Upgrade from a Weelye Controller

Introduction

Are you looking to replace your motors in a ride on with an existing controller that limits the start up current or do you want to add variable speed control and braking? If you want to increase the speed of any ride on, it requires more power. The stock controllers are designed to handle the expected load of a stock ride on and do not account for installing larger faster motors like Andy Mark Redline 775’s or Vexpro 775’s.

Once you increase the power (any increase in speed requires more power) the stock controller will either shut down because it is overloaded or burn out quickly, I have looked into a few of the stock options available today to try and assist installing the Peanut Workshop DRV230BD as an alternate to handle larger motors. The highest rated stock controller I have found is 40A at 24V, the DRV230BD is rated for 30A per channel (60A total) up to 35VDC. The 30A rating per channel is lower than actual, this board can handle up to 40A per channel continuously if your wiring can handle the current.

Note: Replacing the stock Weelye controller with a DRV230BD will result in loss of power steering and remote control functionality.

Note: The DRV230BD V6 controller will not be compatible with the Low/High speed selecting functionality when wired in a stock car if replacing a Weelye controller, only Forward High and Reverse are compatible.

Different Weelye Controllers

There are many different controllers with different ratings, I have compiled a list to determine how to replace some of the units.

From my research, I have found the following equivalent models:

RX71 12V is equivalent to RX18, RX23, RX7, JR-RX, JR1922, RX19, RX37

RS74 24V is equivalent to RX30 and RX98

If you have these models the wiring below should match your car, you should have a 7 pin connector that enables power to the device and provides gear selections. Only 6 of the 7 pins are used, if all 7 pins are used additional investigation will be required to determine how to retrofit your ride on.

Example 7-Pin connector

How to wire in DRV230BD

The image below shows what the original wires do on the 7 pin factory connector, an HY2005RX 24V version was used to confirm functionality of the 7 pin connector.

**Verify the connector pinout matches what is shown below, connecting the incorrect pins to the DRV230BD can result in permanent damage**

Determine which pin coming out of the 7-pin connector is PIN 1 per the drawing below and which is PIN 7. If you have a multimeter, use it to check voltages. High / Low, Forward, Reverse will be approximately 3V when not active and 0V when active. VIN+ will be battery voltage and Power ON will be 0V when the ON/OFF button on the car is not selected and battery voltage when enabled. If you have different voltages than these your car wiring does not match this guide.

Logic Wire Description

It is very simple to modify the wire harness and wire in the DRV230BD. Cut the wires you need (Pin 2, 3, 4, 6, 7) you do not need to cut the wire connected to pin 1 as it is not needed. I recommend cutting far enough back so you can strip the wires and re-connect the stock controller plug if you need to.

It is very important to follow the pin connections shown and not wire colors.

DRV230BD V6 wired into stock wire harness for Weelye 4WD controller

Each of the Weelye controllers have different motor and power connection locations, just match correct power input and motor locations when wiring.

Fusing

The stock vehicles typically have a resettable thermal fuse, as shown below circled in blue. If you are planning to increase the total power output this will likely need to be replaced with the properly sized fuse. The stock fuse is selected based on the controller power capability and the stock wiring is sized to account for the maximum power draw of a stock vehicle. It is necessary to replace the stock wiring from the battery to the DRV230BD and the DRV230BD to the motors with the proper size, we recommend 10AWG.

Example of a stock thermal fuse