2019 Battery / Charger issue... or have I?

[Evolution Stu]

Battery charger modes...
Trance E+ 2019 500wh battery and charger.

Hi guys,
Random one, my bikes either operating normally, or broken. And I don’t actually know which.

Doing a big ride tomorrow so decided to pop the bike on charge just to be sure. It’s at 96% but wanted to max it.

As soon as I connect the power, the charger light goes red and stays red. I get the same result if I try to charge on the bike or off.

Do they even try and charge when the battery is so high?
Or is mine now faulty? I must admit I have never plugged it in when it’s almost fully charged before So I’ve no idea.

I dont want to ride it to discharge it to find out the answer as I really need all the power I can get for tomorrow’s route, especially if I now can’t charge the damn thing up.. ?

Pic for some colour...

 

[Pukmeister]

At a guess I suspect the "smart" charger has calculated that it is so close to maximum that it doesn't need to add more charge.

 

[Evolution Stu]

Thanks for the reply.
I do hope you are right, but would assume it should just go green to indicate “fully charged” as opposed to red which I assume is some kind of error?

Damn thing, it’s made me dubious about getting stuck up at 3000ft all alone with a faulty battery tomorrow now.
?

 

[Evolution Stu]

Another thing..
looking at the manual, mine has NEVER followed this light indicator scheme. Has yours?

 

[Pukmeister]

From memory, I think mine starts as solid red when first connected, then after a pause to calculate I believe it switches to flashing green followed by solid green when full (unless doing the 60% mode).

Mine is currently part charged after my last ride, I can plug in tonight after work and confirm the above.

 

[Evolution Stu]

From memory, I think mine starts as solid red when first connected, then after a pause to calculate I believe it switches to flashing green followed by solid green when full (unless doing the 60% mode).

Mine is currently part charged after my last ride, I can plug in tonight after work and confirm the above.

Thank you. that is precisely what Mine used to do.

Now it just goes solid red and stays that way.

Amazing how wrong the manual is about something as important as how the charger works.

 

[Pukmeister]

Solid red sounds like an unhappy charger, battery, or perhaps just a bad connection. As you suggested, I would expect to see solid green if full.

Do you charge on-bike or remove the battery ? I normally charge on-bike but last week I charged off-bike:

I would inspect your battery and bike terminals as last week I found mine were starting to go dull copper and one had the starting of green verdigris deposits on one 'blade' on the bike which corresponded with a battery terminal.

I used a fibreglass contact cleaner pencil to remove the deposits and spray with some WD type electrical contact cleaner to preserve them. All fine again now but I expected better sealing of the battery terminals so will regularly check from now on.

Maybe you have a similar issue that needs attention ??

 

[Evolution Stu]

Solid red sounds like an unhappy charger, battery, or perhaps just a bad connection.

Do you charge on bike or remove the battery ? I normally charge on bike but last week I charged off-bike:

I would inspect your battery and bike terminals as last week I found mine were starting to go dull copper and one had the starting of green verdigris deposits on one 'blade' on the bike which corresponded with a battery terminal.

I used a fibreglass pencil contact cleaner to remove the deposits and spray with some WD type electrical contact cleaner to preserve them. Maybe you have a similar issue that needs attention ??

Tried on and off.
Already tried a top quality terminal cleaner as I work on auto electrics every day. The connections are in excellent condition As the bike is only four months old.

Looking like another Giant failure. ?

 

[Pukmeister]

Tried on and off.
Already tried a top quality terminal cleaner as I work on auto electrics every day. The connections are in excellent condition As the bike is only four months old.

Looking like another Giant failure. ?

Damn, worth a try.

Probably best speak to your supplying dealer for advice, maybe they can inspect and run a diagnostic on your bike, battery and charger? Sounds like it could be a warranty job.

Don't forget your battery key and charger if you take the bike back to them.

 

[Evolution Stu]

Thanks for your time pal.

 

[Tony.OK]

Am pretty sure if over 90% it won't charge, have done the same thing with same results as you, then gone for a short squirt in boost to drop batt level a bit and then its charged as normal.

 

[TheBikePilot]

Can you take it out for a quick 20 min spin and deplete it a bit then try and charge it again. That would see one way or another?

 

[Evolution Stu]

Hi guys,
went to the lakes and did 20 miles and 3000ft of ascent on her today, bike was faultless. Drove home tentative that it wouldn’t charge, but plugged it in and all is well.

So... is it an intermittent fault, or is this normal behaviour? I will find out tomorrow morning when it’s charged. I will unplug it, then plug it back in and see what the damn lights do!

If It goes red I will be happy I guess, but why the hell doesn’t it go GREEN if that’s the charger telling me the battery is full? It goes green when it’s on charge and it wants me to know it’s full...

oh well, 1300 miles on it since June and I may have just learnt something new about it. ?

 

[Tony.OK]

Another thing..
looking at the manual, mine has NEVER followed this light indicator scheme. Has yours?

View attachment 21158

2nd point on chart makes more sense now, I think it means if you try and charge and batt is at/or near 100% the light is solid red.

 

[Pukmeister]

Thanks for the feedback, if nothing else it will stop us all from crapping ourselves that our batteries or chargers are knackered.

