First run worry ?????

[Ant]

Hi everybody,

So had a busy day today had to be in London for 7.30 which meant a 5 in the morning alarm uuuurrrr never good, finally arrived home at 6 this evening and my battery had arrived not only that but the sun was still shining, so despite wanting to go straight to bed i HAD TO go for my fist proper C5 run.

Got my battery in and took to the streets, i can honestly say i loved every minute of it and quickly realized one of the hardest things about riding around in a C5 is trying to answer the constant questions being asked by people, also got quite alot of "that's amazing mate" from car windows and general positive reactions, people staring from cars was at the 100% mark easily.

My only concern was that i was only out for about half an hour max and most of the time i was using peddle power, to begin with every time i engaged the motor my pod was showing 3 amber lights one on the far left one on the far right and one directly in the center and i was only using the motor for short bursts as advised, but about half way through my run the pod began to show an amber light on the far left an amber light on the far right and a RED light also on the right directly before the amber one and this was the case every time i used the motor from that point on, just wanted to clarify i wasn't engaging the motor from a stand still i was always moving a good speed before hand and i was only using short bursts probably no more than 5 seconds at a time,

should i be freaking out about this ?? as i remember Karl advising me to stay out of the red,

when i got home i gave it another burst from the motor to do this i just raised the back end and wasnt actually in the seat and the red light was still showing, i then left it to sit for about 10-15 minutes and done the same thing again and it was back to normal (no red light) im just worried i did something wrong but i followed all the advice and definatley didnt put too much strain on the motor.

Any advice would be great.

Thanks

Ant   

[kamilb1998]

It will sometimes go to the RED when you first use it, mine usually does as you're putting more strain on the motor than you would when going along at speed.

So if this only happens momentarily when you first hit the motor button, I wouldn't worry about it. As long as you're not using the motor from a standstill and assisting it with the pedals up hills you should be fine.

You shouldn't let it go into the red when driving along - that's how I understand it, anyway.

I'll get you a video of how my POD works tomorrow to help further explain what I'm saying.

[Ant]

Thanks for that, that's what was worrying me, the fact it was in the red every time i engaged the motor after about 15 minutes of riding around, my thought is that if its going into the red that soon how would i ever make it around a full C5alive meet up run ?? i was thinking that maybe i was engaging the motor too often even though they where only short bursts.

Thanks again.

Ant.

[C5 ENTHUSIAST + RESTORER]

Hi there as Kamilb says regarding the red LED on the left as you first engage the motor after peddling up to speed if the red LED do flick on that is normal as long as it goes out and the green/amber lights on the left come on ...Regarding the motor strain if it is under stain the leds on the right will let you Know as they will go down from green amber to red then flash and there will be an alarm sounding and at that point the C5 will shut down for about 10 Min's until it cools down ...

[kamilb1998]

I got a quick video for you on my commute today;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjE9Boepco0

[Ant]

thanks for the vid and the advice, this is what my c5 was doing when i first went out but after about 15 minutes EVERY TIME i engaged the motor i had 2 amber lights, one at each end and a red light next to the amber light on the right ?

[kamilb1998]

Ahh, was the red light staying on when you were using the motor like in this video? This would suggest a problem with the POD or wiring which is beyond my knowledge so hopefully someone will be along shortly to explain.

[radiomarty]

Is the red light staying on all the time now every time you press the go button ? (left hand leds)

[Ant]

It was yes, when i released the button it just went back to 2 ambers, i gave the motor a spin again just a little while ago to see what happened and it was fine, there was an amber light each end and a green next to the left amber light ?

[Ant]

Just to clarify the red light was on the right hand side when the problem occured just next to the far right amber led, and not on the left side.

[Karl]

If you are seeing the occassional red light that is not a problem , but if it stays illuminated all the time then maybe a snag with the pod has cropped up  .

Keep an eye on it and let me know via email if the problem persists as I can always forward you a replacement pod if it has gone faulty.

The joys of owning a c5 - fun and frustration in equal measure 

[Ant]

Thanks Karl you're a saint, haven't had a run out tonight due to more wet weather round here but ill go out for another spin ASAP and let you know what happens.

Thanks

Ant

[Ant]

Ok managed to get a 20 minute run in this evening and everything was completely fine, so for now panic over, phew !!!

Ant.

[Karl]

Ok managed to get a 20 minute run in this evening and everything was completely fine, so for now panic over, phew !!!

Ant.

..no worries matie , let me know if you get a repeat of the problem.

I'm sure it performed ok for Jonny on the Crawley run and we was out and about for quite a while ,we had two other c5's overheat but yours behaved itself perfectly. 

[Ant]

Went for another good run tonight up to the local park, it has a cycle path all the way round and really nice flat surface, but again my C5 went into the red very quickly, i had a 5 minute break and let her cool down and all was fine for another 10 minutes then went back into the red, maybe im just pushing the motor too much but seems to get hot really quick ??

Any advice