Levo Gen 3 Charge Limit doesn't work anymore

BushLevo

Member
Subscriber
Oct 11, 2019
81
30
Melbourne, Australia
Are you sure?!

Levo SL motor is not a Brose one, but the App is the same.

So it's probably developped by Specialized.

I'm talking about Levo (not SL) specifically, but this may apply to other product lines as well.

Specialized Australia have told me "the Swiss team" will have a firmware fix for this problem in the next month or two, and that it will most likely be an OTA update that can be performed with Mission Control.

In the meantime. I'm using a timer to turn the charger off at the estimated 80% charge level.
 

sdcoffeeroaster

Active member
Jul 22, 2018
563
209
San Diego, CA
This was such a great feature for the 1st 10 charges and now my 2021 expert carbon sl charges to 100%. I'm not going to do the reset since it seems that's necessary every 10 charges. Spec has had plenty of time to fix this simple feature and yet nothing yet. Why the delay??? Just contacted Specialized and they are "working on it".....Can't be rocket science can it, lol?
 
Last edited:

Crockej

Member
Feb 21, 2021
9
20
Oregon, USA
I was encouraged when I saw that they recently added the 80% charge feature to the new Ride app - but still goes to 100% on my 2021 levo (tried it 2 times). Haven't tried the reset - I'm assuming they'd make note that a reset is required for it to work.
 

balbo

Member
Jun 13, 2019
16
14
Bologna, Italy
In the latest version of the Specialized App (ver 1.4.0), Specialized added the option to limit the charge to 80%. I tested it yesterday, and It worked.
 

sdcoffeeroaster

Active member
Jul 22, 2018
563
209
San Diego, CA
In the latest version of the Specialized App (ver 1.4.0), Specialized added the option to limit the charge to 80%. I tested it yesterday, and It worked.
Yes they did add it and it typically works for a while. I think mine might have worked for 10 rides at which time it's designed to do ONE 100% charge for battery health and then should go back to 80%...which mine, and many others (maybe all), didn't do. Specialized acknowledges there is a problem they are trying to fix as of yesterday when I contacted them. Just looked for the version of Mission Control and says it's 3.22.0 and checked and that is the latest version listed.
 
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balbo

Member
Jun 13, 2019
16
14
Bologna, Italy
The charge limited to 80% stopped working after the 10 chargers for me too. Yesterday I updated the Specialized app, enabled the option, and charged the bike. The battery was at 82% at the end of the process. Maybe they fixed it in the Specialized app. I will continue to monitor the situation.
 

sdcoffeeroaster

Active member
Jul 22, 2018
563
209
San Diego, CA
The charge limited to 80% stopped working after the 10 chargers for me too. Yesterday I updated the Specialized app, enabled the option, and charged the bike. The battery was at 82% at the end of the process. Maybe they fixed it in the Specialized app. I will continue to monitor the situation.
No they told me yesterday by email that they are still working on it. The app online is dated back in August so it has not been updated yet. Reloading it will probably get it to work for a while I imagine and I might try that too. Sort of like what a reset does, but temporary.
 

sdcoffeeroaster

Active member
Jul 22, 2018
563
209
San Diego, CA
Sad to hear, because In the Mahle motor, it has worked all the time. Also with the old app.
So to be clear the app works for SL but the new 80% charge feature has a bug that makes it stop working. Everything else works. I'm not sure but I imagine this 80% charge issue is a problem with app not any specific motor. But I do know it's an issue with my 2021 SL.
 

balbo

Member
Jun 13, 2019
16
14
Bologna, Italy
No they told me yesterday by email that they are still working on it. The app online is dated back in August so it has not been updated yet. Reloading it will probably get it to work for a while I imagine and I might try that too. Sort of like what a reset does, but temporary.
I am using the new Specialized app ‎Specialized

The last version (1.4.0-14th of September) added the charge limit. Not sure if Specialized will continue to develop Mission Control
 

sdcoffeeroaster

Active member
Jul 22, 2018
563
209
San Diego, CA
I am using the new Specialized app ‎Specialized

