tadawdy

Just got my new Powertap Sl+ Wheel. Took it on literally it's 4th ride tonight. It had been working perfectly. It stopped working 5 minutes in.

I manually zeroed before I started. The Watts seemed ok for my speed, and then stopped displaying, as did speed (hub generated). I checked the zero, and the raw torque read 370 (it had been 508). I rode on, hoping something would work itself out, and the hub seemed to stop transmitting altogether. When I go to the manual zero screen on the Joule, it says "Bad Data" and then begins "searching" and never stops.'

I'm going to go out and, hopefully, find some batteries. Don't know if the store will have the right type.

Does this sound like a hub battery issue to anyone else? I'm going to be extremely annoyed (already slightly am) if it turns out to be a hub issue after all of 3 hours or use. Even if it's the batteries, something is probably wrong. I seem to remember someone saying something about a bad batch of powertaps that ate batteries...

LowCel 

Give Cycleops a call tomorrow. They are an awesome company and will definitely take care of you and help you trouble shoot.

rbart4506

Could be batteries, but definitely give them a call...Warranty is their strong suit!

kleinboogie

I'd also get a spare set of batteries anyway since you will need them. Try them out. GL

hammy56

you said the watts and speed stopped displaying. what about the other areas? elapsed time, miles, cadence etc? And did it eventually shut off? If this is the case, the hub batteries are dead. Hopefully this is the case, simple fix.

Drew Eckhardt 

That's out of spec. (The manual says "about 512" and internet lore is at most +/- 12).

I picked up a set at the grocery store.

Their service is excellent; if something is broken they should do a great job taking care of you.

JTGraphics

Replace the batteries first don't assume they are good.
My new PT wheel needed new batteries after about 5 rides I replaced them and all is good been for quite a while now.
Any drug store will have the batteries.
HUB BATTERIES
#357/303 or EPX76 Silver
Oxide (IEC-SR44) type batteries and always replace batteries in pairs. \

tadawdy

Ugh. I just tried to pull the cassette to make it easier to handle the wheel and not get covered in grease and the damned freehub body came off with it. The cassette has gouged the splines, and most of the cogs are stuck (never had this happen before). Also, I'm worried the hub is totally effed. If it was already coming apart, that would explain the loss of transmission.

I have no idea what I'm looking at, but I hope it's not important. Red grease, 3 triangular notches...hopefully just the inside of the freehub.

I think I might be done with power if this doesn't work out ok in the end.

Edit: stopped freaking out, got all the cogs off, but the freehub body is no longer attached to the rest of the hub. That's an issue.

jwible

Sounds like you didn't tighten down the lockring enough when installing the cassette. That'll lead to slop and gouging. The hub is held on by a set screw if I recall. pretty simple to remove and replace.

tadawdy

How do I reinstall the freehub body? Or will it always come off when I swap cassettes? I pushed it back in and put the cap back on, but I can still pull it out by hand.

Just checked the raw torque and it's back to 508...

KendallF

The freehub body on the newer hubs just pops in place. The aluminum freehub bodies all seem to get gouged and you'll have a cog or two stick every time you take the cassette off. A couple of light taps and they're free, usually. If this bothers you, buy the American Classic shims that snap over the freehub splines and prevent the notching.

stedalus

Slide it on and turn counterclockwise (I think. Maybe CW). It will seat itself into the hub. It shouldn't normally come off on its own as long as the axle endcaps are well seated on the axle. You could check if the O-rings inside the endcaps are still there.

The freehub design is really disconcerting if you're not expecting it, but it is pretty neat.

tadawdy

Thanks, everyone. I was ****zing out a little. Thought I broke something. It seems ok. Just worried it'll come apart again.

JTGraphics

Can I ask why are you doing all that when the battery is on the other side?
And to add the hub should not just come off when you want to remove the cassette you need to have it check if you don't know what you are doing with it.

tadawdy

It normally only takes a few seconds, and I'd rather handle the wheel minus the cassette.

Normally I'd be right there with you, but it seems (confirmed by internet vids and people here) that the freehub body does actually just kind of pop off, especially when the cassette is somewhat stuck. It's just held on by a snap-on end cap.

It was actually a happy accident that I went through the trouble of pulling the cassette, as it seemingly uncovered the problem. Otherwise, I would have assumed a CPU or other harder-to-solve issue. I will keep an eye on it and swing by my LBS tomorrow to see what they say.

Psimet2001 

HAHAA....I'm just sitting here enjoying this. Just saw the thread. You're in Evanston so I'd almost just tell you to jump in the car and drive over to my place and let me fix it, but that would be a long drive even without traffic.

Most likely its the battery. Yes the freehub driver comes off. It's actually pretty cool that it does that, but I get a ton of calls about it "OMG!!! DID I JUST BREAK MY NEW HUB??"

SL+ is officially gone and everyone is blowing out stock they had sitting on their shelves so your hub may have in fact been sitting so wouldn't be surprised of the battery might be dead.

I am not nearly as familiar with the Joule interface but there should still be a transmission icon and a battery icon. If you aren't even getting transmission then change the battery and then call saris if that doesn't fix it. The batteries are cheap and easy to replace.

tadawdy

I'm laughing at myself, too. It's scary when something expensive does something you don't expect.

I thought about the clearing out stock part. I put it back together and it worked well for a few minutes, then crapped out again. Changed batteries, and it's back to life.

valygrl

Heh, this exact same shiz happened to me when I tried to swap my 10 speed cassette to a 9 so I could put the wheel on my other bike.

WTF, IS THAT THE FREEHUB BODY**********? "OMG!!! DID I JUST BREAK MY NEW HUB??" NOOOO!!!!!!!

I totally took the whole thing to the shop expecting them to tell me to throw away my one-week old wheel.

Psimet2001 

Great to hear!

stedalus

When the battery starts to go, the top status bar will periodically (every 5 min or so) change to "Hub Batt." I guess the hub battery was too far gone for it to show up on the Joule.

OP, as for the gouging, check if there as any play in the cassette with the lockring tightened down. If there is play, you can put a 0.5-1mm spacer behind the cassette. Some hub-cassette combos don't match up exactly.

rbart4506

I have found that when pulling the cassette I no longer try and pull it off at once...That usually results in the freehub body coming off as well...I take off the loose cogs first and remove the riveted portion on it's own...I usually find that it's one of 2 cogs that are really stuck and when I get past those everything just slips off...

First time kind of shocked me too, but I did a scary thing.....I read the instructions

kleinboogie

Cool you got it working. Cassettes that use seperate cogs in use with an aluminum freehub can and usually will gouge. It's just the nature of the beast. High torque and steel against aluminum causes the softer of the two metals to give. It has nothing to do with a loose lockring, that would cause shifting problems. This is just plain old metal on metal badness.

One thing you might be able to do to minimize it is don't slam the pedals down after you coast. There is always a slight gap where the cog meets the freehub. When you start pedaling it makes a clunk sound. That is your cog hammering against the freehub and the freehub pawls engaging. You might get more life from the freehub by not slamming the pedals down so hard. Push pedals gradually until they're engaged then go. Your awesome power will still eventually create a gouge though from the compression. GL

tadawdy

If everything were as good as my 5 min power, I'd be happy with that. Unfortunately, I have a huge relative peak there. Maybe it means I should be able to bring my FTP up a fair amount (it's relatively untrained atm). Hmm.

I am, and always will be a max power weenie.

tadawdy

Preemptively fixed that for everyone. Saved someone the trouble.

ericm979

If you use American Classic Cassette Clips the gouging will be significantly reduced.