The speedometer is one of the essential parts of an Electric Bike. It clearly lets you determine your speed limit, enables you to ride the bike carefully, and so much more. A typical bike’s speedometer merely shows the speed.
Still, an Electric Bike offers many things like Speed, Distance, Mileage, and battery in a nutshell. Some even show the heartbeat as well the sunset period. I can clearly understand that a speedometer is an absolute requirement for a user to have a complete riding experience.
So, what happens when an Electric Bike’s Speedometer stops working? Over the years, The most basic fix that has appeared in my riding experience while riding my Swagtron Swagcycle EB-7 was factory resetting the speedometer. Other issues have happened in many different scenarios as well.
The right questions need to be found to find out the exact solution. It could happen through cluttered wiring or wrong magnet placement. More often than not, these issues occur on their own as usage of other parts can trigger the problems of a speedometer.
Asking for solutions?
Let’s jump right in.
Common Reasons the speedometer stopped working
The speedometer not working is quite a rare case, but it does for many users. And identifying the problems and trying to solve it can be tricky as the process might require a lot of tools or the fixing period is quite long.
The issue may arise due to faulty wiring, settings malfunction, sensor, and magnet displacement. Regardless, if it is the case, then solutions are necessary. For that reason, let’s try to find out by first pointing out the potential causes.
1. Display settings malfunctioned
Changing display settings through software can be a reasonable method, and it could get complicated for a newbie rider to get confused. Heck, even the rider might be dumbfounded by their riding performances.
Resetting the display based on the model can help in this scenario. But, no worries I will be here to guide you over the many steps to fix and troubleshoot
2. Loose Cable Connection
Bad wiring can often happen without any reason or through usage. When the cable connection gets loosened, the speedometer numbers show errors. you will see inaccurate numbers, lagging numbers, or sometimes not showing. This evidently happens due to a loose connection.
3. Sensor and Motor
Oftentimes, the speed shows faulty reads, which can happen because the magnet on the motor is not placed correctly. It needs to be placed accurately to get exact reads of the speed.
4. The Controller
The controller is like the heart of an e-bike. You get all the data that a speedometer has to offer through the controller. When the controller itself has malfunctioned, it is evident that the speedometer/odometer won’t work. As I proceed, you will find out how to fix this issue.
5. Display
Sometimes the display doesn’t light up or simply does not show any info. It can happen to defective switches, battery health, or blow switches. Users oftentimes take wild assumptions as to what exactly happened to their speedometer. Still, in this scenario, the issue is in the display. Not in the motors or in the wiring.
6 Effective Ways to Fix Electric Bike’s Speedometer Not Working
It is necessary to apply suitable troubleshooting measures to finally make the Speedometer work. I will now discuss how you can troubleshoot and find a solution.
1. Error Codes
Sometimes, a few numbers might briefly pop up on your screen and then disappear. This usually means error codes are being shown in the display. It can be because something’s wrong with the bike internally or if something is not working in the speedometer.
Like, the Core-5, 500 series, and 700 series show various codes to make us understand what’s wrong. Like, as code 30 is a communication error or code 23 is a motor phase error. Through these codes, you can clearly understand your troubleshooting methods.
2. Resetting your display
The primary step you can do to start the troubleshooting is factory resetting the display. Now, different e-bikes will have different factory reset settings, but pressing “+” and “-” at the same time will let you reset your display. Some have different ways, like the Roadster V2, where you have to reset holding “m” for 3 seconds.
3. Cable Inspection
Now, it’ll become a bit tricky, but with focus, solutions can be found. You have to carefully check all the cables and wires, see if anything is misarranged or fragile or unbalanced, carefully disconnect those cables, check both ends, and again carefully reconnect them.
You have to remove the rubber cover and check the wires from all angles. The wires inside the rubber can sometimes be slightly torn, or the surface has started to fade.
4. Chainstay Inspection
Chainstay provides control by riding the bike while speeding up. It is essential to check if the wires in the chainstay are well connected or not. Inside the chainstay, there’s a 9 pin motor cable connector where you can see that there are arrows that help us understand that they are aligned.
Those wires need to be carefully checked so that no cables are misaligned, damaged. If the cables require rerouting, then you need to reroute them immediately.
5. Battery checkup
Based on the malfunctions and error codes, you need to understand that battery can be the reason for your speedometer not functioning. For that reason, you need to check the wiring of the battery. It will require a thorough checkup.
You will require specific kits and the key based on your bike. In general, to open up the battery housing, need to have 2+(Phillips) screwdriver bits after opening up. You have to check if the pins or wires are bent or not. If the cables are loosened or disconnected, disconnect then connect them.
After putting everything in, you should take a picture of the wiring to better understand if you require to do the same thing. While reinstalling, should be as careful as possible. You must not put pressure on any screws because you never know. A new issue could arise from it without your caution.
To try all these troubleshooting techniques and fixed you require screwdriver tools, wires connectors, and a Soldering iron kit. These are essential because you will need to open various kits, reroute the wires, join them, etc.
6. Replace the speedometer
After many attempts, if you see that nothing is working for your speedometer to operate, you probably need to consider replacing it. You need to look for alternatives as you are now bound to take a new speedometer. In that case, the Dinoka Bike Speedometer can be a good alternative as well as the ICOCOPRO Speedometer.
Now, suppose you find new issues that relate to the productivity of your bike in general. In that case, you probably need to get a new bike instead of the speedometer.
There are many great budget and variety options to get a bike on amazon now, like the Sailnovo Electric Bike or the ViVi Electric bike.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
What can I do initially after seeing that my speedometer isn’t working?
Well, the first and foremost thing you should do is apply the factory reset. Sometimes, the settings get changed through internal errors. Then using factory reset helps get back to its normal state.
Can an e-bike not work correctly due to the displacement of the magnet?
Absolutely, yes! Often, due to magnet displacement, the speedometer shows false reads. It can be dangerous at times as false reads can lead to accidents. It is essential to check the magnet, see if it is loosened, and if it is aligned with the sensor or not.
Conclusion
So, by now, you have understood the basics and essentials of what can go wrong if the electric bike speedometer does not work correctly or does not work at all.
Realized that there are many parts associated with the malfunctions, and some solutions require a lot of thorough inspection. After going through everything, by now, you should not be panicking when next time you see that your speedometer isn’t working.
But, regardless of everything, if you still see that your speedometer isn’t functioning, you must contact customer service for their assistance or seek to go for a replacement.
