Bosch motor/display cutting out.

[Phil Dryden]

Hi all,
Couple of months ago bought a new Cube Kathmandu with Bosh Performance Line CX motor and Intuvia display. Within the first week, I noticed that the Intuvia display would go blank and the motor cut out whilst riding, on a completely random basis. Might go 10 rides without doing it, then do it 3 times on one ride. Sometimes the display and motor will come on again by itself after 2-300 yards; on other occasions I have to switch it back on manually. Had it back to the dealer who has checked for loose connections and done a software upgrade but the problem persists. Bosch have been advised and it would appear that it is not a general problem they are aware of. I have now been given a new battery to try, and it seems we are in the ball game of substituting one electrical item at a time. This does not appear to me to be a very scientific approach, given we have diagnostic systems and a major electrical component manufacturer involved. It could also take weeks to sort it out at this rate. I wonder if anyone else has had a similar problem, or can any technical guys offer any suggestions? Many thanks in advance.

 

[KTM Bike Industries UK]

Try taking the display off and cleaning the connections, it sounds like thats all it is.

have you got it screwed on still?

 

[Phil Dryden]

Hi, thanks for your reply. No, I haven't got the display screwed on - I prefer to keep it detachable for security, so I clip it on every time. I have tried cleaning the terminals on the back of the display and the mounting bracket - went through a spell of doing it with a rag dampened with WD40, but did not appear to make any longterm difference. Have also cleaned the battery terminals as best I can, by blowing. Bike has never had water on it. I have noticed that the first thing to disappear is the Intuvia speed indicator, followed by the rest of the display - could it be a fault with the speed sensor/wiring?

 

[Artstu]

Given it just goes off I'd say it's a fault with the actual head unit, any other issues should give you an error code on the display.

 

[Phil Dryden]

Hi, and thanks for your reply. I think you could be right. One of the reasons I tended to focus on the speed sensor is that the gap between magnet and sensor I measured at 12mm. Ok, the manual says it can be 5 - 17mm but it still seems a bit wide to me. I think, however, I will press the retailer to try replacing the head unit and bracket. I must say they have been quite obliging, but I can see the issue dragging on which is not acceptable on a 2k bike. I have done a ride with the new battery and still had the problem, so it appears the original battery is ok.

 

[Artstu]

does the head unit switch on whilst off the bike? it will stay on for a few seconds.

 

[Phil Dryden]

Yes, no problem. I can switch the head unit on and scroll through the menu whilst it is off the bike. It will stay switched on for ages - I normally switch it off manually when I have finished with the data and zeroed it.

 

[Nev]

Although not exactly the same I had a similar problem with my Cube emtb with a Bosch CX motor, and someone else on this forum had the same problem too. Rather than write it all out again, here is the thread.

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/cube-reaction-hybrid-sl-500.31183/page-2

I started to mention the problem in a post I wrote on the 17th of May, if you read through the rest of the posts you will find what finally sorted it for me, I hope this might be of some use to you.

 

[Phil Dryden]

Nev, thanks for that. I've read through the thread and it crystallises my thoughts around the speed sensor and the head unit. Other replies have also been pointing in that direction. Will keep you posted.

 

[Danidl]

If the head unit is in communication with the battery, the speedometer numbers will be displayed, if it loses contact, the speedometer disappears, but the battery strength will still appear. . If the head unit is in communication with the thumb switch, then you can change the amount of assistance and the information screen.
If the speed sensor is not in the correct position , the speed will read zero, there will be no assistance and the display will turn off after a few minutes.
The position of the sensor magnet on the wheel is important and it is offset from the detector on the frame. .. I made that mistake once. . If it's actually in line eit does not work.

 

[Bizzel]

Hi, did you get to the bottom of the problem? Mines doing the same

 

[Phil Dryden]

Hi Bizzel,

I've just picked up on this thread. You will see that I have replied at length yesterday in the personal message you sent me, which was where I first saw your query. Hope you get the problem resolved soon.

 

[mnaeh]

Hi Phil,

I'm having the same issue and I was wandering if you could share the solution here, in case someone else stumble upon this thread?

Cheers!

 

[zakventis]

FYI...
In my case (last week/Performance CX) the Intuvia stopped talking to the rest of the system - no speed, no motor info, no go! Bosch diagnostic @LBS showed error 4B0 (software fault in the Intuvia). Over 2 years old so bought a replacement (£70) and all back to normal.

 

[Phil Dryden]

Hi Phil,

I'm having the same issue and I was wandering if you could share the solution here, in case someone else stumble upon this thread?

Cheers!

