January 27, 2024
Common faults and troubleshooting methods of electric tricycles
An electric tricycle uses a battery as its energy source and converts electrical energy into mechanical energy for movement through controllers, motors and other components to control the size of the current and change the speed. Electric tricycles can not only carry people, but also cargo, which brings a lot of convenience to people’s lives.
However, it is inevitable to encounter some faults and problems even when using custom electric tricycle. So when encountering these problems, can users check by themselves? What about the troubleshooting? The following will introduce how to detect some common faults of electric tricycle, hopefully it will offer you some reference. And you can also refer to top 10 electric tricycle manufacturers in China.
Table of Contents
Common faults of electric tricycle
- The whole vehicle is out of power
First check whether there is power from the power supply. If not, check whether the fuse is good. If the fuse is normal and the power supply is out of power, check whether the internal electrode connections of the power supply are loose and whether the LiFePO4 battery (or NMC battery)is open circuit. If the power supply is powered, check whether the power cord and power lock are normal.
- The vehicle has power but the motor does not run
Short-circuit the positive red line on the ebike controller and the speed yellow line on the handle. If the motor is running normally, the motor and controller are good. If the motor does not run, either the motor or the controller is bad. If the motor and controller are normal, but the motor does not run, it may be a problem with the handlebar and brake lever.
And the following are some common faults that can happen to both electric tricycles and fuel tricycles.
- Unstable engine operation
| Faults | Fault causes | Troubleshooting |
|---|---|---|
| Oil line | The oil line is semi-blocked. | Clear the oil line. |
| Electric | High-voltage wire or ignition coil leaks. | Replace it. |
| Capacitor is open or leaking. | Replace it. | |
| There is too much carbon deposit between the spark plug electrodes. | Remove the carbon deposit. |
- Clutch failure
| Faults | Fault causes | Troubleshooting |
|---|---|---|
| Clutch slipping | Clutch control system is improperly adjusted or damaged. | Adjust, repair or replace it. |
| The friction plate is worn or damaged. | Replace the clutch plate. | |
| Spring has lost elasticity or shortened in size. | Replace it. | |
| The clutch is not completely separated | The separation stroke is inappropriate. | Adjust, repair or replace it. |
| The thickness of the friction plate is inappropriate. | Replace the clutch plate. | |
| Uneven spring force | Adjust the same set of springs. |
- Shifting is not working properly
| Faults | Fault causes | Troubleshooting |
|---|---|---|
| Cannot shift into gear | The shift fork is broken or deformed. | Replace the shift fork. |
| The shift hook or shift shaft assembly is broken or deformed. | Replace it. | |
| Difficult to shift | Incomplete clutch separation | Troubleshooting by clutch. |
| Uncoordinated gear shifting operation. | Improve the operation. | |
| The shift hook is worn or eccentric. | Replace it. | |
| Shift cylinder cam groove or the pin is worn. | Replace it. | |
| Out of gear | Gear engagement claw or hole is worn. | Replace the gear. |
| The spring force of the limit block is insufficient. | Replace the spring. | |
| The transmission cylindrical cam and shift fork are worn. | Replace the cam or shift fork. |
- Poor engine idle
| Faults | Fault causes | Troubleshooting |
|---|---|---|
| No idle speed | Improper adjustment of the carburetor. | Readjust the idle speed fine-tuning screw. |
| The oil and gas lines are clogged. | Clean the oil and gas lines. | |
| The oil level in the float chamber is too low. | Adjust the oil level in the float chamber to the specified height. | |
| The idle speed is too high | The elasticity of the carburetor throttle spring is too small. | Replace the spring. |
| The idle speed measuring hole is too large. | Replace the carburetor. | |
| Unstable idling | Wrong ignition timing. | Adjust ignition time as specified. |
| The mixture is too rich or too lean. | Adjust the carburetor. | |
| The spark plug gap is too small. | Adjust the gap to the specified value. |
- The engine automatic stops
| Faults | Fault causes | Troubleshooting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel system failure | Fuel exhausted | Refuel. | |
| No fuel supply | Blocked oil line | Clean the oil line. | |
| Carburettor clogged | Clean carburetor. | ||
| Electric | Disconnection | Check the electrical wiring in order from the spark plug to the magneto. | |
| The engine locks the cylinder or seizes | Severe cylinder locking and the piston seizes. | Repair or replace it. | |
| Other mechanical seizure failures. | Should be repaired or replaced after identification. | ||
- Engine overheating
| Faults | Fault causes | Troubleshooting |
|---|---|---|
| Poor cooling conditions | The cooling system is damaged. | Repair or replace the parts. |
