Allan47.7339
Well-Known Member
The SBC-B01 does not have any Bluetooth connectivity. That feature was added to the batteries and some motors in 2015.
Replacement Batteries for 2013-2016 Turbo (non-Levo/Vado)
- Thread starter Douglas Ruby
- Start date
Sclarkturbo
New Member
- Region
- USA
Sorry, my question wasn't clear. The original turbo (2012?) had an earlier version of display. My 2015 turbo s has the "clean cockpit" display. Both are wired so this isn't about Bluetooth. The B01 battery came from a bike with the earlier display. When i connect that battery to my bike, the startup diagnostic blinks to indicate that the display is not connected and as a result my display shows all zeros (though it does power up). The question is whether the B01 battery requires specific firmware to support the other display. My manual suggests that all versions of battery and bike are compatible. Also, bike has full functionality with B05 battery so the bike or display or wiring the issue. I assume battery either needs firmware that matches the display type or the battery is broken in some way.
Unfortunately, i went to LBS this week to get firmware update and they said they talked with specialized rep for an hour and it cant be done.
Allan47.7339
Well-Known Member
As long as the bike powers up the lights on the battery will show the approximate charge. Otherwise scan through older topics in the 2015-2017 range to see if you can find something useful. I would not be surprised if the Specialized techs are no longer familiar with the older hub Turbo model. I believe the Specialized shop software is a different product than they use today. Maybe check if the shop has the old software. (Might not be Win10 compatible.)
I do remember seeing a post that there is bike and motor information stored in the battery. I have a 2014/2015 model with a SBC-B01 and I later purchased a SBC-B03 battery with the larger capacity. I currently use the Turbo S as a local car substitute and don't ride it more than a few miles but at one time I commuted 36-40 miles round trip on it.
I do remember seeing a post that there is bike and motor information stored in the battery. I have a 2014/2015 model with a SBC-B01 and I later purchased a SBC-B03 battery with the larger capacity. I currently use the Turbo S as a local car substitute and don't ride it more than a few miles but at one time I commuted 36-40 miles round trip on it.
I've had a years long "battle" with Specialized trying to get to the bottom of issues pertaining to compatibility of replacement batteries for my 2016 Turbo X. The problem started when the original battery (SBC-B03 13Ah/468Wh) started to malfunction (cutting out on rides) and then finally would not accept a charge. It would operate the bike perfectly but just wouldn't take a charge.
Over the course of a year's direct communications with Specialized RiderCare, the Specialized retail rep, and my LBS (who are super helpful, awesome..and a Specialized "shop"), it became quite obvious that Specialized were more focused on their new products and so were essentially throwing everything at the wall in the hopes that something would stick for my Turbo. At this point it's probably important to note that my profession over the last 30 years has centered around Mil/Aero wiring, connector systems, batteries (various chemistries), and Failure Analysis systems so I certainly had a more technical understanding of the issues than likely their typical customer would have.
Initially I complained that the original battery, that while certainly out of warranty only had about 35 charge cycles on it, way short of their estimated "300" but it was past the two year warranty so.....
Here's where the "fun" started, trying to figure out why the battery wouldn't accept a charge even though it operated the bike just fine. It should have been an easy call. If the battery / BMS just failed then just buy a new battery. I had my LBS use their Specialized Turbo analysis tool and the battery showed "healthy", decent state of charge and no weird cell imbalance, fault, etc. So RideCare's first suggestion was "maybe it was the bike's wiring harness/connections". Well no, the bike was operating fine. (In fact I had just replaced the Rosenberger connector because it was starting to get intermittent due to wear from repeated battery removals for charging..but that's a whole other issue). So they had me take the bike in to the LBS and had them run a "test". No surprise, the bike checked out fine.
Next I just happened to have a friend that has a slightly earlier version of the Turbo (2014) and had a second battery that was essentially brand new (1 charge cycle, it was either the 342Wh or the 396Wh version). Fully charged, popped it into the bike and while the bike would "operate", the control head would not register any data other than motor mode, no state of charge, and the bike would only operate in "turbo" mode. Had this battery analyzed by the LBS and it too showed "healthy" with no internal defects. It was at this point that I started to ask RiderCare about "software" and "firmware" compatibility. Because these Turbo batteries have both the BMS and the bike "diagnostics" built into the battery I started to suspect that there might be firmware that was specific to certain bike models or production runs. At first RiderCare said upgrading the firmware on the borrowed battery "shouldn't" affect it's use when put back on the 2014 model. Their response seemed a little "soft" so when I asked if they were absolutely sure their response was "you probably shouldn't do it..but we're not sure". So, the first clue there might in fact be a firmware/compatibility issue although all along they totally downplayed that firmware was a factor.
At this point the folks at RiderCare (surprisingly they were still talking to me) offered to try and find me a battery, and in all fairness, until the "end" RideCare (more specifically an individual on their team) was both super responsive and really tried her best. Specialized actually sent me a battery that was virtually unused (1 charge cycle). This was a SBC-B03 13aH/468Wh just like my original. The battery would charge fine (both in and out of the bike) and when analyzed at the LBS this battery also tested "healthy" with no internal anomalies.
After I installed this battery a whole new set of issues arose. The battery would run through the initial startup diagnostic cycle and then just shut down. After "checking" the motor circuit (first LED on the battery in the sequence) the headlight/taillight would dim, then continue through the rest of the diagnostic cycle and just shut down. I discovered if the battery charger was disconnected as the startup cycle transitioned from the first LED on the battery to the second LED, the headlamp stayed at the normal brightness, the startup sequence would complete properly and the bike functioned fine! Of course once the bike was turned off and restarted it would just revert to shutting down.
