Kenevo Gen1 Brose 1.3 failure

[aw113sgte]

Was hoping you might have an idea what's going on with mine.
1. Motor cut power a couple times during a ride, turning off and back on worked. Then it stopped completely.
2. Tested magnet on wheel to be good.
3. Motor will still spin when using the "walk mode".
4. No crunching roughness or any other issues.
5. Opened case and everything looks and feels normal. No water ingress, belt looks good.
6. Replaced the battery to motor cable.

The only idea I have at this point is the torque sensor?

 

[Zimmerframe]

Have you run Mission Control and connected ? Sometimes it will give you some error codes in "motor" or "battery".

It might be worth resetting using "presets" in the settings page - unlikely, but worth a try.

If you know anyone with another battery, you could try swapping out just in case it's something battery related rather than motor related.

Sounds a bit strange. Normally torque sensor failure begins with longer over run or other issues, but it could just fail.

@Bearing Man any ideas ?

 

[Bearing Man]

Have just answered this on private message, but for the sake of others... If the bike still works on walk assist but no assist when pedaled, it is usually the torque sensor.

 

[aw113sgte]

I did check mission control and it reports everything healthy. Replacing the sensor on the shaft isn't a problem for me to diy, although I worry it could be the pickup ring.
A google search is failing me. Anyone have a source for these parts?

 

[Bearing Man]

Both easy to change and in stock. However, it's most commonly the metal part the surrounds the crank and carries the front sprocket spider that fails first.

 

[Bearing Man]

Have you had the ECU off recently?

 

[aw113sgte]

Have you had the ECU off recently?

Only when opening the case to try and find the failure. It's never been open prior to that (I think I know where you are going with this - the connector from ECU to pickup ring can be misaligned or damaged upon reassembly).

 

[Neeko DeVinchi]

@aw113sgte, the problem is your control on the handlebars. I had the same problem on my 1st Kenevo and I got it swapped out.

If you struggle to find a new controller, let me know and I'll see whether my regular contacts have any in stock.

Hope this helps mate??

 

[aw113sgte]

@aw113sgte, the problem is your control on the handlebars. I had the same problem on my 1st Kenevo and I got it swapped out.

If you struggle to find a new controller, let me know and I'll see whether my regular contacts have any in stock.

Hope this helps mate??

My controller functions exactly how it should, all buttons function fine. I also unplugged it and motor still won't engage. Considering it's functioning normally, I have doubts that it's the issue?

 

[Neeko DeVinchi]

My controller functions exactly how it should, all buttons function fine. I also unplugged it and motor still won't engage. Considering it's functioning normally, I have doubts that it's the issue?

It's up to you mate.
I'll say this, the symptoms you've described in your first message are what I experienced on my 1st Kenevo. The solution was a new remote.

The very fact that you explain that walk mode is triggered without being pressed is an indication that something within the remote is faulty.

If it helps, simply remove the remote and try your Kenevo without it and use the buttons on the battery to toggle through modes. If the bike works fine, then atleast you can verify the same.

But it's up to you. Again, I don't mind asking around if you require a new remote.

 

[Zimmerframe]

The very fact that you explain that walk mode is triggered without being pressed is an indication that something within the remote is faulty.

3. Motor will still spin when using the "walk mode".

He didn't. He said walk mode still works.

Therefore the belt etc are intact which is why he provided that information.

 

[Neeko DeVinchi]

My apologies.

 

[Zimmerframe]

My apologies.

No need to apologise to anyone Neeko, we've all miss read posts in the past when we're trying to help.

 

[aw113sgte]

So interesting update...took it into the bike shop and all they did was update the firmware and the bike works again. I'm certainly surprised. I did have it derestricted if that makes any difference.

 

[aw113sgte]

Update...again.
Went to pick up the bike and it wasn't working.
The things we did figure out...when using the walk button, sometimes the bike would work as normal after that. Then turn the bike off and back on it was back to not working.
Cadence was showing up as it should, so was speed. The power would show zero unless we could get the motor working again by using the walk feature a bit.
When it was working, the bike was responding exactly how it was supposed to (smooth and consistent power delivery).

Any ideas?

 

[Zimmerframe]

Ok, so de-restricting, assuming you've just changed the wheel size won't make any difference to any of this.

It sounds like bearingman's torque sensor idea fits logically with your symptoms.

The motor won't engage to assist because it's getting a torque sensor fault - so the motor isn't turning.

When you press walk mode, it doesn't care about the torque sensor, it just tells the motor to turn and then cut out when the bike (from wheel speed) hits about 6kph.

Once you've done that it's turned the motor to a point where presumably it's had some reading/can get some reading from the torque sensor and will work. But if you stop, it could stop where it can't get a reading from the torque sensor/is getting an incorrect reading from the torque sensor and it won't engage again.

 

[CjP]

 

[Bearing Man]

Update...again.
Went to pick up the bike and it wasn't working.
The things we did figure out...when using the walk button, sometimes the bike would work as normal after that. Then turn the bike off and back on it was back to not working.
Cadence was showing up as it should, so was speed. The power would show zero unless we could get the motor working again by using the walk feature a bit.
When it was working, the bike was responding exactly how it was supposed to (smooth and consistent power delivery).

Any ideas?

I know this sounds odd, but have you tried another power cable from the motor to the battery? We have had these do all sorts of spurious things! And one was behaving very similar to the symptoms you are describing.

 

[aw113sgte]

I know this sounds odd, but have you tried another power cable from the motor to the battery? We have had these do all sorts of spurious things! And one was behaving very similar to the symptoms you are describing.

Yes I did, that was the first thing I did and it too almost a year to get the part due to backorder.

 

[STK]

Yes I did, that was the first thing I did and it too almost a year to get the part due to backorder.

Not sure if this will apply but on my 2019 Kenevo expert with 1.3 motor, the TCU is on the battery pack. The shop kept running diagnostics and sending results to Specialized after changing the power cable didn’t fix the problem. Eventually they replaced the battery/TCU (under warranty despite being a few months beyond the 2 years Thanks Specialized!) and it’s been great since then 5 months and 1250 miles ago. As a bonus it’s nice to have full health up from 82% and old battery had about 180 charges.

 

[aw113sgte]

So the dealer ordered a new motor. I haven't gotten to get a real ride on it yet, but so far it's working as it should. I was surprised by the price, $380 USD for the swap. I was expecting $800+? Hopefully I can get out on a real test ride today or tomorrow.

 

[STK]

So the dealer ordered a new motor. I haven't gotten to get a real ride on it yet, but so far it's working as it should. I was surprised by the price, $380 USD for the swap. I was expecting $800+? Hopefully I can get out on a real test ride today or tomorrow.

That’s great news. My motor was replaced under warranty around 3000 miles and the replacement is now over that mark, so if/when it fails, the $380 would be completely reasonable to replace. I run BLEvo and carefully monitor motor and battery temps and never go into the red so hope this makes a difference in longevity. Good luck and keep posting your results! Where are you located?