Well, I'm no expert but the first thing you need to do is charge the battery. It should be 42v fully charged and 32v fully discharged.
Which switch were you pressing? You can't take any notice of transients on the LCD because the capacitors in the controller will power it for a second or so.Update:
I charged the battery to its full capacity (green light on charger).
After many attempts to switch the bike on, it read 41.4v - which is what it normally showed when the battery was fully charged previously.
What caught my eye was, as I was repeatedly pressing and holding the button to switch the system on, it would turn itself off after a fraction of a second but this time, as it did that, the display faintly showed the battery was 'empty', it had like one bar or zero bars - I couldn't read the voltage.
But mere seconds later I succeeded in switching it on and it read 41.4v as I said. 5 full bars.
Intuition tells me it could be the battery cable that came with the kit, it's a 2 bullet points to 2-pin julet that connects to the controller
(see attached image)
But it could also be the controller?
Also, would I still be able to perform the aforementioned tests if my controller has that julet/waterproof connector?
(image also attached, obviously the battery cable is the one with the 2 protruding pins)
Alas, I don't even have the tool(s) necessary for the job.
I'm puzzled but, since a few days have passed I'm calmer. The kit and the battery are well under warranty since I've only had it since late January - hopefully I'll get it resolved. Fingers crossed.
The one on the LCD display, the button you press and hold to turn the bike on.Which switch were you pressing? You can't take any notice of transients on the LCD because the capacitors in the controller will power it for a second or so.
In that case, I'd say there's a strong possibility that there's a battery connection issue, which will probably get fixed when you install the new controller unless you have a burnt battery connector in the cradle, which happens when you insert a battery that's switched on.The one on the LCD display, the button you press and hold to turn the bike on.
Looking back, I meant button and not switch.
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I still haven't heard from Yose since they said they were going to simulate the issues with their engineers.
I cannot recollect ever doing that. My battery stays on the bike as I use it mostly for commuting and I never remove it when I park it there.In that case, I'd say there's a strong possibility that there's a battery connection issue, which will probably get fixed when you install the new controller unless you have a burnt battery connector in the cradle, which happens when you insert a battery that's switched on.
You need to find the bad connection. If you hanged the LCD with the controller, it'll be between the battery connection to the controller and the cell-pack. If you didn't change the LCD, it will probably be in te cableto it or a wire pulled. Look for where tat wire is squished, including the wire to a separate switch unit. Mine recently got squished by the bell.I cannot recollect ever doing that. My battery stays on the bike as I use it mostly for commuting and I never remove it when I park it there.
And I'm always paranoid and double check I flip my battery switch to 'off' whenever I'm not using the bike.
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I was so hesitant about fitting the new controller I only got to it this morning.
Sadly the same symptoms persist with the new controller as well.
Right off the bat I struggled to turn the system on (pressing and holding the on button on the display).
After many attempts of the display going blank, it did come on.
I lifted the bike, and pressed the throttle for a good two minutes.
Battery was full as I'd left it. 43.3v. The display registered 37km per hour as usual (same no load top speed as when I first got the kit).
I let go of the throttle for a bit, then pressed it again; and after about 10 seconds the bike went dead, and the display went blank as I was pressing the throttle.
I waited about half an hour, went to the garage again, pressed the button on the display and the bike worked first time of trying.
I decided to take it for a test ride. And after about 5 minutes of the bike working normally, it went dead again as I was pedalling.
I am perplexed, and I will reiterate I never see any error code on the display or anything, the battery seems to be holding charge.
The way to find the cause of problems is by testing. The voltage comes from the battery through the battery connector, then through the controller's connector, then up to the LCD. When the LCD doesn't switch on, the voltage is interrupted somewhere. Your meter can find where.I did not change the LCD.
Yose sent me the controller only.
Just now I went down to the garage, pressed the button and the bike/system turned on as normal, I lifted it and held on to the throttle for a good 3 minutes. It got to 37.2 km/h, the battery read 41.2v, no error code on the LCD screen.
I then stopped and turned the bike off.
