my bike has died!

[eddieo]

Just when you need it, we're on holiday in Italy just climbing a long steep hill, my motor started making a horrible grinding noise (wisper 905SE)
On the way back it came on briefly at times but made it back to the site
The battery is full all the lights are on
Anyone got any idea or have had a similar problem that could suggest a fix or something to look at?

 

[Atmosphere]

Sounds like the motor connection to the controller

Look at the pins in the plug to ensure they are all making good connection.

Also possible it maybe the power leads from the battery into the controller have come loose

Hope this helps

Alistair

 

[flecc]

As Alastair says, try unplugging and replugging the connector that's in the lead between the motor and controller.

Just one faulty Hall lead connection can produce lots of "misfiring" type noise.
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[eddieo]

Thanks chaps! How Do i get to the controller please??

 

[Alex728]

on a 2009 model the high current connections are at the bottom of the bike covered by a curved metal plate (if you turn the bike over you will see it). I do not have an older model but there is a plug connector somewhere along the cable route, from memory of other posts on here I think it is just behind the battery.

hopefully it will just be a loose connection in this connector. Check also where the motor cable enters the axle for chafing/fraying as this has happened on some wispers.

 

[Old Timer]

Just when you need it, we're on holiday in Italy just climbing a long steep hill, my motor started making a horrible grinding noise (wisper 905SE)
On the way back it came on briefly at times but made it back to the site
The battery is full all the lights are on
Anyone got any idea or have had a similar problem that could suggest a fix or something to look at?

I could always DHL one of my cyclamatic folders to you in Italy Ed

Sorry! couldn`t resist, hope you get it running again mate

Dave

 

[flecc]

Just look for the connector(s) in the cable that runs from the motor Eddie. Undo any insulation and unplug and replug first to see if that cures the problem.

It's the five thin wires that are the Hall ones, the three thick ones are the motor power feeds.
.

 

[wonderpup]

Exactly what happened to me

This sounds exactly like what I went through, with identical symptoms. It turned out to be a bad connection from the motor to the controller - just as the others say, under the curved plate at the very bottom underneath the bike. The white connector was actually blackened on the inside around one of the pins, which made me suspect it was faulty. Wisper here in NZ shouted me to a whole new controller, which was nice.

 

[eddieo]

I looked at most of the connections except the one wonderpup suggested
When you twist the throttle, it does give a kick somewhere as if it wants to go so I'm guessing this is a connection problem

 

[Old Timer]

I remember when we extended the cable from the hub on my powertrek to make for easier wheel removal. We got one of the thin wires poorly connected and you wouldn`t believe just how much difference it made so it might just be one thin wire playing up.

 

[eddieo]

Over the last few days have looked and pluged and un pluged all the connectors repeatedly and nothing.......I would not be bothered at all if this. Happened at home but it has ruined the holiday to an extent. Will be starting a thread regards most reliable e bike when i return and think it will probably be a panasonic? I may get an e motion has not really prepared to put up with this sort of grief..........

 

[overlander]

Or any bike with the Bionx system by accounts are pretty reliable.

 

[tillson]

Sorry to hear about your troubles eddio. Sod's law that this happens when you are relying on your bike as part of your holidays. Hope it doesn't bugger things up too much.

 

[flecc]

If you are considering a Panasonic type bike, it's vital that you have a good trial first since they are so very different from the hub motor type that you are used to.

If the Panasonic system doesn't suit, the BionX motor as suggested above and fitted to the Trek e-bikes is also extremely reliable, very quiet and sophisticated. It's rear hub only though, so no cassette possible, freewheels only.
.

 

[overlander]

I am not sure of the price of the battery from bionx but from what i hear its very expensive. But the battery from trek could possibly be subsidised as its £450. Still expensive but more in line with the other top battery prices. So do not let the price of the batteries put you off, as i first heard they were about £800

 

[flecc]

I am not sure of the price of the battery from bionx but from what i hear its very expensive. But the battery from trek could possibly be subsidised as its £450. Still expensive but more in line with the other top battery prices. So do not let the price of the batteries put you off, as i first heard they were about £800

It's the traditional large in-frame triangular 36 volt 10 Ah battery that was always expensive, now only supplied with the top of the 250 watt range BionX HT RR model, and the Canadian/US 350 watt and 500 watt HS versions.

The other 250 watt models have smaller and/or lower voltage batteries so much cheaper.
.

 

[Grizzly Bear]

I think this thread highlights why people should learn more/build their own bikes, then you will have the skills and experience to fix them yourselves.

Griz

 

[Oxygen Bicycles]

I've seen faulty Bion X motros and Heinzmann gears broken in pieces so none of them is 100% reliable. I would say that 8FUN (Bafang) motors used on Wisper and our Oxygens are great and very reliable but you can not exclude faults in 100%. It must be obviously very frustrating when it lets you down when you need it the most but it seems to be the way it is.

all the best

Andrew

 

[Grizzly Bear]

I've seen faulty Bion X motros and Heinzmann gears broken in pieces so none of them is 100% reliable. I would say that 8FUN (Bafang) motors used on Wisper and our Oxygens are great and very reliable but you can not exclude faults in 100%. It must be obviously very frustrating when it lets you down when you need it the most but it seems to be the way it is.

all the best

Andrew

From my experience Suzhou Bafang make the best hub motors, and I've tried a lot of their competitors. Their new BPM is vastly superior, and who wants to climb hills at 4mph on a kalkoff anyway? Get off and push!

Griz

 

[flecc]

From my experience Suzhou Bafang make the best hub motors, and I've tried a lot of their competitors. Their new BPM is vastly superior, and who wants to climb hills at 4mph on a kalkoff anyway? Get off and push!

Griz

The 30% hill that reduces me to about 4/5 mph on a Kalkhoff I cannot climb using any Suzhou Bafang version, including the most powerful version previously used by eZee, and that relative position will be true for anyone. If anyone can climb that steepness using an SB, they wouldn't be down to 4 mph on a Kalkhoff, especially not the current versions with the 1.5 times high power mode.

The SB is the best internally geared hub motor without doubt, but the direct drive BionX has far superior reliability over time. It's not just electrical failures like dud Hall sensors and input cable faults that an SB can suffer, nylon gears failure is fairly common too. The very few BionX failures I've known of are mostly where the software is tweaked away from the standard settings to squeeze out more power.

For those who value quiet running and easy freewheeling under pedal power alone, the BionX and later Panasonic system are best by far, only the Tongxin roller drive motors comparable, though not having a very good reliability record.
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