Blown motor on E3 Dash with 29 miles on it

[HumanitiesHaze]

Sigh.....

So I've lost all pedal assist on my Dash unless I twist the throttle. Then it'll go up to 20mph on any assistance level with barely pedaling. Throttle still works the same, but unless you twist the throttle the bike doesn't help at all in assist mode.
It's strange too because on any assistance level throttle would cut out at 7mph, but now it'll go up to 20mph as long as I twist the throttle and barely pedal. But once you release the throttle there's no power from the motor no matter how hard I crank it. It just never acted like that before.

I'll call Currie today once they open to see if they have any ideas. I'm thinking bad torque sensor on the new motor I received, or maybe reset the controller, or my brakes are adjusted so the sensor thinks the brakes are on and cuts off assist.. Or if there's something to adjust for the torque sensor.

 

[Brian(J)]

Sigh.....

So I've lost all pedal assist on my Dash unless I twist the throttle. Then it'll go up to 20mph on any assistance level with barely pedaling. Throttle still works the same, but unless you twist the throttle the bike doesn't help at all in assist mode.
It's strange too because on any assistance level throttle would cut out at 7mph, but now it'll go up to 20mph as long as I twist the throttle and barely pedal. But once you release the throttle there's no power from the motor no matter how hard I crank it. It just never acted like that before.

I'll call Currie today once they open to see if they have any ideas. I'm thinking bad torque sensor on the new motor I received, or maybe reset the controller, or my brakes are adjusted so the sensor thinks the brakes are on and cuts off assist.. Or if there's something to adjust for the torque sensor.

Please keep us informed as this develops.
You can check to see if the brakes are a problem, my right brake is a little twitchy. I don't think that is the problem, because all power is cut when a brake sensor is activated, so you shouldn't get power with the throttle either.

For the benefit of others I'm going to review how to see if the brakes are acting up, but I don't mean to hijack your post, I and others are very interested in your experiences and VERY interested in the iZip response to them.


To see what the brake is doing:
enter diagnostic mode:
Hold the '+ / -' button for 10 seconds.
Using diagnostic mode:
In diagnostic mode, the LCD screen shows four large digits. The leftmost digit is the function ID. The right 3 digits show the test value. Each function performs a different system test; the test value displayed is the result of that test. While in diagnostic mode, the bike can be ridden and controlled like normal. Many diagnostic functions require you to ride the bike while watching the test value.

To choose between functions:
Press the 'i' button.

To exit diagnostic mode:
Press the power button twice.



Now, press the info button 'i' until the Function ID is 7. You should see 000 normally and 001 when a brake lever is pulled.

In my case I was getting intermittent assist and thought it might be brake related, so I went to Diagnostic Mode and completed my commute. I saw the brake value move between 000 and 001 even when I wasn't using the brake and was able to narrow it down to the right brake lever, which was looser than the other lever.

You can run several tests of the torque using different functions. The information about all this can be found at this (Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

 

[HumanitiesHaze]

Awesome link Brian! I'll test that out at lunch.

 

[CurrieTech]

Sigh.....

So I've lost all pedal assist on my Dash unless I twist the throttle. Then it'll go up to 20mph on any assistance level with barely pedaling. Throttle still works the same, but unless you twist the throttle the bike doesn't help at all in assist mode.
It's strange too because on any assistance level throttle would cut out at 7mph, but now it'll go up to 20mph as long as I twist the throttle and barely pedal. But once you release the throttle there's no power from the motor no matter how hard I crank it. It just never acted like that before.

I'll call Currie today once they open to see if they have any ideas. I'm thinking bad torque sensor on the new motor I received, or maybe reset the controller, or my brakes are adjusted so the sensor thinks the brakes are on and cuts off assist.. Or if there's something to adjust for the torque sensor.

I'm sorry to hear of the trouble with your new Dash. I think it might be related to your bottom bracket/torque sensor. We have heard a few times that the BB, if not properly tightened, under normal use, may either just move a bit, and make the pedal assist erratic, or even begin to rotate along with pedaling, slowly until the wires eventually begin to sever. You can easily check what's going on down there. Just flip the bike upside down and remove the 14mm aluminum bolt, where the wires come out. They should be centered in the hole in the shell.

A note on the throttle. If you ONLY use the throttle, it will only get the bike up to about 6mph, by design. After that it has to sense your feet moving to use the rest. Of course in pedal assist modes, you can always top off the speed with more throttle if you want.

