kudos Typhoon power loss

[enndee]

hi, I've been using my Typhoon for the past year and have covered 660miles. Not a lot I hear you say but that's down to it being 1.5 miles to the train station across town and my using the bike to replace a car for that journey. All things were ok until a couple of weeks ago when It started intermittently not supplying power when I started pedalling. At one point the meter gave an error of 30 but then recovered and carried on working. Today I decided to check what I could and could see no loose leads and the battery is charged ok, however it sort of pulses when pedalling supplying power for a moment then not. The thumb throttle seems intermittent as well and very weak when it does work (must admit I don't usually use it but I'm sure it used to supply full power).

Any one run into this before or have an idea what it is and more importantly how to fix it please?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I thought the Typhoon had a throttle set to 6km/h.

Did you check that the pedal sensor's magnet disc is still running close to the sensor and turning properly?

 

[enndee]

Thumb throttle may be restricted not sure as I have hardly ever used but believe when I first got the bike I used it as a speed boost up hill instead of changing the setting on the meter so would have been expecting more than 6kmh. I feel I may have tried it a while ago and thought it wasn't working properly so may be an unrelated fault if it is a fault.

The magnet disk appears ok did wonder about this as one of the magnets appears to have gone a bit rusty but appears to still be magnetic. The others are pretty clean.
The gap is just over 20/1000s of an inch. Does it need to be closer? When I first got the bike the sensor came loose as the screw holding it in place was stripped a bit, think I super glued it to stop it moving....

 

[enndee]

I've put the sensor even closer, no improvement.
Tried the thumb throttle more and find that's putting hardly any power out, go on to grass and the bike comes to a stop.

 

[enndee]

Just went around the block on the bike and the thing I notice is that the meter reads 0mph even when I'm moving, then it starts displaying a speed and the power kicks in. Once I'm moving reasonably quickly it's as if the power stays on as it should up to it's limit. Also when I suspend the bike in the air so it can free wheel and move the pedal I can feel the power kick in but not all the time. The signs all point to the sensor or cable. Any way to check them?

 

[enndee]

thinking about the speed not showing, that won't be down to the sensor as it shows the speed even when I'm pedalling so does this indicate it's actually the meter, the controller or the hub?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You need to open the controller box and check all the connections in there.

 

[enndee]

I've tried undoing the box and checking the connections. They all appear to be well fastened together and fine. The fault only tends to show when starting off once going it seems to work. The thumb throttle seems to only give a very weak amount of assist, seems to pulse.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

It sounds like you've got an intermittent short on your 5v somewhere. The 5v goes to the throttle, pedal sensor, brakes and any sensors (speed) in the motor. Check every cable carefully. I don't understand what you did with the pedal sensor, but maybe that would be a good place to start. Try disconnecting it to see if the throttle and display works correctly.

 

[Jimod]

I've put the sensor even closer, no improvement.
Tried the thumb throttle more and find that's putting hardly any power out, go on to grass and the bike comes to a stop.

The thumb throttle only goes to walking pace when used alone. If, when you're in a low power setting and pedaling, pressing the thumb throttle will give full power and speed as if you were in power level 5.

 

[enndee]

ok a bit more experimentation aka poking around. Thumb throttle powers the bike at walking pace if you don't pedal. if you do then it surges cuts out, probably back to walking pace, surges etc. Disconnected brake sensor no change disconnect thumb throttle no change, disconnect what appears to be the speed sensor no change. disconnect the pedal sensor and the others work as expected. So.... things are pointing at the pedal sensor or the controller. There's no user servicible parts in the sensor - I checked and the cable looks ok so it looks like I will have to replace it to see if it's that as I've no idea how to test it.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

After a bit of thought, I'd say that a strong possibility is water in the display at some point. You should be able to test it without the display, but I can't say that the PAS will work like that. It's about 50/50. Can you tell us the colours of the wires on the LCD connector?

 

[enndee]

Think I disconnected the display at one point but then it wasn't obvious how to turn the bike on as the switch goes to the display. I had wondered about the display but it seems pretty much a tightly sealed unit with no condensation visible. Surprising though this may seem given the weather it's actually been rare that the bikes got wet when out , it's also stored under cover at the train station and in a garage when at home.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Tell me the colours if you want to try the test.

 

[trex]

..
All things were ok until a couple of weeks ago when It started intermittently not supplying power when I started pedalling. At one point the meter gave an error of 30 but then recovered and carried on working.

Error 30 on the King Meter LCD means communication error.
Two possibilities: the waterproof cable has a break in it or the LCD is intermittently faulty. The second possibility seems more probable.
You need to borrow from Kudos another LCD to reject this possibility.

 

[enndee]

Hmm, that would be a bit of a pain to replace if that was the case.Ive only had that error once. I will ask Kudos to see what they say.
Using the bike today I've found that the thumb throttle does work in that it gives a boost when pedalling. The thing being that I need to pedal at a reasonable rate, slow pedalling and the assist cuts out intermittently.

 

[trex]

in that case, replace the magnet disc with a 12 pole one. It will deliver more pulses, as if you pedal faster.

 

[enndee]

The bike used to work correctly plus it looks to have 12 or more magnets already so not really a solution to the problem I'm having.

One of the things I checked was the magnets as I had noticed one had gone rusty but as far as I can tell the rest are ok and the rusty one still seems to be magnetic after a clean.

 

[enndee]

This weeks instalment... Paul@kudoscycles supplied me with a new sensor (thanks Paul) I've fitted it and...it's still not working. Tried suspending the bike and turning the pedals slowly and the motor kicks in so I now believe the sensor is ok. I've disconnected and reconnected the cables that go to the sensor, throttle, led and speed sensor. Still nothing. However there is another clue. In power level 1 everything appears to work but as soon as I up the level either from the control or throttle it cuts out, drop it back to 1 and it works again. Any more ideas?
Bikes currently next to a radiator to try and make sure it's dry in case it's that given the rain this year.

 

[Alan Quay]

Sounds like a battery problem to me. Works ok on a light load, cuts out when you give it some wellie.

How old I'd the battery?