Other Clean your motor and tcu!

[MrSimmo]

OK so big thanks (again) to Berkshire Bikes who this morning just replaced my motor, tcu, power cable and hmi cable as my bike turned itself into a very heavy brick on Wednesday.

Anyhow, I didn't know this. I'm sure its posted somewhere but thought I'd take the time to repost it just in case.

Berkshire Bikes said to me that we really need to be cleaning the plugs on the cables on a regular basis (every few weeks) by blowing them with air (air compressor etc) - including:

1. Take the TCU out, disconnect it and give the plugs a blow with air to get the crap out
2. Take the left (non-drive side) crank off, remove the non-drive side motor cover and blow all of the crap out with air, then do the same with the cable plugs



@Rob Rides EMTB I couldn't find a prefix that did all of the Specialized models so used "other", hope thats right.


Enjoy!

 

[Reap3r]

I've seen this vaugely mentioned in a video I think, but I'm adding your text to my onenote file for maintenance, thanks!

 

[Tim1023]

... but I'm adding your text to my onenote file for maintenance, thanks!

Glad I'm not alone. I use OneNote for just about everything; work, private and, of course, bike stuff. And I'm currently writing a note in OneNote to tell my colleagues how to use OneNote!

 

[RebornRider]

I've been working on cars in my garage for decades, which means I have a big air compressor that I use to blow dry the bike after a wash. The battery connector (both halves) gets an extra-thorough blow job.

 

[Mikerb]

OK so big thanks (again) to Berkshire Bikes who this morning just replaced my motor, tcu, power cable and hmi cable as my bike turned itself into a very heavy brick on Wednesday.

Anyhow, I didn't know this. I'm sure its posted somewhere but thought I'd take the time to repost it just in case.

Berkshire Bikes said to me that we really need to be cleaning the plugs on the cables on a regular basis (every few weeks) by blowing them with air (air compressor etc) - including:

1. Take the TCU out, disconnect it and give the plugs a blow with air to get the crap out
2. Take the left (non-drive side) crank off, remove the non-drive side motor cover and blow all of the crap out with air, then do the same with the cable plugs



@Rob Rides EMTB I couldn't find a prefix that did all of the Specialized models so used "other", hope thats right.


Enjoy!

I have detailed before how I protected the electrical components on my Levo and whilst I dont disagree with that approach I think there is an easier way to ensure trouble free performance. I removed the TCU and wrapped it in tape sealing the seam around its centre line, covering the USB port and the ingress point of the tail cables. I also wrapped the tail cable connectors with amalgating tape. I made a 1mm neoprene gasket to sit between the TCU and the top tube........liquid gasket will also do the job provided you put a thin layer of grease on the TCU surfaces so that the gasket only seals on the top tube but still leaves the TCU removeable when required. Having done that I never touched the TCU again. I also put a blob of grease on the cable runs where they pass the cross member behind the shock. This prevents any water hitting that area tracking down the cables to where they connect into the motor. As per Berkshire Cycles I cleaned out under the non drive side cover a bout twice a year but very little got in there because I stuffed additional motofoam in there to supplement the piece already there, preventing ingress of mud at the back of the motor casing. I also used motofoam to seal where the rear brake cable goes into the cover.
As far as the connections on the motor are concerned I cleaned them with contact cleaner once a year, treated the seals with silicone lube and once connected packed some grease in around the connectors. Lastly I covered the battery charging port with a neoprene cover secured to the motor cover with self adhesive HD velcro. All of that protective work took a couple of hours. I never had any electical problems despite even on one occasion falling with the bike into 2 foot of water.

 

[Chris ledger]

Sorry but if you are spending the amount of money people do on e bikes why should you have to do that mbike users dont need to

 

[Reap3r]

Sorry but if you are spending the amount of money people do on e bikes why should you have to do that mbike users dont need to

Man I guess when I spend so much on my car or house I have no maintenance specific to them at all since I paid so much, right?! I mean trailer park users don't need to, right?

