Kenevo Gen1 Nobody will care because it's GEN1, but Specialized still selling faulty batteries

[escrs]

My gen1 Kenevo and Levo got washed every week with the battery connected using a hosepipe with a spray attachment, never had any issues

You should never wash them with the battery removed, water can get in around the motor and wiring, much better to wash with the battery fitted, the leaky on/off switch was a known issue and people used to put cling film over it when washing

Your post is a bit confusing, you say the following

Now I've had this battery for (ooh let me check my emails) since about the 13 - 14th January 2024 ... yeeeeahh this BATTERY LASTED 4 MAYBE 5 MONTHS AND NOW IT'S FAULTY. So a battery from Birmingham Specialized Concept Store has lasted 4 months, and if I'm honest I've not used it much till the spring came, and now it's DEAD ... KAPUT ... ENDED.

Now if you bought the battery brand new in Jan 24 and it wasnt a warranty replacement for the original one that came with the bike so then it has 2 years warranty from date of purchase, so its under warranty, you say Certini replaced it under warranty and said there is no warranty on the replacement, whoever told told you this is wrong the new battery will have warranty for the remaining amount of time left of the original warranty on the battery you purchased which means until Jan 2026, if this new battery dies and needs replacing under warranty again, then it will still be covered up until Jan 26

Speak to certini again and ask them to clarify in an email, if they say no warranty then email Specialized UK explaining the situation and show them the Certini email

 

[Utah Rider]

I've probably had at least 6 gen 1 batteries over the course of three gen 1 bikes. I've never had one not turn on. They did have several battery recalls where they put sealant around the LEDs. Your dealer should be able to perform the recall procedure for you even if the battery is not on the recall list. I airways carried a spare battery for swaps out on the trail in all kinds of weather. Specialized makes a great product. My beef is the battery config keeps changing which makes it hard to share batteries between bikes. I've had three different versions. Three Gen 1, a 21 Kenevo that won't swap with a 22 Levo without changing the bottom mounting config. Not something you want to do when you are out on the trail.

 

[Dax]

TLDR.

1. If the battery is only 5 months old, send it back under warranty.

2. Per Specilized ‘Wash the bike with the battery installed and with the harness plugged in’

3. Sleep more.

 

[Derek carter]

Riiiight ... so

Now if you bought the battery brand new in Jan 24 and it wasnt a warranty replacement for the original one that came with the bike so then it has 2 years warranty from date of purchase, so its under warranty, you say Certini replaced it under warranty and said there is no warranty on the replacement, whoever told told you this is wrong the new battery will have warranty for the remaining amount of time left of the original warranty on the battery you purchased which means until Jan 2026, if this new battery dies and needs replacing under warranty again, then it will still be covered up until Jan 26

Maybe a bit garbled but in my original post I do say "this is because I originally bought a spare battery for my Kenevo back in 2022, and then after a wet and soggy December ride at the end of 2023 I washed down my bike ... put it on the back of the car got home and discovered ... YUUUP ... the battery had died after about 16 months of usage." - So the battery I got in Jan 24 was a warranty replacement, hence if batteries are going pop on average every year ... even with a 2 year warranty replacement period, at 850 pounds it's not cheap spending on average circa 400 pounds a year on batteries.

I keep going on about this but the warranty replacement didn't come with any diagnosis of the problem, maybe it wouldn't help ... if it couldn't be diagnosed where the water entered the battery. Hence, quickly taking apart a failed battery to identify where water has entered ... and it's still the LED panel which is the problem ... GRRRR!

Hence, I've attempted to harden my battery:

* first put conformal coating on the LED panel, being very careful to mask the buttons to stop acrylic entering the buttons. So the buttons still remain a weakness if water enters at the LED panel.

* second put clear epoxy into and over the LED holes and surrounding area of the case, this is probably the action I have the least confidence in. Just like the original silicon type material I removed, de-bonding with the case over time is my worry here. I do have a test sample of the epoxy as I want to keep track of how brittle it's getting over time.

* third put some blotting paper into the battery in an attempt guide water which enters the battery away from circuitry.

* fourth put some cobalt chloride paper visible through the LED panel in contact with blotting paper to quickly indicate water ingress. Blue is good, white/pink is bad!

 

[Derek carter]

2. Per Specilized ‘Wash the bike with the battery installed and with the harness plugged in’

Cool ... this is the process I used to care for the original battery I obtained for the Specialized Concept Store, it died after 16 months after a wet ride out. Hence, needing more data than just re-stating the same maintenance mantra over and over again, it gets tiresome.

I believe the issue here that the instructions are specifically attempting to mitigate is water corroding and transmitting dirt and crap into the plug interface between the battery and motor. Hence, the issue I had with the battery has nothing to do with the interface between motor and battery. I was very careful to protect the battery plug and clean both the 48V connectors and the 4 data line connections as well as ensuring the seal was clear of dirt.

