Bosch 500W battery not connecting to the Intuvia control

zakventis

Pedelecer
Aug 28, 2017
40
25
UK - Wales - Monmouth
I have a Trek with a Bosch Performance CX and 500W battery. Just over two years old (of course) and 8,900 trouble-free miles on the clock. So far, so good.

Yesterday, half way through a 30 mile ride (beer break!) the parked bike got knocked over by a dog and the battery hit a rock on its way down. Minor scratches but no obvious problems and it did the remaining 15 miles home trouble-free. Remaining range displayed 8 miles after resetting. Put it on charge and after 3 hours or so, the lights went out = fully charged, or so I thought.

I (very unusual for me) forgot to switch the charger off and went to bed (any relevance?). This morning I turned the bike on but the Intuvia display didn't connect with the battery and thus no drive. The range now displays 13 miles in any assist. Pressed and held the battery reset button until the lights went out and then came back on... still nothing.

Checked the Intuvia contacts - clean. Checked the connectors under the left side motor panel - solid. But the Intuvia must have some contact with the battery as it lights up when the charger is connected and turned on.

Currently I am waiting for a friend who has a similar bike to come back from work to see if his battery works on my bike and/or mine on his.

Has anyone come across a similar problem? I spoke with Jimmy but he is not a fan of Bosch batteries and hadn't heard of this particular problem.
 

Andy-Mat

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 26, 2018
2,214
562
77
I have a Trek with a Bosch Performance CX and 500W battery. Just over two years old (of course) and 8,900 trouble-free miles on the clock. So far, so good.

Yesterday, half way through a 30 mile ride (beer break!) the parked bike got knocked over by a dog and the battery hit a rock on its way down. Minor scratches but no obvious problems and it did the remaining 15 miles home trouble-free. Remaining range displayed 8 miles after resetting. Put it on charge and after 3 hours or so, the lights went out = fully charged, or so I thought.

I (very unusual for me) forgot to switch the charger off and went to bed (any relevance?). This morning I turned the bike on but the Intuvia display didn't connect with the battery and thus no drive. The range now displays 13 miles in any assist. Pressed and held the battery reset button until the lights went out and then came back on... still nothing.

Checked the Intuvia contacts - clean. Checked the connectors under the left side motor panel - solid. But the Intuvia must have some contact with the battery as it lights up when the charger is connected and turned on.

Currently I am waiting for a friend who has a similar bike to come back from work to see if his battery works on my bike and/or mine on his.

Has anyone come across a similar problem? I spoke with Jimmy but he is not a fan of Bosch batteries and hadn't heard of this particular problem.
How really annoying, but its probably (guessing!) something simple inside the battery, connection to the charging socket might be loose and not making proper contact, or loose main fuse, solder dry joint on the BMS.....
The list is not endless.
The question is, without being rude, how good is your electrical knowledge?
As I would not recommend even an average house electrician to go inside and poke about!
Also, there are certain tools needed, and how to use them safely, and how to avoid setting the battery (and you and your abode) on fire!
regards
Andy
 

sjpt

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 8, 2018
3,680
2,675
Winchester
Checked the Intuvia contacts - clean. Checked the connectors under the left side motor panel - solid. But the Intuvia must have some contact with the battery as it lights up when the charger is connected and turned on.
I have seen a similar symptoms when I have put the Intuvia on a bit skew. Given how carefully you have checked I'm not suggesting that is what you have done, but could be the contacts got nudged and went 'funny' in some way. Might be worth really wiggling the Intuvia to see if you can nudge a contact.
 

zakventis

Pedelecer
Aug 28, 2017
40
25
UK - Wales - Monmouth
Right.. slightly more detailed description (having duly wiggled!): switch Intuvia on and after 2 seconds the screen 'blinks' (when it would normally read "Performance CX") and at the same time the battery lights up (all 5) but then goes out again. 10 seconds later the screen blinks and the battery lights up... and so on ad infinitum.

Household electrician? Yes! Am tempted to take the cover off the battery just to see if there is anything obvious, but given that the error occurred without physical intervention, I'm suspecting the BMS. I might just accept that it's time for a new one.

Postscript: Just put my battery in a friend's bike and it works fine. Bosch diagnostics tomorrow!
 
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