OLD LA FREE 5 FLASHING LIGHTS

[Ianjohn86]

God I hope someone can help me !! I’m a 74 year old very limited pension guy who spent $200 for a used old la free electric bike which ran just fine and I loved it. I know NOTHING about them.
But out of curiosity I removed the battery to see what it was like. I did it carefully and replaced it carefully. EVER SINCE THE 5 RED LIGHTS ON THE BATTERY INDICATOR OR WHATEVER ITS CALLED JUST BLINK AND IT DOESNT WORK AT ALL. MY BROTHER TESTED BATTERY VOLTAGE ITS 24 V AND SEEMS TO CHARGE PROPERLY AND WORKED FINE BEFORE.
ANY help much much appreciated I really can’t afford giving a shop carte Blanche to fix it. Even diagnose it

 

[Hwy89]

I hope someone with more knowledge about the LA free bike finds and answers this.
Assuming that the flashing red lights mean low voltage my thought is to carefully inspect the connection from the battery to the bike. Any loose connection between the battery and the controller could drop the voltage below the low voltage cutoff. If possible try to find a point near the controller to make a voltage measurement while turning the bike on then compare it with the voltage at the battery terminals under the same circumstances.
Where are you located? There may be a member nearby who could help.

 

[LewTwo]

Giant LaFree E+ 2 Review
https://youtu.be/lMayMXx30Tw

If this is what the OP is referring to, then giant is supposed to have a web based diagnostic tool.

 

[Ianjohn86]

I’m in Iowa. Brand new to this “forum”? I’ll try what you suggest n thanks !

 

[Hwy89]

I watched the video. Are the lights you refer to on the battery pack itself? If so it is an internal problem in the battery. You might try plugging in the charger for a while and see if it resets something.

 

[Ianjohn86]

Yes did that. The lights are on the control console I guess it’s called on handlebars. I was just able to do a self test of the brakes, speed sensor,vpc throttle, and torque sensor. All indicate okay

 

[amberwolf]

But out of curiosity I removed the battery to see what it was like.

I don't know that particular bike, and there's not enough specifics in the post to be sure, but if "removed the battery" means unlocking a "battery casing" that is designed to slide out of and back into a holder on the bike without unscrewing anything, then it is very likely to be a connection problem at the base of the battery.

There may be enough of a connection for the system to power on, but not enough for it to operate correctly. Or, there may be more than just a battery positive and negative connection, like a set of contacts for communication with the battery itself (like in BionX systems), or a simple "battery good" connection.

If any of those connections are not complete, the system on the bike may not be able to correctly see the battery, and so gives an error.

The most common way to fix this is to repeat the removal/reinsertion of the battery case into the holder, ensuring that any locking mechanism is fully engaged.

It is unlikely that there is corrosion on the contacts since it was working fine before, but that is also a possibility.


If you can post which specific model and year of the bike you have, we might be able to find out more about it if someone has posted info for that version somewhere.

If you can post good clear pictures of the bike as a whole, and then the battery both inserted and removed, especially around any locking mechanisms and electrical contact / plug areas, both on the battery and on the bike, it might help as well, if there is any visual indication of the problem (often, there is not, unfortunatley).