Waterproof ebike/Ride in Rain

[broloch]

Is the Crystalye kit good in the rain? Can it be waterproofed or will that not be good? Could I spray the controller with silicone lube, or graphite lube?
What about the hub motor?

Is it bad to ride the ebike in the rain?
Do you ride in the rain with your ebike and batteries?

 

[icecube57]

One day the forecast lied to me in my area and the rain came 3 hours early. It was a flash flood down pour. I got 1/4 mile up the road and I was soaking wet from head to toe. My controller is mounted under my seatpost rack. So it was getting assulted by the wash from the tires. My throttle was exposed to the elemsnts. My watts up meter and cycle computer were also exposed. I had 7 miles to ride. It performed just about the same as if it were dry. There was a little drag from the water on the road but my bike is still operational. Just put silicone sealant behind all the connectors. And if you are a big spender get some heat shrink tubing and put it around all the connects. You can also put a dab of vasaline or similar lube on the contacts to help prevent corrosion. Also the wires coming out of the motor... you want them to come out and down to form a J. If you wire it straight up the water will follow the wires into the motor where you will have rust issues. Put a little bit of silicone sealant on axel where the wires come out to water proof that. You should be good to go. Im looking at fenders now. That will stop splash back from the tires. Also if you buy bags that have the plastic coated inner lining helps a whole lot. It maybe slightly damp at the seams but far from soaking wet.

 

[Anonymous]

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[broloch]

A bike noob question for ya, what components on the bike are problematic with rain?

Is it just the chain that gets rusty or are other parts going to be damaged as well?

 

[Anonymous]

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[fifthmass]

I fried my Clyte controller because of road spray hitting it. Fenders eliminated the road spray. I also tape a plastic grocery bag around the unit if I suspect I'll be in the rain.

The throttle is susceptible to water too. When I know I might be riding in light rain I wear a poncho and drape the front over the handlebars. It keeps all the front electronics dry as well as myself.

Bill

 

[velowatt]

I think if you can cover sensitive components from road spray, there should not be too much risk from rain. The one thing I worry about is the throttle- Mine is up on the bars, has 3 LED lights (it is an older WE brushed 36V hub with Hall sensor throttle). I carry the controller in the battery bag side-pocket, and have attached an old 5V computer fan that runs off a DC converter to blow air directly onto the heat sink and out the zipper top of he pocket. It keeps the controller cool even in summer weather. I have good fenders that minimize road spray, and the battery bag sits behind my recumbent seat, which means I shield it with my seat as well.

I got caught in a real storm last fall, riding home 20miles with 70+lb of SLA batteries- I had 30 lb on the rear rack (36V), and duct taped 4 more 12 Ah lead batteries which I dumped in an old "holey" pannier, on the right side of the rear rack. It started raining HARD- I was soaked right to the soles of my shoes within minutes, and I figured- oh well this thing is gonna short out and blow up. Just kept riding. I stopped once to switch over from the (drained 36V to the 48V battery . I was surprised to find, that even though everything got wet, the only thing that malfunction was my (wired) cyclecomputer (water got in the wheel sensor), and even that started working again after 5 miles or so. Everything else worked great, I just emptied the bag to dry everything out once I got home. I now have a rain cover for the rear batter bags and carry a sandwich bag with me to wrap over the throttle.


One thing I almost learned the hard way is that overloading the bike and rack can be dangerous at high speeds. My single pannier made the bike heavier on one side, and the 40lb battery was flopping around because I did not bother to secure it inside the pannier. I also carried all the batteries on a crappy little steel rack that came with the hub motor kit (which I hammered and bent to get into the right shape to fit the recumbent), and which flexed like crazy every time I cornered or hit a bump. I started off wet but happy that the bike was running so well- until I headed down a big hill (wide, 4 lanes, nice smooth pavement, lots of cars, coasting about 35-40 mph). Half way down the bike started oscillating wildly from side to side- I thought I was gonna buy it at 35 mph for sure. I did not know what was causing the oscillations and was afraid hitting the brakes would either make it worse, or lock up the wheels and make me go down. I unclipped from the pedals rode the thing down with my cleats dragging until the road leveled out and I was able to slow and stop. This was the scariest moment I have had on a bike. Oddly, I never had stability problems on dry roads, I just loaded the bike up with lead to get the range I wanted.

I think the combination of overloaded weight, poor traction of wet roads and having the batteries acting like a pendulum in the back caused this- I have not experienced it again. Since then I have built a sturdy rack and avoided putting a big unbalanced load on the back. I used to run 2 36V batteries in parallel to minimize voltage sagging, but now I am using 48V system with 4 SLA's mounted in the midline. Getting rid of the lead for lighter batteries would help too.

 

[XRuss]

Rather then buy extra expensive Heat Shrink, consider this. For waterproofing HS I dab a bit of silicone caulk into the end of the HS before shrinking it down. Seals it tight and waterproof. Works for me.....

 

[huskydave]

I have crysalyte components. I electrical taped the full length of every wire on my bike. there is enough room to wrap tape around the axle of the non freewheel side of the motor it seals that side up nicely, I siliconed every wire that exits the controller and wrapped every connection with electrical tape. When it rains I carry a couple of plastic garbage bags and cover up the controller. The places you have to worry about are the switch on the controller and the throttle. If it is a light rain I don't worry about covering the throttle but if it is heavy rain I will cover it up with the plastic. It is also a good idea to fill the throttle up with dielectric grease. If im caught in the rain I will ride but I try not to ride in the rain if I can help it. If your planning on riding in the rain fenders are not optional, you will get soaked without them. The cycle analist is water resistant and I only covered it up one time. If you use clear garbage bags you can still see the screen.