Intermittent battery cut out - cyclamatic

[electric_avenue]

Anyone else had this problem, or can you suggest solutions?

Our cyclamatic is a year old and the power has started cutting out intermittently, maybe once every 5 or 10 minutes for a few seconds and then it comes back.

The connection seem fine and I took the bottom off the battery case and nothing obviously loose down there.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Does it cut out on the flat or only going up hills?
One possibility is one of the brake switches sticking or damaged wire, but only if it does it on the flat. If it does it going up hills, what's the LEDs on the throttle showing?

 

[hech]

suprordinary sunspot activity, corrosion on electric brake circuit or half melted fuse possibly.

 

[Fordulike]

suprordinary sunspot activity, corrosion on electric brake circuit or half melted fuse possibly.

Flaming heck hech, were you slightly inebriated when you wrote that?

Clean the battery contact prongs on the bike with a rag and some contact cleaner.
Rubbing alcohol will do, If hech hasn't got to it first
Then do the same with contacts on the battery, but use a cotton bud to get inside.

Then carefully, using a screwdriver, bend the contacts on the battery slightly inwards.
They should then grip the prongs more tightly and make a better electrical connection.

 

[electric_avenue]

To answer your questions, it does it on the flat. Hills, I don't know we hardly have any. I did clean the prongs and bend them in slightly, bit it didn't help. The LEDs go out when the power goes.
Brake switch sounds and interesting idea. The back brake actually cuts the motor does it? What should I be looking for?

 

[Fordulike]

I did notice when I owned my Cyclamatic, that the battery takes an awful beating from road shocks.
The whole battery actually moves up and down slightly in its mounting. This causes the poor contact with the prongs problem. Arcing from the movement, causes tarnishing of the contacts.
Also, the battery pack within the case, slides up and down inside the casing, thus compounding shock to the battery pack even further.

On the occasions that the battery did let me down, it turned out to be one of three things:


1) The prong contact thing mentioned in my other post. Bungee it down or find a way to secure the whole battery better.

2) One or more of the battery BMS leads had become disconnected, probably resulting in the battery being poorly charged. The plastic lid part which houses the charge remaining indicator needs to be taken off, and the battery pack slid out to check for any breakages in the wiring.

3) The positive wire attached to the key switch, had a habit of overheating and melting the solder, detaching the wire. It can cause an intermittent power problem like you mention.

It is a good idea, once you get the battery sorted, to pack out the top of the battery case with something to prevent the pack from sliding up and down within the case.
I removed the plastic lid on mine, packed it out with some foam padding, then screwed the lid back on.

 

[hech]

Hey Ford do you ever sleep? Sounds like that bike of yours ought to be renamed 'the Problematic'

 

[Fordulike]

Hey Ford do you ever sleep? Sounds like that bike of yours ought to be renamed 'the Problematic'

Hee hee, yeah the Problematic did have its fair share of breakdowns.
Reminds me of a Renault eleven I once owned. Boy, the Problematic didn't have a patch on that thing

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Hee hee, yeah the Problematic did have its fair share of breakdowns.
Reminds me of a Renault eleven I once owned. Boy, the Problematic didn't have a patch on that thing

But you forgot to mention that you were running at about 20 amps instea of the standard 12 amps.

Back to OP's problem: It's almost certainly battery connections or brake switches. You have switches on both brakes in the lever. Some people (especially ex-motorbikers) ride with their fingers on the levers, which can activate the brake switch. Also, some can be a little sensitive and go off on their own, so you have to adjust them a little. As others have said, the battery can rattle about a bit, which can open up the contacts in the base of the battery so they don't grip the pins tight enough. It's easier to repair them by dismantling the base of the battery to squeeze them down, but you might be able to hook them across with a small screwdriver.

The battery cells pack is only held in place inside the case with a bit of glue. If you go over a a big bump, it could come loose and thereafter rattle up and down inside the case, and it won't last long like that , so it's a good idea to pack out the top so it can't happen.

 

[electric_avenue]

Ford, thanks for your ideas. I took the top of the battery case and there's no loose wires or anything apparent in there. The batteries are still glued in place as d8veh says so they aren't moving. I've used a little ratchet strap to hold the battery firmly down in the frame. Lets see if that does it.

d8veh. Can you tell me more about "switches on both brakes in the lever" i'm not sure what I'm look for

thanks guys

 

[Fordulike]

Ford, thanks for your ideas. I took the top of the battery case and there's no loose wires or anything apparent in there. The batteries are still glued in place as d8veh says so they aren't moving. I've used a little ratchet strap to hold the battery firmly down in the frame. Lets see if that does it.

d8veh. Can you tell me more about "switches on both brakes in the lever" i'm not sure what I'm look for

thanks guys

You sound like you are fairly confident with a little experimentation, so to totally rule out any problems with the brake levers or the way you ride, you can do the following:

Unscrew the cover on the side of the controller compartment, underneath the battery docking base.
Then trace the electrical wiring from the brake levers to the controller, and disconnect the little plug on the end.
This will in effect take the brake levers out of the circuit.
Take her out for a spin to see if that has cured the fault.

