Batricar Serene 36V with a fault.

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Interesting, How does this work, because the owner said that it applied the brake when it died and wouldn't release?

Normally the brakes are held off by a voltage. If the volts to the brakes, braking relay fails the brakes are applied.
It is a safety feature.

 

[ajlelectronics]

Normally the brakes are held off by a voltage. If the volts to the brakes, braking relay fails the brakes are applied.
It is a safety feature.

Well that seems to fit the symptoms. So on "ignition on", the brakes are energised to release them?

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Well that seems to fit the symptoms. So on "ignition on", the brakes are energised to release them?

Yes..

 

[addjunkie]

That needs a 1000 cc bike engine on the back, just for entertainment of course!

 

[Fred Trevvett]

That needs a 1000 cc bike engine on the back, just for entertainment of course!

Beat me to it...the only two of these I've seen in the past had engines under the seat

Not 1000cc though, I think you're onto a winner there

 

[not done it yet]

Well that seems to fit the symptoms. So on "ignition on", the brakes are energised to release them?

No. ‘Ignition on‘ does not release the brake - it would roll away down-hill if that was the case….

 

[mike 109444]

Again not your scooter but does show typical brake and explains it's operation

 

[Onoff]

Get yourself a black and white cat, paint it red and charge local kids to sit on it. (The scooter not the cat).

Win, win!

 

[Turbo]

My first check would be the batteries. It may have had new batteries fitted but if it has been sitting unused for a while they may be unable to provide enough amps to drive the scooter despite showing 36v. They usually have sealed lead acid batteries & they don't like sitting unused for long periods.

 

[Onoff]

A chap on Facebook, Gewiz Repairs says he's repaired a lot of the Batricar Serene models. Might be something on his pages.

I'd link it but hate FB and only have one friend on there anyway!

 

[Robert Weaver]

https://www.gewizrepairs.co.uk/

 

[voipio]

The website lacks detail. No address, only an 0800 phone number.

 

[Onoff]

The website lacks detail. No address, only an 0800 phone number.

On Facebook he makes lots of comment ref repairs to particular models.

 

[ajlelectronics]

Some progress...

I waylaid one of my customers yesterday who I saw driving past the shop who drives something similar. I asked him to give me a quick demo of how it was all meant to work and when the scooter was switched on, the battery indicator showed 'flat'. Not an issue, I charged it up overnight to achieve nothing as the battery was still flat. I inspected the inside of the charger and found nothing wrong. Rigging it up with 3 12V batteries in series showed that the charger was OK.

The back story is that he had three new batteries fitted not long ago and on his third journey it broke down. I think that he had no idea what the battery indicator meant! It is my suspicion that during battery replacement, the charging socket has become disconnected or damaged, which would explain all the symptoms.

Once I figure out how to get at the 'works' I will report back.

 

[not done it yet]

Surely a voltmeter across the battery terminals, with the charger energised, will shed some light on the situation.

You are aware that some (most?) battery chargers will not initiate a charging cycle if the battery terminal voltage is too low?

 

[ajlelectronics]

Surely a voltmeter across the battery terminals, with the charger energised, will shed some light on the situation.

It may well do, but I need to work out how to get to the batteries first! I know nothing about these, so it will be a voyage of discovery.

You are aware that some (most?) battery chargers will not initiate a charging cycle if the battery terminal voltage is too low?

Yes, which is why I rigged up three batteries in series as a test load.

 

[not done it yet]

(nearly?) Two pages and you haven’t even checked if the batteries are connected?

 

[ajlelectronics]

(nearly?) Two pages and you haven’t even checked if the batteries are connected?

Of course they are connected. All electrics are working bar the motor.

I have found out how to get into them and they look new as described. Terminal Voltage 36V for confirmed flat. Nothing obvious around the power connector so I plugged in the charger and it started to charge! I will leave it charging for a few hours and then see if I can work out what is intermittent. It may be just corrosion on the mating terminalsls of course.

 

[ajlelectronics]

I have stripped and freed up the handbrake so it rolls better now. Batteries have had a few hours charge and I can see 38.4V across them so I would have thought that sufficient to make it run. However although all the electrics work as expected, there is still no response from the motor and significantly, the battery level meter is still showing flat. Likely scenario is that because the control panel believes that they are flat, it is inhibiting the motor.

 

[voipio]

Fully charged would be about 42V. It might be worth trying to look at the battery level circuitry to see if there's a problem, e.g. an open circuit voltage divider resistor.