2020 Giant Trance E+3 Pro energypak not charging

[strongsnz]

Hi there, my Trance E+ 3 Pro energypak isn’t charging, any ideas? It doesn‘t charge at all via the smart charger, plugged either directly into the bike or when the battery is removed. The LED light on the smart charger is briefly green when I turn it on, but within a second goes red and stays red. It should be flashing green. The white LEDs on the energypak should be on, but they are off.
I’ve searched online forums and websites, and there’s no mention of this problem.
Cheers

 

[Browneye]

The red indicator means it is not connecting to the battery. Solid green is connected, flashing green is charging.
So it's either the socket, or the wiring behind it. Can you drop it to your dealer?
What was the state of charge before you tried to charge it?

 

[RabH]

I have a 2018 Giant Road E+1 Pro with an Enegypak 500 battery and my charger starts with a green light and quickly changes to red which means its charging, it will only change to green again when the charge reaches 100%, I guess mine is different then!

 

[strongsnz]

Hi RabH,
I think it changed with the 2020 models, although Giant's really hard to get information from. In the 2020 models, the charger is supposed to flash green when it's charging and the LED's on the energypak light up.

 

[strongsnz]

Hi Browneye,
Thanks, that's good intel. I've tried it with the charger directly into the bike and directly into the energypak off the bike. It's the same in both situations, which I conclude means it's not a connection issue from the charger to the energypak.
I'd drop it into the dealer and try with a different charger, but we're currently in lockdown in New Zealand - it couldn't have happened at a worse time!
The energypak was fully charged when this started.
Cheers,
D

 

[NZ-Howie]

Hi RabH,
I think it changed with the 2020 models, although Giant's really hard to get information from. In the 2020 models, the charger is supposed to flash green when it's charging and the LED's on the energypak light up.

Hi Strongsnz, I have the same bike, 3 weeks old, I have smart charger also. Love it so far
When 1st plugged in, I get a solid red light for about 3-4 seconds and then it flashes green while charging, until solid green shows full charge
During charging the handle bar control doesn't light up even when I push buttons ?
Think I have an issue with handle bar control to be sorted after lockdown as my walk mode doesn't work, never ha

Don't know if you saw my 1st post tday about a wee glitch a few days ago - bike suddenly powered off - zilch. Think it's down to condensation after a wet day ride, have given it the CRC spray and ready to try it out, but have lost some confidence in it - Geez, its a mountain bike and should be made to with stand nature in all it's fury.

 

[Browneye]

I have not soaked mine, the TranceE. If I hose the mud off it I remove the battery and blow out the contacts, dry it out. No issues so far.

It may simply be a failed charger. OTOH, if it's fully charged it won't charge more. What does your app indicate for charge state?

Turning on the ride control pad on the bike during charging then indicates the battery state, and flashes which level it's charging at. And the BT app shows a percentage of charge.
I do like the 60% button for storage. Very nice feature. And done quickly.

The Trance is a bit more sophisticated than the Explore. With each upgrade of the system they got better and better.

 

[strongsnz]

Hi Strongsnz, I have the same bike, 3 weeks old, I have smart charger also. Love it so far
When 1st plugged in, I get a solid red light for about 3-4 seconds and then it flashes green while charging, until solid green shows full charge
During charging the handle bar control doesn't light up even when I push buttons ?
Think I have an issue with handle bar control to be sorted after lockdown as my walk mode doesn't work, never ha

Don't know if you saw my 1st post tday about a wee glitch a few days ago - bike suddenly powered off - zilch. Think it's down to condensation after a wet day ride, have given it the CRC spray and ready to try it out, but have lost some confidence in it - Geez, its a mountain bike and should be made to with stand nature in all it's fury.

Yeah, I've lost a bit of confidence too. It's also sad that Giant have next to nil support available online. I emailed them and have nothing back.
I do clean the bike and it's also only a few months old, so it shouldn't be having these problems.
I don't think the handle bar lights are supposed to light up during charging, just the charger light and the energypak lights if it's off the bike.

 

[strongsnz]

I have not soaked mine, the TranceE. If I hose the mud off it I remove the battery and blow out the contacts, dry it out. No issues so far.

