Easy Motion Street: System Power Cuts Out

[Ebike Commuter]

Yes the display would go dim, you could read some of the numbers just barely i would shut off the display and wait 30 seconds then turn it back on and continue riding till the next episode. Since then BH gave me a new updated display to try which did not correct the problem. Now they gave me a replacement battery to try and as soon as the temps drop below 100 i will try it. my bike always acts up on my ride home a 10 mile ride with 1000 feet climb in elevation overall and i usually leave work at 6pm when the temps lately are over 95 degrees which is very difficult for me especially when my bike quits on my last grade which is 5% to 10% for half a mile. if this dosent fix my bike i am sending it back for them to fix or replace i am tired of changing parts and my local shop cannot test it to determine the problem.

It can be frustrating to have a bike that loses power unexpectedly and even more so to have multiple trips to the bike shop result in no improvement. In my case, I contacted the BH Technical Service department by phone and after I indicated That I wanted to return the bike, they offered to ship a new battery to the shop. BH also stated that if the battery didn't fix the bike, they would exchange the bike for a new one. The battery did fix the problem, so they did not replace the bike. The controller, wiring harness and display were also replaced prior to the battery (controller replaced twice). However, these components had no effect on the power loss and were needlessly changed out.

Based upon the information you posted, there appears up be a relationship between the power loss and high ambient temp combined with increased load (which also likely increases the temperature in both the controlled and motor). The code 12 seems to confirm the bike is overheating. I wonder if code 12 is triggered by a temperature sensor in the motor or in the controller. Is the motor or frame adjacent to the controller very hot to the touch when the power cuts out?

My experience has been that the troubleshooting performed by the bike shop was not based upon symptoms, trouble codes from the controller or component testing. Rather the approach used was to replace components, one by one (5 components were replaced in my case).

It seems like it would be useful for bike shops that sell ebikes to have diagnostic tools to trouble shoot such issues, or, the bikes could come with these tools built in. For example, if the display or an add on display were able to show the motor and/ or controller temp under load, you could use this information to compare between bikes, identify under which conditions the power loss occurred and hopefully identify the faulty component.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

It can be frustrating to have a bike that loses power unexpectedly and even more so to have multiple trips to the bike shop result in no improvement. In my case, I contacted the BH Technical Service department by phone and after I indicated That I wanted to return the bike, they offered to ship a new battery to the shop. BH also stated that if the battery didn't fix the bike, they would exchange the bike for a new one. The battery did fix the problem, so they did not replace the bike. The controller, wiring harness and display were also replaced prior to the battery (controller replaced twice). However, these components had no effect on the power loss and were needlessly changed out.

Based upon the information you posted, there appears up be a relationship between the power loss and high ambient temp combined with increased load (which also likely increases the temperature in both the controlled and motor). The code 12 seems to confirm the bike is overheating. I wonder if code 12 is triggered by a temperature sensor in the motor or in the controller. Is the motor or frame adjacent to the controller very hot to the touch when the power cuts out?

My experience has been that the troubleshooting performed by the bike shop was not based upon symptoms, trouble codes from the controller or component testing. Rather the approach used was to replace components, one by one (5 components were replaced in my case).

It seems like it would be useful for bike shops that sell ebikes to have diagnostic tools to trouble shoot such issues, or, the bikes could come with these tools built in. For example, if the display or an add on display were able to show the motor and/ or controller temp under load, you could use this information to compare between bikes, identify under which conditions the power loss occurred and hopefully identify the faulty component.

Most bike shops prefer to replace rather than repair. Controller and motor systems are modular and they just swap them out.
Repairing a motor can be lot more work than just replacing it, especially if the service department is not well versed in such things.

 

[EricH]

For those having issues with your bikes shutting down, I think I found the issue. I purchased a Neo Cross and later an Evo Snow and would like to share an experience I had with the Evo Snow.

Pop off your handle bar controller and check the height of the silver pins sticking out of the underside (four upper and two lower). They should all be the same height.

The next time a shut down happens, pull over to a safe spot on the side of the road or trail. DON'T attempt to restart the bike. Slide your handle bar controller off and check the height of the pins. Looking at the controller I found on mine that the right lower pin was stuck inside the unit and one of the upper ones was half-way down. Rubbing my thumb over the lower, it eventually popped up completely. I placed it back on the bike and it fired right up. It shut down again when I changed the power level (pressing plus, +). After sliding the controller off to check the pins, again the one was stuck down. I did the same thing as before and the bike restarted fine.

