Motor might be broken....

[RosaN]

I recently purchased a Sohoo beach cruiser. Initially the bike worked fine. However I wanted to change the settings so that I could engage the throttle on command while the rest of the time, pedal for exercise. I played around with different settings but now I can't get the motor to start at all. I will admit the setting instructions have confused me and couldn't tell you what changes I made. Levels, modes, codes, etc... If anyone can tell me what I should look at to determine if in fact it's a motor issue or my settings aren't correct. I'm including a picture of the controller I have. I've reached out to the company but they aren't responsive as far as support is concerned.
I'd like to avoid taking the bike to a repair shop if I can.

 

[vincent]

usually if you do enough google searches you should be able to find info for the deeper settings on different displays/bikes

this is primarily for bafang motors displays i think, not sure what your bike uses

if it is bafang, if you cannot find the model number of the display you can usually do a search and find one with the same screens then hopefully find a list of what the other settings do and figure out what is wrong

maybe someone with another sohoo bike can go into their settings and let you know how theirs is set

doubt the motor is bad, just a setting wrong

may take some time to figure it out

did you get it online?

 

[RosaN]

Thanks for your reply. I have performed many Google and Youtube searches. Even though I find other brands which use the same display, there are some differences, apparently input by the manufacturer. I'll keep researching and playing with the settings. I can't believe it's the motor but I know very little about ebikes. However I'm learning more and more each day!

 

[m@Robertson]

I'd suggest talking to the mfr and seeing about a reset. (edit: I see you tried that... wish I had a better answer).

For the peanut gallery who may be watching this: Always take a picture of your settings before making changes so you have a reference for undoing your experiments.

 

[vincent]

pas and throttle both dont work? that seems a little weird but sure it is possible

i bet you figure it out, you may just have to make your best guesses on the settings
thinking the actual numbers used in settings may vary but a lot of the underlying use of each setting will be similar

seems like something that would stop the motor from working would most likely be an either/or setting but i dont know if that is true

something that needs to be 9 set at 1-2 might do the same thing

why dont you post pictures of all your settings on here and see what others think

 

[AHicks]

pas and throttle both dont work? that seems a little weird but sure it is possible

i bet you figure it out, you may just have to make your best guesses on the settings
thinking the actual numbers used in settings may vary but a lot of the underlying use of each setting will be similar

seems like something that would stop the motor from working would most likely be an either/or setting but i dont know if that is true

something that needs to be 9 set at 1-2 might do the same thing

why dont you post pictures of all your settings on here and see what others think

So would one of the motor cut out switches inside the brake lever mechanisms. Easy check is to just unplug them.....

 

[ElevenAD]

in the pic above his PAS is on 0 so nothing is going to work? turn it to PAS 1 or above....

 

[RosaN]

pas and throttle both dont work? that seems a little weird but sure it is possible

i bet you figure it out, you may just have to make your best guesses on the settings
thinking the actual numbers used in settings may vary but a lot of the underlying use of each setting will be similar

seems like something that would stop the motor from working would most likely be an either/or setting but i dont know if that is true

something that needs to be 9 set at 1-2 might do the same thing

why dont you post pictures of all your settings on here and see what others think

I will.. thanks for the advice.

 

[RosaN]

So would one of the motor cut out switches inside the brake lever mechanisms. Easy check is to just unplug them.....

Easy for you.. LOL. Me, not so much... I'm mechanically challenged but will take a look. Thanks.

 

[AHicks]

Rosa, the "plugs" are usually in the area of the handlebars. Looking at the brake handles, you should see a wire coming from each of them. Follow the wire to the first plug you see and unplug it - both sides. When pluging these back together after your "test", be VERY careful to align the arrows on the side of the plug so you don't break or bend any of the tiny pins inside. -Al

 

[RosaN]

Rosa, the "plugs" are usually in the area of the handlebars. Looking at the brake handles, you should see a wire coming from each of them. Follow the wire to the first plug you see and unplug it - both sides. When pluging these back together after your "test", be VERY careful to align the arrows on the side of the plug so you don't break or bend any of the tiny pins inside. -Al

 

[RosaN]

I played with my settings and was able to determine the motor works! Yay... just not the way I want it to work but it's a start.
I will attach pictures of my settings. The LCD only has 16 P modes. A majority are set to the manuals recommendation for the specific modes. The ones I question are 05P, 07P, 09P, and 10P. I changed PAS from 1 to 5 and that is when I felt the pedal assist kick in. My goal is to be able to use the throttle only when needed, such as an incline or when my legs get tired. I prefer to get more exercise out of the bike by manually pedaling. If anyone knows how I can set it this way, I would appreciate the help. Thank you all very much. I love forums!!

 

[AHicks]

Are you trying to use the throttle after that bike is moving, or from a stop?

 

[RosaN]

Are you trying to use the throttle after that bike is moving, or from a stop?

After the bike is moving.

 

[harryS]

Those looks like a variant of a Brainpower LCD. I just bought an S866. The manual shows only 16 settings, but P6 and P3 are the same (wheel size and voltage). P8 is speed limit, and you seem to have an appropriate number here,

You can check to see if your P1 affects LCD birghtness and whether P2 sets KM or miles.

If they are similar, the P parameter that affects operation the most is is P5, P9, P10.

P5 -> number of assist levels. Do you have 9?
P9 -> throttle on at power up. 1 = on.
P10 -> whether PAS or throttle work
0 = no throttle
1 = no PAS
2 = both

Finally, one way I use to see if a controller/motor is wired up right is to put the controller in walk mode. Most designs enter walk mode (3 mph) if you hold the down arrow button down for 4 seconds.

 

[RosaN]

Those looks like a variant of a Brainpower LCD. I just bought an S866. The manual shows only 16 settings, but P6 and P3 are the same (wheel size and voltage). P8 is speed limit, and you seem to have an appropriate number here,

You can check to see if your P1 affects LCD birghtness and whether P2 sets KM or miles.

If they are similar, the P parameter that affects operation the most is is P5, P9, P10.

P5 -> number of assist levels. Do you have 9?
P9 -> throttle on at power up. 1 = on.
P10 -> whether PAS or throttle work
0 = no throttle
1 = no PAS
2 = both

Finally, one way I use to see if a controller/motor is wired up right is to put the controller in walk mode. Most designs enter walk mode (3 mph) if you hold the down arrow button down for 4 seconds.

It seems my parameters are the same as yours. I will check my settings and compare to your suggestions. I did engage the walk mode and almost crashed my bike into the garage wall. Is there a setting to reduce the power for walk mode? Mine seems high and hard to handle for me. Thank you for your help.