As I've documented with my immersion test ... it takes a long time for the water to penetrate the LED cover even with the silicon removed. Maybe it's different if your blasting the bike on the LED panel with a pressure washer. ASIDE: Oh that leads me on to another gripe with some of the responses ... I mentioned I use a Mobi to clean my bike ... and people start freaking out ... "ooooh Mobi is a pressure washer and using a pressure washer is bad!" but the issue is not the difference between a hose-pipe or a pressure washer it's what's the velocity of the water hitting your bike forcing water into parts where water won't normal be able to penetrate ... this is going to depend on how close you are to spraying the bike and what the pressure the water is under. (for context a Mobi is 12V operated washer giving water pressure between I'm thinking 10 bar absolute max)

Sorry deep breath ... it seems the weakness is in the design is with prolonged use in wet weather ... not sure of the exact mechanism but I'm guessing de-bonding of the silicon type stuff their using to plug the LED holes eventually is susceptible to pulling in water through via capillary action where the water congregates into droplets which mess with the bike electronics.

 

[Derek carter]

Three Gen 1, a 21 Kenevo that won't swap with a 22 Levo without changing the bottom mounting config. Not something you want to do when you are out on the trail.

Oh ... trust me I've got 2 eebs on the 2016 Yamaha system, 2 batteries for Gen-1 Specialized and a Specialized CREO which I'm guessing is the 2020-2021 battery format? (err maybe!?!) Just mental innit!

 

[Derek carter]

I airways carried a spare battery for swaps out on the trail in all kinds of weather. Specialized makes a great product.

In terms of engineering ... I like the system on the CREO, and not so much on the SL MTB bikes, the charge point is moved away from the battery ... and higher up the 'BB area' (the higher the better IMO away form splashes and the spray of the wheels) ... With the full power LEVO/KENVO I don't like constantly breaking the interface between battery and motor on every charge, it seems constantly breaking and resealing a waterproof connection that is placed directly behind the front wheel that'll spray water at this area isn't the best design. Putting the connection between battery and motor internal makes changing battery more difficult, but water bottled range extenders seems a legitimate compromise to this configuration.

 

[Pete N]

I think its a known issue that the waterproofing on the Gen 1 Levo wasn’t really good enough for the UK weather. Much of this was fixed with motor tweaks or part upgrades.
For reference I have had two Levo SL’s, a Gen 1 and a Gen 2. I wash them with a hosepipe and ride them in all conditions, I never take anything out or cover anything up. Never had an issue.
Hopefully by leaving the battery in whilst washing and getting any upgraded displays/controllers, you’ll have no further issues.

 

[irie]

I think its a known issue that the waterproofing on the Gen 1 Levo wasn’t really good enough for the UK weather. Much of this was fixed with motor tweaks or part upgrades.
For reference I have had two Levo SL’s, a Gen 1 and a Gen 2. I wash them with a hosepipe and ride them in all conditions, I never take anything out or cover anything up. Never had an issue.
Hopefully by leaving the battery in whilst washing and getting any upgraded displays/controllers, you’ll have no further issues.

Whatchamean, in compliance with Specialized instructions leave the battery in? Rash action, very rash.

 

[Derek carter]

I think its a known issue that the waterproofing on the Gen 1 Levo wasn’t really good enough for the UK weather. Much of this was fixed with motor tweaks or part upgrades.
For reference I have had two Levo SL’s, a Gen 1 and a Gen 2. I wash them with a hosepipe and ride them in all conditions, I never take anything out or cover anything up. Never had an issue.
Hopefully by leaving the battery in whilst washing and getting any upgraded displays/controllers, you’ll have no further issues.

Yes, as I say I think the SL semi-permanent battery with range extenders moving the charge port away from being integrated with the battery is the way to go. I'm wondering why they don't have an additional charge port on the full fat Turbo Specialized, give access to using range extenders and allowing charging to be performed without having to break all the waterproof seals between the battery and motor on every charge.

 

[Derek carter]

Whatchamean, leave the battery in according to Specialuzed instructions? Rash action, very rash.

What you mean like I did the first time my Gen-1 battery blew up, or maybe taking out the battery and quickly opening it up and cleaning out all the water that had erroneously entered the battery was the way to go? Eh ... so if taking the battery off before washing the bike and I found water in the battery ... I'm thinking leaving the battery on the bike while I washed it isn't the panacea you believe it to be. That's why it's important to know the rational behind such procedural instructions as when conditions change such as seals failing parts becoming warn or damaged (or vulnerabilities being identified) it maybe not be ideal to follow the same procedural instructions that are optimal for the ideal conditions.