# PB6 repairable? upgradeable?



## drdonh (Aug 8, 2008)

Hi,

After a year of service (actually less not counting the winter break), I think my PB6 is failing. I am getting sporatic acceleration, similar to as discussed in a previous thread:

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32767&highlight=controller+jumps

I believe I confirmed the problem; I measure an "open" spot on my resistance meter at the midrange position of my accelerator. I am guessing I can replace the pot inside the unit with something comparable. In researching the problem, I found many complaints of the quality versus price of the PB6. Has someone indentified an upgrade or good quality aftermarket part to solve this problem?

In the meanwhile, will it damage my controller running it this way till I get the parts? The jumps aren't all that perceptable, yet.

Don
ev-a40.blogspot.com


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## major (Apr 4, 2008)

drdonh said:


> I am guessing I can replace the pot inside the unit with something comparable.


Hi Don,

Was it a Curtis PB-6? Or a cheap knockoff? I've had good luck with good quality PB-6's. I've used and abused several dozen of them. Some for more than a decade. But I did have one fail. But I was running generator field current thru it. Way too much. But the darn thing lasted for several months. But then I replaced the pot. It is a special pot because it has a 80 or 90° full throw. IIRC, cost like $30. But a lot cheaper than a new box.

major


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## drdonh (Aug 8, 2008)

Hi major,
It was an actual PB6. although, it doesnt have the 80 or 90 degree throw you mention, or at least not in its operating configuration. I would estimate more like 50 degrees.

$30 dollars seems a lot for potentiometer, but is a better deal than $90 for the whole new unit. 

Don


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## Tesseract (Sep 27, 2008)

This is the what the inside of the pot from a recent vintage PB-6 looks like... I was called upon to diagnose why a customer's Soliton1 was intermittently accelerating... traced to an intermittent throttle pot. Seeing this was what finally convinced me that we needed to make our own throttle assembly, because I certainly didn't want to rely on this:


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