Electric Scooter Fuse Location (Plus How to Change the Fuse)
In most cases the fuse (or circuit breaker) is located in the nest of wires under the deck or footplate of your scooter near the battery. This means you need to remove the screws with a screwdriver and lift the deck up. Some scooters have the fuse in line with the charging port. Check your electric scooter’s manual to be sure.
There is a very good reason for knowing your electric scooter fuse location, namely that you need to change it because it has blown. A fuse will break the circuit in the event that there is too much current flowing which protects your scooter and its components. A fuse essentially sacrifices itself to break the circuit – it contains a piece of wire that will melt and break the circuit if the current going through it is too great, saving the wires and potentially your whole scooter from catching fire.
Put simply, the fuse plays a crucial role in protecting your electric scooter’s battery and motor from potential damage due to overloading or power surges. That all being said, it could be the reason why an electric scooter doesn’t turn on so it may initially seem like more of a curse than the blessing it is. After all the fuse blowing has stopped damage to the rest of your scooter.
Once the fuse has blown it will need to be replaced before your scooter can get up and running again. It is pretty straightforward to do yourself, but if you aren’t confident you can take it to an electric scooter repair shop near you.
How to Change the Fuse on an Electric Scooter
There are 2 distinct parts to the process of changing the fuse on an e scooter. The first involves working out how the fuse has blown and if you need to replace any components that have been damaged in the process, and the second involves actually replacing the fuse itself.
1 Diagnose Why the Scooter’s Fuse Has Blown
When you unscrew the scooter’s deck with a screwdriver, check the fuse and surrounding area for clues as to why it has blown. If you have been pushing the scooter too hard for too long there is chance that it has blown due to the components overheating.
Check for burns, cuts or damages of any kind in the fuse, wires, wire connectors, or other electrical components, as well as loose connections or wires. There will be a burnt plastic smell if anything has burned which provides another clue as to what has happened. Burned or damaged wires or components need to replaced as soon as possible. Again if you are not confident doing this yourself get an expert to do it for you.
One possible cause of the blown fuse could be that the speed controller is defective, so make sure to check it too. Again you are looking for visible signs of damage such as burns, as well as the tell tale smell of burning plastic. If the speed controller shows any of these signs it is very likely the source of the blown fuse and it needs to be replaced.
If the speed controller seems to be ok then the next thing to look at is the motor itself. If the coils in the motor have overheated then you will again smell and burnt smell and there could be visible signs of damage. You might have to replace the motor coils if they have overheated. The plastic insulation on the wire windings of the motor may have come off so take care here, and if you aren’t confident take the scooter to a repair shop.
If at this stage you still haven’t been able to diagnose the problem then will need to consider whether the fuse blew during a specific action i.e. when you hit the brakes or when you powered the scooter on. If this happened when you hit the brakes then it is worth checking the brake light circuit to see if there is anything amiss there. If it happened when you powered the scooter on then it makes things harder because it could be any of the issues mentioned above, as in any of the components receiving power. At this point if you still don’t know why the fuse has blown you should probably take it to a repair shop because it is likely something less obvious, but you can at least feel you did your best with it all the same.
2 Replace the Fuse with a Compatible One
If you have been able to diagnose the problem and know what parts (if any) need replaced, then the job of replacing the fuse is pretty simple. The fuse needs to be removed from its plastic casing and replaced with a new and compatible fuse. Check the manual or the fuse itself to see which one you need. Note that some electric scooters don’t have a plastic casing for the fuse and it may be placed directly into the wiring.
The fuse can be identified as a cylinder-shaped object with 2 bits of metal at each end, like a small cylindrical light bulb.
If you enjoyed this article you might also like to read one of our other e scooter maintenance articles such as top tips for electric scooter maintenance.