 

[Chris ledger]

What i meant was the design should mean that this sort of thing shouldn,t be needed we can put man on a moon and cant keep water and muck out of motors

 

[Mikerb]

What i meant was the design should mean that this sort of thing shouldn,t be needed we can put man on a moon and cant keep water and muck out of motors

I can

 

[Mikerb]

Sorry but if you are spending the amount of money people do on e bikes why should you have to do that mbike users dont need to

Its a choice..........do nothing and get electrical problems...........give it a bit of thought and spend a bit of time and you can avoid them. Yes the manufacturers should do better........some do better than others but most still have vulnerabilities and some are awefull!!

 

[Grannyjones]

Can't be arsed doing that every 3 weeks. I might consider it if I get an error code and if the weather is warm enough to be messing around with small bike parts. I also have the issue of not having a compressor.

 

[surflj]

I think of the Turbo Levo as a Ferrari or Porsche of ebikes. These expensive high performance cars quickly begin to lose their edge over others unless meticulously maintained by serious mechanics or owners. Run of the mill cars don't often need this type of attention as they are built in huge numbers and not for performance, lighter weight, etc., but to last with less fine tuning maintenance.

 

[ilostmypassword]

What i meant was the design should mean that this sort of thing shouldn,t be needed we can put man on a moon and cant keep water and muck out of motors

I agree. Really bad design in my mind. No wonder so many Specialized eBikes fail.

 

[Repsol]

I think of the Turbo Levo as a Ferrari or Porsche of ebikes. These expensive high performance cars quickly begin to lose their edge over others unless meticulously maintained by serious mechanics or owners. Run of the mill cars don't often need this type of attention as they are built in huge numbers and not for performance, lighter weight, etc., but to last with less fine tuning maintenance.

Never heard of a ferrari or Porsche needing 3 motor replacements in 4 months of ownership, I think of these ebikes as very poor motor design and way overpriced cycles. Maybe in another 5 years the industry might advance. I had zero trouble with my bafang bbshd putting out twice the power, as I have with my levo comp carbon 2022.

 

[Darren]

If this is such a necessity it should be made clear at the time of purchase, many people would look elsewhere given that.
If you've discovered this and are doing it to prolong the life of your motor, I'm pleased you've found a way, but it is nothing more than a design fault.
Would you be happy doing this every month to keep your washing machine running?

 

[surflj]

If this is such a necessity it should be made clear at the time of purchase, many people would look elsewhere given that.
If you've discovered this and are doing it to prolong the life of your motor, I'm pleased you've found a way, but it is nothing more than a design fault.
Would you be happy doing this every month to keep your washing machine running?

Good Point!

 

[surflj]

Never heard of a ferrari or Porsche needing 3 motor replacements in 4 months of ownership, I think of these ebikes as very poor motor design and way overpriced cycles. Maybe in another 5 years the industry might advance. I had zero trouble with my bafang bbshd putting out twice the power, as I have with my levo comp carbon 2022.

Good Point!

 

[Mikerb]

.....in which case I have bad news for you..........quite a few bikes are far worse than the Levo in terms of electrical vulnerability ( and other failures)........poorly sited charging ports with lamentable sprung loaded covers.............. 2kg batteries sat on top of their connectors and positioned at the front of the downtube which gets the most trail mud and water hitting it, sometimes secured with a key lock which is bound to seize at some point, "protected" by ill fitting plastic covers. Not to mention actual design stupidities which are far harder to DIY fix.........poorly welded ally frames, carbon frame failures, knock blocks, badly designed mech hangers, chainwheels that hit the chainstay, Apps that do not work, ....oh...and non existant customer service and poor warranty.

Choose carefully!!

 

[Reap3r]

If this is such a necessity it should be made clear at the time of purchase, many people would look elsewhere given that.
If you've discovered this and are doing it to prolong the life of your motor, I'm pleased you've found a way, but it is nothing more than a design fault.
Would you be happy doing this every month to keep your washing machine running?

Why did you get a levo if the bafang is so great?