It may simply be a failed charger. OTOH, if it's fully charged it won't charge more. What does your app indicate for charge state?

Turning on the ride control pad on the bike during charging then indicates the battery state, and flashes which level it's charging at. And the BT app shows a percentage of charge.
I do like the 60% button for storage. Very nice feature. And done quickly.

The Trance is a bit more sophisticated than the Explore. With each upgrade of the system they got better and better.

I'll try that - blow out the contacts, although the problem exists when the energypak is on or off the bike, and thus the contacts are connected differently to the charger.
Also, the energypak still powers the bike when it's connected to it, so the battery is still able to discharge, and should be able to charge.
Maybe, it's actually the smart charger which is the problem? Once we get out of lock down I'll take it back to the bike shop and see if they have a new charger.

 

[RabH]

Hi RabH,
I think it changed with the 2020 models, although Giant's really hard to get information from. In the 2020 models, the charger is supposed to flash green when it's charging and the LED's on the energypak light up.

I thought that might be the case, I hope you get it sorted soon!

 

[pmcdonald]

The charger that came with my 2020 Explore indicates solid green for full battery and solid red for charging. As per RabH's experience it briefly indicates green then red when first turned on. If it's charging the LED's on the Energypak blink to indicate the current charge level, which doesn't sound like it's happening in your case. I wonder why the difference in charger indication per model? Sounds like a second charger is the way to go to troubleshoot. Good luck

 

[bikeman242]

I wonder what the reliability is of the Giant SyncDrive vs the pure Yamaha PW/PWX systems.

 

[Browneye]

The same - they are the same thing with Giant branding. Now I wonder if Yamaha has their own battery factory - I doubt it, but you never know.
Definitely the best reliability in the industry.

 

[bikeman242]

The same - they are the same thing with Giant branding. Now I wonder if Yamaha has their own battery factory - I doubt it, but you never know.
Definitely the best reliability in the industry.

I don't believe they are the same. The motor is "tuned" by Giant, so it has differences, and I believe the batteries are proprietary Giant. In other words, not the Yamaha in-tube battery with a giant sticker on it.

 

[Browneye]

I don't believe they are the same. The motor is "tuned" by Giant, so it has differences, and I believe the batteries are proprietary Giant. In other words, not the Yamaha in-tube battery with a giant sticker on it.

Tell us what is different besides the firmware for the controller. And if you think that would make their reliability different.

 

[Emilio]

I am having the same issue with my energypak 500 on my stance E+ that uses the same system that the trance E. Did anyone solve it?
I am from Chile and Giant closed their shop 5 months ago.
I tried charging the battery with another charger from someone I know that has the same bike and did not work, so the problem is not the charger.
If anyone has any kind of advice, solution I would be very grateful.

 

[strongsnz]

Hi Emilio,

Yes, we contacted Giant in New Zealand and they told me to take it to a repair shop. It was tested and found that the battery and charger weren't talking to each other. It happens occasionally with e bikes as it's still a new technology. Giant covered it by warranty and I had a new battery and charger fitted. It works perfectly now.
Cheers,

 

[Salva846]

Just encountering the same issue...(Energypak 500 with 2020 Giant Explore E+1 Pro)

Battery was at 30%, wanted to reload it with the charger, but the LED stays red - it's usually green while charging.
I left it plugged the whole night thinking it's maybe still charging, but when I put the battery back in the bike, it turned on for 2 seconds, then went off, and now won't power on at all anymore.
I also tried charging the battery directly in the bike, but also doesn't work.

Will try taking the battery to a repair shop then

 

[Browneye]

The first thing to check are the connection tabs - inspect for dirt or moisture, both sides, brush off the terminals with an old toothbrush. Make sure they're connecting.

I'm starting to think it's possible there are IC failures on control boards, same thing for the ones that won't connect to BT for the app.

Sometimes they just go poof, a teenie puff of smoke.

 

[Salva846]

Checked and cleaned the connection tabs already, doesn't seem to be the issue.
Since the battery is not fully discharged (had like 30% remaining) and it's not powering up the bike anymore, I'm guessing something went wrong with the battery management system or something like that.

I emailed my dealer, will see what they say...we are already 3 people on this thread with apparently the same issue on a 2020 model, seems like a common failure ?