Faraday e-bike controller got wet and now the lights won't turn off

[ciligirl]

I was caught in the rain riding my Faraday Porteur e-bike two nights ago, and now the front and rear lights will not shut off. More accurately, the lights stay on for several minutes (approx 20 min), shuts off for a few seconds, then turns on again. When I power off the bike, the light automatically turns back on again after a few seconds.

Clearly, something got wet that shouldn't have. So, I unplugged the three connector cables accessed by the lower down tube panel, and also removed the rubber portal on the bottom bracket to help it dry out. I removed the controller panels to expose wires there, and ran a dehumidifier all night near the bike. Today, I unplugged the square connector in the controller box. I oiled all connectors with deoxIT gold conditioning oil.

Unfortunately, the problem still persists. It's been two days since the bike got wet. I have the controller sitting over the dehumidifer, hoping what little moisture in there will work its way out.

Anyone have any tips on what to do about this? Thanks!

 

[6zfshdb]

Use a hair drier or heat gun for a few seconds on the exposed pins & sockets of the connectors. It doesn't take much moisture to cause problems. Often, you can't see it.

Use caution when applying anything to the connectors. Some anti corrosive or waterproofing compounds have insulating properties and can cause more problems.

 

[ciligirl]

Thank you for the response! I kept it over the dehumidifier for another night (I don't have a hair dryer, but the dehumidifier blows dry air, so...). In the morning it didn't seem to make a difference, the light wouldn't turn off after I plugged all the cables back together. Then I charged it up, because what the heck. Now the problem seems to be gone and the bike is working fine. For now.

So... if water made it onto a chip, then it's probably a ticking time bomb before the controller fails. Or maybe I got lucky and something else got wet that worked itself out. I have no way to tell. But it was drying out for three days over the dehumidifier before plugging it into the charger.

I hope it lasts. Wish me luck!