I was partway across a muddy field, switched on the power for a bit of help, and ... no power. I got off and had a look, flicked the switch a couple of times, changed the batteries, then I noticed - the negative wire from the controller to the connector that I plug the batteries into, had broken.
This is the controller that arrived with my XiongDa two-speed. Looking at that wire, my first thought was, hmm, that's a bit short. Not a real problem. And when I looked at the broken ends, I thought, hmm, cheap wire.
Well, an electric bike with no power is still a bike, so I pedalled for 500 yards or so, but while I pedalled, I was thinking, how to handle this?
I leaned the bike on a wall, unplugged the batteries, and took my penknife to the broken lead. I stripped it back about a centimeter on either side of the break, twisted the ends together, and wrapped sticky tape over the join. My thinking was, this isn't going to make the problem worse, and just maybe ...
Well, blow me down with a 24awg wire, it worked. After all the efforts I've made in the past to get the best possible joins, it turns out that just twisting the wires together was good enough to get me through the next six miles.
A small roll of insulating tape has always been part of my on-the-road tool kit. Now I'll add a short length of 10awg wire.
This is the controller that arrived with my XiongDa two-speed. Looking at that wire, my first thought was, hmm, that's a bit short. Not a real problem. And when I looked at the broken ends, I thought, hmm, cheap wire.
Well, an electric bike with no power is still a bike, so I pedalled for 500 yards or so, but while I pedalled, I was thinking, how to handle this?
I leaned the bike on a wall, unplugged the batteries, and took my penknife to the broken lead. I stripped it back about a centimeter on either side of the break, twisted the ends together, and wrapped sticky tape over the join. My thinking was, this isn't going to make the problem worse, and just maybe ...
Well, blow me down with a 24awg wire, it worked. After all the efforts I've made in the past to get the best possible joins, it turns out that just twisting the wires together was good enough to get me through the next six miles.
A small roll of insulating tape has always been part of my on-the-road tool kit. Now I'll add a short length of 10awg wire.
