Battribike

[Jack Rainbow]

Listen, I have NO IDEA if this was already discussed, but I am now discussing it, OK? You can look through 500 posts for me if you like and I'll send you a star and a tick. Here is my issue:
I have a Battribike Granite less than 5 years old. I got it for £800 from Davy Brothers in Ipswich who had the Battribike franchise at that time. They had taken off £200 from the original price because the Battribike Granite was the last regulator pedelec permitted before UK law banned them The current franchisee is Elmy Cycles in Ipswich. The bike stood for two year after I had a heart operation, but it was in a brick built shed with a concrete floor and the bike remains in good condition. The battery, however, was flat and unchargeable. I sent it to Motor Savers in Corby and they recelled it for £330. What a trusting fool I have been.
Then I took the bike to Elmy's who tightened all the screws and tested the bike and I gave them £40. When I first tried it on Tuesday 21st July, however, the computer screen showed ERROR 24 and pushing the regulator lever forward did not apply motor power to the back wheel. I took it back to Elmy's but they could not find anything wrong, although the ERROR 24 showed briefly. When I got it back I tried the bike again and again got no motive power. ERROR 24 according to Battribike when I phoned them on the Wednesday, means a failure between the regulator and the electric motor. They no longer carry spare parts and cannot help me. They will not advise me on how to get it fixed or help in any way. They seemed eager to end the call. It was my fault for having an illegal bike, they implied.
So now I have 2 questions: 1) does anyone know, please, if this issue CAN be fixed and 2) is it worth struggling to find someone to do the work? Maybe it would be sensible to just throw the bike away and incur no more costs. Anyone have a an idea, please?
Finally, after the way they have treated me this time, on what basis would I or anyone else trust Battribike in the future? And, would other manufacturers be any more trustworthy? How likely is it that another unrepairable breakdown will happen again?

 

[Cody_Powerbikes.com]

Hello Jack! Concerning your Error 24 (which should be a phase abnormality) Could you try this out: If you elevate the rear wheel and spin the rear wheel backwards by hand, can you feel an abnormal amount of resistance? I.e. more resistance than the drivetrain, if the motor or controller is shorted out, it will take some force to move that rear wheel backwards. If this is a hub-drive unit with a motor harness plug next to one of the chain stays, and there is resistance, you can disconnect the harness and retest. If the resistance goes away after unplugging, it will diagnose that you have a bad motor controller (mosfet short). If the resistance persists, you may have a phase burnout inside of the motor.

Generally as long as you do not have a bad motor core, the repair should be rather straight forward. Even in the worst case that your core is burnt out, you should be able to buy and replace this, although, this is a more complex repair than swapping a bad motor controller.

Let me know what you find!

 

[Cody_Powerbikes.com]

Hello again Jack, I miss spoke on the Error Code 24, a phase abnormality would be for a Mid-Drive motor, for a hub drive however it would be a hall sensor fault. In this case, you can test this similarly. If you rotate the rear wheel backwards very slowly (whether by elevating and moving it by hand, or rolling the unit backwards while it is on the ground) while simultaneously applying a small amount of throttle; this should engage the hall sensors causing the motor to engage. Considering that one or two are bad and not all three. Be careful doing this as to not let your hand or unit be in danger if the unit does decide to engage and go. Also be careful with applying throttle when the motor is not turning, too much can cause a phase burn out inside of the motor core.

Again, sorry for the miss speak, and let me know what you discover!

 

[indianajo]

You need to ensure voltage going from battery to controller is >10% charge at all times. Continuous digital voltmeters can be mounted on the handlebar, run off the green wire with round connector and a minus from somewhere. Maybe your rebuilder did a great job, maybe not, maybe some other loose connection between battery & controller input.
I buy hub motors and throw them away when they get a problem like a reoccuring error code. You can diagnose the error codes by unplugging one input at a time and writing the # down. First hub motor $221 (~4500 miles gears), 2nd $150 (I hated direct drive), 3rd $700 (harness destroyed by ASI controller), fourth through seventh $35 (used uber scrapouts). Making the connectors match up is doable with the rectangular white ones, not with the round juli connectors which are injection molded. New bafang has juli. I buy controllers & throw them away. One lasted 4 years, one was stolen with all my tools parts sound equipment media & musical instruments. One controller (ASI) burnt the pins off into the motor harness in the rain. (don't buy ASI if you don't ride in Mojave desert). I'm now on the fourth controller which is underpowered (10A) but was available during the Shanghai shutdown. Save the picture of the connector names when you buy a controller; the vendor may disappear next week or change sources.

 

[Jack Rainbow]

Hello Jack! Concerning your Error 24 (which should be a phase abnormality) Could you try this out: If you elevate the rear wheel and spin the rear wheel backwards by hand, can you feel an abnormal amount of resistance? I.e. more resistance than the drivetrain, if the motor or controller is shorted out, it will take some force to move that rear wheel backwards. If this is a hub-drive unit with a motor harness plug next to one of the chain stays, and there is resistance, you can disconnect the harness and retest. If the resistance goes away after unplugging, it will diagnose that you have a bad motor controller (mosfet short). If the resistance persists, you may have a phase burnout inside of the motor.