That's what puzzles me how it can sporadically work as normal, and then at times not even turn on, or turn itself off as I press the throttle or pedal when I'm test riding it.
I'm thinking it's the battery cable that connects the julet connector on the controller to the 2 bullet red/black connectors of the battery. But I might be way off.
I inspected the wires back when the issue started, I didn't see anything damaged or squished, but I will certainly look again.
Is there a chance it could possibly be the LCD screen?
I've really looked after the bike since I've fitted the kit.
I ride 20 miles a day 5x a week to commute. More or less 35 minutes each way, mostly incline on the way home with 10% gradient max.
My commute is mostly on cycle lanes, probably 70% of it.
I reiterate I do not use the throttle, I only fitted it back in to test things. I much prefer pedalling.
I rode on the rain no more than twice, the second time I had one of those battery covers on.
I never dropped the bike or the battery.
Before the issue started that Thursday just over 2 weeks ago the bike worked faultlessly, not a stutter before that.
The one thing about the battery is that I couldn't remove it from the cradle yesterday when I read saneagle's post about the battery cradle possibly being an issue.This might be a complete red herring, but perhaps worth checking. I have a downtube battery fitted on top of a rear pannier rack on one of my bikes and it would randomly shut down (inc display). I couldn't replicate the problem on a stand. I eventually discovered that after hitting a few bumps the battery would slide slightly out of the carrier bracket, breaking the circuit. The act of getting off the bike was just enough of a "jiggle" to re-make the connection so it would power up again OK, until the next random series of bumps dislodged it again.
The fix, of course, was to make sure that the battery was locked in the carrier bracket - something I got lazy about if I did a circular trip without leaving the bike anywere.
This is less likely if the battery is on the downtube as the weight of the battery should keep it firmly in place. I was surprised that there were no tell-tale burn marks on the connector pins.
It makes sense, but what puzzles me is that it will sporadically work like normal for a good 10 minutes even.The way to find the cause of problems is by testing. The voltage comes from the battery through the battery connector, then through the controller's connector, then up to the LCD. When the LCD doesn't switch on, the voltage is interrupted somewhere. Your meter can find where.
You test to find where the fault is, then examine it to see what it is.The one thing about the battery is that I couldn't remove it from the cradle yesterday when I read saneagle's post about the battery cradle possibly being an issue.
Even when I first installed the battery removing it was a struggle, but yesterday I just couldn't get it off the thing. It's very firm and secure though.
It makes sense, but what puzzles me is that it will sporadically work like normal for a good 10 minutes even.
What caught my eye was, as I was repeatedly pressing and holding the button to switch the system on, it would turn itself off after a fraction of a second but this time, as it did that, the display faintly showed the battery was 'empty'
Sound advice and you can test downstream i.e. starting at the battery, or upstream or by binary chop depending on what you can get to easily. Intermittent faults can be due to overheating or vibration with poor contact in plugs or cradle, or sometimes a strained wire or water ingress.The voltage comes from the battery through the battery connector, then through the controller's connector, then up to the LCD. When the LCD doesn't switch on, the voltage is interrupted somewhere. Your meter can find where.
The LCD flickers because it's powered by the capacitors in the controller. That happens when the battery shuts down as soon as you switch on the bike. The battery must have been active before it shutdown in order to charge the capacitors. It's normally a sign of a short somewhere downstream of the controller or a very weak battery.Sound advice and you can test downstream i.e. starting at the battery, or upstream or by binary chop depending on what you can get to easily. Intermittent faults can be due to overheating or vibration with poor contact in plugs or cradle, or sometimes a strained wire or water ingress.
However you've mentioned a flicker from the display, that suggests the display does have power (to scan the On button) but then intermittently the controller sees something that shuts it down, immediately (barely visible) or later.
See if you can monitor the battery between cradle and controller while starting and ideally while riding (load and vibration). A pair of bullet connector Y-leads and DMM should do it. What you're looking to catch is a healthy battery voltage that momentarily plummets to less than LVC (32V?) when you press On, or the voltage fluttering while you rock the battery in its cradle or rotate the motor backwards. The DMM refreshes slowly so persevere!