Cyclotricity failing, any clues?

[Paul Wrighton]

As I have described here my cyclotricity conversion kit is no longer performing as it should...

Although I continue to get drive using the throttle for full power everything else is far from ideal.

Do any people have any clues as to what may be wrong?


I checked today and all the actory settings remain per defaults.

What else could I try, or what might need replacing?

 

[Nealh]

What's not working PAS ?

 

[Woosh]

first thing first, unplug the throttle.
A stuck or sluggish throttle will disable pedal assist mode.

 

[Paul Wrighton]

A stuck or sluggish throttle will disable pedal assist mode.

That's interesting, will give that a try soon. But pretty certain its not the issue, since throttle works perfectly, in fact is only part that does!

PAS has never worked, but I use this bike in brute force mode with a trailer often and just letting throttle out uphill. So that's not an issue for me, I have another bike as my main pedelec.

What's stopped working is the console, which often fails to register any speed at all, and even if it does pick up the speed later in the journey it will wildly underestimate it.

As a result trip and battery readings are all way off.

I can still use it. But it seems like the system is falling apart somewhat...

 

[sjpt]

Sounds as if the sensor for detecting wheel movement has got out of alignment; or possibly the wire/connection from it to the console is bad.

 

[Woosh]

That's interesting, will give that a try soon. But pretty certain its not the issue, since throttle works perfectly, in fact is only part that does!

the throttle is programmed to override the pedal sensor. If the controller detects a voltage on it, it will turn off the pedal signal.

 

[Nealh]

As Woosh has said dis-connect the throttle, set the PAS up to work could be the disc slipping or sensor gap to great (should be about 1 -2mm). Some sensors have a red LED on them this should light up as the sensor pulses.
Test the sensor via the wiring at the controller, you should see 1v between Gnd and signal wire (hall sensor failed if 1v not seen), rotate the cranks to activate PAS sensor and the reading should show 4 -5v pulses. i

Speed sensing depends if it is 9 wire motor cable (internal sensor) or not. If it has a spoke magnet then check the gap to sensor ( 4 - 5mm ).
Speed sensor you should be able to use the same test.
If internal speed sensor and it has failed, it is fairly straight forward to add an external speed sensor.

To fault find you need to be methodical and not haphazard, one thing at a time.

 

[Paul Wrighton]

It's an internet sensor, which leaves me challenged! And judging by the connector when I removed the wheel it is indeed a nine wire system.

I'll go google internal repairs now....

Is the sensor a hall effect one then?
And my lbs specialise a little in ebikes, any chance they might take this on? Not sure I'm up for it...

 

[jwm]

Check the PAS disc, though it seems like a realy secure fit when you first put it on, it works loose. I also find (I have the same kit) that dirt etc from the bridlepath I use clogs up around the disk and jams it up, leading to no PAS until you clean it off; I have now glued mine in position to stop this happening.
The speed sensor on this kit is odd as once it hits the preset limit it stops telling you your actual speed... so not really useful once you have pedaled past 15.5mph.

John

 

[Nealh]

It's an internet sensor, which leaves me challenged! And judging by the connector when I removed the wheel it is indeed a nine wire system.

I'll go google internal repairs now....

Is the sensor a hall effect one then?
And my lbs specialise a little in ebikes, any chance they might take this on? Not sure I'm up for it...

Sensored hubs use halls.
If the controller has a white hall block I can prompt you in to how to carry a simple hall test if you have a meter.

An LBS I doubt will have the knowledge or time to carry out tests or repairs.
If the internal sensor is faulty it can be replaced but not a 5 min job, easy option is to wire an externa one in place.