Generally as long as you do not have a bad motor core, the repair should be rather straight forward. Even in the worst case that your core is burnt out, you should be able to buy and replace this, although, this is a more complex repair than swapping a bad motor controller.

Let me know what you find!

Hello Jack! Concerning your Error 24 (which should be a phase abnormality) Could you try this out: If you elevate the rear wheel and spin the rear wheel backwards by hand, can you feel an abnormal amount of resistance? I.e. more resistance than the drivetrain, if the motor or controller is shorted out, it will take some force to move that rear wheel backwards. If this is a hub-drive unit with a motor harness plug next to one of the chain stays, and there is resistance, you can disconnect the harness and retest. If the resistance goes away after unplugging, it will diagnose that you have a bad motor controller (mosfet short). If the resistance persists, you may have a phase burnout inside of the motor.

Generally as long as you do not have a bad motor core, the repair should be rather straight forward. Even in the worst case that your core is burnt out, you should be able to buy and replace this, although, this is a more complex repair than swapping a bad motor controller.

Let me know what you find!

Thanks for lucid reply, Cody. Much appreciated. Found a guy in Bury St Edmunds (50miles) who knew instantly what it was when I read your message to him over the phone. Am taking bike to him on Tuesday and will advise you outcome.

Thanks for your lucid reply, Cody. Much appreciated. As you say, the rear wheel does not spin backwards when lifted off the ground. Its a phase abnormality. I eventually found a guy in Bury St Edmunds who will do the job for me. Its expensive, £35/hour plus parts if any, but when I read him your message over the phone he knew right away, instantly. Am taking the bike on Tuesday and will let you know the result

 

[Jack Rainbow]

You need to ensure voltage going from battery to controller is >10% charge at all times. Continuous digital voltmeters can be mounted on the handlebar, run off the green wire with round connector and a minus from somewhere. Maybe your rebuilder did a great job, maybe not, maybe some other loose connection between battery & controller input.
I buy hub motors and throw them away when they get a problem like a reoccuring error code. You can diagnose the error codes by unplugging one input at a time and writing the # down. First hub motor $221 (~4500 miles gears), 2nd $150 (I hated direct drive), 3rd $700 (harness destroyed by ASI controller), fourth through seventh $35 (used uber scrapouts). Making the connectors match up is doable with the rectangular white ones, not with the round juli connectors which are injection molded. New bafang has juli. I buy controllers & throw them away. One lasted 4 years, one was stolen with all my tools parts sound equipment media & musical instruments. One controller (ASI) burnt the pins off into the motor harness in the rain. (don't buy ASI if you don't ride in Mojave desert). I'm now on the fourth controller which is underpowered (10A) but was available during the Shanghai shutdown. Save the picture of the connector names when you buy a controller; the vendor may disappear next week or change sources.

Appreciate your intentions, jo, but no idea what you are talking about. Am completely ignorant of technical matters relating to electrical devices. Live in Ipswich, Suffolk UK and miss most of your references (bafang?) I read a lot of books about Paul Cezanne though, if you need help with that.

 

[Jack Rainbow]

Hello again Jack, I miss spoke on the Error Code 24, a phase abnormality would be for a Mid-Drive motor, for a hub drive however it would be a hall sensor fault. In this case, you can test this similarly. If you rotate the rear wheel backwards very slowly (whether by elevating and moving it by hand, or rolling the unit backwards while it is on the ground) while simultaneously applying a small amount of throttle; this should engage the hall sensors causing the motor to engage. Considering that one or two are bad and not all three. Be careful doing this as to not let your hand or unit be in danger if the unit does decide to engage and go. Also be careful with applying throttle when the motor is not turning, too much can cause a phase burn out inside of the motor core.

Again, sorry for the miss speak, and let me know what you discover!

Well don't worry about it, Cody, my guy in Bury will know all about phase and everything. Wii let you know on Wednesday what happened.

 

[Jack Rainbow]

IT WAS NOTHING TO DO WITH PHASE OR ERROR CODE 24 OR ANYTHING ELSE. MY GUY SIMPLY PULLED THE BATTERY LEAD OUT AND SPRAYED THE CONTACTS (I DON'T KNOW WITH WHAT) AND REPLACED IT AND ITS ALL WORKING PERFECTLY. That means there are several so called Bike shops in Ipswich who have NO IDEA what they are doing. They are NINNIES. I don't mind folk on this site getting things wrong, you ain't getting paid for it and we're still friends. Any comment is better than silence is my motto.

 

[Cody_Powerbikes.com]

I'm glad you got it resolved! It can be challenging for us to diagnose problems over text without physically being able to work on the bike. Sorry for the miss diagnoses on the 24 error, I was assuming it was following a common code pattern, but very well could have meant something different entirely. If anything ever comes up, let us know, plenty of us here that want to be helpful to the community!

 

[Jack Rainbow]

I'm glad you got it resolved! It can be challenging for us to diagnose problems over text without physically being able to work on the bike. Sorry for the miss diagnoses on the 24 error, I was assuming it was following a common code pattern, but very well could have meant something different entirely. If anything ever comes up, let us know, plenty of us here that want to be helpful to the community!

My guy in Bury went on to say that generally error codes are often useless. They appear as in this case to be invented by computer biased persons who have little contact with reality.