Levo SL Gen 1 Levo SL (gen1) Dead/Unresponsive Solution Warning Tip

[G-Sport]

Edit: Early Chicken counting looks like it's much more serious than I at first thought.

Original Post:-
Yesterday I went to turn on my (Gen1) Levo SL and it was completely dead. No response of any kind to any button presses.
Knew it had well over 50% charge but tried putting it on to charge anyway, again, no response, light on charger stayed green (rather then turning red after a few seconds).
Googled the problem and found a couple of people describing the same issue but they both ended up getting new parts to fix the issue.
As a final test before contacting the dealer for warranty I decided to try replacing the coin cell/battery in the TCU.
Bingo, everything lit up, all fixed.
(Original battery was still at 2.94V and I have only had the bike 7 months)

I was very glad that this problem cropped up when I was just turning the bike on to check something on the app and not as I was heading out on a ride. If it had happened the month before when I was having a week away from home riding then it could have been a huge inconvenience.

My genius wife has now suggested taping a spare battery to the underside of the TCU to avoid this problem causing a huge issue if it ever happens again, and I think this is probably a really good idea.

Don't know if it is relevant but when I first bought the bike I did get a warning on my Garmin a few times, something like: "eBike sensor battery critical" but when I reported it through the app I was told not to worry about it. In hindsight maybe this was significant?

Anyway, just posting this here in the hope that it helps other people.

TLDR: Tape a spare TCU battery to it.

Edit: Probably still worth doing this to buy yourself some hope of getting home but not the solution I had hoped it was.

 

[Bluedirtz]

Can you post what kind of battery it was? Thanks!

 

[G-Sport]

Can you post what kind of battery it was? Thanks!

It's a 1620

 

[Boulderhog]

Does your bike still switch on even after leaving it off for a few hours? I had the same thing two weeks ago with my comp SL, changing the coin cell battery got things working again, but a day or so later it was dead. Found a forum post that instructed disconnecting the TCU (green plug) and reconnecting would make it work and this let me get another couple of rides from the bike before the inevitable total failure. Now it won't turn on with a new battery or disconnecting/reconnecting the green plug. When the above fixes worked, I could turn the bike on and off no problem, but after leaving it for about 2 hours turned off then there would be no function again. Bit of a pain, already on my second motor after 6 months ownership, now this at 12 months, just as well the warranty and repairs are good for Specialized. Worth mentioning I also often get the "eBike sensor battery critical" message on my garmin, that's been from day 1 of ownership. I don't think the coin cell battery was the solution in my case, but I will be taking one with me in future.

A bit more info about the problem - I dropped the motor and checked connections, seemed fine. My TCU was sealed around the top (using a rubber safe grease), I also use electrical tape around the TCU (USB area and sides) and seal around the cable entry points to the frame, this seems to stop almost all the water issues around this area bar entry via the headset, though this is usually very minimal from my observations. My motor failed a couple of weeks into Autumn and after a few wet rides, began with roughness and squealing when pedaling, it seems to have a real water ingress weakness around the bottom bracket area, advice I found from this forum was to pack some grease into the area (where the crank arms attach) I used red 'n' tacky and it lasts multiple rides, had no issues with the motor since and everything feels smooth with pedaling (6 months in anyway).

Will update what was wrong (or at least what they replace) when it gets sorted.

 

[G-Sport]

Does your bike still switch on even after leaving it off for a few hours? I had the same thing two weeks ago with my comp SL, changing the coin cell battery got things working again, but a day or so later it was dead. Found a forum post that instructed disconnecting the TCU (green plug) and reconnecting would make it work and this let me get another couple of rides from the bike before the inevitable total failure. Now it won't turn on with a new battery or disconnecting/reconnecting the green plug. When the above fixes worked, I could turn the bike on and off no problem, but after leaving it for about 2 hours turned off then there would be no function again. Bit of a pain, already on my second motor after 6 months ownership, now this at 12 months, just as well the warranty and repairs are good for Specialized. Worth mentioning I also often get the "eBike sensor battery critical" message on my garmin, that's been from day 1 of ownership. I don't think the coin cell battery was the solution in my case, but I will be taking one with me in future.

