Ebike brakes showing error?

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May 23, 2022
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Hi all it of a technical issue when I plug the brake sensors it shows error and the motor doesn't work, unplug them and it works I am gonna try wiring one of them the other way round to see if that's the problem but I went black to black, both the set of magura mt5e levers I wired and the set that came with the kit I bought do the same thing.

Any ideas.?

Thanks
Ben
 

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Polarity shouldn't matter with a switch. The switch can be either normally open (NO) or normally closed (NC). If the switch is normally closed, a multimeter or continuity tester will show continuity between the pins on the connector when the brakes are not engaged. When you pull the brake lever, it should show no continuity or an open circuit. The opposite would be true if the switch was normally open. Check if the original brake levers are normally open or closed and compare that to your new ones.
 
So I have an issue as my controller and all my kit came with no instructions an such.

I've worked out what everything is but still wondering what controller I actually have as all I can find is this label.

It's a 72v 80amp controller

I have an issue with my brake sensors when plugged in make the screen say error and the motor doesn't turn on, unplug and everything works fine.?

Does the same with both sets of brakes the ones that came with it and the magura mt5e upgrades?

Wired the Magura upgrades black to black and blue to red.
 

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That's an easy problem to fix. Get rid of your annoying switched levers and choose some good levers that don't have switches. Done!

Does your blender shut off when you lift the lid? Does your HVAC shut off when you prop the front door open? Would you want a car that shifts to neutral when you touch the brakes?

Why does your bike need more interlocks than these other things?

You have those annoying brake levers because of a blanket CPSC requirement for e-bike manufacturers. It's just like the various annoying "positive front wheel retention devices" or mandatory reflectors that come on every new bike. They're not for you. Get rid of them if they give you any trouble.
 
If shorting the two wires together generates an error code, the most obvious thing I can think of is that isn't the correct connector for the brake switch. It is either that or the controller is faulty.
 
Thanks for the replies peeps, got it sorted.

The cheap brakes that came with it were wired wrong so switched them and they work.

The magura mt5e's also now work, I had to take apart the levers and switch the sensor around. One happy bunny I really wanted some safety with this build as I found with my last ebike the first few times on it with the way I stand on the pedal at road junctions meant unless I had the brake slightly pulled the bike was likely to wanna push me forwards haha.

That was a 1k hub this one's a 5k so needed to get this working.
 
RunForTheHills said:
If shorting the two wires together generates an error code, the most obvious thing I can think of is that isn't the correct connector for the brake switch. It is either that or the controller is faulty.

It's just it was on the wrong circuit open when should be closed, switching the sensors around in my mt5e's did the trick.
 
Chalo said:
That's an easy problem to fix. Get rid of your annoying switched levers and choose some good levers that don't have switches. Done!

Does your blender shut off when you lift the lid? Does your HVAC shut off when you prop the front door open? Would you want a car that shifts to neutral when you touch the brakes?

Why does your bike need more interlocks than these other things?

You have those annoying brake levers because of a blanket CPSC requirement for e-bike manufacturers. It's just like the various annoying "positive front wheel retention devices" or mandatory reflectors that come on every new bike. They're not for you. Get rid of them if they give you any trouble.

I'm building the bike from scratch, I bought magura mt5s and got the mt5e levers to go in them, with a light weight 5k wattage build I just wanted the extra safety of sensors that work.

Seeing as I don't tend to put my fingers in blenders I don't need one to have a safety cut off really do I... :p
 
RunForTheHills said:
Polarity shouldn't matter with a switch. The switch can be either normally open (NO) or normally closed (NC). If the switch is normally closed, a multimeter or continuity tester will show continuity between the pins on the connector when the brakes are not engaged. When you pull the brake lever, it should show no continuity or an open circuit. The opposite would be true if the switch was normally open. Check if the original brake levers are normally open or closed and compare that to your new ones.

Yeh it was just the sensors were the wrong orientation, taken apart my mt5e levers and switched the sensor around, now its working a treat.
 
docw009 said:
Some controllers have +5, ground, and input on the brake connector and if you choose the wrong pair of wires to wire your brake switch, you may have been short circuiting the +5 to ground.

I'm of the opinion that brake cutoffs are a good safety feature.

sorted the wiring issues and took my mt5e's apart to switch the circuit around and they work great great hehe
 
DRUNK3NTIG3R said:
Chalo said:
That's an easy problem to fix. Get rid of your annoying switched levers and choose some good levers that don't have switches. Done!

