Oxygen eMate MTB Power Problem After Riding in Rain

[Warwick]

I have started a new thread, as I suspect this issue may be different from the other similar issue I had recently. (But it may not...)

Anyway, last Tuesday I rode my bike home in a downpour. A real humdinger of a rain storm. The bike switched itself off. I decided to ride the last 5 miles home unpowered. Not fun with Schwalbe Ice Spiker tyres, I can tell you.

Anyway, since then I have charged up the battery & all seemed well. I rode to work today, however, and all was not well. The speed display does not work, although the power display does, and the machine switches itself off, presumably because it thinks it isn't moving when it is. The power feeds in even less smoothly than my previous issue as well.

This would somehow be down to the dousing it got last Tuesday, I suspect, but what could be causing it? All the wiring connectors are intact and firmly closed and they were sprayed with WD40 before the rain, but what else could be wrong?

 

[Nealh]

Moisture/damp ingress could be anywhere or it may be another coincidental issue.

If a new bike then as it is under warranty then take it back to the dealer to look at.

Make sure the motor cable connector ( usually located along the rear stay) is pushed together fully, disconnect it check for damp clean and refit. The head display/lcd may be another place where damp has got in, I doubt you can open it easily so try a hair dryer to see if that helps.
Another simple check is to look at the battery/docking area's contact points.
Another possible culprit is the controller/battery, moisture may have well got in.

As you have no speed reading, If it has an external speed sensor see if it is possible for water to get in there esp look at the cable entry. All in all it can be quite a bit of a process trying to work out and finding the culprit/fault location.

I had an issue early in the year with my Oxydrive kit bike and had a problem with intermittent then total power loss whilst riding in fine mist/light drizzly conditions, it righted itself after drying out. d8veh suggested my issue was damp affecting the 5v line so as the original issue started with the pas, I opened the sensor made sure all was dry and resealed and esp around the cable entry. No repeated issues since.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The speed signal comes from the motor, so there's four possibilities that I can think of:
1. Water in the motor (fairly likely).
2. Water in the motor connector (likely)
3. Water in the controller (unlikely)
4. Connector in controller (very possible)

I fixed a controller for one guy where the motor wire had been pulled hard enough to dislodge the connector inside the controller. All those wires that go into the controller compartment go direct to connectors on the PCB, so check that. In fact not had only the connector been yanked out, but also one pin in the connector had been pulled out of it, so check that too. 4 screws give access to the inside of the controller.

Unless your problem is related to the motor connector, you need to do some dismantling.

 

[Warwick]

Hmm, thanks for the advice. I rather suspected I might have to do some DIY. The bike is under warranty. I will see if I can get in touch to sort things out. Failing that, I'll get the tool kit ready.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

First, check the easy things like the motor connector. For warranty, you'll have to take the kit off. It's a lot easier to take the 4 screws out of the controller cover to check the internal connector than to take off the wheel and everything else, box it up and send it back.

 

[Warwick]

As it happens, the bin men refused to take away a load of big boxes last week. Looks like I might be needing them! I'll check the controller box when I get back home. Hopefully, it'll power me back. Luckily I've taken off the Ice Spiker tyres and it's a lot easier to pedal now.

 

[Warwick]

Right, I've spoken to the dealer who suggested a bit of TLC in the cleaning department on the battery/controller contacts. I've done that and I'll check if it's helped later.

Regarding the controller, there are only 2 screws on the top of the box it sits in and one of them won't come away and just turns in its thread without moving. Strangely, there also seems to be a sort of rubber-protected push switch on the very bottom of the controller housing. Any ideas what that might do?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

To open the controller, you have to completely remove the battery carrier from your frame ( 2 x 5mm bottle-holder screws). On the back on the opposite side to the black cover are 4 screws that hold the cover on. Undo them and lift the cover . IIRC, there's a seal around the plastic cover. make sure that it sits correctly when you screw the cover back on.

 

[Warwick]

Time for an update: I managed to remove the battery gubbins & thought I'd stick it in a box in the airing cupboard for a couple days with some silica gel thingamajigs I had lying about. Anyway, it seems to have done the trick! The power surge issue I had before this happened is still there, but it's not unbearable. I'm glad I tried the drying out method & used the bike on the commute today. Sometimes the simple fixes are the best/easiest.