A bit more info about the problem - I dropped the motor and checked connections, seemed fine. My TCU was sealed around the top (using a rubber safe grease), I also use electrical tape around the TCU (USB area and sides) and seal around the cable entry points to the frame, this seems to stop almost all the water issues around this area bar entry via the headset, though this is usually very minimal from my observations. My motor failed a couple of weeks into Autumn and after a few wet rides, began with roughness and squealing when pedaling, it seems to have a real water ingress weakness around the bottom bracket area, advice I found from this forum was to pack some grease into the area (where the crank arms attach) I used red 'n' tacky and it lasts multiple rides, had no issues with the motor since and everything feels smooth with pedaling (6 months in anyway).

Will update what was wrong (or at least what they replace) when it gets sorted.

Oh balls.
No, just been to check. Dead again.
Waiting for a warranty motor as it is, now this.
Thanks for the heads-up, really really appreciated, I could easily have planned to ride tomorrow morning and just had a nasty surprise.

By the way, I'm in Sheffield too. Is your warranty through James'?

 

[Boulderhog]

Ah sorry to hear that, does pulling the green tipped cable out and plugging in again work? I got perfectly good rides from it using this trick, no issues provided you don't turn it off and leave it off.

 

[G-Sport]

Ah sorry to hear that, does pulling the green tipped cable out and plugging in again work? I got perfectly good rides from it using this trick, no issues provided you don't turn it off and leave it off.

That's my next thing to try. Wondering if I should save it until the morning so I can get at least one ride in.

 

[G-Sport]

Went and looked. Took coin cell out, checked voltage (still 3.15V) put back, bike came on with normal button press. Scheduling a ride for tomorrow morning (Rivelin) and hope for the best. Will check it again later tonight. I still have the "green connector" option in reserve.
Getting pretty pissed off with Specialized rider "support" though. Latest conversation ended with them saying "We should be able to replace the TCU if it's not working..."
My reply to this was "that is literally the least you can do."

I honestly don't understand how they can be this bad at warranty.
It sounds like they have lots of them to deal with, why would they not want to turn a loss-making warranty claim (which leaves the customer disillusioned with the product and still riding a flawed design which may well need further warranty replacements) into a break-even "warranty upgrade" that puts your customer on a more reliable product and re-invigorates their stoke on your brand? Lose-lose converted to win-win.
Before the TCU failed I would quite cheerfully have paid the £400 that they were charging for the newer mastermind TCU to get the new motor and TCU etc as warranty parts. Now the TCU is crapping out I'm just getting even more frustrated with the ridiculous delays and poor service. I'm about 4 weeks in now and I've missed out on at least 10 rides as a result, and the 7 or 8 rides I have had have been negatively impacted by the noise the motor is now making, had to turn it fully off a few times to avoid the embarrassment of it when in a group.
Current forecast is that I have another 2 weeks to wait (though they said 2 weeks 10 days ago..)

 

[Boulderhog]

It is frustrating, I also suspect the battery and wire harness are the issue (seems to be the consensus across other forums with faults just like this). They'll probably change the TCU, call you in and then a day later it will stop working again. I plan to wait another day prior to collecting the bike so the fault becomes apparent.

I had a good experience with the motor warranty, my LBS was fine taking it to do the work despite it not being where I purchased the bike, so that is a big plus for Specialized although I expect not all shops would be willing. There was no charge either and it was only a week or so. This time around, everywhere is so busy that it's a 2 week wait just to have it looked at, then who knows how long for parts. Conveniently enough I had just built up a NP Scout as a spare bike for when the Levo drops it's arse, almost the day I finished it the Levo kindly obliged.

Forgot to mention I also reset the TCU in the hope that would help, as well as extensively tried to dry it out on the off chance it had moisture inside, but no dice. If you do get it to function, the bike should charge no problem.

 

[G-Sport]

It is frustrating, I also suspect the battery and wire harness are the issue (seems to be the consensus across other forums with faults just like this). They'll probably change the TCU, call you in and then a day later it will stop working again. I plan to wait another day prior to collecting the bike so the fault becomes apparent.

I had a good experience with the motor warranty, my LBS was fine taking it to do the work despite it not being where I purchased the bike, so that is a big plus for Specialized although I expect not all shops would be willing. There was no charge either and it was only a week or so. This time around, everywhere is so busy that it's a 2 week wait just to have it looked at, then who knows how long for parts. Conveniently enough I had just built up a NP Scout as a spare bike for when the Levo drops it's arse, almost the day I finished it the Levo kindly obliged.