Hi, and many apologies for the delay in replying - just returned from 2 weeks in Spain. I never did get to the bottom of the problem because in the course of trying to sort it out, the retailer damaged another cable and to their credit they decided simply to replace the complete bike. I was not impressed with the 'diagnostic' methods used, though. Appeared to consist of me riding 11 miles to the shop, they would replace some random electrical part, and I would then ride it for a few weeks to see if it was sorted. Back to the shop it it recurred. They were in touch with Bosch as the bike was still under warranty, but it seemed an amateurish hit and miss way of doing things. With a car, they would hook it up to diagnostics and identify/replace the faulty part in one visit. I was mightily glad when they replaced the bike. For what its worth, I thought it was a poor connection somewhere between the Intuvia display and the motor system, but they were initially fixated on the battery. Hope you get it sorted soon.
Phil

 

[mnaeh]

Hi, and many apologies for the delay in replying - just returned from 2 weeks in Spain. I never did get to the bottom of the problem because in the course of trying to sort it out, the retailer damaged another cable and to their credit they decided simply to replace the complete bike. I was not impressed with the 'diagnostic' methods used, though. Appeared to consist of me riding 11 miles to the shop, they would replace some random electrical part, and I would then ride it for a few weeks to see if it was sorted. Back to the shop it it recurred. They were in touch with Bosch as the bike was still under warranty, but it seemed an amateurish hit and miss way of doing things. With a car, they would hook it up to diagnostics and identify/replace the faulty part in one visit. I was mightily glad when they replaced the bike. For what its worth, I thought it was a poor connection somewhere between the Intuvia display and the motor system, but they were initially fixated on the battery. Hope you get it sorted soon.
Phil

Hey, don't worry. I hope you had a great time in Spain. Thanks for the answer. I havn't had any "major" issues since I wrote my last post, but my theory so far is that either speed sensor needs few meters of bike movement to "react" (if the cut-off is very short) or some contact gets loose i.e. battery of Intuvia display (if cut-off is a bit longer and contact needs to be reestablished). If and when it happens again I will pay more attention and try to test my theory. Let's hope I will never have the chance

 

[Niallzagreb]

Hi, did you get to the bottom of the problem? Mines doing the same

Hello - I have two bikes (both 6 months old) . They are both now cutting out. Sometimes it’s just the speed number that disappears and the drive stops providing power. In this case the power returns to normal after 5 or 10 seconds. Other time the whole display (Intuvia) goes blank and I need to stop the bike take off the display, put it back on to get it going again. It seems both of these faults happen when I drove over bumps on both bikes! ANy suggestions?

 

[zakventis]

FYI...
In my case (last week/Performance CX) the Intuvia stopped talking to the rest of the system - no speed, no motor info, no go! Bosch diagnostic @LBS showed error 4B0 (software fault in the Intuvia). Over 2 years old so bought a replacement (£70) and all back to normal.

Update... after 12 days and 211 miles the new Intuvia failed! Exactly the same fault as its predecessor. Back to my LBS, Bosch diagnostic failed to find anything significant so the motor unit is now going back to Bosch for assessment.

 

[sjpt]

I saw on another thread here that could be related. That was more specifically about 530 errors, but the error seemed to depend on the kind of display, whereas the cutting out happened whatever the display.

So, sort of third hand: https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=131953
~~~
For example on that forum: https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/thread ... 530.32091/
You've done most of what it says there. Maybe not:

I had the same and found simple fix for it.. id had a couple of stacks on my bike i started getting a 530... after months of getting a 530 a mate of mine had a look at it thats also an engineer.. the top battery locking bracket where the key goes in had slid upward about 4 or 5 mil ... making the battery loose.. its been 3 days now.. working fine now that it has been readjusted and a firm hold on the battery... Paul

Unread postby Johnocyprus » 11 Aug 2019, 7:01am
I had intermittent power loss and packed the battery with polysterene, problem solved.

 

[mnaeh]

Update form the trenches

First, I would like to make a short disclaimer. In my case the described issue occurs quite rarely, so take all my findings and assumptions as "statistically weak". I simply do not have enough sample data to draw any strong conclusions.

I definitely managed to distinguish 3 separated issues (divided into 2 "categories" of issues):

1) Power cuts-off mid ride. I'm 99% sure it has to do with hitting a bump. I tried to remove Intuvia, cleaned it (it already looked completely clean) and put it back but the issue continues. My Intuvia display is also screwed with a security bolt so I guess that improves contact and eliminates display itself as component from the "bump" equation. I also tried removing the battery and cleaning contacts, but they were also already clean and looked like there was no visible issues I could pinpoint as a culprit.

2) Assistance is not supplied upon system start. This one is more common for me. There are 2 issues in this category:

- The power doesn't kick in even after 10-20 meters of pedalling and sometimes display goes blank during this time. Starting it again (with on/off button) did the job once. Also, hitting the battery couple of times helped once. Last time this happened I manually pressed the little button located on the battery and the display immediately showed 0 as detected speed and started providing assistance. I didn't see if the battery indicator was lit before pressing the button. Maybe, somehow the system fails to turn on the battery?

- The assistance doesn't start immediately but kicks in within seconds after I start pedalling. My guess is that this is related to sensor alignment and system just needs a moment to register its movement. I also might be wrong. This might be exactly the same as the previous issue, only resolves by itself quickly. Maybe there is a delay in turning on the battery because for some reason system fails to do that, and, after some default time set by Bosch, system concludes that there is no battery or tries to restart or something else (thus turning off the display).

All this is just my guessing.

It might be useful for all who report this issue to say which motor/display/battery combination they have. In my case it's CX / Intuvia / PowerPack 500.