New E Bike
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Carrera Electric Bike User Manuals and Guides | Halfords UK
Our range of Carrera Mountain bike manuals can support you with setting up and getting on the go with your eBike.
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It's a shame you didn't register here and ask before buying the bike; sorry if this is going to dampen your enthusiasm... you may have better luck than the majority.
The Suntour HESC system is/has been riddled with design/functionality issues ever since it was introduced as a search here on the forum will show (problems over many, many years).
My understanding is it's fundamentally an IR transmitter/receiver assembly that, working under spring tension, opens/closes a window between the components, the wider the window the longer the pulse of IR applying more power. In use, the fragile plastic holding lugs break, or equally commonly, clog with dirt and malfunctions.
Member @d8veh aka @vfr400 aka @saneagle - a pedelec enthusiast and forum contributor here for many many years and a professional ex-e-bike mechanic - has stripped down and repaired (it seems) hundreds of these. He's not an enthusiast of the system for the reasons cited.
A good overview of the workings he's explained here.
The Suntour HESC system is/has been riddled with design/functionality issues ever since it was introduced as a search here on the forum will show (problems over many, many years).
My understanding is it's fundamentally an IR transmitter/receiver assembly that, working under spring tension, opens/closes a window between the components, the wider the window the longer the pulse of IR applying more power. In use, the fragile plastic holding lugs break, or equally commonly, clog with dirt and malfunctions.
Member @d8veh aka @vfr400 aka @saneagle - a pedelec enthusiast and forum contributor here for many many years and a professional ex-e-bike mechanic - has stripped down and repaired (it seems) hundreds of these. He's not an enthusiast of the system for the reasons cited.
A good overview of the workings he's explained here.
I'm aware of that. That's why I'm trying to find out more about it. Why does it get damaged. Is there a way to avoid the problem. What causes the lungs to break. Does this mean that you have to avoid using the bike in muddy conditions or does it need to cleaned after use. It seems fairly easy to replace the sensor with one driven from another sensor or a throttle.
Hopefully others with more experience of this system will comment, but my thoughts from reading prior posts are:
The plastic fatigues through dirt/stress/age and breaks.
I'd think keeping it clean will help reduce fatigue/stress/dirt build-up and thus failure.
As above. The more dirt, the more likelihood of fatigue/stress/failure.
I haven't read that. Some members here have replaced the whole system with a better controller/display system. The forum search feature will show those members here who have documented those changes.
Thanks. I'm not sure the Hesc is too clever for its own good, but it is a good point. The implementation seems a bit lacking in terms of sealing and the strength of the lugs. But if the lugs were stronger then that might cause more damage when things get jammed with mud.
The simplest solution would be to generate the pulses from a throttle and ignore the sensor completely.
There are lots of cheap microcontrollers available. My query really is how the controller responds, is it off on or proportional? The other part of the query is what volts the sensor works at and what voltage pulses the controller expects.
I doubt if I will do anything until my guarantee runs out in two years.
Some legal ebikes have been available with throttled for about a year subject to individual type approval. Perhaps things will change in two years?
The simplest solution would be to generate the pulses from a throttle and ignore the sensor completely.
There are lots of cheap microcontrollers available. My query really is how the controller responds, is it off on or proportional? The other part of the query is what volts the sensor works at and what voltage pulses the controller expects.
I doubt if I will do anything until my guarantee runs out in two years.
Some legal ebikes have been available with throttled for about a year subject to individual type approval. Perhaps things will change in two years?
There are a few threads on the forum here where Carrera owners have discussed and used an Arduino to generate that pulse/add throttles.
Yes, that's member/manufacturer Whisper (who contribute here) where each individual bike has to undergo an inspection/test/approval... available as an extra cost option if required. Many members here just add a throttle and say to hell with the law.
One of my own Chinese e-bikes came supplied with a fully functioning throttle. It's there. I use it.
Crankpullers are usually quite cheap, so say between 5 and 10 quid, but probably on the lower side of that. edit- tenner gets you sorted with something that will last.
ONLY thing you need know about a crank puller is when you screw it into the crank threads, you do it up TIGHT. if you dont do it tight, it will rip through the crank arm threads when you tighten up the inner 'puller' bit, and then you really will be in a world of hurt.
Word of experience when it comes to bike tools - avoid cheap, you arent doing yourself any favours.
ONLY thing you need know about a crank puller is when you screw it into the crank threads, you do it up TIGHT. if you dont do it tight, it will rip through the crank arm threads when you tighten up the inner 'puller' bit, and then you really will be in a world of hurt.
Word of experience when it comes to bike tools - avoid cheap, you arent doing yourself any favours.
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Not the ONLY thing. The OTHER thing is to make sure the inner pusher is fully unscrewed before you screw the puller into the crank threads. Otherwise it may feel you have screwed it in tight but you've actually only engaged a few threads; and you have found a different route to Andy's world of hurt.
p.s. When I did it I was lucky. I could only engage very few threads when I screwed in the puller. Even with those destroyed there were just enough left for the puller to work once it was properly inserted
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I nearly did the same eon a nos Cook brothers racing crank, which for anyone into the retro scene is a bloody expensive set of cranks, especially nos.
I just felt it beginning to move, so stopped pretty damn quick and took the entire bike to my fav bike mechanic(proper bike mech, all the cytech qualifications) he carefully removed my puller, and using a pro one got the crank off without even so much as a scratch.
Big sigh of relief.
I think i'd done just as you say and left the inner bit not fully screwed out.
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d8veh aka vfr 400 still posts now and then offering tech advice or general common sense advice but under a late forums users name/avatar. Said late member was a close freind to him.
HESC is a 36v power supply and like most bikes uses 5v for peripheral component hall sensors. Pas is torque sensing .
There is one no common denomator that causes the failures /cutting out. Some have issues with the TS, some say it the motor connection , I my self think it is partly down to an over sensitive BMS or internal battery temp sensor.
What we have seen is folks after time rip out the electronics and replace them with durable and reliable Kt electronics with cadence sensing.
There is one no common denomator that causes the failures /cutting out. Some have issues with the TS, some say it the motor connection , I my self think it is partly down to an over sensitive BMS or internal battery temp sensor.
What we have seen is folks after time rip out the electronics and replace them with durable and reliable Kt electronics with cadence sensing.
A friend of mine got so hissed off with his Carrera/HESC bike giving him intermittent fails that in a fit of temper, stripped the whole lot off the bike (but left the motor in the wheel) and just rode it without electric assist (a crap ride like that though).
Then introduced that same friend to the TSDZ2 and he fitted one to his Boardman - but I digress. I rescued the Carrera and gave it to another friend who as Neal said, just replaced the controller, PAS and display with something from KT and is happy as Larry with it.
At that end of the price spectrum, Decathlon as a high street brand seems well liked (good value, reliable, helpful, know how to fix them when they go wrong), as do "independent" brands like Woosh.
I'd guess the Rockrider E-ST100 is in a similar bracket to the Vengeance. It's likewise not perfect, but doesn't suffer the complexity of a fragile torque sensor or the annoying/seemingly often unfixable/repetitive electrical issues.
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