Is the Activeline Plus motor waterproof?

[Saudidave]

Hi

My house and garage were flooded last Wednesday and my Raleigh Motus Grand tour had the motor 75% submerged for approx 8 hours. The water was above the level of the cranks so the key is the extent of water sealing the motor has. Has anyone got any knowledge of the potential effects of this please?

I have already emailed Bosch about this and await their response. It rides and operates perfectly by the way, but I am aware that this kind of treatment causes potential long term issues with domestic appliances and cars as it causes corrosion internally over time


Thanks, Dave

 

[Andy-Mat]

Hi

My house and garage were flooded last Wednesday and my Raleigh Motus Grand tour had the motor 75% submerged for approx 8 hours. Has anyone got any knowledge of the potential effects of this please? I have already emailed Bosch about this and await their response.

Thanks, Dave

Are you insured for any damage to the bike? I am guessing, but a house and contents would surely cover it....
If yes, simply ask the original seller for a full service, to make sure everything is dried out.
If you believe that water has got in to the motor, or the controller, remove the battery, and do not try to run the motor.
I hope the insurance side works out, maybe they will replace the bike?
Best of luck.
Andy

 

[soundwave]

not good imo but it can be fixed if the controller board can be saved.

The home of ebike motor parts -

Spare parts, bearings and repair service for most common ebike motors

www.performancelinebearings.com

 

[Saudidave]

Are you insured for any damage to the bike? I am guessing, but a house and contents would surely cover it....
If yes, simply ask the original seller for a full service, to make sure everything is dried out.
If you believe that water has got in to the motor, or the controller, remove the battery, and do not try to run the motor.
I hope the insurance side works out, maybe they will replace the bike?
Best of luck.
Andy

 

[Saudidave]

Hi Andy

A house and contents won't cover it, unless you specifically point it out,have it recorded and pay an additional premium for it. If you don't bikes are usually covered but with a value limit, say 300-500 pounds per bike. Mine has been registered as a £2,250.00 single bike and the loss adjuster has noted it and told me to have a service at my L.B.S. They will only replace it if the cost of a repair exceeds replacement or is close to it.

With respect to L.B.S.'s selling ebikes, a large majority are father to son enthusiast bike shops who know a lot about traditional bike mechanics, but 3 parts of diddly squat about ebike technology, hence my post.

I reckon myself that it will knacker prematurely due to internal corrosion of pcb's over time but a numbty bike mechanic will have no understanding of that, hence this post in a search for experience and knowledge of the technology. The motor is a sealed unit (in the engineering, but not in the waterproof sense), so aforesaid numbty bike mechanic won't have a clue if it is dry inside or what effect the dirty waters may or may not have had.

 

[Saudidave]

not good imo but it can be fixed if the controller board can be saved.

The home of ebike motor parts -

Spare parts, bearings and repair service for most common ebike motors

www.performancelinebearings.com

Thanks for the response, however saving the PCB (controller board) only becomes an issue if the motor isn't sealed against the ingress of water, hence the post to try to gain knoowledge of that happening

 

[soundwave]

Thanks for the response, however saving the PCB (controller board) only becomes an issue if the motor isn't sealed against the ingress of water, hence the post to try to gain knoowledge of that happening

tbh without opening the motor and having a look first id not power it on either way the warranty is void as flood damage so not much you can do about that bosch warranty wise.

imo the lbs will right it off as the motor and batt is most of the cost

 

[Saudidave]

Thanks for the response but it doesn't really make much sense and is gobbledegook without punctuation.

The warranty is irrelevant to the question. I wouldn't expect Bosch or any other manufacturer to honour a warranty which breached the use beyond the purpose for which it was deigned

As regards your personal opinion, again, not a lot of logic in it. They don't give the cycle parts of this bike away for free and the battery on it , which retails at circa £500.00 wasn't water damaged, it sits above the level of the motor and is intact and pristine, therefore how have you developed the opinion that the damage isolated to the motor, if any, will deem it beyond economic repair?

I'm sure that if it isn't waterproof as opposed to just splash proof, which it must be sitting low down behind the front wheel of a bicycle, it will be damaged, hence the reason for this post in the first place

The question is, is it likely damaged at all?

Dave

 

[Darren Hayward]

It's impossible to say if there was water ingress without opening it up. Personally I'd expect a few drops to have gotten in and rust to be an issue in future. How much warranty is left? If its getting short or if you think the warranty is blown anyway then I'd open it up myself and leave it to dry totally for 2 or 3 days and that would probably cure any long term water issues. If you don't want to open it up then its a coin toss situation as to when/if there are any issues. How far are you prepared to risk peddling it unpowered to get home if it does fail?



Darren

 

[Chris M]

If it still works then I wouldn't worry. If it was only surrounded by still water which came to only just above the motor then there wouldn't have been much pressure. When a bike is cleaned with just a hosepipe there is almost certainly going to be water hitting the motor casing at a higher pressure. The motor is supposed to be waterproof to a degree anyway.
My ALP motor was completely submerged in water a few hundred miles ago (with me riding it) and I haven't encountered any all effects. I had to ride it for a couple of miles after said submergence to get back to base and the motor was working better than me! I did leave it lying in the sun (without battery) when I got home to help it dry out.

