Known Issues & Problems with Hill Topper Products + Help, Solutions & Fixes

[Ann M.]

No ebike is perfect, this is a thread dedicated to sharing known issues or problems with electric kits from Hill Topper (formerly Clean Republic) as well as any help and solutions you know of. Sometimes that means a DIY fix and other times it can mean a recall, software update or part replacement by a dealer.

Please be respectful and constructive with feedback, this is not a space for hate speech. In many cases, representatives from the company will see feedback and use it to improve their product. In the end, the goal is to enjoy riding and help each other go further and be safer.

 

[Catalyzt]

I had a controller failure with my Hilltopper Sprinter within the warranty period. It's possible that this is a known issue, because I saw a post from someone-- I forget whether whether it was from Hilltopper or an owner-- saying that the controller was likely to fail before the battery did.

Symptoms were: Power died abruptly while my buddy was riding up a steep hill. (I was on my other e-Bike.) Hilltopper / Clean Republic talked me through testing the battery and charger with a multimeter. Both checked out. I reconnected the battery (which had drained slightly due to not being used and was then fully charged) locked it into the controller, and hmm-- I got power again. Took the bike out for a spin to the local mailbox, and the power died. Turned the battery on, got power back briefly... then it died again and so on. Based on those symptoms, HT/CR said they were confident it was the controller, shipped me a new one ASAP, and I have tested the new controller twice-- no problems. They also have assured me that they are very confident that the problem will not recur, so hoping they just had one lot of controllers that had QC problems.

I'm still a big fan of this company.