| Run in place for a long time at high speed. | Stop and cool down before working again. | |
| Air has entered the water pump inlet pipe, and the water pump is in poor working condition. | Check whether there is air leakage in the pipe and eliminate it (it is strictly prohibited to connect the small circulating water pipe near the water inlet of the water pump). | |
| Overload or operate at high speed for a long time | Used a low gear or operate on a bad road surface for a long time. | Improve the operation method or stop the operation temporarily. |
| Worked with full throttle for a long time. | Adjust the throttle appropriately. | |
| Clutch slipping. | Adjust or replace it. | |
| Muffler clogged. | Remove the carbon deposits. | |
| Fuel system failure | Wrong fuel mixture ratio. | Adjust the oil pump to match the carburetor. |
| The mixture is too rich or too lean. | Adjust the carburetor. |
- Difficulty or failure to start
| Faults | Fault causes | Troubleshooting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operation | Improper operation | Follow the instructions. | |
| Fuel supply system | No oil | Fuel tank is out of fuel. | Add fuel. |
| The fuel tank switch or carburetor is clogged. | Clear the oil line. | ||
| There is fuel accumulated in the cylinder. | Remove the fuel from the cylinder. | ||
| Air filter clogged. | Replace the filter element. | ||
| There is no mixture in the cylinder. | There is air leakage in the intake system. | Tighten the carburetor and air filter connecting bolts as required. | |
| The oil line is clogged. | Clean the oil line. | ||
| Electric | Spark plug faulty | The spark plug has a large amount of carbon deposits. | Remove the carbon deposits and clean them with gasoline. |
| Bad ignition coil | Replace it. | ||
| Air | Low cylinder compression | The spark plug is leaking. | Tighten the spark plug. |
| Air leakage from cylinder head or cylinder block joint surface. | Clean the flats, install the gasket, and tighten the cylinder head nut. | ||
| Valve leakage. | Regrind or replace it. | ||
| The piston ring or cylinder block is severely worn. | Replace the piston ring or cylinder block. | ||
| Poor ventilation | Muffler blockage. | Clear it. | |
| Carbon deposits in the cylinder exhaust port or muffler. | Remove the carbon deposits. | ||
| The mixture is too rich or too lean. | Adjust the carburetor. | ||
| Others | Used wrong fuel. | Replace the fuel. | |
Electric tricycle detection method
- Check the brushless motor
- Unplug all the wiring harnesses connected to the motor, use the diode level of the multimeter, and point the red needle of the multimeter on the thin red line of the six-core plug of the motor. The value should be displayed above 900, if it displays zero or infinity, it is bad.
- When the power is on, use the 200V DC voltage range of the multimeter. The black needle points to the thin black wire of the six-pin plug, and the red needle points to the thin yellow, blue, and green wires respectively. Turn the motor, and the bike battery voltage should display as 0-6.25V. The maximum and minimum values of the three lines should be similar.
- Check the handle
Use a multimeter to measure the nine-core plug of the controller at the 20-volt voltage range. The black needle is pointed on the thin black line and the red needle is pointed on the thin yellow line. At this time, the voltage should be about 1 volt. Turn the knob to the bottom and the multimeter will display from 1V to 4.2V or 4.8V, which means that the handle is good.
- Check the brake lever
Use a multimeter to measure the nine-core plug of the controller at the voltage level of 20 volts. The black needle is pointed on the thin black line, and the red needle is pointed on the thin purple line. The voltage should be about 6 volts. If it is zero, the brakes are often powered off. Hold the brake lever, and the multimeter should display zero at this time, and if the voltage remains unchanged, the brake handle will not be powered.
- Check the brushless controller
- Detection of power tube damage: A bad power tube is manifested by the vehicle not running or missing a phase. The multimeter should show a value of about 500-600. If the test result of a certain phase shows zero or very small, the upper power tube of that phase is damaged. If the value displayed by the multimeter is zero or very small, the lower power tube of the phase has broken down. If the value displayed by the multimeter is very large, the power tube is open circuit.
- When the power is on, use a multimeter to measure the voltage range of the nine-pin plug of the controller.
Hailey
Hi, I am Hailey, Since I graduated with my master's degree in physics, l have dedicated myself to lithium battery industry and worked with lithium battery engineers to complete various lithium battery design and manufacturing projects. Based on the electronic knowledge as a lithium battery engineer for more than 4 years, I am now mainly responsible for writing content about lithium battery and I would like to share my views with you.
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