lo batt error / motor error

[Sanders]

I'm off to the store for some plastic friendly contact cleaner per Sierratim.

BUT..on a older como 3 and new 4: removed batts for charging to house as it became winter in garage.
Put fully charged batts back in bikes today for possible ride, intermittent motor on/off then those errors, then no motor.
Turned bike on/off many times as I'm clever that way.
New como 4 is fine, older 3 says lo batt timer and motor error, never seen any errors before.
Both displays show full battery.
Will return shortly with possible fix in a can and advise.

 

[Sierratim]

I'm off to the store for some plastic friendly contact cleaner per Sierratim.

BUT..on a older como 3 and new 4: removed batts for charging to house as it became winter in garage.
Put fully charged batts back in bikes today for possible ride, intermittent motor on/off then those errors, then no motor.
Turned bike on/off many times as I'm clever that way.
New como 4 is fine, older 3 says lo batt timer and motor error, never seen any errors before.
Both displays show full battery.
Will return shortly with possible fix in a can and advise.

A low battery in the display ('LO BATT') would eventually cause other random display messages as the display 'dies' I'm sure. Perhaps this is what the motor error is about on the older Como 3. I'd suggest a new display battery now as well as routine battery and frame power connector cleaning. My 2020 Vado display (the TCD-W display) uses a CR 1220 battery. Can't say for sure about an older Como 3.

 

[Sanders]

Was a good try. Same resuts.
Also tried display batt from good bike.
Then I got "motor error" and "timer", just the word "timer" not "batt timer".

 

[Sierratim]

Was a good try. Same resuts.
Also tried display batt from good bike.
Then I got "motor error" and "timer", just the word "timer" not "batt timer".

Might be time to get your LBS involved.

Did you 'scrub' the battery and frame power connectors with something like a Q-tip?

 

[Sanders]

Didn't go to that level but will try.
Blew out with compressor from safe distance, sprayed, let dry, sprayed again, blew that out. Gonna try the wipe off as well. LBS off for long weekend.
Got firmware and winter service to have done anyway. Might just load em up and get that done. Will advise. Tks!

 

[Sierratim]

After spraying the power connectors with the cleaner I spray a Q-tip with the cleaner and 'scrub' each side of each terminal. This usually takes a couple of Q-tips to keep from transferring contaminates between terminals.

Good luck.

 

[Sanders]

Upon further review:
Took both to LBS for winter service on new bike, diagnose older (with motor err - lo bat).
They said it lead them to a torque sensor issue, probly dirty, s'pose they cleaned it.
Not really sure where that would be, aware of cadence mag sensor but thinking that might be inside drive somewhere.
They changed batt in display unit, did a firmware update, all problems went away.
Firmware update both bikes.
Will probly pick them up tomorrow and get more info.
Open only M-F til 5pm, winter, sometimes makes it hard as I'm so dedicated to my job.
Right.

 

[Sanders]

This just in:
Did not ride the bike for a long time.
Daughter in law did though. Failed twice, reboot to run again, made it home.
Initially the LBS had said they weren't really sure exactly why it failed before, just did all that stuff, ran fine.
They ran info, stored data, linked to satellites, shared it with the big guys at Specialized and they said it's either the drive or cable connecting drive to display unit.
They installed new cable and wife has ridden it 5 times since. No failures.
LBS says if it fails after this we'll put in a new drive per Specialized big guys.
This is a 2018 Como I bought as used in spring of 2020 when the s***storm hit.
All this is covered by Specialized. Pretty nice.
My LBS says that if same problem returns within a 2-3 year period or so they'll change out drive.
Pretty nice. Pleased with support of Specialized and my LBS.

 

[Sanders]

Upon further review: My Como 4 (2020) showed the same "lo batt", "no motor" last night so we did not ride.
I had just charged the battery overnight, in garage, on both bikes (one 2018 Como 3), no crazy temps.
Both bikes showed full batts on app (healthy) and the 5 lights at the on/off switch.
All connectors cleaned per usual safe methods. No change.
Brought Como 4 battery indoors, put on charger (even thought it showed full) and it blinked as charging.
About 1.5 hours later charging stopped per normal. Installed in bike, everything worked except show "lo batt" @ TCU.
Drove around the block, returned.
"lo bat" continues and I'm changing out TCU batts today.
In last 12 months we did not ride much so cycling full to minimum on bike batts was limited.
Expecting this may have contributed but who knows.
If I was smarter than I am now I would understand a lot more.

Simply an FYI as it's related to previous post and I'm guessing it's not uncommon.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The display button battery needs to be replaced. CR 1220.
The "lo batt" message is very confusing. It is about the display, not the e-bike battery.

 

[Sanders]

That is true, seen it before but:
I didn't have a new CR1220 so I took the one from my wife's 2018 Como 3 TCU that was working fine.
I put it in my Como 4, no change.
I took the bike battery from her bike and put it in mine.
Everything worked fine.
Replaced both TCU batts and put a few miles on it yesterday, seems ok.
Tks Stefan.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

@Sanders: I experience the "lo batt" perhaps once in a year. As the 1220 are not that easy to buy, I always keep a spare in my drawer. They hold very well in the storage!