Rode through a puddle, motor/throttle stopped working.

[Senor_Martillo]

Last night I Rode through a puddle about 6” deep at speed, and the throttle/motor response stopped immediately. The other electrical functions seem fine: lights, display, and battery monitor. Wondering if there’s a fuse that pops if it gets wet? Possibly something to do with the brake safety sensors? Other ideas?

[crowm]

I had this issue once i was in a downpour up on the mountain and heading for home made it but the next day i figured it was a leak in the speedo mph dispkay it would run and then die with everything working but the bike wonuld not move Checked everything fuse al electrical connections and figured it out sun dried it out good to go I have been throught rivers at flod stge and made it through no problem but this poring rain storm got me the next day that tels you how durable and reliable a sur ron really is they are tough but water and electricity do not mix

[Pascal]

Hi
facing the same issue.
Did you get any update on this failure potential cause
Best

[tklop]

Water... I'm a big fan of water--but it's not a friend to our machines...

This thread is another fine example--of the failure of the e-bike industry--to accept the basic fact that bicycles are not "for indoor use only" devices.

Every single component on an e-bike should be tough enough and waterproof enough to withstand long-term installation on a rental jet-ski. Anything less--is inadequate.

Adequate--doesn't imply "luxury model" --no. It implies a "minimum standard" for a product.

Nobody really wants something indadequate. If it cannot meet their needs--no matter how inexpensive--people don't really want it.

"Buy Brand-X vaccuum-cleaners. Brand-X saved money by skipping the dust-collection feature! Save money--buy Brand-X." -----Now... That's utterly ridiculous, right?

Well--that's pretty much exactly what the manufacturers of e-bikes and e-bike components are trying to tell us: "Buy our bike! We skipped all that waterpoofing stuff--to save money! Not recommended for riding in the rain. Don't park it outdoors in the weather either--and never overnight (even a little dew has fried many a controller). Do not attempt to clean via any method inappropriate for your flat-screen TV. Do not attempt to ride through water. If you attempt any of these things, we will invalidate your warranty." Seriously--this is paraphrased--but it's actual manufacturer advice--and if you think about that--it's totally insane! Would you buy a car with those limitations? A motorcycle? An airplane? A boat? A tractor? Even a chainsaw or a lawnmower? Of course you wouldn't. Outdoor things should obviously be able to survive the outdoors.

Indeed there are rare individual components (like Luna Cycle's batteries) where reasonable efforts at waterproofing have been made. But if you look beyond what Luna has done, you'll find it's extremely rare--practically non-existent elsewhere in the industry.

Even the most horrifically overpriced (and underperfoming) bikes on the market--the infamous "Stromer" series of machines--even though they're selling e-bikes at automobile prices--the Stromer company still has invested absolutely nothing into weatherproofing. They're interested only in parting rich fools from their money--in exchange for their low-efficiency, low-range, low-power super-heavy non-customizeable road-slugs--that will die just as quickly--if their owner attempts to traverse a six-inch-deep puddle!

Contrary to what the manufacturers seem to think--nobody prefers "inexpensive" over "minimally useable".

By the way--there isn't any "new-technology" needing to be developed--the situation is the result of nothing but pure anti-consumer laziness. Electronic components and other products made for automobiles, motorcycles, aircraft, boats, submarines (and I suppose I should include spacecraft)--have been utilizing effective waterproofing for many decades now. We e-bikers all would eagerly pay for that kind of quality--but alas... It is nowhere to be found.

Now--that's more than enough complaining... Sure... It's an inexcuseable situation, but whether we like it or not--it's also just reality. It's all we've got.

Beyond the rare customized Luna products--there is simply nothing else available on the market to buy. At least not yet anyway...

So--what's the answer? What do we do?

Well--it's not all "doom and gloom"--heck no. We're not giving up that easily! Rather--we take matters into our own hands.

It's all about end-user / customer-based weatherproofing and waterproofing solutions.

Because these sorts of problems are so prevalent--and because we're bound-and-determined to make our e-bikes "minimally useable" there is a lot of really good weatherproofing and waterproofing advice to be found throughout these forums!

So that's the good news. Once you've isolated your problems--you can probably find ways right here--to prevent it from happening again!

