Stu Summer said:
Could anyone help me stepwise trouble shoot this?
Yes, but you will need to answer the questions below in detail to give enough information to start the process.
Without knowing much about how the bike is actually setup to work, the best recommendation I would have is to verify all of the wires and connectors everywhere on the bike are actually fully connected and able to pass signals.
The most common problem is corrosion within connectors, which can sometimes be removed by unplugging and replugging them all several times, being careful to only pull on the connector shells, and never on the wires.
The next most common is loose contacts in the plugs, where when you plug them in the contacts back out and just barely touch or don't touch at all.
Then there are broken wires, either inside the cabling, or right at the back of the connectors or at the exit from any housing or box or controller, etc., where flexing tends to stress the wires.
The next most common is damage to the axle wiring right at the axle exit. You may not be able to see this if it is pinched inside the cable housing, but there is testing that may reveal it if necessary.
V2, or v3? It will give you the exact version when you turn it on. What does that screen say?
(with no answer, it is safest to assume it is a v3.x and is setup for cadence PAS and no throttle, with the knob being on the aux input controlling speed limit or current limit)
Which specific type? Is it one of those rings on the pedal crankshaft that just monitors cadence (how fast you pedal)? Or is it one of those inside the frame that replaces the pedal crankshaft and monitors torque and cadence?
Does this connect to the CA, or to the controller?
Which specific connector does it plug into?
(with no answer, it's safest to assume it plugs into the CA's PAS input connector, and that it is just a cadence sensor)
Is this on one of the wheels? Just the little stick-type with a magnet on a spoke?
Does this connect to the CA, or to the controller?
Which specific connector does it plug into?
(with no answer, it's safest to assume it is wired directly to teh back of the CA and is the wheelmounted stick with spoke magnet)
and potentiometer (I think that is what its called. A knob at the handle bar determining how much assistance is available.
Does this connect to the CA, or to the controller?
Which specific connector does it plug into?
(with no answer, it is safest to assume it is connected to the CA's aux input and setup in the menus to control speed limit or current limit)
It started to work intermittently.
What specifically does this mean? Did it work on some days but not others? Or did it work under some conditions but not others? Or did it work unpredictably for unpredictable amounts of time? Or something completely different?
Do you have any information about whether it was crashed or fell over or experienced any particular thing or when the problem actually started? Any information could lead to the source of the problem (though it might not).
I thought it was the potentiometer. So I bought a throttle with the same 3 pin JST connector.
First, disconnect that, and put the potentiometer back. They don't do the same things (or generally work the same way, if it's a hall based throttle which is the most common kind) and wouldn't connect to the same place, unless this is a much different setup than any I've seen before. The assist level pot (if it is one, and not a rotary switch for presets) is most likely connected to the aux-in of the CA and is most likely setup to change either the speed limit or the current limit, but could be any number of other things.
FWIW, just because it has the same connector doesn't mean it's wired the same, so unless you've already verified that the throttle is outputting the correct changing voltage range on it's signal wire when connected to that same JST as the knob, it could even be that it is connected so that it cant' output anything and cant' control the amount of assist, and may be locking out all assist just by being plugged in).
Once we have figured out how the bike is wired and setup to operate, we can start working out which parts are working and which are not.