My RMARTIN bike died today.

[georgefromvt]

My bike died today. Hit 1200 miles and now no power. The last few days, I rode thru some heavy down pours and today while biking, power went out. The battery was almost completely charged, power meter showed full power but motor starting cutting out both while hitting the throtte and PAS. Any suggestions? I checked the controller, it was wet. I dried it, checked all the connections nothing loose. Anyway the motor could be fried? I opened the controller and notice a small flashing red light when battery plugged in. Any help/ suggestions would be appreciated. I'm calling RMARTIN tomorrow, maybe they can help.

[Hillhater]

Where on the bike , is that controller riding ?

[Chalo]

It's in a box welded into the frame behind the bottom bracket. Pretty cool, even if the overall quality of these bikes leaves much to be desired.

I was given an RMartin e-bike with a stripped hub motor thread and a failed battery. I decided it was not worth re-electrifying, but the frame was worth rebuilding as a pedal bike with a long cargo-friendly rear end.

Chalo

[Solcar]

The intermittent motor operation before completely quiting points seems familiar. Check electrical contact in mechanical circuit connections like fast-on connectors, fuse contacts, or multi-pin plugs. Moisture might have contributed to corrosion in such places.

[georgefromvt]

The intermittent motor operation before completely quiting points seems familiar. Check electrical contact in mechanical circuit connections like fast-on connectors, fuse contacts, or multi-pin plugs. Moisture might have contributed to corrosion in such places.

I opened everything up, cleaned the connectors and drying everything. I don't see a fuse? Does the RMARTIN come with a fuse?

[Andje]

does it have a hall effect throttle? If so i would guess that has failed; intermittent throttle response followed by failure after use in heavy rain were the symptoms of my throttle failure. If you can check it you would see 5v between positive and ground, and then a varying 0-4.75 v ish on the signal line between it and ground.

[georgefromvt]

I replaced the throttle but still no power. As I said, I cleaned and checked all the connections and examined the controller. Is it possible the power gauge is defective? It lights up and shows the power level, battery level etc. Any suggestions?? I'm really bummed, no bike! One of my hobbies is building and flying RC planes, mostly electrics so I'm pretty comfortable working with brushless motors, controllers and electronic speed controls but this situatation really has me stumped. Any suggestions?????? Thanks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-N7WEY231I

[Solcar]

I mentioned fuse in particular because a friend brought me his ebike that had quit working and it turned out that the fuse holder for the blade fuse had gotten toasted contacts.

[georgefromvt]

I purchased a RMartin bike last year. Rode great for over 1200 miles but last week it died. I rode thru some heavy down pours and power went out. The battery was almost completely charged, power meter showed full power but motor starting cutting out both while hitting the throtte and PAS. Any suggestions? I checked the controller, it was wet. I dried it, checked all the connections nothing loose. Anyway the motor could be fried? I opened the controller and notice a small flashing red light when power on. Any help/ suggestions would be appreciated. I replaced the throttle and power gauge but still no motor power. Everything lights up OK and the motor kics for a second but nothing else happens. The RMartin is a bracket powered bike, brushless motor and 36 V 10 amp battery.
As I said, rode incredibly well for 1200 miles but power started stuttering off last week. Any suggestions? I'm a at loss. I fly RC planes so feel comfortable with working with controllers, brushless motors and throttles but this has me stumped. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

R Martin controller 010.JPG

(173.29 KiB) Downloaded 253 times

[georgefromvt]

I checked the fuse--OK. I also replaced the thottle and power guage but still no motor action. The gauge lights up, motor kics for a second but nothing else happens. Just sits there. Any suggestions? Nothing looks fried, connections all tight, no frayed wires. I'm at a loss.

R Martin controller 010.JPG

(173.29 KiB) Downloaded 341 times

[Ykick]

I will tell you I don't like where the motor sits behind the front wheel spray in rain and you said it has been raining a lot. Judging by pics it looks tight but there's wiring entering/exiting the motor and the end cap could possibly leak from heavy water spray.

What did the seller/dealer RMartin have to say? 'seems like the flashing red light indicates a problem code or trouble state. Does it flash consistent or does it have a pattern? I don't know these bikes and doubt many members here do either. Does look similar to one model of those Bussetti's.