*** Bare in mind that in this state, the motor will not cut off when you apply the brakes, so you will have to make sure you stop pedaling and release the throttle when you brake, or you will be trying to brake against the motor.
I would advise trying this somewhere with no pedestrians or cars ***

If you still get the same problem, then it is unlikely to be the brake switches or the way you ride.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Now that you've strapped your battery, the first is to see if that makes it any better. if no improvement, do as Fordulike says, Disconnect the connector at the controller to see if that improves it. If it does, then it's the switches, which are hidden inside the brakes. You have to remove the brake lever pivot pin and get the lever off to access the switch, but we'll worry about that after you've done these tests first.

 

[electric_avenue]

My son just had a theory - since the lights go out when the power cuts, it won't be the brake cut-out, because they lights stay one when that's operation. Sounds plausible?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Correct.I wasn't thinking straight. Battery terminals now the most likely and easiest to fit. After that, it'll be a faulty connection somewhere, which will be a bit harder to pin down, but fuse would be a likely candidate.

 

[OldBob1]

When I bought my Cyclamatic Foldaway off Ebay it had electrical probles, I found the prong contact was not making on one of them, reset and lubed with the old "Vasaline" also put some rubber strips between battery and bike which made the battery a bit more secure in the frame.
Although the christmas tree lite up on the handle bars, it still would not run because the rear brake was not set up correctly.
I also found that checking and re-adjusting the tension of the rear spokes made the bike a lot quiet.
Great little bike and going further each outting.

O B 1

 

[alban]

I had a similar problem with my old Cyclamatic. Found out it was because the plastic insert that carried the prongs at the base was moving independently. When I lifted it out the loose battery pushed it out into position again so I couldn't sus it for a while! This was so even after stuffing rags in to prevent too much batt movement. I think I solved it by gluing it and stuffing more rag in to make the pressure constant. May be a pointer... however I think my problem manifested mainly on uneven surfaces.

 

[boilerman]

HI, I have a simiar problem, it has been present since new - 2 months- I have a Byocycle 24" folder cheap chinese I guess. handlebar control has 3 power levels and 4 battery level LEDS, it says 790 as its only identification. so the problem happens randomly, on teh flat or up hill ( more noticable uphill) the power cuts for maybe 1/2 second and battery indicator goes back to 4(full charge) from teh 1 or 2 LEDs that the power level drops to when the motor is working hard
so given teh indicator keeps workign I doubt its a bad connection onteh battery. I dont hold the brak levers and the levers have to move 3-5mm to cut out the motor so it seems to be something in the electronics.
SHould I chase the supplier/ manufacturer/importer? is it asimpel fix? is it just how the ebikes are?

Thanks for your help nd advice
Gavin

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Your reckoning so far is spot-on. When the battery is under load, you get voltage sag, which causes one or two LEDs to go out depending on the amount of load. The reason the LEDs come back on is that the load has been removed so either the controller has cut power to the motor for whatever reason or it can't send power to the motor (faulty motor connections). Are you using the pedal sensor or the throttle. If it does it with the pedal sensor, have a look to see if the magnet ring is too far from the actual sensor behind the chain-wheel. It should have about 1mm gap. This is the most likely possibility, but if you're using the throttle, it could be damaged throttle wire or faulty conection. You'd have to check these carefully. There's other possibilities, but we have to take things in stages for remote diagnosis.

It could still be the battery because there's some big capacitors in the controller that could still provide power after the battery power was cut, but I don't know what effect that would have on the LEDs, So it might be worth putting a strap around the battery to see if it improves.

 

[boilerman]

Hi Dave,
thanks for quick reply,
the issue happens with throttle and pedal assist. and doesn't seem to be synchronised with bumps etc. battery seems firm on to connectors: 4 spade pins sticking up connect to 4 slots in base of battery. no obvious loose connectons unless I do surgery by opening up controller or dismantling motor
just opned controller cover- mass of wires and small aluminium box tricky to jam it all back in, no obvious faults ? any ideas?
looks like warranty issue to me?
cheers
Gavin

 

[Deleted member 4366]

If it's under warranty, that's the best direction to go. You've checked out all the simple things.