Flooded ebikes

I have six custom ebikes with all brands of hub motors from QS to magic pie they all got flooded during the last hurricane that hit Georgia a few days ago. I have taken them all apart and drained the water out of the motors and controllers I sprayed them off with penetrating oil. Is there any hope for them in your opinion?

Thaks for any advice.
Curt

Sorry about your predicament.
Well, only the parts that had voltage on them should have suffered. If the batteries were not installed, or switched off, then maybe it's not too bad. Just keep looking for electrically induced corrosion downstream from the main power switch. If there is no corrosion at the battery connector, then you might be in luck.

I would first rinse all the muck out with clean water, then rinse with distilled or deionized (or reverse osmosis filtered) water, and then maybe again with 91% isopropyl alcohol. If those things are available. After that, air dry for a few days, and optionally spray connectors and other hard-to-reach nooks and crannies with WD40 or some other water displacement spray.
Added: all this is of course not good for the bearings. If they are sealed, maybe they are ok. If not, then you should be able to clean them out and apply fresh grease. Or take your chances...


I think flood damaged goods often get totaled not because they can't be saved, but because it's too labor intensive, compared to insurance write-off.

In my experience, most of the time, motors and controllers that have been exposed to water can work fine afterward, provided they are thoroughly dried out as soon as possible. Unless they were running or otherwise energized during the water intrusion.

Some basic cleaning and you'll likely be a-ok.

Things get wet. Things dry. Put bikes in a dry place and blow a fan on them for a few days, weeks, or months.

Please stop all silly surgery. If it's not broke don't fix it.

Forgot to say. Disconnect battery. Do that first.

marty said:

Things get wet. Things dry. Put bikes in a dry place and blow a fan on them for a few days, weeks, or months.

Click to expand...

Flooded hubs don't "dry." They have to be drained.

Open up one side of the controller if possible. You can inspect the inside and let it dry out faster.
My experience is most things will work once dried out completely as long as the battery was disconnected. Anything that got wet with voltage on it will get severely corroded and less likely to survive.