Ironic that ES is the place to come for "kit build" component knowledge while turnkey stuff is hit/miss. You have to hope somebody else has one of these or understands the components enough to offer guidance about where to look.

btw - I don't understand why you started another thread about this but good luck getting back on the road. This is exactly why I won't rely on any less than 2qty eBikes. Something is gonna happen and when it does you don't have a ride.

[Ykick]

Which thread do you want help in?

You're getting behavior that sounds like a brake cutout or disable feature judging by this latest description.

[georgefromvt]

I will tell you I don't like where the motor sits behind the front wheel spray in rain and you said it has been raining a lot. Judging by pics it looks tight but there's wiring entering/exiting the motor and the end cap could possibly leak from heavy water spray.

What did the seller/dealer RMartin have to say? 'seems like the flashing red light indicates a problem code or trouble state. Does it flash consistent or does it have a pattern? I don't know these bikes and doubt many members here do either. Does look similar to one model of those Bussetti's.

Ironic that ES is the place to come for "kit build" component knowledge while turnkey stuff is hit/miss. You have to hope somebody else has one of these or understands the components enough to offer guidance about where to look.

btw - I don't understand why you started another thread about this but good luck getting back on the road. This is exactly why I won't rely on any less than 2qty eBikes. Something is gonna happen and when it does you don't have a ride.

Maybe I'm mistaking but thought ES is for everyone not just for "kit build" bikers. I really don't appreciate your attitude. Please don't put me down, two years ago I bought an electric bike conversion kit, more head aches than my turnkey bike. At least with my turnkey ebike, I enjoyed 1200 no problem, worry free biking. THANKS FOR THE ATTITUDE.

[Ykick]

Chill out buddy. Not putting you down or making light of your situation. Only taking time to help and you go hot head. Talk about ATTITUDE...

SImply an opinion that you may not find as much info here for turnkey bikes as kit builds. Call me a liar if you want but that doesn't change the fact most people who buy a ready to ride bike probably never heard of ES.

Thank you and have a good day!

[cell_man]

I don't think the previous poster meant to offend, it didn't read like that to me anyway.

I would be checking for the basic stuff like ensuring there is actually battery voltage reaching the controller, 5V on the throttle, hall sensors etc. Disconnect the ebrakes, you don't need them to check if the controller is functioning correctly. Check the hall signals, yellow, green and blue reference to the hall sensor gnd (black). That should narrow down the problem. The controller looks pretty generic, so it shouldn't be difficult to find a replacement. Stuttering could be hall sensor related or it could be the fets were failing in the controller. If you have any other ebike parts lying around I'd be trying to substitute stuff to narrow down the cause.

[dogman]

My guess would be something wrong with connections for halls or for phase wiring. It could be something wet in the motor causing hall signals to short.

A bit of clarification though, was it beginning to stutter some before the wet? I had a few older controllers start doing that. It was just brief interruptions of the power on sensorless controllers. So it could be the controller simply wore out.

BTW, though I know squat about R martins, I can't imagine another forum having smarter guys reading and replying. But you never know, if nothing else, you need to find out what the blink codes mean. Is that blinking light something new?

[docnjoj]

I purchased a RMartin bike last year. Rode great for over 1200 miles but last week it died. I rode thru some heavy down pours and power went out. The battery was almost completely charged, power meter showed full power but motor starting cutting out both while hitting the throtte and PAS. Any suggestions? I checked the controller, it was wet. I dried it, checked all the connections nothing loose. Anyway the motor could be fried? I opened the controller and notice a small flashing red light when power on. Any help/ suggestions would be appreciated. I replaced the throttle and power gauge but still no motor power. Everything lights up OK and the motor kics for a second but nothing else happens. The RMartin is a bracket powered bike, brushless motor and 36 V 10 amp battery.
As I said, rode incredibly well for 1200 miles but power started stuttering off last week. Any suggestions? I'm a at loss. I fly RC planes so feel comfortable with working with controllers, brushless motors and throttles but this has me stumped. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

R Martin Bike July 26 2010 010.JPG

R Martin controller 003.JPG

R Martin controller 010.JPG

Hi George!
I'm formerly from Vermont and an interested in this thread simply becauae I am interested in the RMartin Motor system for my trike. If wet weather makes it fail then I am less interested. Please make sure that you contact them and see what they will do even if the waranntee is not in effect. This seems like a premature failure to me and certainly will result in bad publicity for them! They never responded to my e-mail about a possible kit. Please let me know if I can help!
otherDoc

[John in CR]

George,

First, I'd suggest ordering a Lyen ebike tester tonight to get it on the way asap. It's a cheap indispensable tool that's ideal for tracking down the problem on an ebike. I rarely use mine, but bought a 2nd one just in case, since identifying the problem in our simple systems is most of the battle. They can test throttle, controller, motor, and hall sensors.