Pressing the minus (-) button was no problem. Only when I pressed the (+) button did the bike shut down. I believe there was just enough torsion/flex in the controller to lift the controller pin off the contact of the harness while it was stuck inside the controller. That cuts the control or power and shuts the bike down. When the controller is on the bike, the lower pin and plus (+) button are opposite one another both vertically and horizontally so it's kind of like a see-saw when sitting on the harness.

My solution for the pin? I removed the lead from a mechanical pencil thinking that the barrel is small enough to not go over the pin and the rim would balance/seat the barrel right on top of it. So I used that to work the pin up and down in the controller being ever so careful to not push the top of the pin lower than the housing of the controller. The pin was very sluggish at first but then eventually started moving almost as freely as the other ones after 10 or 15 times. I did the same with the other 'half-way down' pin and it seem to completely free itself.

One extra step I did with the 'problem' pin was use a can of compressed air while holding the pin down. That seem to do the trick and it was just as 'springy' as the others.

Since doing this I have not had a shut down since - about 10 rides now. I hope this helps. Ravi, your input would be appreciated.

 

[J.R.]

@EricH

I noticed the LCD design to be a little flawed as well. I wrote the following here:

The LCD is easy to read and appears accurate. It's easily removed, the bike came with a screw that can lock the display to the bike. The display angle is also adjustable to account for glare, but I ran into a problem while pedaling up a big hill and attempting to adjust the angle. On the back of the display there are 6 very small electrical contacts and when I went to adjust the angle, the display lost it's connection to the bike and all assist stopped. At the time on the hill I didn't realize what exactly happened, later that day after having time to think about it, it struck me that the bike must have lost communication with the display.

I tested the theory at home of an interrupted connection and that was the case. I also tested the connection with the display screw in and did not lose the connection. I think a better place to push on the display base or a larger base would solve this issue. I also wondered about some of the accounts I've read about intermittent power problems, if they might have been caused by the same. It wasn't apparent to me at the time, I was busy working up the hill, worried about traffic and it was second nature to correct my vision to the display. The bike powered up when I held the power button 3 seconds, still I was concerned at the time.

 

[EricH]

I had never gotten any error codes with my power loss problem. Just the bike display blanking out. I've had years of service tech experience from Xerox copiers to pro audio to computers and figured this issue had to be some sort connection break somewhere.

 

[Joergen8]

I got a couple random shutdowns for the first time in a year's riding a few weeks ago. I did some random shutdown diagnostics of my own, but the actual cause remained a mystery. Never had my Evo 29er shut down on me before, never got any error codes. Best guess is the battery chemistry was slowing down too much near or under freezing temps and the BMS would shut it down like it does with a depleted battery, but this didn't pair up with how the bike would shut down on flats, not uphill.

I did the following:

-Cleaned the motor cable connector prongs with some contact spray (dielectric spray) and the female side with spray and compressed air. There was some oxidation or darker powdery stuff on them.

-Realigned the battery contact on the frame, as I noticed the little spring loaded pins were just barely riding on the edges of their counterpart contact pads. Cleaned the pads with spray on towel.

-Spread out the longer prongs on the frame-side battery contact/saddle slightly to secure a tighter contact, and cleaned them with a paper towel and contact spray.
Do NOT put metal objects or your finger between the long prongs on the battery side.

-Made a custom winter battery cover for the down tube. See other thread for significant real world gains. http://electricbikereview.com/community/threads/winter-battery-cover-flir-one-measurements.3457/

-Cleaned the contact pads on the display mount and the springy pins with a towel and contact spray.

-Visually inspected the connections on the backside of the controller. These are hotglued together so not much to see there. Mashing the controller back in into the jagged insides of the frame can easily cut the insulation on the wires, so be careful! Also inspected the wires under the battery lock cover.

-Tightened all handlebar connectors.

Haven't had shutdowns since.

 

[pxpaulx]

I had this happen to me with my evo snow yesterday! Was down shifting into the lowest rear gear and power just cut. I removed the display and all the pins were out like normal, so I'm going to chalk it up too being the first real ride and a glitch. We'll see if it happens again next time out.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

For those having issues with your bikes shutting down, I think I found the issue. I purchased a Neo Cross and later an Evo Snow (shout out to Lenny and Rich of Crazy Lenny's) and would like to share an experience I had with the Evo Snow.

Pop off your handle bar controller and check the height of the silver pins sticking out of the underside (four upper and two lower). They should all be the same height.

