My bike is barely engaging the motor then it flashes error 24

shockslayer

Pedelecer
Oct 7, 2024
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Last week I bought a Sixthreezero "Around The Block" 500w electric bike and the shop sold it at a good price because they were lazy and didnt want to fix it themselves. It's barely used and has only 32 miles on the odometer.

I keep getting error 24 or error 21. And barely any power from the motor. The throttle responds but only for two seconds and it slightly engages the motor. Same with pedal assist. I can hear the motor whine but barely any power from the rear hub

When I first started looking at the bike one of the wires from the battery to the controller had a messed up bullet connection on the male end. I'm pretty sure it was the positive phase wire from the battery to the controller. I thought it would be a good idea to use a butt splice to just bypass the bullet connector for that wire. After I cut the bullet connectors off I did a butt splice with heat shrink and the bike is still showing error 24 or error 21

Also I noticed that there's a puncture in the wiring going to the throttle. It has three wires inside it and I haven't attempted to fix it yet because I'm not entirely sure how to reconnect them. I'm guessing solder them and use heat shrink.

Any advice is welcome, this is my first ebike and I'm just trying to get it working so I can use it to get to work
 

saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
6,561
3,053
Telford
If you think the throttle wires might be causing the problem, disconnect the throttle and see if the problem goes away. You only have to unplug a connector and you have the answer.
 

shockslayer

Pedelecer
Oct 7, 2024
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I unplugged the throttle last night to see if that was the issue but the display was still saying error 24. Error 21 sometimes pops up but it's usually error 24.

When I first got the bike I took apart the bullet connector that was messed up and I tried to reshape it to hold the wires better and the motor engaged alright for like 5 minutes and I tried to make that work but I eventually decided to shorten the wire and put a butt splice connector instead. I'm thinking I probably should have used a solder. But I haven't used one before so I'm hesitant
 

saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
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Telford
I unplugged the throttle last night to see if that was the issue but the display was still saying error 24. Error 21 sometimes pops up but it's usually error 24.

When I first got the bike I took apart the bullet connector that was messed up and I tried to reshape it to hold the wires better and the motor engaged alright for like 5 minutes and I tried to make that work but I eventually decided to shorten the wire and put a butt splice connector instead. I'm thinking I probably should have used a solder. But I haven't used one before so I'm hesitant
Which LCD do you have?
 

shockslayer

Pedelecer
Oct 7, 2024
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I checked that connection last night but I'll double check

When I first got the bike i only noticed that one of the power wires bullet connector was messed up and I fixed that one but now that I checked the other one a few of the strands of wire is outside of the connector. So maybe that has something to do with it. I'll post a picture of the two wires
 

shockslayer

Pedelecer
Oct 7, 2024
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I already checked the 9 pin connector near the chain stay. How do I check that the motor cable is good? Do I need to take the rear wheel off?
 

saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
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I already checked the 9 pin connector near the chain stay. How do I check that the motor cable is good? Do I need to take the rear wheel off?
People always say they checked the motor connector, but they never confirm that it's in ALL THE WAY TO THE LINE.

The motor cable often gets nicked where it comes out of the axle, so check there first, then anywhere where cable ties are holding it to the frame. If you zip the tie too tight, you can squish the wires inside the cable. Check all along its length to the controller that nothing has rubbed against it. Lastly, check all the connectors at the controller end: Bullets can be loose, hall connector pins can be not clipped in properly or that connector can be dirty.

Assuming that you have the rack battery, the controller will be in the compartment at the front of it. You need to look in there to see the motor connectors at that end. They all dismantle in differnt ways, but normally 2 or 4 screws to get the cover off.
 

saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
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Just found this fraying part of the motor wire. There's even a small exposed wire from the look of it. Do I have to replace the whole wire?
Exposed wires aren't good. Connect it all up and see if wiggling the wires makes the problem come or go.

If it was the chain rubbing on it, then it might have been shorting two of the wires. Without the chain, it might work OK, in which case all you need is a bit of tape around it and clip it back where the chain can't touch it.
 

shockslayer

Pedelecer
Oct 7, 2024
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It seems like the wire didn't have enough slack and the frame looks like it frayed it. And that's the motor wire, so I'm kind of wondering if maybe one of the smaller wires inside it got nicked. Should I just tape it up and try it out?
 

saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
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3,053
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It seems like the wire didn't have enough slack and the frame looks like it frayed it. And that's the motor wire, so I'm kind of wondering if maybe one of the smaller wires inside it got nicked. Should I just tape it up and try it out?
If a wire is broken, your motor won't work at all. The photo isn't very clear. Does the motor work OK now that nothing is rubbing on it? If it does, then just tape it up.
 

shockslayer

Pedelecer
Oct 7, 2024
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It's still doing the same as before. The motor only reacts for a second or so and it's barely enough to turn the wheel.

But the first time I tried working on the bike, I had worked on the power wire going to the controller from the battery and the motor actually gave real power for a few minutes. But that's been the only time the motor actually engaged so far. Other then a whining noise when it tries to engage
 

shockslayer

Pedelecer
Oct 7, 2024
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Error 21 kept showing up today when I road it to the store. It was showing less of the error 24. So I'm kind of scratching my head. I think error 21 is a voltage thing
 

saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
6,561
3,053
Telford
It's still doing the same as before. The motor only reacts for a second or so and it's barely enough to turn the wheel.

But the first time I tried working on the bike, I had worked on the power wire going to the controller from the battery and the motor actually gave real power for a few minutes. But that's been the only time the motor actually engaged so far. Other then a whining noise when it tries to engage
Error codes 24 and 21 are from when you get a faulty signal from one of the motor hall sensors. There are quite a few potential causes for that, but most of them wouldn't normally let the motor run at all. Water in the motor is a possibility, and so is water in the controller compartment. Did you check the connectors in there?
 

shockslayer

Pedelecer
Oct 7, 2024
26
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Yeah, I checked the connectors on there when I first bought the bike, the owner of the shop told me the problem was someplace between the controller and the motor. He said that the previous owner accidentally cut through wires when he was screwing on the cover to the controller. Thats why I keep thinking I need to replace this other power wire connection