Fazua power keeps cutting out

[quilkin]

I have a 2-year-old gravel bike fitted with a Fazua Ride 50 system. It's been great but recently (after about 3000 miles) it has developed a fault. While riding, the top LED turns red, and power cuts out. It will return after a few seconds, then repeat.
I've looked at the Fazua docs which say this:

Red LED lights up There is a connection failure between drivepack and bottom bracket. Dirt on the interface may hinder connection Clean the connectors on the bottom bracket as well as on the drivepack side

I have cleaned the electrical connections twice now (the second time with a toothbrush and alcohol cleaner) but the problem persists. Anyone else had this issue?
Thanks

 

[AndyBike]

Are you sure the connectors have fully seated home when putting it back together.

First off im not knowledgeable about electrical systems, but have heard on here multiple times that the connector plugs really need to be pushed home.

Other possibilities might be a break in the internal cable wires somewhere along the line ?

Have you a multimeter ? You could use that to check if theres a 'signal' going down each wire.

Saneagle on here is the on site guru for all things electrical. Im sure he will pop along at some point and walk you through any process

 

[matthewslack]

Sometimes contacts need a small bend or twist applying to increase the contact pressure. Very carefully.

 

[saneagle]

I have a 2-year-old gravel bike fitted with a Fazua Ride 50 system. It's been great but recently (after about 3000 miles) it has developed a fault. While riding, the top LED turns red, and power cuts out. It will return after a few seconds, then repeat.
I've looked at the Fazua docs which say this:



I have cleaned the electrical connections twice now (the second time with a toothbrush and alcohol cleaner) but the problem persists. Anyone else had this issue?
Thanks

That's typical of what happens when your battery is knackered. 3000 miles from a tiny battery under a lot of stress is about what I'd expect. The only way to be sure would be to do a load test on the battery.

 

[quilkin]

That's typical of what happens when your battery is knackered

I thought you might be right at first - particularly as the problem seems worse when I put a bigger load on the motor (i.e. higher gear / more torque for the same hill). But if it was the battery, I'd be very disappointed after 3000 miles - after all, a EV car battery is expected to last up to 100k miles!
Anyway, my partner also has a Fazua-equipped bike and I have now swapped over the batteries. The problem stays with the bike, not with the battery. So is it something to do with the torque sensor, maybe?

Unfortunately I can't swap out the whole motor/battery assembly, it's a slightly different fitting on each bike.

 

[matthewslack]

Does the problem follow the battery to the other bike? If so, definitely the battery.

My oldest Shimano battery has lost about 30% capacity and has done about 4000 or so miles. I have multiple batteries and run on solar for half the year, so can't be more precise. It works perfectly, just has less capacity now.

Battery would be my prime suspect, and life depends on how hard it has been used. How often run flat and that sort of thing.

 

[quilkin]

Does the problem follow the battery to the other bike? If so, definitely the batter

No, the other bikes rides perfectly after the swap - so it doesn't appear to be a battery issue.

 

[matthewslack]

So both batteries work perfectly on one bike and one battery works perfectly on both bikes.

Back to contacts and connections then.

 

[matthewslack]

...or the slightly unsatisfactory solution: swap the batteries over for two fully working bikes, but original problem unresolved.

 

[JoeCrow]

So both batteries work perfectly on one bike and one battery works perfectly on both bikes.

Back to contacts and connections then.

Just for clarification, I don't believe that is what the OP said:-

The problem stays with the bike, not with the battery.

i.e one bike fails with both batteries! Agree with your conclusion though.

 

[quilkin]

I've rechecked and recleaned all the connections that are visible. The problem still hasn't gone away. I'm disinclined to undo parts that aren't supposed to be undone by users, so I'm going to contact a dealer.

What I've noticed more and more, though, is that the problem is connected with the amount of torque required on the motor, rather than vibration. I can ride over very bumpy roads on lesser slopes with no issues, but as soon as the gradient increases (on a smooth road) the problem returns. This suggests to me that it isn't just a loose or dirty connection.

 

[matthewslack]

That sounds again like a knackered battery. Do your tests on the other bike push the battery as hard?

 

[quilkin]

Do your tests on the other bike push the battery as hard

Yes. Same hills, same day, same rider. And if indeed one battery was 'knackered', why would the problem persist when I put a 'good' battery into the problem bike?
And if it was a knackered battery, I would expect the problem to be worse when it was at a low charge. But it isn't. The problem is the same if the battery is showing 5 LEDS or just one.

 

[matthewslack]

Yes. Same hills, same day, same rider. And if indeed one battery was 'knackered', why would the problem persist when I put a 'good' battery into the problem bike?
And if it was a knackered battery, I would expect the problem to be worse when it was at a low charge. But it isn't. The problem is the same if the battery is showing 5 LEDS or just one.

I may have misunderstood - I thought it was fine with the other battery.