Coopertron9000
Member
Hi All.
I've written the below novel about my experience with power dropouts/cutouts on my Shimano Steps e7000 system. My bike is a Merida e160 5000 (2020). Hope you find it informative or whatever.
I bought the bike second hand and was 100% fine for a year. I used it regularly for commuting and for infrequent weekend romps, I used 2x sets of wheels accordingly. Then for about a month, I started to get cuts in the power delivery, for only a fraction of a second, on average once every couple of crank revolutions when the motor was under stress (Boost mode/uphill). It got worse as the month went on. The motor seemed fine when not under too much stress (eco mode/on the flat/downhill).
By the end of the month, steep uphills were pretty much impossible because the dropouts were so frequent. I was thinking of possible causes - battery? Traction sensor? Speed sensor? So I started by cleaning the battery contacts (with an emery board and contact cleaner) and also a small smear of dielectric grease which I'd heard can help reduce the wear on contacts. This didn't help unfortunately, the problem remained as before.
Then finally, on one ride, I got constant W013 errors...it would boot up, I'd get to 2-3 crank revs, and it would throw W013 again. I thought "Sh*t....traction sensor failure. Probably a new motor required, and I'm way beyond warranty". The motor was 2-3 years old at that stage and +6500km.
The next day, I tried booting it up. It wouldn't even start - the Steps logo would appear, then it would turn off, and would then repeat the process until I switched it off manually. It was cream-crackered. I took it to my LBS to investigate.
The tech logged into it with the interface, and the software could find eveything but the motor. Slightly worrysome. After much investigation, he found that the battery was very loose - i.e. when you turn the release key, the battery would simply fall out, not even the safety catch would catch it. I bought the bike second hand and I didn't even know this was an issue, I'd just turn the key and catch it with my other hand. When he held the battery down firmly against the contacts by hand, the software detected the motor. He noticed that the (male) battery contacts on the bike had considerable wear, & also noticed the light on the remote "on" switch would be brighter when the battery was firmly held in place by hand. Some hope?...
So the first thing to do was adjust the top battery mount (the bottom mount has no adjustment), so that the battery was held tighter in the frame, and hopefully would have better connection with the battery contacts and delivery more constant power/wattage. The tech said that if this didn't work, then next thing to do would be to replace the bottom mount which would include new battery contacts.
Update 11/01/23: the shop had the bike for a few days, and have called to say that adjusting the top mount seems to have fixed the errors. They have only done a light test ride and suggest that I give it a good runaround to see if the power dropout issue has been truly rectified.
12/01/23: I gave it a good bashing this morning - the bike is 100% fixed. After all that drama, it turns out that because the battery was a bit loose, there were tiny intermittent cuts in power from the battery to the motor, causing the assistance drops. It got so bad to the stage where power was cutting completely, the system would restart (but without cycling through the "Steps" screen", and the W013 error would appear since I was still pedalling.
So...there you go. What I thought would be a $2000 motor replacement turned out to be a battery mount adjustment which the LBS charged a small service fee for. Stoked.
I've written the below novel about my experience with power dropouts/cutouts on my Shimano Steps e7000 system. My bike is a Merida e160 5000 (2020). Hope you find it informative or whatever.
I bought the bike second hand and was 100% fine for a year. I used it regularly for commuting and for infrequent weekend romps, I used 2x sets of wheels accordingly. Then for about a month, I started to get cuts in the power delivery, for only a fraction of a second, on average once every couple of crank revolutions when the motor was under stress (Boost mode/uphill). It got worse as the month went on. The motor seemed fine when not under too much stress (eco mode/on the flat/downhill).
By the end of the month, steep uphills were pretty much impossible because the dropouts were so frequent. I was thinking of possible causes - battery? Traction sensor? Speed sensor? So I started by cleaning the battery contacts (with an emery board and contact cleaner) and also a small smear of dielectric grease which I'd heard can help reduce the wear on contacts. This didn't help unfortunately, the problem remained as before.
Then finally, on one ride, I got constant W013 errors...it would boot up, I'd get to 2-3 crank revs, and it would throw W013 again. I thought "Sh*t....traction sensor failure. Probably a new motor required, and I'm way beyond warranty". The motor was 2-3 years old at that stage and +6500km.
The next day, I tried booting it up. It wouldn't even start - the Steps logo would appear, then it would turn off, and would then repeat the process until I switched it off manually. It was cream-crackered. I took it to my LBS to investigate.
The tech logged into it with the interface, and the software could find eveything but the motor. Slightly worrysome. After much investigation, he found that the battery was very loose - i.e. when you turn the release key, the battery would simply fall out, not even the safety catch would catch it. I bought the bike second hand and I didn't even know this was an issue, I'd just turn the key and catch it with my other hand. When he held the battery down firmly against the contacts by hand, the software detected the motor. He noticed that the (male) battery contacts on the bike had considerable wear, & also noticed the light on the remote "on" switch would be brighter when the battery was firmly held in place by hand. Some hope?...
So the first thing to do was adjust the top battery mount (the bottom mount has no adjustment), so that the battery was held tighter in the frame, and hopefully would have better connection with the battery contacts and delivery more constant power/wattage. The tech said that if this didn't work, then next thing to do would be to replace the bottom mount which would include new battery contacts.
Update 11/01/23: the shop had the bike for a few days, and have called to say that adjusting the top mount seems to have fixed the errors. They have only done a light test ride and suggest that I give it a good runaround to see if the power dropout issue has been truly rectified.
12/01/23: I gave it a good bashing this morning - the bike is 100% fixed. After all that drama, it turns out that because the battery was a bit loose, there were tiny intermittent cuts in power from the battery to the motor, causing the assistance drops. It got so bad to the stage where power was cutting completely, the system would restart (but without cycling through the "Steps" screen", and the W013 error would appear since I was still pedalling.
So...there you go. What I thought would be a $2000 motor replacement turned out to be a battery mount adjustment which the LBS charged a small service fee for. Stoked.
