Internal Power Cable Failure, Levo 2019

[shaunculliss]

Yeah it’s very faint flash red, and a very quiet beep, sort of thing...
my motor was noisy so Berkshire cycles changed it and said it was having the 2020 motor. Not opened it up so no idea if it’s the same or not but now a I have another 150 mile trip to sort this out too. New I should have gone for the canyon.

I am very anxious to clean mine since having the new power cable for fear of it going pop again. Lost a bit of trust on it. When I did clean it I used minimal water, LBS believed the old cable (only 5 weeks old though) had succumbed to water damage when they replaced it.
To be fair to Rutland Cycles who I purchased it off they paid for the labour so was not out of pocket.

 

[Webike]

I have a 2019 levo comp. it only been used for trails, cleaned after every ride ( water less ) I’ve washed it twice with water since owning it, but I have an air blower to dry it, I’m a car detailed so I have all the correct equipment.

Could the "blower" (air compressor?) be forcing air into the electrical/bearings?

 

[Kentrider]

even if this did... its been left 5 days since i rode it before i went to turn it on again.... its a bike, a mountain bike, if it can't take a tiny bit of water its not fit for purpose and i will be looking for a refund.

 

[Coolhandluke]

Seems the original power cables last a month. Shame these weren't replaced prior to sale really. Would save our bother and not damage our faith or trust in the bikes.

 

[Kentrider]

Seems the original power cables last a month. Shame these weren't replaced prior to sale really. Would save our bother and not damage our faith or trust in the bikes.

Had my motor changed three weeks ago and it wasn’t changed then, one ride later.

 

[Paul Mac]

I've started carrying out a bit of preventative measures with my lead .
Every couple of months I now take off the non drive side cover, remove the lead from the motor, it's only a clip.
I then spray in some acf50 corrosion inhibitor into the plug terminals and then smear some vaseline around the seal and put it back together, takes about 10 mins.
So far so good, I have had no further lead issues ?

 

[Specialized Rider Care]

@Kentrider very sorry to hear. Will send you a PM. One possible scenario could be that when they changed your motor they forgot to swap over the blanking plugs covering the light ports on the motor. We've seen this before - it typically means if the motor gets wet there is no seal over two unused electrical ports on the motor, a short circuit is detected and the motor shuts down.

@Paul Mac - ACF50 was checked and approved by Brose, we like it a lot. Vaseline around the outside of the O-rings is also good. This is essentially what we do in bike production.

 

[Mikerb]

Reading all of this it does seem to me that people are jumping to conclusions with regards to the source of the problem. If I understand correctly the blame is being put on the short cable that connects to the motor and then to the battery ...ie the connection opened to charge the battery. And it seems the motor end of that cable has a cover which can split. Is that correct??
I remember reading that the design of the cable was changed late 2018 such that the cover was right angled rather than straight. So is it possible the ones that are splitting are the old cable design? If water/mud etc was allowed by the split to contaminate the connection between the cable and motor, just changing the cable would not necessarily fix the problem. The other half of that connection on the motor would need careful inspection and cleaning as well.....and need to be tested to ensure there was no short circuit on the soldered connections at the back of that connection ( i.e. within the motor housing). The point about the blanks on the spare ports mentioned by @Specialized Rider Care is also a good one especially as replacement motors do not apparently come with those blanks.....they have to be retained from the original motor.
I have washed my bike several times and never had a problem and so has my mate. Whats different?

 

[Kentrider]

I’ve checked everything, all looks like new still and bone dry, so I’m now officially fed up.

 

[Mikerb]

If you are interested in how to protect the connections on the bike this may be of interest:-

Dielectric Grease vs Conductive Grease

There are however 3 different issues to be addressed. The first is the removal of oxidation on the contacts. Oxidation in turn attracts other contaminants. Electrical Contact cleaner is needed to clean the terminals. The second is lubrication of the contacts. A good quality electrical contact cleaner usually includes a lubricating agent.....cheaper ones do not. The 3rd is protection from water. Since there is little or no contact pressure or wipe on the battery charging port/motor connection I personally think that protection has to be achieved on the closure and O ring and best for that is a dialectric grease. You will note from the url above that Vaseline melts at a little over human body temperature so not likely to be very useful.

 

[Kentrider]

All good advice but, on a new bike, with only 100 miles on it, a new motor already and now this.... you should have to make it water resistant it should be already. Mine is now going to have to go back as it’s all ok but still not working. My wife’s £1500 Haibike is spot on tho, works fine.

 

[Kentrider]

What are the chances.... took my bike back to yje shop i got it as i been trying it all week just to see.... i tried it outside the shop too and still didn't work... took it in the shop, the owner tried it and the bloody thing turned one no problem.... her went through everything and ended up changing the tcu fingers crossed it all fixed...

 

[jerry_spec]

It is not the old design (straight) that fails. New cable in, will see how long it last.

 

[paquo]

Had my motor changed three weeks ago and it wasn’t changed then, .

I had my motor changed after 2k tough miles and they updated the shock link and sponge/dirt protector thing. Bike runs great ! On the invoice from specialized was included a new power cable even though my bike has no symptoms, sadly shop did not install that.

