ELECTRIC CARRERA VENGEANCE PROBLEM

[Martin5050]

Hi guys,
would you be able to give me an advice on my electric Carrera Vengeance (current model). The bike is over a year old but covered less than 100 miles from new and is still in new condition. There is no warranty with it unfortunately.
Everything was fine with it at the beginning but later on i started to have intermittent problem. The controller was flashing sometimes (code 00 was flashing on the screen which means CONTROLLER COMMUNICATION PROBLEM) and there was no power when pedaling. This problem was on and off, if you leave the bike overnight it starts ok in a morning and you can cover 2-3 miles until the problem comes back. I tried to disconnect the battery, disconnect the controller, disconnect the motor but nothing worked. I had this problem for about three weeks and then i had to go abroad for two months.
When i came back after two months i started the bike and took it for a ride. The screen is not flashing anymore however there is no power when pedaling. Controller shows the speed as it should, no error codes however no power when pedaling.
I bought another electric Carrera Vengeance, exactly the same one (fully working donor) and tried to swap the following parts: controller, battery, rear wheel with a motor and a crank sensor. All these parts work absolutely fine in a donor bike and when i took all these parts from a donor bike and put them on my bike the problem didn’t go away, there is still no power.
So i presume there is no problem with controller, motor, battery or sensor. And now i am lost…..
Why my Carrera doesn’t work? Would you be able to give me an advice what else should i try to replace or how should i try to find a problem?
To resume: no power when pedaling. The screen is not flashing, no error codes. Tried another controller — no power, tried another battery — no power, tried another motor — no power, tried another crank sensor — no power.

 

[vfr400]

Which type of pedal sensor does it have? Is it the magnet disc type?

 

[Bonzo Banana]

So what didn't you replace between the donor bike and your bike. I think the torque sensor is a common area of failure plus cables can get damaged. I would search these forums and youtube by Carrera suntour ebike as many of the carrera ebike models use the same suntour motor system and have similar faults. Halfords have sold 100s of thousands of ebikes based on this Suntour system so pretty much every fault and solution is well documented. I personally think its a very good motor system with admittedly a few potential weak points that some owners have experienced but there are such a huge number of Carrera ebikes out there with this system. I was in a Halford's store where they had had a delivery of bikes and the store had no rear access so all the boxes were bought in the front, despite being a small store a huge number of the bikes were Carrera ebikes. Admittedly some were the Carrera Crosscity which doesn't use the Suntour system but most of the others were Suntour based ebikes. Definitely seemed like the store was selling a lot of ebikes as much if not more than conventional bikes. This was about a year ago and if anything I've read ebike sales have increased.

The great thing about having a donor bike like you have is you are eliminating possible causes so should help you focus on where the fault is. I'm confident you will sort this soon either by a single component replacement or maybe repairing a cable.

 

[Edward Elizabeth]

If the battery hasn't been used, discharged and charged for a year then that wont help at all.

As above, what haven't you replaced? Try substitution, one hint at a time then back to stock, then the next using, then back to stock, and so on. Include control wires in the process.

Again, as Bonzo mentions, the system is decent enough. The motor is very good indeed and the batteries themselves generally robust if treated properly. Torque sensor, controller, and electrical connection problems tend to be the culprits on the bikes with full suntour systems.

 

[Martin5050]

I am not sure to be honest what type of sensor it is, here is a picture.

 

[Martin5050]

So what didn't you replace between the donor bike and your bike. I think the torque sensor is a common area of failure plus cables can get damaged. I would search these forums and youtube by Carrera suntour ebike as many of the carrera ebike models use the same suntour motor system and have similar faults. Halfords have sold 100s of thousands of ebikes based on this Suntour system so pretty much every fault and solution is well documented. I personally think its a very good motor system with admittedly a few potential weak points that some owners have experienced but there are such a huge number of Carrera ebikes out there with this system. I was in a Halford's store where they had had a delivery of bikes and the store had no rear access so all the boxes were bought in the front, despite being a small store a huge number of the bikes were Carrera ebikes. Admittedly some were the Carrera Crosscity which doesn't use the Suntour system but most of the others were Suntour based ebikes. Definitely seemed like the store was selling a lot of ebikes as much if not more than conventional bikes. This was about a year ago and if anything I've read ebike sales have increased.

The great thing about having a donor bike like you have is you are eliminating possible causes so should help you focus on where the fault is. I'm confident you will sort this soon either by a single component replacement or maybe repairing a cable.

I replaced the motor, controller, battery and a sensor. I replaced one thing at a time, if it didn't work i put original part back on it. I haven't check the cables because most of them are inside the downtube and i doubt they can be damaged...

 

[Edward Elizabeth]

You can't make assumptions about what will or won't be damaged.

