Brian's CCX Journal

[BrianMura]

TLDR - Had some issues with the battery connector. It's working now after working with the support team. Thinking it may go bad due to stripped threads on the male side. Enjoying the bike now!

- 11/22/2018: Ordered the CCX on Black Friday.
- 11/27/2018: Shipped from Juiced Bikes.
- 11/30/2018: Ordered delivered.
- 12/01/2018: Assembled the bike. Wouldn't come on. Figured out light taps turn on and off the battery. Filed support ticket with video:

- 12/04/2018 - 12/12/2018: Juiced Support suggested to tighten the male connector. This seemed to fix the issue. Still I asked to return it after reading similar posts on this forum after I concluded the design is flawed. Juiced kindly gave me return label albeit 20% stocking fee. Decided to keep the bike... Couldn't persuade Juiced to send me a battery interface or male connector. Got new support person who asked me to go through pre-trip maintenance to fix the issue... so I decided to stop replying. It's OK. I was pretty annoying to them... Juiced Support responded each business day.
- 12/16/2018: Happily riding the bike to and from work. After 30 miles, 49V left. Will look into strapping in the battery like others.

 

[MarkF]

That's to bad. That kind of issue is just going to get worse over time and not better. A bad battery connection is going to cause issues until you fix the problem. If Juice can't help then I would look into replacing the male plug myself. Please post for others if you find a solution.

 

[Feliz]

It's a new bike! Juice should replace the bike at no cost to Brian if they can't make it right with parts. The battery connection issue has gone on far to long. This is the only problem with Juiced, they usually come through in the end but why make customers wait especially when they know that's an issue.

 

[Andy_in_CA]

was there a stocking fee stated somewhere when you purchased the bike? I have a CCS and have had some issues but for the most part no battery issues and I like my bike.

but for a brand new model, to have a big flaw on a custom made battery then need to own up to it.

they put you in a hard place because its hard to get a better bike for the money on paper, but for all the problems, trouble shooting and user "fixes" you could get another but that is $500 more and have no problems. How much is your time with

Still 2499 isn't something to sneeze at. It should just work.

just my .02

 

[treal512]

How are you planning to strap the battery in, OP?

 

[BrianMura]

@Andy_in_CA I read this policy, before I bought the bike that mentions the restocking fee: https://www.juicedbikes.com/pages/cancellation-returns-policy

@treal512 I'm going to get the velcro straps that @jinim got: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WVCGC37/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A9JH5EZBE3SH8&psc=1

For my own reference, I'm posting this link to @jom 's great thread: https://electricbikereview.com/forums/threads/ccx-intermittent-power.26159/

FWIW I have some experience with Onshape CAD and have a 3D printer. Maybe we can develop a part to fix the issue? I guess that will start when things start to break down...

 

[BrianMura]

No problems to report. Mileage is around ~50 miles. Still waiting for my straps. Battery connectors look OK. Lubed the battery connectors up. Wrapped connectors, display, and battery with Saran wrap and taped it all together. Raining!

 

[BrianMura]

Put on the straps that @jinim got. Wish the pack came with 2 more of the long straps. Anyway, I feel secure about the battery for now!

 

[jom]

Brian,

I have the following suggestions, to make the battery connection more reliable. Knowing that the connection is intermittent is telling us that the mechanical engagement of the connectors is marginal. In your video you show the lower pin is a little shorter; the same in my bike:

1. First, keep the bike. All bikes have some problem, and this is a minor one you can solve until a more permanent solution is found.
2. Remove the battery.
3. Remove the frame lock assembly by removing the first allen screw shown in your pic "male-connector.jpg"; then remove the philips screw that barely can be seen in the same pic, on the upper left, and detach the piece of plastic used only for cosmetic purpose. Under it, remove the second allen screw.
4. Remove the plastic piece that holds the male connector and the lock mechanism. Detach the cable assembly from the controller, detaching the yellow connector.
5. Remove the 2-pin black connector by unscrewing the silver large nut. You will notice two o-rings: one smaller in the front -on the side of the silver nut- and one larger in the back side.
6. Remove the larger o-ring that is installed between the connector and the plastic piece. This step will move the connector farther out of the plastic piece so that the pins will insert a little better in the battery connector. In my bike this made the difference between an intermittent connection and a solid connection. Keep in place the smaller o-ring on the front of the connector.
7. Assembly following the reverse order. Tighten the connector with the silver nut being careful to lock it in the right position: there is a tab on the back side that controls the exact rotational position. Reconnect the yellow connector. Be careful not to pinch the wires when you re-assemble. Be very careful when installing the two allen screws because they are engaging in threaded holes in the aluminum frame. Don't over-tighten or you may damage the threads.
8. Once the battery is re-attached, properly locked in place, power on the bike. Using your right hand tap the battery on the right to see if power is preserved. This is a test that my bike did not pass before I removed the o-ring, and it passed OK after the o-ring was removed. Same test you did in your video. After removing the o-ring, I did about 150 miles, some of them on moderately rough dirt road, without any more power glitches.
9. Use one or two straps as tightly as you can. Re-tighten from time to time. I ordered from Amazon (24 x 2 Inch Cinch Straps - 5 pack, Secure Cable Ties.)
10. Using the bike in wet conditions require that the battery be protected. This is not a well designed assembly.

