Mid drive and rain and or water

[deliquium]

Has anyone had any issues?

I've had a Fazua powered Boardman HYB 8.9E for 15 months now. It's been faultless and I can't say how pleased I am with it for so many reasons. The battery and motor are easily removable from the downtube and the cover, whilst no way being sealed, is rigid and there's a wee drain hole in case of water ingress. Haven't done an all day rain ride, but have been through the odd biblical shower + cycle a lot of wet roads. Here in Gogledd the water runs off the mountains and directly over the surface of the roads a lot. I have fitted full length mudguards and a very efficient rubber SKS mudflap. Not experienced any water ingress problems yet.

Just acquired a new addition the the stable, a Bosch driven bike with the latest CX Gen 4 smart motor. It too has a removable battery (but the motor/gearbox is fixed). It has a rather flimsy plastic 'cover' over the battery that doesn't appear to be designed with limiting water ingress from long (ie several hours riding in Wales), as a priority thing.

Being a paid up life member of the International Catastrophists' Club, can any wet ride users give me hope and advise, that in this particular instance (mid drive motors and rain), there isn't the problem that I might think there might be?

[rjb]

We have a Tongsheng mid drive on our tandem. It's done over 5000 miles in the last couple of years including maybe a dozen encounters with flooded roads up to 6 inches deep for 25 yards. We cycle around the Somerset Levels. Wouldn't attempt anything deeper but so far hasn't been an issue.
This is our patch taken a couple of days ago.

[Bonzo Banana]

Has anyone had any issues?

I've had a Fazua powered Boardman HYB 8.9E for 15 months now. It's been faultless and I can't say how pleased I am with it for so many reasons. The battery and motor are easily removable from the downtube and the cover, whilst no way being sealed, is rigid and there's a wee drain hole in case of water ingress. Haven't done an all day rain ride, but have been through the odd biblical shower + cycle a lot of wet roads. Here in Gogledd the water runs off the mountains and directly over the surface of the roads a lot. I have fitted full length mudguards and a very efficient rubber SKS mudflap. Not experienced any water ingress problems yet.

Just acquired a new addition the the stable, a Bosch driven bike with the latest CX Gen 4 smart motor. It too has a removable battery (but the motor/gearbox is fixed). It has a rather flimsy plastic 'cover' over the battery that doesn't appear to be designed with limiting water ingress from long (ie several hours riding in Wales), as a priority thing.

Being a paid up life member of the International Catastrophists' Club, can any wet ride users give me hope and advise, that in this particular instance (mid drive motors and rain), there isn't the problem that I might think there might be?

I've read of Bosch water ingress on some of their e-mountain bike motors in the past on forums but not so much recently and those e-mountain bikes were I'm guessing given a hard time ridden through mud and water as is typical of such ebikes in the UK. It's really down to how they are used really. I'm fairly sure some of the riders came up with hacks and mods to improve the situation in some instances. If worried perhaps google advice on preventing water ingress for your motor type. I seem to remember silicon grease or sealant being mentioned on occasion.

[Jezrant]

What you read about water ingress of Bosch CX motors on eMTB forums invariably concerns eMTBs that were stupidly washed with a powerjet. The dummies then go online whining about the motors hoping to make a case for a warranty replacement. Ask around at any reputable bike shop that sells these bikes and you will hear a very different story from what you are gleaning from a few posts on the internet forums. You may be reading less about water ingress on those forums now because it’s now widely known that the motors aren’t sealed well enough to withstand repeated powerjet cleaning.

[tenbikes]

Last week I submerged my Bafang mid drive when the bike slipped of a mid stream rock.........not for long, couple of seconds.
I gave the bike a bump/ shake when I got to dry land and rode off. So far all is well.

But I'm not saying it's a good thing to do......

[MarcusT]

I've ridden through some of the worst storms and countless deep puddles with the Bosch Gen 4 (yes, with the flimsy plastic battery cover). I have not had any problems. Bosch warns just not to submerge the motor.
The motor cover on the bottom will hold water, be sure to tilt the bike to let that drain out

[Bonzo Banana]

What you read about water ingress of Bosch CX motors on eMTB forums invariably concerns eMTBs that were stupidly washed with a powerjet. The dummies then go online whining about the motors hoping to make a case for a warranty replacement. Ask around at any reputable bike shop that sells these bikes and you will hear a very different story from what you are gleaning from a few posts on the internet forums. You may be reading less about water ingress on those forums now because it’s now widely known that the motors aren’t sealed well enough to withstand repeated powerjet cleaning.

I think you need to look at the ingress protection of each motor. Some of the Bosch motors are or were IP54 which is very light ingress protection and so the motor getting heavily splashed or momentarily submerged could be an issue. Some other mid-drive motors have better ingress protection. I guess ingress protection rating is important to your choice if you plan to ride in heavy rain through deep puddles etc. I think Bafang has a motor with IP65 protection. Mid drive motors pretty much all have their controller boards inside the motor enclosure too which can be a big issue with regards water ingress especially as they are so high current. On face value I would think its easier to prevent water ingress on less powerful motors as less heat to dissipate.

[the snail]

We have a Tongsheng mid drive on our tandem. It's done over 5000 miles in the last couple of years including maybe a dozen encounters with flooded roads up to 6 inches deep for 25 yards. We cycle around the Somerset Levels. Wouldn't attempt anything deeper but so far hasn't been an issue.
This is our patch taken a couple of days ago.
FB_IMG_16999885035609361.jpg

My tongsheng stopped working after a couple of hours in heavy rain - water got into the display. I would suggest putting some clingfilm over the display if riding in very heavy rain. I haven't had any issues with the motor or battery.

[rjb]

We have a Tongsheng mid drive on our tandem. It's done over 5000 miles in the last couple of years including maybe a dozen encounters with flooded roads up to 6 inches deep for 25 yards. We cycle around the Somerset Levels. Wouldn't attempt anything deeper but so far hasn't been an issue.
This is our patch taken a couple of days ago.
FB_IMG_16999885035609361.jpg

My tongsheng stopped working after a couple of hours in heavy rain - water got into the display. I would suggest putting some clingfilm over the display if riding in very heavy rain. I haven't had any issues with the motor or battery.

Yes the control display is susceptible to UK weather. Our VLCD6 is covered by cling film after we noticed moisture condensation on the internal of the display screen. Just checked our mileage at over 6500 miles.

[bikes4two]

I've ridden with a tsdz2 for a couple of years now and whilst I'm a fair weather rider, avoiding wet weather isn't always possible especially of late (Dec'23).

I'm a bit of a belt 'n' braces man and I have put extra sealant (red rubber grease) where it matters and no problems so far.

I too get condensation in my vlcd6 display even though I've sealed around the case joint and dried it out with hot air several times.

However, apart from the condensation being an irritation, the display has kept working fine.