Best of luck with your projects, everyone...

Tklop

[Tommycat]

As far as a potential cause... I would suspect something to do with the throttle controller because of it's location.
Take the time and read thru this thread for electrical and mechanical troubleshooting tips.

https://electricbike.com/forum/forum/main-forum/trouble-shooting/96775-deadly-sur-ron-problem

Regards,
T.C.

[Pascal]

Hi guys......
good news....i found the problem on my bike......
I'm driving home and will write about it.
A+

[Pascal]

Hi everyone,
as i said on the previous message,: problem solved.........

so here it is.
I hope my english will be good enough for everyone to understand my point.

We all went through the basic checking point as

• stand sensor
• brake sensor X2
• fall sensor
• throttle controller position.
• all plugs for moisture infiltration and / or dammage.

but if , after having driven on very wet surface or, like me after a good washing, you loose the throttle respond, there is another thing to check :

unplug your tail light and test your bike.

it sounds stupid but let me explain .

as many owners of this wonderfull toy, i'm sure we all agree about the fact that the tail light original position is...........UGLY!!!!

so i decided to dismount it and to place it under the seat as a normal enduro bike.
doing this, i realised that the wiring was too long. So i shaped it, taped it, shrinked it so it could fit just behind the tail light.
This wiring section is now very much exposed to moisture.

Now comes the funny part.....

Tail light : how does it work :
it is a light made of LED bulbs.
to power it, you have 3 wires

• green = ground
• brown = tail light (12v)
• orange = brake and stop light (12v)

but brown and orange wires power the same LED through different resistance (that changes the brightness)

When turning on the ignition, the back light turns on.
you have entering the light 12v from the brown wire.

BUT, if you check, it brings about 6 volts into the orange wire from the tail light to the bike............

In order to avoid this, our nice chinise friend did hide in the wiring, into the tape wraping a DIODE !!!!!

I found mine close to the tail light but the location on my other sur ron is different. (see the pictures)


my problem was moisture on this diode that was creating a electrical bridge and allowing the 6 volts to travel from the tail light to the bike.
the problem is that this orange wire is connected after the brake sensor.... So if the wire is powered , the bike understand it as if you were braking for real...... and cut the power of the engine......

The other problem (on my other sur ron is that by shaping the wiring to fit under the seat, i broke this diod and shot curcuited it..... same result......

hoping this will help people facing this issue.....
the start test is simple before disounting all the bike : unplug the tail light.
Have fun everyone.
best
Pascal

[tklop]

Way to go on the diagnosis!

[Pascal]

Thinking about diagnosis order, i think the first thing to do is to dismount the under motor alu protection and disconnect the grey converter ( little box next to the throttle control box.)
this converter powers all sensors.
Once disconnected, try the throtte. If the engine runs, the controller is ok and the problem comes from a sensor.
If so, you can replug the converter and unplug each sensor to find the guilty one..
Brake X2
Stand
Fall/ crash
Throttle cable and zero position
Back light.
Best

[Trail Blazer]

What year is your bike? Is this a potential problem with all years the bike was made?

[Trail Blazer]

Can I just disconnect the gray converter instead of disconnecting all the sensors and just ride the bike.

[dirtman]

I don't need a rear tail light. 1st thing I did to my light bee was to remove the light and tape up and tuck in the wires.

Thanks for the tip. I will double check and remove the diode, I might even remove the entire wiring to the rear tail light.

I have to cross 2 shallow streams behind my property .When I ordered the bike and I mentioned that to Josh.

He suggested I walk the bike through the water and any deep puddles. And now I know . Not to ride in a heavy downpour. either.

3 times now my light bee throttle didn't operate. My rear brake handle was somehow stuck.

Washing the Surron light bee. Is there anything we should know before we start.


I put it on a stand and wash off the tires ,brakes, chain. forks, rear shock and fenders. I use a damp cloth to clean around the key and to

[Trail Blazer]

What year is your bike? I pulled my seat and I don't see a connector or diode?

[Trail Blazer]

If your worried about water, check out this video.

[HarlowCastro]

I have this same issue with my sur ron. Went through a puddle and my throttle will not work, everything else seems to work including usb light and horn but I have no power. Any solutions?