So three different "healthy" batteries with three different sets of issues. RiderCare was now getting tired of me and stopped responding to emails. At this point they actually told me "sorry there's nothing more we can think of. You're just going to have to buy a new bike". Really?.. so basically just throw away a perfectly good 5 year old EXPENSIVE bike?! I pointed out that without being able to buy a replacement battery I couldn't even resell the bike. That really promotes buying another Specialized product...............(Oh, and BTW I also own 3 of their top-end S-Works bikes)
The culmination of all of this is that now Specialized has admitted that there actually was/is a firmware compatibility issue, as a number of people have discovered. And apparently "older" batteries cannot be "updated" to the new firmware. They now are offering a new and improved Turbo battery 98916-5616: TURBO SC BATTERY 691wh (Service - AM) which they assure me operates correctly regardless of Turbo model. We'll see. I have one on order.
So yeah, there definitely is a compatibility issue and to make matters worse, Specialized can't tell you which battery model, S/N, etc is compatible with what series or "age" of Turbo bike.
Over the course of a year's direct communications with Specialized RiderCare, the Specialized retail rep, and my LBS (who are super helpful, awesome..and a Specialized "shop"), it became quite obvious that Specialized were more focused on their new products and so were essentially throwing everything at the wall in the hopes that something would stick for my Turbo. At this point it's probably important to note that my profession over the last 30 years has centered around Mil/Aero wiring, connector systems, batteries (various chemistries), and Failure Analysis systems so I certainly had a more technical understanding of the issues than likely their typical customer would have.
Initially I complained that the original battery, that while certainly out of warranty only had about 35 charge cycles on it, way short of their estimated "300" but it was past the two year warranty so.....
Here's where the "fun" started, trying to figure out why the battery wouldn't accept a charge even though it operated the bike just fine. It should have been an easy call. If the battery / BMS just failed then just buy a new battery. I had my LBS use their Specialized Turbo analysis tool and the battery showed "healthy", decent state of charge and no weird cell imbalance, fault, etc. So RideCare's first suggestion was "maybe it was the bike's wiring harness/connections". Well no, the bike was operating fine. (In fact I had just replaced the Rosenberger connector because it was starting to get intermittent due to wear from repeated battery removals for charging..but that's a whole other issue). So they had me take the bike in to the LBS and had them run a "test". No surprise, the bike checked out fine.
Next I just happened to have a friend that has a slightly earlier version of the Turbo (2014) and had a second battery that was essentially brand new (1 charge cycle, it was either the 342Wh or the 396Wh version). Fully charged, popped it into the bike and while the bike would "operate", the control head would not register any data other than motor mode, no state of charge, and the bike would only operate in "turbo" mode. Had this battery analyzed by the LBS and it too showed "healthy" with no internal defects. It was at this point that I started to ask RiderCare about "software" and "firmware" compatibility. Because these Turbo batteries have both the BMS and the bike "diagnostics" built into the battery I started to suspect that there might be firmware that was specific to certain bike models or production runs. At first RiderCare said upgrading the firmware on the borrowed battery "shouldn't" affect it's use when put back on the 2014 model. Their response seemed a little "soft" so when I asked if they were absolutely sure their response was "you probably shouldn't do it..but we're not sure". So, the first clue there might in fact be a firmware/compatibility issue although all along they totally downplayed that firmware was a factor.
At this point the folks at RiderCare (surprisingly they were still talking to me) offered to try and find me a battery, and in all fairness, until the "end" RideCare (more specifically an individual on their team) was both super responsive and really tried her best. Specialized actually sent me a battery that was virtually unused (1 charge cycle). This was a SBC-B03 13aH/468Wh just like my original. The battery would charge fine (both in and out of the bike) and when analyzed at the LBS this battery also tested "healthy" with no internal anomalies.
After I installed this battery a whole new set of issues arose. The battery would run through the initial startup diagnostic cycle and then just shut down. After "checking" the motor circuit (first LED on the battery in the sequence) the headlight/taillight would dim, then continue through the rest of the diagnostic cycle and just shut down. I discovered if the battery charger was disconnected as the startup cycle transitioned from the first LED on the battery to the second LED, the headlamp stayed at the normal brightness, the startup sequence would complete properly and the bike functioned fine! Of course once the bike was turned off and restarted it would just revert to shutting down.
So three different "healthy" batteries with three different sets of issues. RiderCare was now getting tired of me and stopped responding to emails. At this point they actually told me "sorry there's nothing more we can think of. You're just going to have to buy a new bike". Really?.. so basically just throw away a perfectly good 5 year old EXPENSIVE bike?! I pointed out that without being able to buy a replacement battery I couldn't even resell the bike. That really promotes buying another Specialized product...............(Oh, and BTW I also own 3 of their top-end S-Works bikes)
The culmination of all of this is that now Specialized has admitted that there actually was/is a firmware compatibility issue, as a number of people have discovered. And apparently "older" batteries cannot be "updated" to the new firmware. They now are offering a new and improved Turbo battery 98916-5616: TURBO SC BATTERY 691wh (Service - AM) which they assure me operates correctly regardless of Turbo model. We'll see. I have one on order.
So yeah, there definitely is a compatibility issue and to make matters worse, Specialized can't tell you which battery model, S/N, etc is compatible with what series or "age" of Turbo bike.
Hi there......I'd be interested in the SBC-B05 if you still have it - only thing is I'm in Australia - I have two Specialized Turbo (2014 models). Anyway of working our shipping? Cheers Anthony abpalmer@gmail dot com
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