Levo Gen 2 Why does the Levo turn itself on when I'm cleaning the chain ?

[Grannyjones]

Why does the Levo turn itself on when I'm cleaning the chain ?
I stick an allen key in the chain ring (so that I can back pedal) and then when I start pack pedalling after a number of rotations it turns itself on.
It then displays a Motor Error.
Why is it doing this and is there a away to stop it ?
I have the Turbo Levo Comp 2020

 

[McInner1]

This is the same with all Levos from 2019 onwards. Don‘t know why...

 

[mtbbiker]

Maybe the belt is designed to only go forward and not backwards. Just a guess.

 

[apac]

Maybe you are making the motor into a dynamo and the energy does something to the electrics?

 

[Mikerb]

the manual tells you to disconnect the battery before doing any work on the drivetrain.

 

[iXi]

Does this on my shimano e8000 as well.

 

[paquo]

the manual tells you to disconnect the battery before doing any work on the drivetrain.

i put the bike in the stand which raises the rear wheel then clean chain spinning forward obviously with motor off, sticking allen key in ring with motor on lol

 

[Jeff H]

I haven’t seen a definitive answer to both why the motor turns on and does spinning backwards cause harm.

Chain cleaners with a reservoir only work spinning backwards afaik. Since this might be harmful I use mine sparingly for deep cleaning and keep the rpm low. In between I use a chain brush while spinning forward on a stand. 3100 miles on my ‘19 Comp with original motor so I’ll stick with this routine ?

 

[Mikerb]

As far as forward crank rotation is concerned it probably goes into walk assist mode.....maybe the same for reverse crank. I certainly would not be linking the crank to the chainwheel with an allen wrench with the battery connected.

 

[Jeff H]

As far as forward crank rotation is concerned it probably goes into walk assist mode.....maybe the same for reverse crank. I certainly would not be linking the crank to the chainwheel with an allen wrench with the battery connected.

If the bike turns on I take it as a sign I’m spinning too fast ?. I stop and power off then keep going but with less vigor. Like I said, 3100 miles without incident so prolly no big deal in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Mikerb]

Yep...I can see reason why it would damage anything......except the unsuspecting mechanic!

 

[Jeff H]

Yep...I can see reason why it would damage anything......except the unsuspecting mechanic!

When it turns on while reverse-spinning it doesn’t suddenly start turning forward. I hear the beep and feel a slight kick but that’s it.

 

[Grannyjones]

So is the backwards pedalling causing harm ?

I will try doing it with the battery connector out this time that should stop it turning itself on

There was a youtube video that showed an ebike with the park tool cyclone chain cleaner and it was clipped to the chain stay and walk mode was engaged and it was cleaning itself, would be great to acheive that set up but can't find anything that can clip the cyclone to my bike

 

[Grannyjones]

When it turns on while reverse-spinning it doesn’t suddenly start turning forward. I hear the beep and feel a slight kick but that’s it.

This is exactly what I get

Don't know what that kick is though that is felt just before it turns itself on

 

[Jeff H]

This is exactly what I get

Don't know what that kick is though that is felt just before it turns itself on

Like I said, I have a fair amount of trouble-free miles on mine even though I sometimes turn the motor backwards with the battery plugged in. Be careful you don’t hit the connector with the crank if unplugged. Heck, I can see a greater chance of damaging the connector and wiring than any harm done from spinning it backwards!

 

[urastus]

Wow, they're keen to go. I used to have a dog like that.

 

[mtbbiker]

So is the backwards pedalling causing harm ?

Because of the one way clutch attached to the crank arms, the cranks just freewheel independently of the front chainring. The only way to get the motor to go backwards would be to roll the bike backwards or jam something in the front chainring to the crank arms. Again, I bet it’s not good for the belt to be turned backwards.

 

[Rosemount]

They dont like being wheeled backwards either .
I hired one , dunno what happened , but got a red led . Took it back to the bike shop . They asked me had I wheeled it back wards ? I said no not that I recall . Maybe to turn around or somethin ,but not any distance .
Turned it off and back on . Problem solved .

 

[Grannyjones]

Theres loads of vids on youtube including even EMBN showing you how to clean the chain on an E Bike stating you should turn it backwards with an allen key jammed in the chain ring

I've been trying to find the easiest and quickest way to clean the chain on the Levo for a while because it's a job I hate enough as it is. If turning the drive train backwards is harmful then (1) I've done a lot of it so far, chain clean after every ride with at least 30 back pedal rotations and (2) I'm going to have to find another way to clean the chain hopefully not any more hassle than what it is already

 

[Grannyjones]

I even got a motor error while turning the Levo on while I was pedalling it away from a standing start
(rather than the usual turn it on and wait for all the lights to come on before pedalling)

I turned it off and back on again and the error disapeared

 

[OldGoatMTB]

So is the backwards pedalling causing harm ?

I will try doing it with the battery connector out this time that should stop it turning itself on

There was a youtube video that showed an ebike with the park tool cyclone chain cleaner and it was clipped to the chain stay and walk mode was engaged and it was cleaning itself, would be great to acheive that set up but can't find anything that can clip the cyclone to my bike

But you still have to be there holding the button down to make it 'walk.'

 

[paquo]

Chain cleaners with a reservoir only work spinning backwards afaik.

maybe but it still cleans the chain well, i use this ,it takes 30 seconds and drys in a few minutes

 

[Grannyjones]

But you still have to be there holding the button down to make it 'walk.'

On the video he had a clip on the walk mode button as well
Think this was the video:
Makes a crappy job look a breeze

 

[spicker]

Huh. I just encountered this issue with my 22 as well, except I just loft the front wheel to get it out of the garage. When I drop the front wheel, bike rolls back and the bike powers up. First time I've encountered this since having the bike in May of this year. I hope this doesn't qualify as 'bad' behaviour.

 

[Jeff H]

Huh. I just encountered this issue with my 22 as well, except I just loft the front wheel to get it out of the garage. When I drop the front wheel, bike rolls back and the bike powers up. First time I've encountered this since having the bike in May of this year. I hope this doesn't qualify as 'bad' behaviour.

Seems to be normal. My 2019 did this since day 1 and the motor lasted almost 3 years and 4000 miles. Pretty amazing considering the horror stories out there. There’s a threshold and if you spin it backwards too fast it turns the bike on. Roll it back down a little slower and it probably won’t turn on but no problem if it does. Also the bigger the rear cog the chain is on the more likely it’ll happen.

 

[pocii]

motor acts as a generator aswell...
so this is normal

 

[Jeff H]

motor acts as a generator aswell...
so this is normal

In a pure sense yes but in this case I highly doubt it is charging the battery. Would be nice though! Spin it backwards on a stand or roll backwards down a hill to charge

 

[pocii]

In a pure sense yes but in this case I highly doubt it is charging the battery. Would be nice though! Spin it backwards on a stand or roll backwards down a hill to charge

would be nice it will not charge the battery but it generates enough energy to wake up the TCU. TCU gets its power and signal from the motor.

 

[spicker]

Just curious if the Mastermind TCU2 behaves this way as well. Or is it ‘smarter’?

 

[Jeff H]

Just curious if the Mastermind TCU2 behaves this way as well. Or is it ‘smarter’?

Just yesterday my ’22 Expert turned on when spinning the wheel backwards. My guess is it’s motor related since gen2 and gen3 are the same (ignoring the running improvements over the years).