 

[Evolution Stu]

So,
Bike was 100% charged this morning so I unplugged it, powered the charger down, reconnected and powered it up.

Solid red light!
So that IS normal behaviour it seems!

Doh...

 

[GrandPaBrogan]

Great pic by the way, Stu!

If you haven’t already, I would still take your bike to your nearest Giant dealer for a quick diagnostic check. They should have a computer set up for this that will spit out a print out about the health of your battery and motor. Just for peace of mind. Bring your charger as well just in case they are able to check that too.

Also, I’ve always been under the impression that we’re supposed to connect the charger lead to the battery FIRST then the power lead to the mains outlet LAST. When finished, remove from the wall first, but I wait until the green light is off before I disconnect the charger from the battery. I don’t attempt to charge it again as an indication that the battery been truly fully charged. The 5 dots lit up on the handlebar controller should be all the confirmation I need.

 

[Evolution Stu]

Thanks for the reply.
yes, agreed, but my shops a 2hr round trip away sadly. I will drive it over there one day Soon though. Worth a check over as I’ve done 1300 miles since June.

Yes, you should always connect mains power last and remove first. the 5 lights on your controller could well be 81% don’t forget. Top light doesn't go out until 80.

Ref the pic,
Thanks, I am lucky to live so close to the Lake District. Here is one from Tuesdays ride. I’ve just come out of the clouds at 2200ft on Loadpot hill to be greeted with that view.

Happy days... and I am heading back there right now! ?

Have a great day folks.

 

[GrandPaBrogan]

^ Gorgeous!

 

[oldmanmx]

Hi Stu I've had my Trance E+3 since May and have just come across the same issue. Had the battery on charge when the wife unplugged it before completing. Switched it back on with 99% charge and light stayed on red. Took it for a quick 9ks this morning which got the bike to 93% hooked it up and all was well. According to the manual Version 6.7 constant red means the charger is not connected so maybe the circuitry on the battery disconnects it from the charging system and fools the charger into thinking that it's not connected.
Either way it's another example of Giant building great bikes but being very poor in the support department. The manual I actually got with the bike was Version 6.6 and in the charging instructions it says the light should be constant red while charging (see attached). This had me completely confused till I found the later manual online.
Also the manual says connect the charger to the battery first and then switch it on but the official Giant video shows the opposite.
It's frustrating having such a great bike that is marred by minor issues as poor waterproofing, an app that fails to work properly and bad technical support.

 

[Evolution Stu]

Your not wrong mate. Had a speed sensor issue again this week, bloody water I gresss to the sensor connector. ?

That later manual is far from clear for the smart charger too. ?
mine flashes green during charging (not mentioned at all!) and is solid red when not connected.

 

[oldmanmx]

Your not wrong mate. Had a speed sensor issue again this week, bloody water I gresss to the sensor connector. ?

That later manual is far from clear for the smart charger too. ?
mine flashes green during charging (not mentioned at all!) and is solid red when not connected.


View attachment 24764

Speaking of water ingress. My first controller went 2 weeks in from new after washing it with the garden hose. I've got the new controller where they changed the way the wiring enters it but in drought ridden Oz it hasn't been put to the test yet. Considering how easy the water got into it the first time I'm paranoid about getting stuck out in the bush and there is a sudden downpour. You guys in NZ tend to have more rain than us and I was wondering if you've any issues with the controller.

 

[Evolution Stu]

I’m in the U.K., we have plenty of rain. The later controller has been good. My first one, like yours, failed about 100 miles into ownership.

The problem we battle now is this lot collecting under the motor cover and soaking all the wiring connectors. There are 4 connectors under that lot!

 

[Evolution Stu]

The water made it into here and caused the issue.

 

[Evolution Stu]

I need to sit down at some point and come up with some better water protection solution than Giant did. Sadly I don’t have their budget or manpower to do so.

Were it me, all these connectors would be up in the frame behind the battery, not behind a cover that gets submerged in river crossings etc.

 

[Evolution Stu]

We do like to get ours wet admittedly. But it’s a mountain bike, not a desert bike!

 

[Herder000]

Hmm, so do people generally take off the motor cover and check for mud? The picture earlier is making me think I should!

 

[GrandPaBrogan]

I need to sit down at some point and come up with some better water protection solution than Giant did. Sadly I don’t have their budget or manpower to do so.

Were it me, all these connectors would be up in the frame behind the battery, not behind a cover that gets submerged in river crossings etc.

And it shouldn’t be our job to do so either - considering the amount of money we paid for these bikes. And I’m not speaking about only just Giant. This water ingress issue is rampant across all eMTB brands.

These are NOT commuter bikes after all, and the industry should’ve known better from the get go.

 

[oldmanmx]

I wasn't too surprised by the issue of water with the controller as this is a Giant part. But coming from a dirt bike background I'm surprised that there would be a moisture issue with the motor as Yamaha (as are all Jap manufacturers) have always been good with their waterproofing. I'll be watching your posts closely as you guys have at least 10 times the rainfall we have so any water problems should show up with you first.

 

[Evolution Stu]

Those connectors are under the motor. Behind the motor shield. So probably not technically a Yamaha failure.