Remote not working - solved

[Swissrider]

Had a fright today, especially since there are no bike shops open at the moment. Went to start a ride on my 2018 Kenevo and no power. Garmin edge showed mode and I could change mode with the buttons on the battery, but the remote would not work - no beeps and no change of mode. I took the crank and motor cover off, checked the connection, turned the battery off and on several times, tried a spare remote (my original one had to be replaced because walk mode never worked), all to no avail. Really getting worried by this stage. Following a post by Rusty I turned the battery on, held the button in for 30 seconds, turned it off and tried it again in the bike and hey presto! It worked. Phew. Went for a ride and all was fine. Has anyone else had a similar experience? The only thing that might have triggered it was that on last ride I ran the battery right down until it died, but I thought the BMS should have prevented a complete discharge. Anyway, I hope this is a one off, particularly during lock down.
BTW - when I took the motor cover off, there was some sticky blue gunk/tape between the motor and the top of the case. It was torn and damaged so I pulled it off. What is this for? Picture below of the tape stuff. It looks as if it’s to stop water or some sort of interface between the motor and the case - to stop vibration?

 

[ThierryGTLTS]

Looks like foam tape used for race bike handelbar!

Thierry

 

[Tim69]

Had a fright today, especially since there are no bike shops open at the moment. Went to start a ride on my 2018 Kenevo and no power. Garmin edge showed mode and I could change mode with the buttons on the battery, but the remote would not work - no beeps and no change of mode. I took the crank and motor cover off, checked the connection, turned the battery off and on several times, tried a spare remote (my original one had to be replaced because walk mode never worked), all to no avail. Really getting worried by this stage. Following a post by Rusty I turned the battery on, held the button in for 30 seconds, turned it off and tried it again in the bike and hey presto! It worked. Phew. Went for a ride and all was fine. Has anyone else had a similar experience? The only thing that might have triggered it was that on last ride I ran the battery right down until it died, but I thought the BMS should have prevented a complete discharge. Anyway, I hope this is a one off, particularly during lock down.
BTW - when I took the motor cover off, there was some sticky blue gunk/tape between the motor and the top of the case. It was torn and damaged so I pulled it off. What is this for? Picture below of the tape stuff. It looks as if it’s to stop water or some sort of interface between the motor and the case - to stop vibration?

View attachment 28261 View attachment 28261

The tape is "mastic tape" to keep the covers from vibrating..
As for the problem you had, I just had the same problem with my 2018 kenevo (for the first time ever..) but it happened after a particularly muddy ride, after which I washed the bike with a hose? to get the mud off..(not a good idea I know..)
The bike turned on but wouldn't change mode with the remote, and the motor wouldn't work when riding.(it would change mode from the batt.)
But after cleaning and drying off the motor plug(both ends)... And letting it dry for a day or so.. it went back to working fine.
Have you washed your bike lately?? Or rode it in the rain/mud?
Tim.

 

[Swissrider]

Interesting. What you say about the tape makes sense. Maybe the vibration between the cover and motor is what that had destroyed the tape. It’s certainly not very robust. I guess that if I notice vibration now I should try and replace the mastic tape with something like inner tube rubber. As to your question - no, I had not washed the bike nor ridden it in wet conditions, in fact conditions here in Switzerland have been very dry for weeks. Because I’ve read about so many problems with water ingress, I almost never wash my bike. I wait until mud is dry and brush it off and sometimes use a damp rag to get stubborn mud off. I once ran a fleet of hire bikes and found bearings, brakes and any moving part survived better with the least washing possible. However, for whatever reason, I think that my problem may have been related to connection interface, which does seem to be a weakness in Specialized design.

 

[c4s2rs6]

Bluetac type stuff to transfer motor heat into the frame to avoid overheating