Forgot to mention I also reset the TCU in the hope that would help, as well as extensively tried to dry it out on the off chance it had moisture inside, but no dice. If you do get it to function, the bike should charge no problem.

Thanks. Where did you take it for the warranty work?

 

[Boulderhog]

Thanks. Where did you take it for the warranty work?

J E James, bike was bought from Leisure Lakes. I was more than happy with the service from both shops.

What are the other issues you are having with the motor? Is it just very loud?

 

[G-Sport]

J E James, bike was bought from Leisure Lakes. I was more than happy with the service from both shops.

What are the other issues you are having with the motor? Is it just very loud?

James's have been pretty slow, apparently only do warranty work Mondays and Thursdays so two bank holiday Mondays may not have helped.

Motor has axial play in the crank and making increasingly loud scraping noises and motor whine has increased a lot.

 

[Boulderhog]

James's have been pretty slow, apparently only do warranty work Mondays and Thursdays so two bank holiday Mondays may not have helped.

Motor has axial play in the crank and making increasingly loud scraping noises and motor whine has increased a lot.

I guess it's the time of year, pretty busy for repairs, but I always assumed weeks of waiting when the motor fails for anything to get fixed, so my expectations are low to begin with. Your motor issue sounds familiar, mine developed quite a bit of play, the noise increased but then it had always been terrible, new motor the same, I also had a grinding and rough sound before it failed as well as a squeal when pedalling backwards. Eventually the motor completely stopped providing support except for a few seconds at high effort. I really believe this was water ingress and the grease trick will prevent it, but time will tell.

I'm quite tempted to ditch the ebike, but once it gets fixed I'll be hooked again no doubt, but I definitely don't trust it, having the motor fail halfway through a muddy night ride was a miserable experience.

Did you manage a ride this morning? Was the green plug trick necessary?

 

[G-Sport]

I guess it's the time of year, pretty busy for repairs, but I always assumed weeks of waiting when the motor fails for anything to get fixed, so my expectations are low to begin with. Your motor issue sounds familiar, mine developed quite a bit of play, the noise increased but then it had always been terrible, new motor the same, I also had a grinding and rough sound before it failed as well as a squeal when pedalling backwards. Eventually the motor completely stopped providing support except for a few seconds at high effort. I really believe this was water ingress and the grease trick will prevent it, but time will tell.

I'm quite tempted to ditch the ebike, but once it gets fixed I'll be hooked again no doubt, but I definitely don't trust it, having the motor fail halfway through a muddy night ride was a miserable experience.

Did you manage a ride this morning? Was the green plug trick necessary?

Didn't ride this morning, had flu in the week and still pretty rough, hopefully I'll feel up to riding tomorrow morning.
But, the bike did turn on without any fiddling. It had been connected to the charger all night so maybe it never really went off? Charger disconnected now and I'll see if it still turns on in another couple of hours.
Don't want to do anything like sealing things up until I get it warrantied and then I'm going to ask what I can do in terms of dielectric grease etc for the various contacts, and waterproof grease around the cranks etc. without effecting the warranty.
Sounds like Specialized actually advocated for this at one point

Anyone used Magic Gel?

im on my 3rd battery lead now and have had a number of water issues with my levo not working after showing it a picture of water or even a sneeze next to it.... i was wondering as water is a problem with a lot of e bikes, has anyone ever tried Magic Gel to water proof it. Magic gel is an...

www.emtbforums.com

I wonder if the TCU and motor electronics are potted? Seems like they should be, in which case it would just be the connectors and battery contacts at risk. They ought to do away with the coin cell in the TCU and use a small rechargable sealed in.

 

[G-Sport]

4 hours later it still turned on ok

 

[Boulderhog]

4 hours later it still turned on ok

That's good, you should definitely manage a few more rides, it might be a bit optimistic to think it'll be ok but time will tell. Mine came on with the green plug trick today, first time for a week, after a few hours it wouldn't switch on again, the green plug worked once more, I charged it, now it's dead again and nothing works. Looks like in theory I can ride it once a week. It's a strange fault. Motor works perfectly when it actually turns on.

