Newbie - Battery Question

K

KenS

Member
I just bought a RadCity Step-thru and am assembling it. One thing I did was pull off the battery and charge it. Charging seemed to go according to plan. It took about 4 hours for the charge light to turn to green. I put the battery back on the bike and decided to test whether the display would activate. I turned the key to ON and pressed the Mode button for several seconds. Nothing happened. I pulled the battery and reseated it. Still no display. It looks like there is a charge display on the battery. But nothing happens with the battery when I turn the key to ON.

I don't have the front wheel installed but don't see why that would block activation of the display. Is the lack of any indication of power on at the battery standard, or is there something wrong.

I am comfortable working on regular bikes but an electric bike is a new beast for me.
 
I suggest that you call Rad's customer service line for advice. :) Are they available on weekends? In the meantime, ebikes have a lot of connectors, so re-seating each one, even if they appear tight, might do the trick.
 
Your description did not include pressing the on/off switch on the battery and seeing the blue light come on. You just mention the key.
 
I have sent them an email but they don't appear to be available on the weekend. I started looking at all the connectors and concluded that I needed guidance. I did check the 5 amp fuse but it looks OK.
 
What on/off switch? On the battery pack? When I press the little white button then I get a red-green-green-green pattern.
 
You're good to go on the battery pack voltage indicator. Mine is as you describe. When you were looking at all the connectors, did you unplug them and plug them back in to make sure they were fully seated?
 
Well they must have changed batteries.

rad_power.jpg
 
They did Harry. The '18 bikes have a stronger battery that's not compatible with the older bikes.
 
Rad Power will have you double-check all connections first before sending you replacement parts. I would pull apart connectors, check for bent pins, and reconnect all connections for the wiring harness. That way you won't waste a day or two trouble-shooting back and forth with basic checks with Rad tech support.

Any possibility of someone in your area has another 18 Rad Power bike? You could switch out the battery to narrow down if it is a battery pack issue or LCD/controller/wiring harness issue.

I had a bad battery pack on my 16 Radrover (the old 11.5ah with on/off button on the side). I was able to switch out the battery from my second radrover to determine to determine it wasn't a controller/LCD/wiring harness issue. Rad Power Bikes sent me a free replacement battery since I was still under warranty. Turned out to be the second internal fuse you can only get at by taking the battery pack apart.

Folks on this forum gave me excellent advice how to take apart and double-check/replace the 50 cent internal fuse. I now have 3 operational batteries for my two 2016 Radrovers instead of a 15lbs paper weight.
 
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Walk thru the owners manual again, following each step, and make sure the battery is slid on securely. If holding down the mode button for 2 or 3 seconds still doesn't do anything, check the connections at the wiring harness near the display. Look for the Green connection, which is for the display, (you'll see the Green after disconnecting, and see if the pins look straight, and are inserting properly into the holes) alignment arrows are on outside of connector.

The other connection to check is the wiring harness near the controller. Rad has the connections check list and illustrations on their website. They'll probably make you do all of this anyway if you reach them by email or phone. Good luck.
 
The advice of mrgold35 and Mike gave me a plan. I would start at the display and work backwards through the connections. The first connection from the display on the 2019 Step-thru has a big shiny knurled ring on the connector. It looked like a solid connection but I decided to separate and reconnect. Pressed the mode button and the display came up immediately. I separated and connected a couple of more times just to check I didn't jostle the wiring harness in some other way and it has continued to work. Thanks for the help and advice.
 
I just purchased and assemble my new rad rover, during assembly I charged battery. I connected battery back to bike and followed instructions to power up control screen, and nothing... I checked all connections multiple times , the battery shows full charged while on charger and by pushing test button while key on. I have removed battery several times and checked both the 40 and 5 amp fuses. I will be calling tomorrow. Any help would be appriciated.
Mark
 
calstripe said:
I just purchased and assemble my new rad rover, during assembly I charged battery. I connected battery back to bike and followed instructions to power up control screen, and nothing... I checked all connections multiple times , the battery shows full charged while on charger and by pushing test button while key on. I have removed battery several times and checked both the 40 and 5 amp fuses. I will be calling tomorrow. Any help would be appriciated.
Mark
Click to expand...
Hi Mark
Ugh, that’s a drag. I do not have any suggestions for you. Just wanted to send some sympathy.
Wishing you the best of luck with your new bike.
 
calstripe said:
I just purchased and assemble my new rad rover, during assembly I charged battery. I connected battery back to bike and followed instructions to power up control screen, and nothing... I checked all connections multiple times , the battery shows full charged while on charger and by pushing test button while key on. I have removed battery several times and checked both the 40 and 5 amp fuses. I will be calling tomorrow. Any help would be appriciated.
Mark
Click to expand...

Is the key switch turned on? When you remove the battery, do you have power at the larger 2 terminals that plug into the rack?
 
In my case, I discovered the (disconnection) problem by tracing from the display back towards the battery. I would disconnect and reconnect any plug connection in that path.

Otherwise, in my experience, Rad has been good in support of their products. Good luck.
 
I believe I found the issue, there is a multi pin connector in the bike tube that is disconnected, my problem now is getting it down the tube far enough to re connect it.
 
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