2018 Raleigh Sprite IE (TranzX Mid drive) cutting out

[calumf50]

Hi everyone, I am trying to repair my Mother's ebike.

She has had it a couple of years now and the motor has started to cut out.

I have tested the battery voltage and that appears to be ok.

The push button display module has loose wires (as you can see in the image) and is working sporadically, thus cutting out the motor.

I would like to try replacing the push button display module, but I am having a hard time sourcing one. The module is not serviceable. I believe it is a TranzX DP29 , I have emailed tranzx without response so far.

Any suggestions for trouble shooting, or any retrofit modifications that might work?



Thanks,
Calum

 

[amberwolf]

It's very likely you'll have to repair that one, by opening it's casing and reconnecting the wires. They may not be disconnected inside (and you wil need to be very careful not to disconnect them as there's no guarantee of figuring out where they go), but may instead be broken at that cable-mount point, where they bend, inside the cable itself.

If you can post all the other angles of that failing unit with the same clarity and lighting that this image has, I can try to see if there is any "easy" way of opening it, or if you'll have to slowly/carefully cut along the seams until it opens. (there are some tricks for that if necessary).

 

[calumf50]

Thanks for your reply amberwolf.

 

[calumf50]

 

[calumf50]

Before I crack open the controller, does anyone have any thoughts on what are our options for retrofitting an entire system? Is this realistic?

 

[amberwolf]

It's likely that the casing is ultrasonically welded together at the seams, but they may have just snapped it together. This looks like the seam, where the arrows point. If you have a thin strong blade and are careful not to slip and cut yourself, you might be able to gently slip it into the seam and gently pry the one section out of the other.

If it's UW'd then you won't be able to do that easily, and it will probably crack the casing if you apply enough pressure to separate it. That probably won't hurt the device, but it will defeat any waterproofing it had.


It's also possible that there are screw holes under the rubber handlebar-clamp pad; probably not, but that pad may peel away easily enough to check.

 

[amberwolf]

Before I crack open the controller, does anyone have any thoughts on what are our options for retrofitting an entire system? Is this realistic?

At a guess, the original drive system won't be very easy to convert to a new controller, so you will probably have to use a different motor system as well. But you'd probably have to leave the original pedal-drive system physically in place, as it probably includes mechanical parts of the frame to do pedalling with that cant' be separated from it.

Then buy a hubmotor / controller / display kit for the right size wheel for your bike, and install that, wiring up your original battery cradle connector to the new controller instead of the pedal drive system.

To have the same acceleration/etc the hubmotor system would usually need to be more powerful than the pedal drive (assuming you're using the correct gear shifting for the present drive), and this would draw more current from the battery, which it might not like (might need a new battery to go with it).

To get the same speeds, you'd need to make sure to buy a motor that can do the speed you want at the voltage of the battery you have (or get the right battery for that motor/controller).

 

[calumf50]

I managed to download the dealer software and run diagnostics. Annoyingly, everything appears to be healthy (don't you love spurious faults). I have found a DP29 (with bluetooth) on german ebay (euro$ 200+ ) but they dont ship to Canada.

 

[calumf50]

At a guess, the original drive system won't be very easy to convert to a new controller, so you will probably have to use a different motor system as well. But you'd probably have to leave the original pedal-drive system physically in place, as it probably includes mechanical parts of the frame to do pedalling with that cant' be separated from it.

Then buy a hubmotor / controller / display kit for the right size wheel for your bike, and install that, wiring up your original battery cradle connector to the new controller instead of the pedal drive system.

To have the same acceleration/etc the hubmotor system would usually need to be more powerful than the pedal drive (assuming you're using the correct gear shifting for the present drive), and this would draw more current from the battery, which it might not like (might need a new battery to go with it).

To get the same speeds, you'd need to make sure to buy a motor that can do the speed you want at the voltage of the battery you have (or get the right battery for that motor/controller).

Yeah, I was thinking along these lines, but ultimately a little turned off by potentially using an aged battery and mechanical losses of keeping the existing motor in place. I have tried to split the DP but it appears to be UW'd as you suspected. Its not coming apart without a fight.

 

[amberwolf]

A "trick" for getting plastics housings open, as long as you aren't picky about their appearance, is to put a hacksaw blade in a vise so the blade sticks the teeth up just far enough to cut *almost* all the way thru the plastic casing thickness. Then rub the casing across the blade where you want it to be opened, until the plastic is cut thru or nearly thru, on all sides, and then it can be separated relativley easily without much risk of cutting thru anything inside the casing (like wires or electronics).

To make it water resistant afterward, you can glue the casing back together with silicone, etc.

It won't be the prettiest thing after this, but it may let you open it and fix the wiring to keep using it, if there's no new part avaialble to replace it with.