The next time a shut down happens, pull over to a safe spot on the side of the road or trail. DON'T attempt to restart the bike. Slide your handle bar controller off and check the height of the pins. Looking at the controller I found on mine that the right lower pin was stuck inside the unit and one of the upper ones was half-way down. Rubbing my thumb over the lower, it eventually popped up completely. I placed it back on the bike and it fired right up. It shut down again when I changed the power level (pressing plus, +). After sliding the controller off to check the pins, again the one was stuck down. I did the same thing as before and the bike restarted fine.

Pressing the minus (-) button was no problem. Only when I pressed the (+) button did the bike shut down. I believe there was just enough torsion/flex in the controller to lift the controller pin off the contact of the harness while it was stuck inside the controller. That cuts the control or power and shuts the bike down. When the controller is on the bike, the lower pin and plus (+) button are opposite one another both vertically and horizontally so it's kind of like a see-saw when sitting on the harness.

My solution for the pin? I removed the lead from a mechanical pencil thinking that the barrel is small enough to not go over the pin and the rim would balance/seat the barrel right on top of it. So I used that to work the pin up and down in the controller being ever so careful to not push the top of the pin lower than the housing of the controller. The pin was very sluggish at first but then eventually started moving almost as freely as the other ones after 10 or 15 times. I did the same with the other 'half-way down' pin and it seem to completely free itself.

One extra step I did with the 'problem' pin was use a can of compressed air while holding the pin down. That seem to do the trick and it was just as 'springy' as the others.

Since doing this I have not had a shut down since - about 10 rides now. I hope this helps. Ravi, your input would be appreciated.

Eric and JR,
You are absolutely right. I have had this happen on my Neo Jumper and as JR suggested, it was because weird tilt angle of the display panel.
So, I set the display panel to be ~ almost horizontal to the bar, the issue was solved.

Another glitch I used to face was, at traffic lights, I would change the PAS to zero and when I put it back to ECO, once in a while, the assist wouldn't come on. Then I would ease off the pedals for a second and start pedaling again, that took care of the problem.

 

[WelshBazinNZ]

had a similar issue happen to my Evo 29er after just three months and about 800km of use. So far it has been back to the shop and supposedly repaired 3 times, with them having the bike for about a week to a week and a half each time. It's now back with them again and they have made some noises about the possibility of replacing the bike with a new one.
Funny thing is that I had no issues at all for the first 3 months, then not long after I had the bike shop install some mudguards and a rear rack I had the issues described in others posts with the bike losing power whilst riding and not being able to be turned back on. This could be total coincidence.
The first two times the bike went back the lcd unit got replaced, then the last time they say they sorted out a loose connection. But each time it's only lasted a few kms before the same issues have happened again, sometimes with an error 13, but not always. I think they're as frustrated as I am at not finding the reason.
Hoping I get a working bike soon as commuting by bus or car doesn't even come close to the ebike

 

[WelshBazinNZ]

My bike shop decided to replace my Evo 29er with a new bike which I picked up yesterday. Unbelievably it seems to be having the same issues described here in an earlier post. It momentarily loses power when pressing the '+' button whilst riding, it then boots up again quite soon after but comes up with an error 14 because I'm pedalling the bike at the time.
I'll try working on the pins to see if that sorts it out, if that fails I think I might just give up on BH

 

[J.R.]

My bike shop decided to replace my Evo 29er with a new bike which I picked up yesterday. Unbelievably it seems to be having the same issues described here in an earlier post. It momentarily loses power when pressing the '+' button whilst riding, it then boots up again quite soon after but comes up with an error 14 because I'm pedalling the bike at the time.
I'll try working on the pins to see if that sorts it out, if that fails I think I might just give up on BH

Try locking down the display with the screw. My bike lost power in the same way as I noted above, so I'm going to leave that screw in while riding. I expect that to solve my issue, fingers crossed.