The last version (1.4.0-14th of September) added the charge limit. Not sure if Specialized will continue to develop Mission Control
I had no idea there were two apps and have always only had the Mission Control app which they did recently update with the 80% charging feature. I guessing again, but probably both of them have this issue. I will download the Specialized app anyway so I at least have 10 80% charges. Not sure if there's any advantage over the Mission Control app for me since I use my Garmin to log all my rides
 

balbo

Member
Jun 13, 2019
16
14
Bologna, Italy
I had no idea there were two apps and have always only had the Mission Control app which they did recently update with the 80% charging feature. I guessing again, but probably both of them have this issue. I will download the Specialized app anyway so I at least have 10 80% charges. Not sure if there's any advantage over the Mission Control app for me since I use my Garmin to log all my rides
Specialized released a new app some months ago

I guess the Mission Control app will be dismissed in the mid-long term.
 

sdcoffeeroaster

Active member
Jul 22, 2018
563
209
San Diego, CA
Wondering if anyone has had any updates on this issue before I go and ask support?
Don't bother asking. The answer is that they are working on a fix. Can't be more than a one day job but they are taking forever and so it must be the lowest priority for them. As a former mechanical engineer and also a programmer of CADCAM software for over 10 years I'd personally be so embarassed and want to get the fix out ASAP.
 

iXi

E*POWAH Master
Feb 17, 2019
427
326
Brisbane
Using a power wireless power monitor I noticed 20% charge equates to about 1hr charging give or take a few %. Now when I finished my ride if I'm at 50% I just set my wireless plug to switch off after an hour and a half and next time I ride the bikes sitting at 80-85%. It's not as straight forward as the app but least I know it won't charge to 100% when not needed.

Misson control shows battery health at 100% after 52 charge cycles but blevo shows 99% health.
 

BushLevo

Member
Subscriber
Oct 11, 2019
81
30
Melbourne, Australia
Using a power wireless power monitor I noticed 20% charge equates to about 1hr charging give or take a few %. Now when I finished my ride if I'm at 50% I just set my wireless plug to switch off after an hour and a half and next time I ride the bikes sitting at 80-85%. It's not as straight forward as the app but least I know it won't charge to 100% when not needed.

Misson control shows battery health at 100% after 52 charge cycles but blevo shows 99% health.
I do the same thing with my charging, and I have exactly the same numbers re charge cycles and health.
 

BushLevo

Member
Subscriber
Oct 11, 2019
81
30
Melbourne, Australia
After the automatic charge limit stopped working quite some time ago, I've discovered that by manually charging to 80% all the time, the battery's internal cells become quite unbalanced. You notice this when you check battery level straight after a ride, and again about 2 hours after the ride. The battery level 2 hours later has dropped about 5%, presumably as the internal cells 'level out'. The reverse happens when you charge to 80%. 2 hours after you stop charging, level has risen by about 5%. So now I've reverted to charging the battery FULLY (charger turns itself off) before a ride. After the ride the battery level stays constant now.

The Charge Limit feature was supposed to force a 100% charge every 10 recharges to balance the cells, but I don't think this is frequent enough. I haven't experimented to find how often a full charge is required to keep the battery cells balanced, but for sure it must be done more often than 1 in 10 charges.

Perhaps this is why Specialized has gone quiet on fixing the Charge Limit failure problem....the battery requires more frequent full charges, and they haven't figured it out yet.
 

ThierryGTLTS

Member
Feb 17, 2020
120
56
Belgium
After the automatic charge limit stopped working quite some time ago, I've discovered that by manually charging to 80% all the time, the battery's internal cells become quite unbalanced. You notice this when you check battery level straight after a ride, and again about 2 hours after the ride. The battery level 2 hours later has dropped about 5%, presumably as the internal cells 'level out'. The reverse happens when you charge to 80%. 2 hours after you stop charging, level has risen by about 5%. So now I've reverted to charging the battery FULLY (charger turns itself off) before a ride. After the ride the battery level stays constant now.

The Charge Limit feature was supposed to force a 100% charge every 10 recharges to balance the cells, but I don't think this is frequent enough. I haven't experimented to find how often a full charge is required to keep the battery cells balanced, but for sure it must be done more often than 1 in 10 charges.

Perhaps this is why Specialized has gone quiet on fixing the Charge Limit failure problem....the battery requires more frequent full charges, and they haven't figured it out yet.
Not sure the 5% difference comes from unbalance!
I think it comes from temperature variation.
I noticed this espacially when the weather is hot or after a low temperature ride.
The problem is less pronunced when I recharge immediately after the ride and when inside and outside temperatures are about the same.

Some manufacturers recommend balancing every 50 recharges, others 30 recharges.

So 10 recharges is very conservative!

Have a Nice Day.

Thierry
 

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