Does your blender shut off when you lift the lid? Does your HVAC shut off when you prop the front door open? Would you want a car that shifts to neutral when you touch the brakes?

Why does your bike need more interlocks than these other things?

You have those annoying brake levers because of a blanket CPSC requirement for e-bike manufacturers. It's just like the various annoying "positive front wheel retention devices" or mandatory reflectors that come on every new bike. They're not for you. Get rid of them if they give you any trouble.

I'm building the bike from scratch, I bought magura mt5s and got the mt5e levers to go in them, with a light weight 5k wattage build I just wanted the extra safety of sensors that work.

Seeing as I don't tend to put my fingers in blenders I don't need one to have a safety cut off really do I... :p

I used to think that too, until one of my higher power bikes had a short in the throttle and locked at full power right as I was heading to a busy intersection, leaving me riding the brakes as hard as I could, still accelerating towards a city bus, dodged it and a few other cars until I had enough room to reach down with one hand and start yanking wires out until it stopped. Luckily there were exposed wires to grab or it could have gotten ugly.
If you don't have brake cutoffs, at least have a handlebar mount kill switch of some kind.

So yes, maybe an ebike does need safety interlocks more than those other products.
 
Voltron said:
So yes, maybe an ebike does need safety interlocks more than those other products.

You didn't make your case. Why a bicycle and not a car?
 
Voltron said:
DRUNK3NTIG3R said:
Chalo said:
That's an easy problem to fix. Get rid of your annoying switched levers and choose some good levers that don't have switches. Done!

Does your blender shut off when you lift the lid? Does your HVAC shut off when you prop the front door open? Would you want a car that shifts to neutral when you touch the brakes?

Why does your bike need more interlocks than these other things?

You have those annoying brake levers because of a blanket CPSC requirement for e-bike manufacturers. It's just like the various annoying "positive front wheel retention devices" or mandatory reflectors that come on every new bike. They're not for you. Get rid of them if they give you any trouble.

I'm building the bike from scratch, I bought magura mt5s and got the mt5e levers to go in them, with a light weight 5k wattage build I just wanted the extra safety of sensors that work.

Seeing as I don't tend to put my fingers in blenders I don't need one to have a safety cut off really do I... :p

I used to think that too, until one of my higher power bikes had a short in the throttle and locked at full power right as I was heading to a busy intersection, leaving me riding the brakes as hard as I could, still accelerating towards a city bus, dodged it and a few other cars until I had enough room to reach down with one hand and start yanking wires out until it stopped. Luckily there were exposed wires to grab or it could have gotten ugly.
If you don't have brake cutoffs, at least have a handlebar mount kill switch of some kind.

So yes, maybe an ebike does need safety interlocks more than those other products.


This is the exact reason I just like the idea of having the cut off on my levers, I have magura mt5s anyway so adding a magura mt5e lever to each brake set isn't a big issue for the extra safety.
 
Cars have safety interlocks. Just not the one you described, which wouldn't make sense anyway. Only being able to start when in park is a pretty common and sensible one.
And ebikes already have safety interlocks too. One is too high a throttle voltage when it's turned on keeping the controller from activating.
Also, a car has pretty robust protection these days, crumple zones and airbags etc, so high survivability even in a big crash. And a blender might take some fingers off, but nobody is usually putting their face right in it in a way that will kill them. And I'm pretty sure the death rate for leaving the air conditioner on with a door open is pretty low too, depending on your dad when you were a kid lol.
But ebikes are fast enough, heavy enough, have low rider protection, heavy injury penalty in a crash, and often of such shoddy construction that it suddenly kicking to full power isn't far fetched, and often operated by less bike savvy older people that have bad reflexes and damage easily. So it seems like an interlock or two isn't the worst idea in the world.
Or maybe getting squeezed between that bus and the curb as it was turning where suddenly giving up braking and sprinting out of the turn at top speed was the only way out, then looking for an escape route while I tried to slow it down again made me see it as a good idea. It sure didn't seem to take any of my autonomy for making my own decisions away after putting one on 😆

P.S. Tiger, I think he just meant why interlocks on one and not the other, not bike quality of life vs cars.
Chalo and I don't always agree, but he's a pretty good bike loving car hater too lol.
 
Voltron said:
P.S. Tiger, I think he just meant why interlocks on one and not the other, not bike quality of life vs cars.
Chalo and I don't always agree, but he's a pretty good bike loving car hater too lol.

haha fair enough
 
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