Sparkbike cuts off power after couple seconds

[Swinada]

My friends Sparkbike is acting up. When the bike is turned on you can push the throttle and it will spin up for a couple seconds and then nothing. No reaction throttle or pedal input. Turn the bike off and back on and again it will spin up for a couple seconds. Battery is almost fully charged, all connections seem to be good. (wherever i found a connector i took it apart to check for corrosion or bent pins or something) I disconnected the connections at the brakes to see if it would make a difference but it did not.

 

[JES2020]

My first suspect would be the controller.

 

[theemartymac]

I'm no expert, but for the sake of some shadetree troubleshooting; Do you have the manual?

https://endless-sphere.com/forums/download/file.php?id=151749&sid=ca70eeaea2f757b80b70bf4ce0133c7b

Run through the basic and advanced settings, clear the memory, and make sure nothing has been messed up. I'd switch the power meter to voltage and check that it's giving you at least 48V (full should be over 50) and not hitting the low voltage cutout as soon as you give it power (battery could look good on the LCD meter when unloaded, but cells are toast and can't supply anything). That battery may be original to that year, and certainly would put it in the age range for possible failure.

Then start with the sensors next. Try all the functions to see if it is a general controller fault, or just under acceleration. Is the problem present in all assist levels? Does walk mode work? Do the other display inputs work? Lights/etc? Any error codes? Does it start up with cadence at all? Is the cadence sensor present and aligned? Unplug the throttle and try it with the cadence sensor only to rule out a physical throttle fault.

Then open up the controller housing (Bottom bracket) and unplug the controller and check it out. Make sure it's fully separated from the power and display completely and reconnect it to see if it resets any bad settings. Obviously looking for bad connections, wire cracks, etc. Wiggle and jiggle while you're in there and look for intermittent faults/resets.

After you have cycled it several times does the hub have any smells at all?

If you get the similar fault with all throttle requests (thumb/PAS/walk mode) then I would say the controller is possibly the culprit. If you only get the problem with the thumb throttle input, swap that first or test with it disconnected. If you don't find anything obvious, it's probably time to get deeper with a multi meter and test each component for draw and continuity...

 

[JES2020]

The OP already said the pedal input didn't work.

 

[Swinada]

thanks for the link to the manual I was looking for one. I will investigate further when i have time.

 

[Swinada]

well no luck so far. When i parked it a few days ago it still worked like in the video but today nothing happens. Made sure all the settings are right. So I took the crank arm off to get at the controller. I have Voltage at the controller on the main +- wires. I purchased one of those e-bike controller testers but of course all the wire connectors on this bike are different than on that tester. The only ones I really could hook up were the 3 motor hall wires. That seemed to work fine.
Tried finding the same controller online but so far no luck. Lots of controllers out there but none with this wiring scheme.

 

[JES2020]

How old is the controller/
Can you buy a replacement from where you got the bike ?

 

[Swinada]

How old is the controller/
Can you buy a replacement from where you got the bike ?

no sparkbikes does not exist anymore

 

[JES2020]

I found this online:

Jan 16 2020

I received a response yesterday afternoon from Spark Bikes, But I thought it prudent to ask permission to post it here and I just received that, so here it is:

Hello Daryl,

Thank you for contacting us. We have changed our name to expand globally to new markets. We are still the same company, Canadian owned and operated, and still the same owners. The Spark Bike website, email, and phone line will remain opened for customer service, and warranty purposes. We will still provide warranty services even after it expires, we're the same company but operating under a new brand. All Spark customer will continue to have our undivided attention and working with you until every aspect of your transaction has met your expectations. So your warranty will not be effected at all.

Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Thank you,
Jay Del Monte
Rize Bikes Team

 

[Swinada]

that is nice except warranty has ran out on my friends bike. The first battery they replaced, then that one died too and she had to pay about 650 Canadian to get number 3. And now she has a bike that does not work anymore.

 

[JES2020]

that is nice except warranty has ran out on my friends bike. The first battery they replaced, then that one died too and she had to pay about 650 Canadian to get number 3. And now she has a bike that does not work anymore.

Well, my point was, now you know where to get a replacement controller.
One problem at a time .

 

[theemartymac]

that is nice except warranty has ran out on my friends bike. The first battery they replaced, then that one died too and she had to pay about 650 Canadian to get number 3. And now she has a bike that does not work anymore.

Rize is the old Spark Bikes, but it won't help you much anyway as they are just an importer. They don't have a tech division or service shop. You can get the very basic level of support from them for situations like this. They "Might" still be able to source a new controller for that generation though...

 

[Swinada]

All good now. My friend talked to Rize and they sent me a new controller ($100 Canad.) Installed it today and now everything works again. She'll be happy to have her bike back. I took it for a little spin around some local trails and I was pretty impressed. This thing goes pretty good.

 

[JES2020]

All good now. My friend talked to Rize and they sent me a new controller ($100 Canad.) Installed it today and now everything works again. She'll be happy to have her bike back. I took it for a little spin around some local trails and I was pretty impressed. This thing goes pretty good.

You're welcome .