 

[Benjahmin]

Problem with Bosch motors is that not even Bosch service agents aren't allowed to open the motor, they all have to go back to the factory. There is a chap who seems to have started a bussiness replacing Bosch bearings and stripping the motors (out of warranty). His contact details can be found here:

Looking for trade partners for ebike motor repairs

Performance Line Bearings are looking for partners world wide to help supply a much needed service for customers with ebike motors without warranty. As you’re probably aware, many ebike motors are now coming to the end or already out of warranty. We are offering a solution for your customers...

www.pedelecs.co.uk

From what I've read, he should be able to give you the info you want.

 

[soundwave]

As regards your personal opinion, again, not a lot of logic in it. They don't give the cycle parts of this bike away for free and the battery on it , which retails at circa £500.00 wasn't water damaged, it sits above the level of the motor and is intact and pristine, therefore how have you developed the opinion that the damage isolated to the motor, if any, will deem it beyond economic repair?

bosch dont sell any motor parts bar a service kit for the right hand side but the only thing that stops water getting in is just 2 bearing each side of the motor, cleaning it with a pressure washer is enough to get past the bearing seals so a hole room full of water wont be doing it any good at all.

you can send of the motor to the above link for him to take a look inside bearings can be replaced but some parts you just cant buy esp the controller board drive shaft ect.

id take off the side cover and have a look first and see how bad it is and try and dry it out but you could fry the bms on the batt worst case.

 

[Saudidave]

bosch dont sell any motor parts bar a service kit for the right hand side but the only thing that stops water getting in is just 2 bearing each side of the motor, cleaning it with a pressure washer is enough to get past the bearing seals so a hole room full of water wont be doing it any good at all.

you can send of the motor to the above link for him to take a look inside bearings can be replaced but some parts you just cant buy esp the controller board drive shaft ect.

id take off the side cover and have a look first and see how bad it is and try and dry it out but you could fry the bms on the batt worst case.

Thanks for the response but the video link is for a different Bosch motor, not mine.

I spoke with Bosch technical support this a.m. and was assured that if I didn’t have an error code on my display unit then all was O.K.

That will do for me; I have no error codes, the bike rides, changes power levels normally and charges normally so I think it will be just fine.

Time to spray it with muc off, then hit with a pressure washer. (Not!)

Thanks to all for advice, Dave

 

[soundwave]

there pink bike cleaner is fkn good paint stripper for the price tho

 

[BazP]

Thanks for the response but the video link is for a different Bosch motor, not mine.

I spoke with Bosch technical support this a.m. and was assured that if I didn’t have an error code on my display unit then all was O.K.

That will do for me; I have no error codes, the bike rides, changes power levels normally and charges normally so I think it will be just fine.

Time to spray it with muc off, then hit with a pressure washer. (Not!)

Thanks to all for advice, Dave

I'm not implying anything by this but I've been hitting my CX motor with a pressure washer for 36 months and to date have not had any problems. If it explodes tomorrow it will have been cheap cycling for the miles that I have done.

 

[Saudidave]

You have either been very lucky or they are waterproof in the true sense, not just splashproof

 

[Saudidave]

Seven weeks on and it operates normally, so it doesn’t appear damaged. In any way.

 

[Saudidave]

Nine weeks on and it would appear my conclusion was a little premature!

I’ve now ridden about 150 miles on the bike since the flood and at around 100 miles in to that 150, freewheeling became noisy and there was definitely more vibration through the pedals. By 130 miles in the nexus hub was making a scraping and screeching sound so I took the wheel in to a local Raleigh dealer, Woodsons in Edgeley, Stockport and Simon did a full oil service to it. It’s now as new so hopefully disaster has been averted.

The Bosch motor has been and remains faultless in operation. Cosmetically the bike still looks new.

Dave

 

[PershingQp]

Hi

My house and garage were flooded last Wednesday and my Raleigh Motus Grand tour had the motor 75% submerged for approx 8 hours. The water was above the level of the cranks so the key is the extent of water sealing the motor has. Has anyone got any knowledge of the potential effects of this please?

I have already emailed Bosch about this and await their response. It rides and operates perfectly by the way, but I am aware that this kind of treatment causes potential long term issues with domestic appliances and cars as it causes corrosion internally over time


Thanks, Dave

This could be a huge problem cause by the flooding damage, and I am talking now more about your garage or home. You better pay much more attention to the house, and the damage caused by the water, because it could create you a real problem. You can read a lot of useful information from this article about a recent blog post on water damage restoration. For example, my brother had nearly the same story, his garage was flooded last year, but he was paying too much attention for his car and he forgot to take care about his garage. To be honest, the damage was not significant at the first sight, but he hadn't done anything for saving his garage at all. The problem was that the water destroyed the walls, and there was nothing possible to do to save the situation, so now he is rebuilding his garage and it will cost him much more money. So my advice is to try to solve the flooding issue as fast as you can, and try to remove and recover all the damages caused by the water.

 

[Bobajob]

Dave
What ever you decide is your choice. If that happened to me I’d ask Bosch formally if the motor develops a problem knowinit had been submerged for said time, would they honour the warranty.
Their response I feel would dictate what further action you need to adopt.
If Bosch won’t honour any warranty then an insurance claim for a new motor etc etc.