Magic Pie III dead after 37 miles.

[Gregor]

I bought the Magic Pie III kit with the 48V10AH battery.
Installed it on my MTB with 26” back hub motor using the twist grip throttle. I have not used the software to programme it.
Running it straight out of the box. It ran perfectly for 37 miles then just died.
The day it died I had covered 5 miles. I cycled home as the wheel is still turning ok. On getting home I charged the battery which only took 30 minutes so I know I still had power.

Next day I went to my garage and tried it again. The three lights are all on but nothing from the hub. When I spun the back wheel and tried the throttle it worked right up to full throttle. Great thought I. When I sat on the bike again turning the throttle. Nothing. So I peddled and it would work if I only just turned the throttle a tiny bit. Then it cut out with too much throttle. I lifted the back end and spun the wheel and it worked again but when turning really slowly there was a really noticeable judder from the hub with noise too. Back into the garage with it.

Next again day after charging the battery again I checked it. All three lights still on. Nothing from the hub. Spun the wheel again and turned the throttle. Nothing. It now will not work at all. Lights still all on. I have  checked all the connections and wires and all are fine. The wheel is turning ok when it is all plugged in and when it is unplugged. I should also add that I don't have the brake levers on. I am using my hydraulic brakes. I did put them on just to check and they both worked fine.

I am hoping someone might have an idea as I am no electrical boffin.

Cheers

Unhappily. Gregor.

At least this picture made me smile.

[e-lmer]

I suggest you start by seeing if you smell burning from the hub.

If you do, then you are looking at replacement.

The next step is to put a voltmeter on the power lines, and see if there is a sudden drop in power when you press the throttle, that would indicate that the battery is damaged.
(It can charge to full, but drop under any load if a cell or two are bad.)

I always recommend a fuse in your power lines, it is very easy to overload these
things. 
1000W/48V is just over 20 Amps. You can exceed this by riding up a hill or being a bit large like myself. (250+Lbs)

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Andrew]

The juddering sounds like sensors failed in the controller.  First of all when you were spinning the wheel and then getting throttle and motor working I thought you must have been running sensorless i.e without the above mentioned sensors working, as the pie controller is designed to deal with this. 

It could be that a fuse has blown in the battery as mentioned above.  Due to everything being moulded and internalised in the pie 3  it makes it really hard to tackle things

[Andrew]

where did you purchase the kit?

[Gregor]

I bought the kit from Gary at GM Canada. I have put the same post on his page. I don't know if he has seen it.
I shall have to ask a friend who has a meter to check the above. As suggested by e-lmer.

[GM Canada]

I bought the kit from Gary at GM Canada. I have put the same post on his page. I don't know if he has seen it.
I shall have to ask a friend who has a meter to check the above. As suggested by e-lmer.

If you are having a problem with something purchased from my website follow the link below. I am overwhelmed and do not get to the forum much lately.

Gary

[GM Canada]

BTW, I did see that picture a few weeks ago when I was viewing this link. I blew right by it as many pictures on this link are a lot more interesting.

http://www.tifr.us/tifr/2011/04/30/why-not-its-saturday-225-photos-of-sexy-girls-riding-bicycles.html

Gary

[Bedmountain]

Hi Gregor - I feel your pain... My first conversion attempt lasted 81 miles before the controller died.

It's probably worth taking the controller out and visually inspecting it. I've had two controllers fail in my first 500 miles and both showed obvious signs of damage when opened up (burnt/discoloured areas).

If you do need to get the controller replaced (via Gary at GM Canada) then it might be worth requesting it be replaced with the newer 'Universal' model. I have one of these and it looks more robust than the older type. Certainly the waterproofing has been beefed up (there is a video knocking around somewhere of this controller running fully submerged in a bucket of water). It was water damage that destroyed my 2nd controller.

Hope you get back up and running soon...

[Gregor]

Gary.  Heather Graham though....mmm

[Andrew]

i am so glad that the kit was bought from Gary,  he has been brilliant with me in the past he is a man of his word and a legend on this forum!

[Gregor]

Well said that man. I just need to know if I can use my allen key to check. I cannot afford to send the whole f*%king thing back to the other side of the planet.

[Andrew]

i would not know what to check for. just take the cover of the motor and have a look at the controller. 

[Gregor]

I just thought with the product being brand new. It should have worked. I installed out of the box and it has already failed. After 37 miles. Bit scunnered. It's not cheap.

[Andrew]

just go through Gary GM canada

[GM Canada]

Hey Gregor,

I'm still waiting for you to create a new ticket.

www.goldenmotor.ca/ticket

Gary