Shimano Steps problem E20 E10 error

[stephen]

I have had this problem too, I live in New Zealand. First happened after 800kms bike shop did diagnostics and couldn’t find anything, after it happened again lots of time they finally replaced the connector wire from battery to motor. Problem solved ! Nope after another 800kms E10 E20 error again. I have cleaned all contacts & have a water proof cover I put on engine when travelling, so know it isn’t dirty contacts. Bike shop are now replacing battery saying that is the problem. Time will tell but I don’t think it will help. It is winter now so I will not be riding it much so might be a few months before I click up another 800kms. It is a Merida e big tour 700

Hi Jen,

I suggest ask the shop to apply dielectric grease directly to the gold contacts on connector . As in the image above you would apply the grease directly to the 4 gold spades stiking out from connector. In my view the issue is related to contacts rubbing more than dust/dirt getting in...grease stops contacts rubbing and wearing. Seems counterintuitive but take it from an electronic engineer fretting is a common contact Issue in automotive industry

You can get grease from repco or supercheap.

I can't guarantee it will work but I'm now at 5000ks with no issue, I commute daily on very similar bike.

 

[Jen]

Hi Jen,

I suggest ask the shop to apply dielectric grease directly to the gold contacts on connector . As in the image above you would apply the grease directly to the 4 gold spades stiking out from connector. In my view the issue is related to contacts rubbing more than dust/dirt getting in...grease stops contacts rubbing and wearing. Seems counterintuitive but take it from an electronic engineer fretting is a common contact Issue in automotive industry

You can get grease from repco or supercheap.

I can't guarantee it will work but I'm now at 5000ks with no issue, I commute daily on very similar bike.

I will pass on to guy at bike shop but they have sold many & mine is the only one with any problems which first happened within 6 weeks from purchase, can’t hurt to try though & an easy fix if it works. Thanks heaps.

 

[Larry Sloan]

Hi Jen

I feel your pain as my bike shop tells me mine is the only one with any problems. It is definitely a contact issue as mine will throw the same error sequence if battery not seated properly or sometimes when riding over bumps.

I’ll try the dielectric grease idea too.

 

[Jen]

Hi Jen

I feel your pain as my bike shop tells me mine is the only one with any problems. It is definitely a contact issue as mine will throw the same error sequence if battery not seated properly or sometimes when riding over bumps.

I’ll try the dielectric grease idea too.

Yes I too have used the grease which appears to be working, the bike shop is also replacing the battery as the last time the error occurred the battery lost power each time I reset. On a half hour ride while experiencing the problem 6 times battery power was as at 93% on start of ride and went right down to 3% on arrival home. So fingers crossed grease & battery along with cable connection replacement will have solved the problem once & got all. Meanwhile I continue to get lots of use from my Ebike.

 

[Andrew M]

I tried Vaseline last week and the one ride since was faultless, so have since bought and applied some of the proper dielectric grease. Previous commutes (about 32km each way) would have required about 20 resets due to the e20/e10 fault.
Fingers crossed for a faultless future and big thanks to Dave for sharing the tip.

 

[Larry Sloan]

Not as many E20 followed by E10 errors (still occur from time to time) but now power shuts off when I go over bumps. Anyone else had this?

 

[hookes]

I purchased a Commencal Meta Power e mountain bike with the E8000 shimano system in September of 2018. Within 2 weeks I was getting the motor to cut out mid ride while riding over rough terrain (very bumpy sections only). I was also getting E20 errors. It took the bike to a Trek store and they were able to figure out the problem. I have ridden 250 miles since on very technical/rough terrain and I have not had any errors since. The Trek mechanic stated that the problem was on the installation of the battery mount. He said that the battery is set between the base (where the contacts are located) and the top (where the key hole is located). Shimano has a specific distance between these two parts (base and top). He said that from the factory the "top" (key hole part) was installed just a few millimeters to close to the base. I do remember that the battery was relatively difficult to insert. Since he moved the "top" up just a little, the battery slides into place quiet easily and I have not been getting any errors nor the motor has cut out. Apparently the error has to do with the flow of power being disrupted. Somehow having the battery too tight between the "base" and the "top" can disrupt the connection when the bike is shaken (rough terrain). I hope this helps you all.

