Freego bike spares

[tpabike]

Hi, I've owned and used electric bikes for about eight or nine years. My wife and I 'invested' in a pair of 'Freego Hawks' about six years ago and had no problems with them until earlier this year, when my wife's bike started an intermittent power supply problem. My local electric bike dealer investigated the fault, and identified the power controller as the source of the problem. (I thought that it might have been a hub motor issue)
As Freego have gone bust, I'm looking to see if anyone has a source of replacement power controllers before I give up, scrap the bike and buy her something else!
tpabike

 

[vfr400]

Controllers can't really go intermittent, so the guy has most likely wrongly diagnosed the cause of your problem. Intermittent would be a connection issue or maybe the battery has come to the end of it's life.

Can you give us a lot more details about your problem? How did it start? What do you mean by intermittent? What happens on the control panel?

 

[tpabike]

The problem started with the power 'cutting out', but was restored occasionally by switching the battery off, and then on again. We checked the tightness of the connector to the hub motor and there was no movement in the connector. I swopped my battery (which is exactly the same age, and has had as much duty as the battery of my wife's bike) with the one one her bike - we had exactly the same issues. The lights on the control unit on the handle bar stayed on, even when the power died. There were shorter and shorter intervals before the power cut out, and eventually died altogether. If you know the Hawk, it is quite a heavy pedelec and is quite difficult, or impossible to ride 'power off'.
At this point we handed over to our local bike shop, who retro-fits electric systems to bikes, as well as selling new electrics.
I guess with Freego out of business, I'm going to have major issues with trying to source any 'power train' spares such as the controller or the hub motor. Most of the stuff I've read about alternative hub motors seem to feature higher voltage batteries and more powerful (possibly illegal) hub motors, but I'd be grateful for your thoughts about this one!
tpabike

 

[vfr400]

The Freego Hawk uses standard Chinese parts, so it'll be no problem to keep your bike going. The motor, controller, control panel and other parts are all inter-changeable with similar items that you can buy from Ebay, Amazon, Aliexpress, etc. In fact, you can buy a Freego hawk controller from Ebay, but you have to be careful because there are more than one type.

Have you had a look at the controller yet?

You should open the compartment and pull it out. That will give you a chance to check the motor connectors at that end of the cable, especially the bullet connectors, which can look OK, but are not actually clamping tight.

While it's out, take some photos with the wires spread out, so we can see all the connectors and their wires. If you have the old type with the throttle and brake connectors there, disconnect them before reassembling everything so that you can test the bike without them to see if they're causing the issue.

If you have the umbilical chord with all the wires running up to the handlebars in one cable, disconnect the throttle and brakes at the handlebars to test the bike without them.

Those umbilical chords can be problematic, so the problem could be in there instead of the controller itself.

What did the bike shop do to check it? Did you see him pull the controller out?

 

[tpabike]

The Freego Hawk uses standard Chinese parts, so it'll be no problem to keep your bike going. The motor, controller, control panel and other parts are all inter-changeable with similar items that you can buy from Ebay, Amazon, Aliexpress, etc. In fact, you can buy a Freego hawk controller from Ebay, but you have to be careful because there are more than one type.

Have you had a look at the controller yet?

You should open the compartment and pull it out. That will give you a chance to check the motor connectors at that end of the cable, especially the bullet connectors, which can look OK, but are not actually clamping tight.

While it's out, take some photos with the wires spread out, so we can see all the connectors and their wires. If you have the old type with the throttle and brake connectors there, disconnect them before reassembling everything so that you can test the bike without them to see if they're causing the issue.

If you have the umbilical chord with all the wires running up to the handlebars in one cable, disconnect the throttle and brakes at the handlebars to test the bike without them.

Those umbilical chords can be problematic, so the problem could be in there instead of the controller itself.

What did the bike shop do to check it? Did you see him pull the controller out?

No, I didn't see the repairer at work on the bike. (Covid restrictions and all that, I'm afraid)
Thanks for the details about investigating the fault - I'll certainly go through the check list you've suggested, and come back to you with photos etc. when I've had a chance to work through it. It might not happen immediately as I'm in the throes of moving house, and the bike is currently hung up in the garage out of the way.
I was wondering whether should take it with me, or simply break it down for 'less bulky spares' such as the wheels and smaller components. I'll definitely take it with me now, and work on it once we get straight at our new place.
Thanks for your help.
tpabike

 

[Macster58]

Hi I have a FreeGo hawk and was wondering if you managed to repair the issues?. Also I know it’s a long shot but I have blown my controller as stupidly while everything Was in bits on the floor I managed to connect the battery terminals to the wrong polarity and my controller went pop so the circuit board is actually damaged so I was wondering if you were actually going to scrap your bikes would it be possible I could buy your faulty controllers so that I can make one out of what I have I understand if you can’t but I thought I’d ask thank you

 

[djbob]

hi, i`m looking for freego a back wheel. 26 inch

 

[djbob]

Hi I have a FreeGo hawk and was wondering if you managed to repair the issues?. Also I know it’s a long shot but I have blown my controller as stupidly while everything Was in bits on the floor I managed to connect the battery terminals to the wrong polarity and my controller went pop so the circuit board is actually damaged so I was wondering if you were actually going to scrap your bikes would it be possible I could buy your faulty controllers so that I can make one out of what I have I understand if you can’t but I thought I’d ask thank you

i have two freego controller s ? both from the hawk and ren ?