Motor cutting out, thoughts?

[Joshua Gibbins]

I bought a velectrix male Urban + which is the same in make as the Volt - Pulse X in the UK.

I ride the bike on max setting for about 20 minutes to work and 20 minutes back home and the bike keeps cutting out on me around the same distance.
I use the motor most of the distance on setting 5 so it i try to get the full juice out of it, just be riding about 15 miles an hour, all of a sudden the motor dies off and I have to peddle a heavy rig down the road for 3 or 4 minutes.

then it kicks back in and I go on my way for a while till it happens again.
The LCD display isn't going off and I have never removed the battery from the bike since purchase.

I tried to put the bike in for warranty to have this problem checked out but no one seems to know what the issue is, is the bike overt heating? anyone had this issue before?

 

[vfr400]

You can eliminate the battery because the LCD would switch off if the battery cut off and you'd have to manually switch it back on. There's not really any way a problem in the motor can do that either, so that leaves the controller, the wiring and the pedal sensor.

If it does it on all levels, it could be the pedal sensor. If you have a magnet disc on the crank, check that it's tight on the shaft and that the gap to the sensor is an even 1mm.

If it only does it on level 5, it's probably the controller over-heating. You need to check it when the motor cuts out. It shouldn't become any hotter than what you can comfortably hold.

 

[Joshua Gibbins]

I don't really know what the problem is to be quite honest, I don't think the bike shop knows either, but yes the bike motor will cut out on other levels, not just level 5, happened on 4 too.


I'll ride the bike, (not up to a steep hills) and around the same time or place each ride the bike will cut out and you can feel the motor on the backstop working. I bring the bike to a complete stop so the LCD display shows I am doing 00 speed but when I paddle again the motor won't kick back in and I just have to peddle this heady ride for 3 - 4 minutes then it will start to operate again.

today when the motor cut out on the way to work, I turned off and on again the LCD display on the handlebar and I feel like it kicked back in quicker, but then it cut out again much quicker a little further down the road.

any ideas?

 

[vfr400]

Check the pedal sensor then.

 

[Joshua Gibbins]

How do I check it?
The pedal sensor is the light under the pedals yeah?
I looked at it, but it looks correct.
What am I looking for?

 

[Joshua Gibbins]

 

[Nealh]

Sounds like controller cutting out/thermal cut out. Mosfets have a max op temp and probably these reaching the limit in pas 5 and temporarily shorting causing the cut out (once they cool down they work again). Your controller isn't vey accessible so you can't hold it to see how hot it actually gets though if you took an Allen key you could whip the side plate off to feel it.

 

[JPGiant]

As above re the controller overheating, try to maintain a slightly higher speed when hill-climbing in particular, to prevent this.
Also double check ALL the cable connections are fully together.

 

[Nealh]

An option if you have a small 6 fet controller is to upgrade controller to a larger model with 9 or 12 fets, controller will then operate at a lower heat level as more fets to take the load and heat.

 

[vfr400]

Put a light finger on the magnet disc to see if yoy can hold it stationary when you turn the pedals. It should be tight enough on the shaft not to slip.