Removing the o-ring could possibly make the entry of water a possibility, but in reality the whole battery needs to be protected as you did with some plastic wrap if exposed to rain, so the role of the o-ring is not that relevant.

It is important not to use the bike if you have power glitches, because with the large currents the degradation of the copper sleeves in the battery female connector happens very quickly.
Hope this helps.

 

[BrianMura]

- 1/10/2019: Filed support ticket for degraded Race Mode as noted in https://electricbikereview.com/foru...offers-less-assistance-than-sport-mode.26498/
- 1/11/2019: Juiced responds and confirms shipping address to send controller.
- 1/15/2019: Juiced sends controller to wrong address.
- 1/20/2019: Adjusted brake discs to not scrape pads.
- 1/20/2019: Filed support ticket for degrading battery connector.

Thank you, jom, for your detailed advice. I will probably have to do as you suggested soon. I wish I had acted earlier. It seems my connectors degraded within the last two weeks as everything was fine on my post on the 6th. Seems all the strapping won't stop this issue...

 

[KLee]

I'm sorry to hear about the problems with your CCX. So far I've not experienced the connector problems yet. One thing though, on the male connector of my CCX it came slightly loose and I left it that way because I read somewhere in this forum it should be left slightly loose to allow some movement. I'm also using Velcro straps to secure the battery. I hope Juiced does right by you and please keep us up on how they are accommodating your request for a fix.

 

[BrianMura]

Thank you for your kind words, @KLee. Your avatar is hilarious.

Picture of the female socket I posted on Jan 6 (Post #7) doesn't seem pushed in at all:
https://electricbikereview.com/forums/threads/brians-ccx-journal.26299/#lg=post-177988&slide=0

Now, the sockets seem to be a little pushed in in the photos I've attached here (same ones used in the video). Hmm...

Edit: Fixed grammar in last sentence.

 

[KLee]

Thank you for your kind words, @KLee. Your avatar is hilarious.

Picture of the female socket I posted on Jan 6 (Post #7) doesn't seem pushed in at all:
https://electricbikereview.com/forums/threads/brians-ccx-journal.26299/#lg=post-177988&slide=0

Now, the sockets seem to be a little pushed in in the photos I've attached here (same ones used in the video). Hmm...

Edit: Fixed grammar in last sentence.

Thanks BrianMura! Attached are the pics using the same camera angle. The sockets look the same as yours, they do not look too different than mine.

 

[jom]

The positive terminal sleeve in Brian's battery connector is starting to show the effect of sparking.

 

[2wheeler]

I haven't removed the battery since I got the bike, really no need to yet. It seems worse case scenario a person could hook up a male female plug and just do away with the oem setup. The hole looks like it's a quarter size and pushing surplus wire back into the battery case or the holder wouldn't be too much of an issue. Excess wire to plug in the batt while holding it then mounting the battery if you get my meaning.

 

[SirJonathan]

I haven't removed the battery since I got the bike, really no need to yet. It seems worse case scenario a person could hook up a male female plug and just do away with the oem setup. The hole looks like it's a quarter size and pushing surplus wire back into the battery case or the holder wouldn't be too much of an issue. Excess wire to plug in the batt while holding it then mounting the battery if you get my meaning.

I agree with your assessment. I also only charge with the battery on the bike. After a ride I keep it outside in the backyard and park it next to an outlet and charge up. Minimize the destructive fire potential a bit, I guess. It's also very convenient.

When I replaced the CCX controller I became intimately familiar with the battery connector and all of the connections. Your description of a hardwired system would appear to be relatively simple. I'll ride a couple more times and then take off the battery and take some pictures of the connectors and see if there is any kind of sparking damage. My bike has never cut out while riding so I would imagine the connection has always been solid.

 

[bikerjohn]

I haven't removed the battery since I got the bike, really no need to ...

Those are my sentiments, too! With my old ebike, the 36V/12Ah battery needed a recharge cycle after every commute, that isn't the situation with the CCX. While I liked the idea of removing the smaller-lighter battery and recharging in an indoor environment, a 13pound monster battery pack seems happy with leaving it just where it needs to be ready for the next ride. I intend to do all recharging on the bike. With this new setup, I'll keep the charger on a count down timer and adjust the recharge time as needed to keep the battery in an optimal performance range.

My only concern is the extreme cold that the battery my encounter between use during the Winter. Right now It's 17°F outside, -about 37°F in the garage where the battery is on the bike. Overnight the outdoor temperature got down to 6°F (probably in the 20's in the garage) My intention is to perform a recharge cycle only when the ambient temperature is between 40°and 75°F.

 

[Dunbar]

When I replaced the CCX controller I became intimately familiar with the battery connector and all of the connections.

Do you have a picture of the CCX controller? Some of us are wondering if it would fit in the narrower CC/CCS downtube.

 

[BrianMura]

Happy unboxing collage. Have a good weekend everybody! :-D

 

[SirJonathan]

Hah! Your video reminded me of something when I first opened up my CCX. There were two keys and when I cut their tie-strap and put them on the table I notice one was sticking up about 45 degrees. My first thought was "What did I get myself into. These yahoos send me a bent key and this is going to be a sign of how this bike is put together". Imagine my surprise (and embarrassment) when I picked the key up and noticed that they swivel 90 degrees each way!