 

[Mikerb]

If this is such a necessity it should be made clear at the time of purchase, many people would look elsewhere given that.
If you've discovered this and are doing it to prolong the life of your motor, I'm pleased you've found a way, but it is nothing more than a design fault.
Would you be happy doing this every month to keep your washing machine running?

dont know a bout you but my washing machine lives indoors and does not get rattled over rocks and subjected to regular dowsing of mud and water

 

[surflj]

Seeing the responses to this thread made me ponder the subject of our choices of the Turbo Levo.
Unless one had their head in a barrel of oats and was unaware, there were reviews all over the internet regarding motor issues of the Brose and its implementation on the Specialized Turbo Levo.
But we all went ahead and bought them anyway. Yes, we were encouraged by the news of a "problem solving solution" with beefed up internals, but still at best hoped that it would be bullet proof. I, for one, found many positive reasons to go with the Turbo Levo, and am hoping that the issues have actually been resolved, and if not that Specialized steps up and extends the warranty on the motor, like they did previously.
I am coming from a Gen 3 Bosch Speed motor that over 5 years I put over 10k miles on with zero motor issues so it was a bit of a stretch for me to change platforms.
I've been curious about the upgraded Brose and was going to post a thread here regarding motor issues on the new model, 2021-2022.

 

[Darren]

dont know a bout you but my washing machine lives indoors and does not get rattled over rocks and subjected to regular dowsing of mud and water

Exactly - if my washing machine was designed to be ridden over rocks in wet and muddy conditions, I would expect the electrical connectors to be up to that job - however, because it's designed to work indoors it has electrical connections that offer trouble free operation in that environment.

 

[Mikerb]

Given that the majority of EMTBs have inadequate protection for the electrical components there are 2 choices.............do some simple DIY to improve it or suffer the consequences. Plenty spend good money wrapping their frames in plastic. By comparison adding some protection for the electrical components takes a lot less time and costs are minimal.

 

[mak]

I think of the Turbo Levo as a Ferrari or Porsche of ebikes. These expensive high performance cars quickly begin to lose their edge over others unless meticulously maintained by serious mechanics or owners. Run of the mill cars don't often need this type of attention as they are built in huge numbers and not for performance, lighter weight, etc., but to last with less fine tuning maintenance.

What a load of bollox, my 993 used daily, yes it wasn't cheap but i didn't need to be sending it back to Porsche every 3 weeks

 

[Reactive]

1) I use this on most electronics, including a DJI drone that went into the water. Corrosion X did recover it.
Corrosion X
Google : "can corrosion-x be used on electrical connections"

2) RE the Porsche comment, well no. They are rated at the top of reliability. Four times a year I take my Boxster out for a 1,000 mile trip with RPM into the 5,000 - 6,500 range for hour after hour after hour. Just an oil change is required. Ferrari's : that would be a $5k service each time. My issue will be getting a bike rack on the Boxster.

 

[Mcharza]

2) RE the Porsche comment, well no. They are rated at the top of reliability. Four times a year I take my Boxster out for a 1,000 mile trip with RPM into the 5,000 - 6,500 range for hour after hour after hour. Just an oil change is required. Ferrari's : that would be a $5k service each time. My issue will be getting a bike rack on the Boxster.

When you have so cheap running costs in Porsche, buy a van for another car with the money saved

 

[F4Flyer]

MrSimmo- where do you live/ride?

I have had my Pivot Shuttle for a couple of years and never did this. Blowing air is one thing but removing a crank arm every few weeks seems to be really odd unless it is muddy where you ride.

 

[MrSimmo]

MrSimmo- where do you live/ride?

I have had my Pivot Shuttle for a couple of years and never did this. Blowing air is one thing but removing a crank arm every few weeks seems to be really odd unless it is muddy where you ride.

South of the UK, and ride (on my bike) UK + Europe, USA and Canada on hired bikes

 

[F4Flyer]

That makes sense. Here in Colorado, it is dry (and sometimes dusty) so we rarely have that issue.