 

[Mikerb]

It is not the old design (straight) that fails. New cable in, will see how long it last.
View attachment 20782

So that split in the cap could only be caused by the cable run inside it being tight and pulling at 180° from the split. So probably wrongly installed. The split itself is not causing a fault that I can see.....more likely the same force that caused it has damaged the soldered joint between the wires and pins inside the cap or fractured the way in which those connections are weather sealed. It would be interesting to do a proper meter test on a cable deemed faulty and take that cap apart to see how it is assembled and sealed. It is clear from the picture that it is not sealed to the outer sheath of the cable.

 

[ccrdave]

If they had just changed the orentation of the plug fitting the problem would not be there. There are electrical engineering tables the define the minimum bend in a cable depending on diameter and voltage. The way the power cable is fitted prettey much exceeds engineering standards

 

[Mikerb]

Those bend radius specs are to prevent induction...nothing to do with the integrity of the cable or connection. I would hazard a guess that if the cable is fixed too tight....ie not allowed to follow the natural 90° from the plug it places the soldered connections inside the plug under tension and vibration after that can compromise either the connection or the way those connections are sealed....possibly in wax.

 

[ccrdave]

Are they not also to prevent undue strain on components?

 

[Mikerb]

Any cable will have a breaking point under tension but there is no weight being applied here and there are several wires in this cable.

 

[ccrdave]

so whats causing the fitting to split, I have seen about five all split in the same place. I dont think its the rider pulling too hard on the battery end as there is a (crude) stop on the cable

 

[Mikerb]

Thats possible. The stop has to allow enough slack to the motor port to allow that cable to exit the cable plug at 90°. If the cable is fitted such that the cable is at a more acute angle coming out of the plug that would in time split the plug as seen. Pulling the cable tighter from the charger point end would have the same effect. So the cable is either fitted wrong in the first place or something pulls it tight from the battery end subsequently. Possible causes could include the routing of other in frame cables, removing the battery retaining bolt without first unplugging the charging port, pulling on the battery connection when unplugging to charge. The strange this is that when there were apparent problems with the original design of cable @Specialized Rider Care reported that none of the cables returned under warranty actually tested faulty! Assuming that was a test of end to end continuity/resistance/short circuit rather than a plug in test it suggests the terminals on the motor end were damaged such that they made a poor connection or the seal was damaged (something like a wax or similar fill) enabling water ingress and a short. If that was on the high voltage connections it would likely not go faulty whilst that current was flowing but rather when the motor was switched off....then on again.

 

[Mikerb]

....and probably dried out by the time the cable was returned to Spesh

 

[rodomotion]

my brother's levo failed and here is dry and dusty. he didn't even washed the bike. not water related. motor error code. they replaced the cable and now the error is less frequent but is there.

 

[jerry_spec]

....and probably dried out by the time the cable was returned to Spesh

That's what mine did, after a wash (gentle - compare to how I pressure jet washed my Haibike!) bike would not turn on. After drying out in the sun it worked days until next wash or rainy run.

my brother's levo failed and here is dry and dusty. he didn't even washed the bike. not water related. motor error code. they replaced the cable and now the error is less frequent but is there.

cable/water related problems give "battery errors" not the engine one, so maybe the problem is still there.

 

[Paul Carruthers]

New cable, new motor, then new speed sensor , a few months of trouble free biking and yesterday the dreaded red blue flashing and no support. Cleared on cycling power and now every ride will feel like a lottery again
had the bike for just over a year and wish I’d never bought it.

 

[shaunculliss]

New cable, new motor, then new speed sensor , a few months of trouble free biking and yesterday the dreaded red blue flashing and no support. Cleared on cycling power and now every ride will feel like a lottery again
had the bike for just over a year and wish I’d never bought it.

I have only had mine 2 months and already feel like that. Had a new battery to motor cable and a new battery so far.

 

[Paul Carruthers]

Yeah, so much for a premium brand, both my wife and son have Cube bikes, my son’s a daily commute in all weather, neither have given a problem

 

[Paul Carruthers]

@Kentrider very sorry to hear. Will send you a PM. One possible scenario could be that when they changed your motor they forgot to swap over the blanking plugs covering the light ports on the motor. We've seen this before - it typically means if the motor gets wet there is no seal over two unused electrical ports on the motor, a short circuit is detected and the motor shuts down.

@Paul Mac - ACF50 was checked and approved by Brose, we like it a lot. Vaseline around the outside of the O-rings is also good. This is essentially what we do in bike production.

I find it hard to believe a year on and this issue is still not resolved, very poor indeed, a total cable redesign should be in place and a recall should to ensure all are fit for purpose.

 

[Stephen]

2019 s-works , had a new motor installed after 1500 km a month ago . Today went for another ride and it rained , which is unusual for us im Mallorca . After 30 minutes of riding the motor turned off and would not turn on again . Once back at home I removed the motor cover and found the following . No plugs on the three electrical connectors ! Motor cable and plug full of water ! And have a look at the cable ! Tomorrow I'm going to have a serious talk with the shop . Unbelievable !!

 

[Paul Carruthers]

Hard to believe
Have you had internal foam and swing arm rubber seal fitted?