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Discussions Question and Answer Forums Electric Scooter, Bike, and Go Kart Repair Forum

Do I need to upgrade my controller

Hi, I have read both, that I need to, and don't need to upgrade my controller if I'm adding a 12 c battery from 48 to 660on my 500 watt electric scooter. Can someone tell me? ThAnks. I have a pic of mine here.
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If you are increasing the Voltage from 48 Volts to 66 (?) Volts then a 48 Volt controller may or may not work with the new higher Voltage. The only way to know if it can handle the extra Voltage is to hook it up and see. Some controllers can handle the extra Voltage while other can not. There is no risk in trying the 48 Volt controller with a 66 Volt battery pack other than it burning out and needing to be replaced. 

Thanks for your time man. And I've read that the 5th battery might not be able to be charged alongside the other 4. Is this true, and how will I know, will it say 48v on the back of charger? I have seen some used trickle chargers on craigslist. What would I look to buy to charge that 5th battery if I need to? Any help is appreciated. And just wondering are you the same person answering all the questions on here. I can't believe how much knowledge you have of electronics, that's amazing.

If a 48 Volt battery pack is replaced with a 60 Volt battery pack then a 60 Volt charger would be needed and should be used to recharge it. However if you are adding one new 12 Volt battery to a used 48 Volt battery pack then using a 48 Volt charger to recharge the original 48 Volt battery pack, and a 12 Volt charger to recharge the new 12 Volt battery would be best so the Voltages of the new and old batteries do not become unequalized. The 12 Volt charger would need to be an automatic type that shut down or goes into float mode after the charging cycle is complete. Some trickle chargers are automatic while others are not so make sure to get one that automatically shuts off after the battery is charged. Although a 12 Volt automotive wet cell trickle charger would work I have to recommend using a 12 Volt SLA battery charger instead because it is designed for SLA batteries and will recharge them to the Voltage level they are designed for.


If a 60 Volt battery pack will be recharged with a 60 Volt charger then it is recommended that all of the batteries in the pack be the same brand, age, and Ah rating. Otherwise the battery Voltages may become unbalanced which will damage the individual batteries in the pack and lower there lifespan.


Please let us know if you have any questions.

There definitely is a lot to learn about electronics and electricity and electric motors. I'm thinking about maybe going to school for it because it does seem interesting.
Hi, I have a 12 v charger that charges at 2 amps. Will that work to charge the 12 v 12 AH fifth battery? I haven't used it yet. So how long would I charge it at 2 amps for? First charge you told me before to go overnight with my 48 v battery pack. How do I go with a single at 2 amps, with no reading on the charger, just an indication light. Its reading 12.6. Should I go to 14.4? Any help would be awesome. Thanks
One more thing, can I wire this 5 th battery into the breaker? If so, just right into the spot where the other wires are inserted already?
A 12 Volt 2 Amp charger is a good match to recharge a 12 Volt 12Ah battery so that will be fine. When the battery is deeply discharged the recharge time should be around 5 hours.Ideally the charger would charge the battery up to 13.8 Volts however if it stops at 14.4 that is fine also.

When adding a fifth battery to a pack consisting of four, the fifth battery should be wired in series with the other batteries in the pack. if it is wired at the end of the pack and its terminal is wired to a breaker then it would be wired to the breaker just as the fourth battery used to be. If it will be charged separately from the rest of the pack then it would need to be disconnected from the pack for recharging, well this is more so the other four batteries can be charged with the 48 Volt charger. The fifth battery could actually be individually charged when connected to the other batteries.
So don't go into the breaker? Just go in series with the other four?

Yes the fifth battery would need to be wired in series with the other four batteries to make a 60 Volt battery pack.

But wouldn't going in parallel only give me 12 v and 60 ah? Cause right now the 4 batteries are wired in series. Positive to negatives. I saw a video with someone wiring the 5 th battery into the breaker.
You are correct, I meant to write in series. Parallel would create a 12 Volt pack instead of 60. I get these terms confused sometimes and it being Friday is not helping any. I have not seen the same video yet however if a lead from the fifth battery went to the breaker then it was probably an end battery in the battery pack so it had to. Thanks for catching my mistake. I am going to go back and edit my previous replies now so someone does not read them and get confused.
Lol, I went back and looked up series. And parallel and thought something was up. Thanks again, this site is a huge help for people. Cheers. Robert.
Don't worry, you're still the master. Lol
I tried wiring the 5th battery into the circuit breaker. It keeps blowing the breaker. Same thing would happen if I wired it into the other 4 batteries correct? If I installed a circuit breaker with a higher number, would it workout? Or just blow my controller? If it might work, what number of circuit breaker would you recommend? Thanks for any help. Cheers. Bobby
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