Here is a Bulletin on our Tech Wiki relating to the BB:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B96dkFgH-zxuTEd2b2NoNXNxeWM/edit

Here's the BB replacement process:
(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

I would advise getting the bb checked to make sure it is properly installed as described above. It does require standard Shimano type BB cup tools, a standard crank puller and 8mm Allen wrench. Any bike shop can do this in just a few minutes.

If you do have a severed wire, we can send you a new BB with a call tag to pick up the bad one, pretty quickly.

 

[Brian(J)]

I'm sorry to hear of the trouble with your new Dash. I think it might be related to your bottom bracket/torque sensor. We have heard a few times that the BB, if not properly tightened, under normal use, may either just move a bit, and make the pedal assist erratic, or even begin to rotate along with pedaling, slowly until the wires eventually begin to sever. You can easily check what's going on down there. Just flip the bike upside down and remove the 14mm aluminum bolt, where the wires come out. They should be centered in the hole in the shell.

A note on the throttle. If you ONLY use the throttle, it will only get the bike up to about 6mph, by design. After that it has to sense your feet moving to use the rest. Of course in pedal assist modes, you can always top off the speed with more throttle if you want.

Here is a Bulletin on our Tech Wiki relating to the BB:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B96dkFgH-zxuTEd2b2NoNXNxeWM/edit

Here's the BB replacement process:
(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

I would advise getting the bb checked to make sure it is properly installed as described above. It does require standard Shimano type BB cup tools, a standard crank puller and 8mm Allen wrench. Any bike shop can do this in just a few minutes.

If you do have a severed wire, we can send you a new BB with a call tag to pick up the bad one, pretty quickly.

Currietech,
thank you for monitoring these threads. It is very helpful.

 

[HumanitiesHaze]

I wouldn't say they are centered. But they're not cut.



Another Angle



Another angle



I also ran through all the Diagnostics from the link Brian provided above. Results are normal as follows:

• 1=538
• 2=539
• 3=220
• 4=167
• 5=11 (when pedaling)
• 6=600+
• 7=0 (Tested brakes several times, sensor seems to be spot on)
• 8=100
• 9=77 (even tho it's fully charged.. meaning it's only a 7.7Ah?)

So where do we go from here? Does that sensor need to be directly centered for PA to work at all? Or is it something else? If this was a tech bulletin the dealer should have checked it when I had the motor up there getting replaced.

Or do you want my local bike shop to take this apart and center it that has no experience with this? And I'll pay for it and you reimburse me?

Why don't you send down a local tech to me so I don't have to do the 4 hour trip again?
Another weekend lost.

 

[CurrieTech]

I wouldn't say they are centered. But they're not cut.

From the pictures, it appears that the BB is rotated in the direction of pedaling, so it likely has been not fully tightened yet. We can not know if the shop received and looked at the BB as this is generally not part of a shop's initial assembly procedure....usually. Any local shop can easily do this in minutes. And we can absolutely take care of it directly with them. Just have them call our dealer support line 888-377-7115, and we'll get you taken care of, together.

From the rest of your Diagnostic numbers, it all appears to be working good.

For your test 9, we are also a little confused. This number also changes from test to test, on the same battery. We have tested a number of battery that have also exhibited tests showing less (7.0-8.2) and at 100% on test 8, and they performed perfectly on a computer generated drain test. Some well above 8.8. It's likely on future software versions, since this appears to be misleading, and redundant to test 8, that it will be removed.

 

[JoePah]

I am getting A2B Metro flashbacks.. Is it 2009 again?

 

[HumanitiesHaze]

Dropped it off at my Buddy's Bike shop. Gave him the TSB all printed out, he said he should have it by tomorrow. I'll keep you all posted. Thanks for the Tech Support CurrieTech.

 

[CurrieTech]

Excellent! Again, if a new BB is needed, we can take care of that quickly. We'll be back on Monday 8am Pacific Time.
The only things to watch for is obviously not to damage the wires when tightening the cups, and to properly align the white line to crank arm. The line goes up, with the right crank forward. If this isn't done, the torque sensor won't be in sync to the pedaling force wave, and will result in very funky and random torque response. The rest is no different to a standard Shimano cartridge BB. Please let us all know how it turns out.

 

[Paul E.]

A note on the throttle. If you ONLY use the throttle, it will only get the bike up to about 6mph, by design.

At the risk of going off topic: what? Wasn't that how the Peak behaves but the Dash is supposed to do 20 mph with throttle alone?