 

[G-Sport]

That's good, you should definitely manage a few more rides, it might be a bit optimistic to think it'll be ok but time will tell. Mine came on with the green plug trick today, first time for a week, after a few hours it wouldn't switch on again, the green plug worked once more, I charged it, now it's dead again and nothing works. Looks like in theory I can ride it once a week. It's a strange fault. Motor works perfectly when it actually turns on.

You seem very relaxed about it. I'd be fuming

 

[G-Sport]

Managed a four hour ride today. Turned on and off a few times and it's been fine. Doesn't stop me worrying it's going to pack up on me though.

 

[HGmtb]

I had exactly the same issue with my 2019 Levo a couple of years ago - initially the battery cable was replaced but to no effect, so then they gave me a new TCU, and it's been fine ever since.

 

[Boulderhog]

I had exactly the same issue with my 2019 Levo a couple of years ago - initially the battery cable was replaced but to no effect, so then they gave me a new TCU, and it's been fine ever since.

That's reassuring if it's just the TCU, should be a fairly quick fix assuming they have them to hand.

I managed a ride last night using the green plug trick, no problems at all, today it won't switch on again but that's to be expected, unfortunately the green plug trick still doesn't always work.

Another issue I have is that the bike turns itself on sometimes, a few minutes after being switched off, no idea if it's doing this at any other times. Strange.

 

[G-Sport]

James's told me they should have a spare TCU on hand, might be worth asking for a quick swap.

 

[HGmtb]

That's reassuring if it's just the TCU, should be a fairly quick fix assuming they have them to hand.

I managed a ride last night using the green plug trick, no problems at all, today it won't switch on again but that's to be expected, unfortunately the green plug trick still doesn't always work.

Another issue I have is that the bike turns itself on sometimes, a few minutes after being switched off, no idea if it's doing this at any other times. Strange.

Mine did too

 

[G-Sport]

Well mine lasted from the 12th to today without any further issues. When I checked the coin cell I did also re-align the spare cable to the back of the TCU so it laid down the DT more so maybe that helped. But it has also been much drier since then and I have only needed to wash the bike once in that time and it hasn't been out in the rain.

Was warrantied with the motor today though so hopefully all will be good for a fair while now. Ended up being 37 days from warranty being approved to the bike being fixed. The fact that the bike was still useable (if a little noisy and rattle-y) for that time made it bearable, if I hadn't been able to use it for that long I would have been beyond incandescent... Done 174 miles in that time, all with the slight worry in the back of my head that it was about to pack up and wincing at the noise.

 

[Boulderhog]

Quick update for my TCU issues as above- new TCU and wiring harness fitted under warranty, no more problems.

 

[G-Sport]

8 months later, same issue reoccurred.
Went down to James's again and they had another TCU to switch in.
Can't get this one to appear on the app so can't pair and adjust anything.
Anyone come across this before?

 

[gary smith]

Same issue here but bought 2nd hand 2020 carbon comp 4 months ago with 15 month motor warranty still (2nd motor) but not on TCU. Ok until 2 weeks ago. A pain as I don't want to keep using torx to access green cable pre ride. Local Specialized in Harrogate hopefully can sort but imo it's harness or TCU ...£££. But without it sorted it's no fun. Think I over cleaned it ... Only water too. Tried 1620 but old one was fine at 2.8v...
Question anybody but on the first press of the on button where does the TCU get it's current from? Must be the main battery via the motor?

 

[G-Sport]

Try drying the connectors really thoroughly. I think this is where the problem is. Maybe put some dielectric grease on the plastic part afterwards to reduce chances of recurrence.

 

[gary smith]

The connectors have been in the sun(what sun? This is the UK) and it's 3 weeks since it happened so I'm sure it's dry. I'll get some grease though for future issues.
If it's a TCU/harness then it'll be ££ but motor will be covered.

 

[G-Sport]

Were they connected in the sun or open? I think they keep water in better than they keep it out...

 

[gary smith]

Definitely open. Again I've gone back to the bike and it's ok after 1 hour. I bet after 2 it's dead again. Hence I'm not sure what power source is used for that initial on button press. It must be the main battery linked to the motor then harness up to TCU?