 

[Ebike Commuter]

had a similar issue happen to my Evo 29er after just three months and about 800km of use. So far it has been back to the shop and supposedly repaired 3 times, with them having the bike for about a week to a week and a half each time. It's now back with them again and they have made some noises about the possibility of replacing the bike with a new one.
Funny thing is that I had no issues at all for the first 3 months, then not long after I had the bike shop install some mudguards and a rear rack I had the issues described in others posts with the bike losing power whilst riding and not being able to be turned back on. This could be total coincidence.
The first two times the bike went back the lcd unit got replaced, then the last time they say they sorted out a loose connection. But each time it's only lasted a few kms before the same issues have happened again, sometimes with an error 13, but not always. I think they're as frustrated as I am at not finding the reason.
Hoping I get a working bike soon as commuting by bus or car doesn't even come close to the ebike

I had this issue a few months after purchasing the Easy Motion Street. Eventually, after replacing the battery, the issue went away. I still use the old battery as a backup range extender for longer rides, but it cuts out a few times during a typical ride and needs to be removed from the frame and reinserted to work again. The replacement battery works fine. Seems like the BMS could be sporadically shutting the battery down when it should not be doing so. It is a bit of a shame because the battery works fine for most of a ride. Does anybody know of a company that could verify the proper functioning of the individual cells and replace the BMS on an Easy Motion battery?

 

[HaveBlue]

Hello EasyMotion Rider,
By, "the display would go dim," do you mean the entire display went blank as if the unit was turned off? If so, that is what my Street does intermitedly.
I have never seen any "codes," such as "code 12."

One of the reasons I am wondering if there is a known System Power Loss issue with these BH Easy Motion bikes is that I experienced the same issue with the Evo Eco Lite model, that appears to use very similar system components. I test ride that model first and experienced the System Power Loss issue on the test ride. The store owner looked it over and after a few minutes, we were able to power it back on then he also saw that System Power Loss occurred a second time. That is one of the reasons I did not purchase that particular bike. Later my Street model developed the same issue, as described above, which is when I recalled that I saw the same issue during the test ride of the Evo Eco Lite.

I had this problem with my Neo Race. Did you try using a different battery? My problem turned out to be an internal wire in the battery.

 

[HaveBlue]

I had this issue a few months after purchasing the Easy Motion Street. Eventually, after replacing the battery, the issue went away. I still use the old battery as a backup range extender for longer rides, but it cuts out a few times during a typical ride and needs to be removed from the frame and reinserted to work again. The replacement battery works fine. Seems like the BMS could be sporadically shutting the battery down when it should not be doing so. It is a bit of a shame because the battery works fine for most of a ride. Does anybody know of a company that could verify the proper functioning of the individual cells and replace the BMS on an Easy Motion battery?

If you open up the battery, I think you will find that one or more of the small wires connecting the BMS are broken. I had a laptop repair guy fix my Neo Race battery. The individual cells are probably perfectly fine.

 

[Ebike Commuter]

@HaveBlue the battery is still shutting down during rides. I will try your suggestion of opening the case to see if there are any obvious signs of wires not properly connected.

 

[HaveBlue]

@HaveBlue the battery is still shutting down during rides. I will try your suggestion of opening the case to see if there are any obvious signs of wires not properly connected.

Be careful. I had a laptop repair guy fix mine. I didnt attempt to fix the battery myself.
My battery has been working flawlessly so far, after he fixed it.
Rob

 

[vincent]

any updates from you guys on the random power problems? about to order a 2016 street tomorrow and am hoping most of this has been resolved....

 

[Jack Tyler]

@Ebike Commuter and @HaveBlue, you might not notice Vincent's message to you earlier today. I too would be curious if Ebike Commuter, with a shop's help, found an internal wiring problem and was it connected...and whether HaveBlue's problem was solely that same problem. Gives those of us without local ebike dealers another avenue to troubleshoot.

 

[Ebike Commuter]

@Jack Tyler and @HaveBlue, I opened up the battery case and inspected the inside of the battery. It was a bit hard to get the case cover off, due to being a tight fit and it it appears to be sealed in place with white silicone. There were no broken wires, loose connections or other anomalies observed. Everything appeared well put together. Not all of the connections and solder junctions are visible however, as many are covered with tape and/or otherwise not visible without further disassembly. My guess is that I have a bad BMS, since the connections looked OK, but I am not sure. The BMS looks to be custom, as the circuit board fits neatly in the case. Replacement of the BMS would require soldering and it does not appear to be user serviceable.

 

[WelshBazinNZ]

My Evo 29er has the issue with one of the contacts not springing back out as quick as the others. Originally two of the contacts behaved in this manner but after a bit of manipulation one of them came right but the other one still takes about 30-40 seconds to return to its original position after being depressed.
The dealer that I purchased the bike from has asked me to try lubricating it with a bit of chain oil, CRC or WD40 to see if that loosens it up. I'm a bit reluctant to try squirting liquid into a sealed unit full of electronics incase it stops working altogether. Am I being a bit too cautious?

To be fair they have said they will organise a replacement if this doesn't work.