 

[CurrieTech]

At the risk of going off topic: what? Wasn't that how the Peak behaves but the Dash is supposed to do 20 mph with throttle alone?

Paul,
The systems effectively are programmed to work the same. The Dash in throttle in T mode will get you up to about 20, with no relation to pedaling. In 1-4 Assist Modes, pedaling with throttle may go faster. Also in 1-4 Pedal Modes, if not pedaling, the throttle is active only up to about 6mph.

Dash and Peak Operation Guides (page 12):

• https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6Yj3_-cPkFAZXlCOXRma0lIMDg/edit
• https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6Yj3_-cPkFAS1k5X2FwaC1nN3c/edit

 

[DashRiprock]

(answered above)

 

[Charly Banana]

Currietech,
thank you for monitoring these threads. It is very helpful.

I second this! I think it is awesome that someone from Currie Tech is coming to this forum to help with problems.

HumanitiesHaze, I wish you the best of luck. You've had more than your share of problems. You deserve a trouble free Dash.

 

[Brandon b FL.]

I'm ordering a dash from local dealer here in fl. About a half and hour from me and it's the large frame. I'm hoping for 2700$ cash I can get a brake on the price. Going for a ride on the dash compared to the prodeco oasis is NIGHT/DAY it's PAS is so on point as far as smoothness and reaction time. As soon as you pedal it kicks right in. really saying this bike is the s*it. If your questioning this bike because you can't test ride it firstly. Take a 25 year old kids word that it's worth every penny. curry technology's supports every penny of your investment. Just sayin. Thanks curry! Bike rides way better than expected and I'm a young 25 too. Haah!

 

[Brandon b FL.]

And I'm 230 6.1 and the mid size frame was plausible. I took the large though. I will make a thread soon. Praising CT for the dash e3
(hopefully)!

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I'm ordering a dash from local dealer here in fl. About a half and hour from me and it's the large frame. I'm hoping for 2700$ cash I can get a brake on the price. Going for a ride on the dash compared to the prodeco oasis is NIGHT/DAY it's PAS is so on point as far as smoothness and reaction time. As soon as you pedal it kicks right in. really saying this bike is the s*it. If your questioning this bike because you can't test ride it firstly. Take a 25 year old kids word that it's worth every penny. curry technology's supports every penny of your investment. Just sayin. Thanks curry! Bike rides way better than expected and I'm a young 25 too. Haah!

Ebikes are the Sh*t and the Dash is so sick bro..!
Enjoy thrill of getting a new Ebike

 

[Bike_On]

I haven't even picked up my manual (it's in the shop)...but what is the break in procedure for these motors (if any)...and/or what is the proper feeding and caring for the motor assembly in general? Not to go off-topic...just asking so that my motor doesn't end up in the same boat from my doing.

DashRiprock-
There should be ZERO breaking time on an ebike system driving 20-30amps. We are talking battery, wires, FETs and magnets. In fact, the harder you ride it, the sooner you will find any design faults or infant moralities.

However, there may be mechanical breaking wear.

Let's hope that tightening the BB is all you need. Enjoy.

 

[HumanitiesHaze]

Got my bike back from my local bike shop. Still no Pedal Assist (well it works once every 5 minutes or so until I stop pedaling, then nothing for a while)
He lined up the BB in the center (I printed him the TSB), torqued it down, followed the repair instructions still nothing.

Cost me $22 since he wasn't able to get a hold of your dealerline since it was a Saturday. So now I have to make an appointment to drag this bike 2 hours to a dealer that actually works on these bikes to see if they can fix it. And talking to the dealer on the phone they want to order a new part that will take a couple days to get to them. But he can't do that until tomorrow since Curry isn't open on a weekend.

This bike is costing me a fortune between my dealer experience, and having to drive it 4 hours to get it repaired all the time and having to take off work to do it. Now chalk up another $22 for today that didn't work, and $25 in gas that I'm going to have to do for this repair (along with taking the day off). I've only had it a month and it's been down for 2 of those weekends!

 

[DashRiprock]

"A warranty isn't too useful if your dealer is 2 hours away and the bike is down more than it's up.."

I would say that your warranty is your best friend (now) due to the latter and that the former was a personal choice.
Your costs associated with asking for warranty work are no different than ours as much as we sympathize with your problems with the bike. I'd wait and see what happens, let us know and allow us return the favor as well with more info on these first bikes shipped halfway around the world in a timely fashion.
Hope that I don't sound unsympathetic but (hopefully) supportive.