You've eliminated the probable, therefore whatever remains, not matter how implausible, must be at fault. Either substitute the cables one by one, or test them all for both continuity and resistance.

 

[vfr400]

I am not sure to be honest what type of sensor it is, here is a picture.

That's the torque sensor.

Logically, the code is telling you that its a problem between the LCD and the controller. That can happen in two simple ways: Firstly, the connection is getting interrupted; secondly, something is interfering with the 5v so that that one of the CPUs (controller or LCD) software can't operate correctly. Either way, the cable and LCD receiver would be very high on my suspects list.

 

[Nealh]

It's a shame you have spent all that money when in reality it would have made sense to rip it all of and fit a KT kit for less then £100 and know it will work as others have done.

 

[Martin5050]

You can't make assumptions about what will or won't be damaged.

You've eliminated the probable, therefore whatever remains, not matter how implausible, must be at fault. Either substitute the cables one by one, or test them all for both continuity and resistance.

Well yeah.. i am not very good with electrics unfortunately, i only tried to swap the easy bits and i will try to swap one or two cables over

 

[Martin5050]

That's the torque sensor.

Logically, the code is telling you that its a problem between the LCD and the controller. That can happen in two simple ways: Firstly, the connection is getting interrupted; secondly, something is interfering with the 5v so that that one of the CPUs (controller or LCD) software can't operate correctly. Either way, the cable and LCD receiver would be very high on my suspects list.

Logically yes. When you open manual and check the error code page, flashing code 00 means CONTROLLER COMMUNICATION PROBLEM. If i understand correctly CONTROLLER is a little box on a handlebars with digital speedo, which allows you to turn the bike on and off and select the level of assistance. Am i right?? I was 99% sure that the problem is with controller when it was flashing however, like i mentioned, later on it stopped flashing and now it doesn't show any error codes. I might be able to replace the long controller's cable which is inside the downtube, seems to me a bit complicated but i will try.
However before i try this should i try to replace the whole crank? Or at least the right side, where the sensor sits? I remembered now that i heard some strange crunching noise coming from a crank especially when was pedaling uphill and the crank was under some pressure.

 

[Edward Elizabeth]

The controller is the electronic brain, mounted on Carrera bikes either in the base of the battery holder, or latterly underneath the down tube but forward of the bottom bracket. The bit on the handlebars is the display panel.

The HESC torque sensing cranks are a little rattlly and noisy at the best of times. The torque sensor itself is optical and can become grunged up and fail to operate, as can the castellated ring inside the crank set. The good news is that the crank set is strippable and easily cleaned, and the torque sensor can also be cleaned.

 

[vfr400]

Logically yes. When you open manual and check the error code page, flashing code 00 means CONTROLLER COMMUNICATION PROBLEM. If i understand correctly CONTROLLER is a little box on a handlebars with digital speedo, which allows you to turn the bike on and off and select the level of assistance. Am i right?? I was 99% sure that the problem is with controller when it was flashing however, like i mentioned, later on it stopped flashing and now it doesn't show any error codes. I might be able to replace the long controller's cable which is inside the downtube, seems to me a bit complicated but i will try.
However before i try this should i try to replace the whole crank? Or at least the right side, where the sensor sits? I remembered now that i heard some strange crunching noise coming from a crank especially when was pedaling uphill and the crank was under some pressure.

The communication is between the control panel you have on the handlebars and the electronic motor controller that is locaded elsewhere as described in the above post. They are joined by a cable, but one area you should check out if you have a removable control panel is the piece it clips onto. The spring pins can jam or the contacts can be contaminated or anything like that.

 

[Nealh]

The issue with the Suntour system is it appears from a lot of user problems it the system creates more issues then it solves.

 

[Martin5050]

The controller is the electronic brain, mounted on Carrera bikes either in the base of the battery holder, or latterly underneath the down tube but forward of the bottom bracket. The bit on the handlebars is the display panel.

The HESC torque sensing cranks are a little rattlly and noisy at the best of times. The torque sensor itself is optical and can become grunged up and fail to operate, as can the castellated ring inside the crank set. The good news is that the crank set is strippable and easily cleaned, and the torque sensor can also be cleaned.

Ok i understand now, it means i simply replaced the display and of course it didn't help. There is a thing similar to the one on a picture attached at the bottom of the frame next to the crack, hidden inside the frame, it that a controller?

 

[vfr400]

That's it. Probably faulty if you didn't replace it or not connected properly.

 

[Martin5050]

That's it. Probably faulty if you didn't replace it or not connected properly.

Ok i will have a look. Are they normally "plug and play" type or require some soldering?

 

[vfr400]

Ok i will have a look. Are they normally "plug and play" type or require some soldering?

The picture shows connectors.