHs..

What I have is a 3mile pack... a 6+mile pack and I can always combine them for a 10mile pack I think. That is pretty much the next plan.

use the 3 mile pack for my daily park walk.... use the 6 mile pack for my trips to the store and even to the lake maybe... for sure have the capability of combining them for a longer ride if necessary...