In the meantime, double check and clean every connection, since over time corrosion can create exactly your symptoms. Throttles are out there in the weather, so open it up to check for water or corrosion. A throttle short may cause the issue even with pedal assist. Next, can you turn the wheel or otherwise make the motor turn? A phase wire short would show up as a jerky or pronounced notchiness when the motor is rotated.

If those turn up nothing, then it's probably the controller or hall wires or halls. Since the controller is flashing it's not totally dead, but I don't know if a blown mosfet and still getting a flashing indicator. Blown mosfets will show up as a short between the battery pos or neg and one of the phase wires. Other controller problems might be obvious upon inspection after opening it up and looking at the board. Give it a sniff for a burnt smell as you open it, so do that first using the rear endcover.

I've never had a hall issue, but those tests are explained here on ES, just search. I'd just use my ebike tester to eliminate halls as the problem.

My money would be on a bad connection, but I guess a water short could blow a hall or something in the controller. In the rain it shouldn't be a thermal issue, so the motor itself should be fine.

John

[Hillhater]

I'm formerly from Vermont and an interested in this thread simply becauae I am interested in the RMartin Motor system for my trike. If wet weather makes it fail then I am less interested.
.. They never responded to my e-mail about a possible kit. Please let me know if I can help!
otherDoc

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=26246

This is Randall with R Martin. We have been using the bracket mounted motor system for several years. Bikes like our R10 have a custom made frame that the drive system bolts onto. There is no "traditional" bottom bracket. The system consists of the brushless motor, a gear box, and a freewheel at the crank so that the pedals do not have have to move when using the throttle.

This design allows you to use your bikes gears like a transmission. It provides excellent hill climbing when you shift to a lower gear. You have to shift to higher gears to go faster. Top speed is about 20 mph.

We have been waiting for a kit version for more than a year. We were shown the latest prototype in October. Unfortunately, they are still not ready. We may have a sample included in our next order of bikes that will arrive in about six weeks.

If you are really good with building bikes, you can purchase the drive system from us. It would be a bit of a trick to mount it on a standard bike frame.

We stock all the parts including the motor, gearbox, freewheel crank and controller.
Randall Schleier
Sales Manager
R Martin Limited
randall@electricbikedistributor.com
http://www.electricbikedistributor.com

[Evoforce]

Had a problem very similar to yours under the same circumstances. Turned out to be the controller. I agree however, that it could also be the other things that were mentioned. In my case, I had a spare controller to swap in. Good luck!

[amberwolf]

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=31062

[dogman]

So far, we are taking your word for it the battery is OK.

Chances are, it may not be. It can show full voltage, but under load it could be weak enough to cut out when the voltage sags.

[Nehmo]

I'm at a loss.

There is a systematic method to fix anything, and you should only be at a loss if you reach an insurmountable obstacle, and you haven't. We will solve your problem. E-bikes are simple.

I understand the motor begins ("kics for a second") to start but then doesn't continue to run. Is that correct?
Isolate the components, and test them individually.
Let's begin with the motor. With 2 wires coming out of the motor, it's a bushed. Test the motor directly by applying current directly to it. If you have a variable voltage supply, start low, perhaps with 12 V. But if not, use the 36 V from your battery. (I'm not going to give a big safety speech [I'm sick of hearing that stuff], but take reasonable precautions, like raise and secure the bike or separate the motor). Report back.

[TylerDurden]

Let's begin with the motor. With 2 wires coming out of the motor, it's a brushed.

Not.

It is brushless.

[Nehmo]

the motor. With 2 wires coming out of the motor, it's a brushed.

Not.
It is brushless.

What information do you have on that motor, Tyler?