 

[ka1ko]

For the E20/E10 error, check your sensor placement. Atleast that's what i was told at the maintenance. Not getting that error that often anymore. But now the power shuts off randomly. And wont turn on anymore until 10 minutes of trying. After shutting off it wont turn on etc... Everytime i take it to the maintenance, they say everything should be ok, but it isnt. Contacted shimano, they just sent error code explanation and to take the bike to the closest shimano maintenance, yea right. Today i got enough and kicked the battery and it didnt do it anymore. So there is a connection issue that noone can deal with. And my 2nd problem might be related to this. Assist is shuttering, not always, happens randomly. And it is annoying af. After cleaning the connection on the battery it got better but it still happens. What a piece of junk. Feels like an alpha test but paying for the full product.

 

[E-Wheels]

If you are throwing E10 & E20 errors it sounds as if it might be an issue with the battery moving in the cradle
Check the recommended distance setting between the top and bottom battery mounts
Adjustment is done via the top mount
Refer to page 26 of the E8000 dealer manual
If that doesn’t fix it, then it could be that the power cord item “A“ shown on page 28 of the dealer manual is loose or needs replacing
Good luck

https://si.shimano.com/pdfs/dm/DM-E8000-06-ENG.pdf

 

[ka1ko]

I was checking if it's working and suprise, it is not. I tried to move the battery and its moving imo too much. It doesnt fit like it should because it works everytime if i push the battery from the side. Cant call which side it was, though i literally did it like minutes ago. I'll try to measure it.

And the mount is tightly fixed, just the battery doesnt want to fit

E: Battery was changed.

 

[Peter Meuris]

We fixed it.

It was driving me crazy. We have two Chimano Steps DI2 bikes. If it is not humid they never showed any E20-E10 nor connection problem. However if the humidity increases, they popped up every 3 minutes. We saw two behaviours:

1. E20 / E10
2. Just sudden empty screen

I got an e-care spay and sprayed the contacts:

E-Care

ONMISBAAR VOOR ELKE ELEKTRISCHE FIETS

www.bike7.be

It seems to be fixed now.

 

[Adzi]

Hi all, just thought i would share my experiences with the E10 E20 error.
Firstly I should mention that about 2 years ago and shortly after purchase, I unrestricted the speed limit on my montari E6000 ebike by using
2 magnets on the chain ring and this is what i thought was the initial issue.
I have done around 5000 kms all up on this bike in that time.
It was about 3 months after de-restricting that i experienced my first E10 E20 error.
Unlocking and just sliding the battery sideways about 45 degrees and then reinserting it cleared the error and I was good for another few weeks.
After doing this a few times i investigated further and found that cleaning the terminals with a cloth on both the battery and bike resulted in longer times between errors.
This has been fine until recently when i started to notice that the battery was occasionally failing to fully charge and sometimes would start to charge but then fail
with the two outer leds on the battery flashing at 1Hz for about 60s. No amount of cleaning the terminals appeared to improve it.
This lead me to here where i read about using the grease so i cautiously gave it a go. What a big mistake.
On reinserting the battery the bike would no longer power up at all. So i removed all the grease and reinserted the battery only to be greeted with a
popping noise from the battery when i tried to power on the bike.
Cleaned the terminals again - same result. I thought i had killed the battery. Thankfully I eventually found that if i had the battery partially removed (maybe 5 degrees out)
that the bike would turn on. Phew, the battery and bike were ok after the grease debacle and it was a battery contact issue.
Looking further at the terminals on the battery i noticed that the negative contacts on the battery were barely protruding and therefore
not contacting very well with the bike terminals. I ended up using a small flat blade jewelers screwdriver to bend the contacts on the battery slightly out and after
3 months of continued riding have not had any faults.
I hope this info may be of help to others.

 

[Mass Deduction]

I had same problem @2300k. 100% agree with what Dave above says this is a connector issue caused by fretting(vibrating and rubbing in electrical contacts which leads increased resistance) or dirt and dust ingress . Any contact grease(dielectric grease) will prevent it in future. After cleaning - apply petroleum jelly or you can buy a application specific contact grease from most autostores.
Di-electric grease

Picture below shows what worn contacts look like....once I cleaned and greased the contacts bike is now @4600k with not a single error since. Frustrating yes, but simple to fix once diagnosed.View attachment 21079

Wow... had this problem with a STePS 8000 bike after about 3300 km. Cleaned the contacts, no dice. Cleaned the contacts and applied a di-electric grease. Problem solved! I have two batteries and used to swap between them after every ride. I guess I won't be doing that in the future. Now I can stop riding my Bosch road bike exclusively, and go back to riding my Shimano trekking bike (at least when the weather is bad).