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One of the things that may bother you the most is that the electric bike does not start, and to be honest with you, the reason for my entry (and my love) in the field of electric vehicle maintenance was because of a malfunction in my electric bike, as it did not start, and we were at the time of the pandemic, and there were no electric bike maintenance shops available to me
I wanted to tell you this story to show you that I know the suffering of this problem
Therefore, in this post, the information will not be theoretical, but I will try to give you practical steps (and pictures if possible).
Now let’s get started
Why my Electric bike not starting?
As a general rule, the reason why the electric bike does not start is due to a problem with the electric scooter the battery BMS, the brakes, the throttle, or the controller.
These are the reasons if we assume that you are sure that the battery is fully charged and that the motor is working fine.
How do I fix my Electric bike not starting?
After we got to know the reasons that could lead to the failure of the electric bike,This problem can be solved by changing the BMS in the battery or changing the throttle, brakes or controllers
Battery problems that lead to the electric bike not starting
Other than charging the battery and the safety of the cells in the electric bike battery, there are two main problems that can cause the electric bike to stop at the start, and they are a problem with the BMS or the fuse.
Fuse issue & Fix.
Although the fuse is a small part, it is very important, especially at the beginning of the operation of the electric bike, and fuse problems are among the easiest problems that can be easily solved
In this part, we will learn how to check and change the fuse
How do you know that the fuse has a problem?
You can know that the fuse has a problem through the multimeter (just put the multimeter on the continuity test, then put the red and black probes on both ends of the fuse, if you find a reading of less than one, this indicates that the fuse is intact)
As an alternative solution, you can look at the fuse with the naked eye. If you find traces of a fire or a black color, this indicates that the fuse is damaged and must be changed.
How to change a damaged fuse?
Changing the fuse does not require any effort, just remove the old one and install the new one, but you should notice something important. You will find a number written on the fuse on the back. This number is the number of the ampere that the fuse can bear, so the new fuse must be of the same capacity or a little higher.
Note: Do not change the fuse in ampere higher than the capacity of the BMS, and if you do not know the ampere that the BMS supports, then you should change the fuse with the same number of amperes
Battery BMS issues & Fix.
Before we get into how to check the BMS, we will take a quick look at the BMS and its function in the battery
The BMS or battery management system is a chip located in the battery, specifically above the cells under the outer cover, and it has three contacts, the first is connected to the battery cells, and the second is connected to the electric current cable , the third for the discharge
And its function is to monitor the incoming current and also to verify that the cells are full of voltage, so that in the event that the electric current exceeds the permissible limit, it disconnects the current and closes the battery completely, and also in the event of a lack of voltage inside a cell or group of cells, it closes the battery completely to preserve the cells
There are other functions of the BMS, but they are sub-functions that will not affect the bike’s operation directly
How to know that your BMS is causing the issue ?
In order to know that the problem is from the BMS, you must make sure that there are volt readings between the positive side of the battery and the ground in the battery, because this indicates the integrity of the internal battery cells
In order to do this, you must place the red prop directly on the positive side of the battery
Then you put the black prop on the ground side that comes from the battery directly
How to test BMS?
The BMS test should be done using a multimeter as well, and you will use the continuity test. Put the red probe on the mains wire, then using the black probe, you will test all the connections of the BMS with the battery cells, and then you will test the main connections
This method needs a more detailed explanation, and I will devote a separate post to it
As an alternative solution: You can make sure that the fuse is intact, and in this case the problem will be in the BMS or in one of the battery cells
How to fix BMS battery issue that causing Ebike not starting ?
As a general rule, you can solve the BMS problem by resetting or completely replacing the BMS chip
In order to reset the BMS, disconnect the three BMS cables, then start charging the battery, during charging, connect the cables.Once the BMS cables are connected, the BMS reset will be done.
In the case of the reset was not useful, you can change the BMS with another chip, but it must be of the same capacity or higher.
Brakes problems that lead to the electric bike not starting.
The second most common reason that can cause an electric bike to stop starting is a problem with the brakes
The reason for this is that when you press the brake lever, you send a signal to the controller at the time to cut off the electric current from the motor, and this means that if the brake has a problem and sends a signal to the controller all the time, you will notice that as soon as you press the power button, the screen will light up and the motor will not work
How do you know if the brakes are causing this problem?
In order to make sure that the brakes are causing this problem, you must disconnect the brake cable connecting from the lever to the controller and start running the bike. If you find the bike working, you can change the cable or make sure that the PINs are in the correct place.
Throttle problems that lead to the electric bike not starting.
If your electric bike has a throttle, then you should take into account that stopping the electric bike from the start may be a result of a problem with the throttle because the throttle gives signals to the controller by changing speeds according to the strength of your pressure or twisting it
In the event that it has a problem, it will cause the bike to stop working. Likewise, you will notice that the bike screen works, but the bike does not start
In order to make sure that the problem is from the throttle, you can disconnect its cable and try the motor, and if you find that it works, the throttle should be changed.
Controller problems that lead to the electric bike not starting.
The controller is the brain that controls the electric bike, so any issue in it will lead to a partial or complete stop of the electric bike.
In order to make sure of the problem in the controller, you should test it.
Generally, there are three methods that you can use to check the controller, which is to follow the wires of the controller, use a multimeter, or use an electric bike tester.
This point needs a detailed explanation. For this, I wrote the illustrated post, which explains in detail how to test the controller at home. You can view it from here.
In the event that the problem is from the controller, you should change the controller with the same capacity as the current controller or higher, in the event that the BMS chip supports the new controller amp.
Conclusion.
To summarize what came in the post:
If you find that the electric bike does not start and the screen does not work either, then the cause of the problem is the battery (BMS or fuse) or the controller.
If the electric bike does not start and the screen is working, then the problem will be the brake or throttle.
