Watt Wagon / Innotrace in Rain

[W2Yn]

Hi, I have the Motor with X1 from Innotrace with their 50A battery. The motor is basically also the Watt Wagon one.
My question is this: after destroying my Bosch bike after several rides in heavier rain resulting in constant 500 Errors 'm paranoid about my X1 and my battery. Do you ride your WW or Innotrace bikes in rain? If yes, do you have some sort of after-the-ride-routine or maybe some hacks to make the bike more waterproof?
Thanks for the tips, guys!

 

[Fast n' Furious]

I just stumbled onto your thread, so a late reply.
Just my 2 cents. We share the same concern - you from experience, me from an abundance of caution.
No. For lots of reasons I strictly avoid riding in wet conditions.
The 'shark' battery cases are not waterproof. There are numerous openings in the frame for cable routing, etc.

I'm not even sure what's behind that hole in the titanium housing, or that your machine is similar, but riding in wet conditions, water will be going down there. The steel/ iron motor bolted to the titanium housing creates a complete galvanic circuit conduction path. A CF bike would not suffer that problem, but dissimilar metals in the motor itself would suffer some corrosion - theoretically.
There is no way to clean down there and moisture must evaporate - leaving corrosive salts behind.
It makes sense to use the same tech Asrock uses on their waterproof gaming Mobo's - sealed in epoxy - to bulletproof our controllers to ip67 grade. Not because it'd solve the problem, because that's been the state of the art since the early 90's. Mil-spec boards also rely on this technology.
Another issue for me is cleaning the bike.
I won't use a hose and it's a bit of work. I can clean and lube once every two weeks, or every time I ride in the wet.
Member TPEHAK does a great job documenting the 52v 80amp battery he built @ the Archon X1 Programming Thread (Questions and experiences) with links to the full assembly on endlessphere. I don't remember the battery being ip67. I'd ask him.
All that having been said, my bike was created for winter snow. I downgraded from 4.5 to 4.0 tires.
I could be overly cautious, but when I hear about your Bosch getting fried ...

Fn'F

 

[fooferdoggie]

Hi, I have the Motor with X1 from Innotrace with their 50A battery. The motor is basically also the Watt Wagon one.
My question is this: after destroying my Bosch bike after several rides in heavier rain resulting in constant 500 Errors 'm paranoid about my X1 and my battery. Do you ride your WW or Innotrace bikes in rain? If yes, do you have some sort of after-the-ride-routine or maybe some hacks to make the bike more waterproof?
Thanks for the tips, guys!

the bosch should not have had issues in the rain. I get rain sometimes weeks in a row took two years and my bike being wet for weeks on end to finally rust out a bottom bracket bearing that they replace after the warranty ran out. but I ride all three of our bosch bikes in the rain and snow and other crappy weather.

 

[W2Yn]

I just stumbled onto your thread, so a late reply.
Just my 2 cents. We share the same concern - you from experience, me from an abundance of caution.
No. For lots of reasons I strictly avoid riding in wet conditions.
The 'shark' battery cases are not waterproof. There are numerous openings in the frame for cable routing, etc.
View attachment 158174
I'm not even sure what's behind that hole in the titanium housing, or that your machine is similar, but riding in wet conditions, water will be going down there. The steel/ iron motor bolted to the titanium housing creates a complete galvanic circuit conduction path. A CF bike would not suffer that problem, but dissimilar metals in the motor itself would suffer some corrosion - theoretically.
There is no way to clean down there and moisture must evaporate - leaving corrosive salts behind.
It makes sense to use the same tech Asrock uses on their waterproof gaming Mobo's - sealed in epoxy - to bulletproof our controllers to ip67 grade. Not because it'd solve the problem, because that's been the state of the art since the early 90's. Mil-spec boards also rely on this technology.
Another issue for me is cleaning the bike.
I won't use a hose and it's a bit of work. I can clean and lube once every two weeks, or every time I ride in the wet.
Member TPEHAK does a great job documenting the 52v 80amp battery he built @ the Archon X1 Programming Thread (Questions and experiences) with links to the full assembly on endlessphere. I don't remember the battery being ip67. I'd ask him.
All that having been said, my bike was created for winter snow. I downgraded from 4.5 to 4.0 tires.
I could be overly cautious, but when I hear about your Bosch getting fried ...

Fn'F

Thanks a lot! As it seems to only rain a little in spring and in autumn in my area I think I will just give my bike a short break during these times to be sure as my old car also needs to be moved from time to time...

 

[W2Yn]

the bosch should not have had issues in the rain. I get rain sometimes weeks in a row took two years and my bike being wet for weeks on end to finally rust out a bottom bracket bearing that they replace after the warranty ran out. but I ride all three of our bosch bikes in the rain and snow and other crappy weather.
View attachment 158241

Very interesting, thanks! I hope your bikes will keep on doing fine. Maybe I was just unlucky. Hard to know.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Very interesting, thanks! I hope your bikes will keep on doing fine. Maybe I was just unlucky. Hard to know.

ya it sounds like something else. I wish I didn't to ride so much in the rain but its par for the course. my problem was my bike would stay wet for days in my garage when it was 99% humidity so now I blow it off with a leaf blower after a rain.

 

[scrambler]

Wipe as much before the blower. Blowing tends to push water in small spaces it is not supposed to go....

 

[Fast n' Furious]

Thanks a lot! As it seems to only rain a little in spring and in autumn in my area I think I will just give my bike a short break during these times to be sure as my old car also needs to be moved from time to time...

Agreed. It's easy for me to skip wet weather too.
I'd venture e-bike electronics failure rates are much higher in wet areas.
It's not so much moisture, a bigger culprit's water puddled on the street being acidic with dissolved salts.
Electric conductivity (EC) of paved mineral soils is significantly higher than those of unpaved mineral soils, a symptom of dissolve salts. Unpleasant experiences with galvanic corrosion was a big factor in choosing a titanium bike and partly for installing ti nuts/ bolts and washers, spacers and clamps. But regardless the bottom bracket certainly won't rot off, the stainless bolts might and if the conductivity passes through other metal parts, the least noble will corrode in succession. The metal corroding may have never even seen a molecule of water.
In the Marine field, I observed galvanic corrosion's effects. After failing to service a Zinc anode in the Fall on a '60 boat, it was was fired up in the Spring and the prop fell off - the 3"+ shaft having corroded completely through.
Riding in the wet, water evaporates quickly from a hot motor, concentrating salt deposits.
The Chinese made thumb-throttles I've dismantled are definitely not ip67 - regardless what they rate them at.
I run a Domino ip67 rated throttle. The company provides pdf's of the testing docs verifying it's certification rating. I've seen the interior and could find no leaks
That's a shame with your Bosch, but take heart with your Bafang M620 !!!

• The Bafang Max motor, controller and display are all IP65, which means they’re completely dustproof and heavily water-resistant.
• Bafang Motors and other Bafang Components are generally rated IP65
• Bafang Batteries are generally rated IP66
• The Bosch Active Line and Performance Line motors are rated to IP54 – dust and splash water protected.

(see e-bikehq.com).
So, if you do get caught in the rain, you might be safer w/ that Ultra.

FnF

 

[Fast n' Furious]

Wipe as much before the blower. Blowing tends to push water in small spaces it is not supposed to go....

I tried not to say it, but yeah. It also blows the water around and dries it, leaving concentrates of road salts. Keep doing that you'll have some decent buildup - like a coffee maker using tap water.
What do you think regarding the M620? Is the motor sealed; the controller safe?