Campy EPS issue/s...

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random101
Posts: 105
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2014 10:15 pm

by random101

Hey guys,

Just hoping to get a bit of info or experience's from anyone one else?

So I did a ride 2 days ago, everything was fine the roads were damp but not wet, I got home and I noticed the EPS thingy blinking Blue very quickly... (no buzzing sound or anything) and all the gears worked with out any problems. So I just stuck the magnet on it and it reset and everything worked and there was no issue.

2 days later (today) I went to ride to my LBS to see what it could of been, though the rear derailleur was completely out of wack, so I went to individually tune some of the gears, as I did it got stuck on the biggest cog (27) and then the motor kept buzzing and humming away which had me really worried... So I got home as quick as I could to put the magnet on it to shut it down (the rear derailleur was now pretty warm as well...). I took the magnet off and tried to shift up or down and nothing. I tried to enter the fine tune though it just spat the dummy and went into buzzing and not being friendly. So I put the magnet back on and shut it down. Thinking maybe the battery was getting low or something I put it to charge. After an hour or so took it off, the front derailleur was working fine. And then decided to drive down to my LBS to drop it off as the problem seemed beyond my ability. We had a quick look ( the main campy guy wasn't in) but then I just had a flashing white light... and the front nor rear would now work...

Anyone experienced anything like this before?

by Weenie


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androidavies
Posts: 74
Joined: Sun Sep 29, 2013 4:34 pm

by androidavies

You don't say which battery you have fitted up, but I've experienced similar sounding faults on a Trek TT bike I was working on. This had the external battery, fitted to a carrier under the bottom bracket. It had all the buzzing noises and flashing lights at the interface that you describe. It turned out that the battery casing was badly cracked, and that presumably water had got in and it was short circuiting! The owner travels a lot with the bike, so we reckoned that the casing was cracked in transit in his bike bag, then when he rode in the rain it filled up with water.

It did start working again, but the potential for random failure led him to get a new battery fitted up. All else in the system was fine.

So, my suggestion would be to check your battery and casing, and if you can, plug in a substitute battery to the junction box and front and rear mech wires and check them too. I know it can be a bit of a nightmare accessing the wires.....!

Let us know if it gets resolved somehow.

sub7kg
Posts: 90
Joined: Sat May 09, 2015 12:39 pm

by sub7kg

Contact this guy http://www.velotech-cycling.ltd.uk/contact.shtml (Graeme). He know's everything about EPS, he's really helpful.

You've not knock your RD into crash mode have you?

Butcher
Shop Owner
Posts: 1917
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 4:58 am

by Butcher

The early external battery units were faulty. I had one that kinda did the same thing. Once it was taken off the bike, it took about a week to get a new one from my LBS.

newforker
Posts: 128
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2013 3:24 am

by newforker

Although I like Campy, this would be the perfect situation for them to have an add on/interface where one could plug their system into their PC and diagnose issues similar to Di2.

Its 2015, creating software is relatively cheap. Blinking and flashing lights for instructions remind me of the first generation IPod shuffle.

Kind of lame for a system that cost so much money.

The $50 ASUS wireless network card I have plugged in to my PC came with its own software.

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Miller
Posts: 2762
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:54 pm
Location: Reading, UK

by Miller

I kind of agree about an EPS s/w diagnostic tool, on the other hand, as a new user of EPS, I admire how self-contained the system is.

The flashing blue light would indicate a front derailleur fault, I think. Not that there is much you could repair, these derailleurs either work or they don't. It could be worth checking the cable run from power unit to front much; I appreciate that that can be a pain with an internal cable run.

Flashing white indicates power unit fault.

BlackMadone
Posts: 234
Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 6:12 pm

by BlackMadone

One of the reason I stayed mechanical on my new build other two are cost and need which I do not in Miami. Also Campagnolo Mech is so beautiful to begin with... mechanical art.

newforker
Posts: 128
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2013 3:24 am

by newforker

Miller wrote:I kind of agree about an EPS s/w diagnostic tool, on the other hand, as a new user of EPS, I admire how self-contained the system is.

The flashing blue light would indicate a front derailleur fault, I think. Not that there is much you could repair, these derailleurs either work or they don't. It could be worth checking the cable run from power unit to front much; I appreciate that that can be a pain with an internal cable run.

Flashing white indicates power unit fault.


I get the self contained thing, but "hold both buttons for 7 seconds, then something might flash in another color"..sketchy

random101
Posts: 105
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2014 10:15 pm

by random101

Update, mechanic from LBS did a reset (just magnet to system) said the same thing - but got the front D to work.

Then there was nothing from the rear D completely dead not even an attempt of the motor to be working.

Previously it was but just wasn't doing anything just sounded like it was spinning up but not going anywhere. If it was locked or in crash mode (no reason for it to be) I'm sure be mechanic would of tried to fix that...

It's a V2 internal battery, he charging port is at the BB with the cap always in properly.

Ps the system is only a few months old... All under warranty so hopefully it is resolved quickly :( time off the bike is painful!

random101
Posts: 105
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2014 10:15 pm

by random101

It's also a real shame for campy hopefully they can come out with the goods as I was due to race today - and marshalled instead. Several people asked why I wasn't racing, as soon as I mentioned a problem with it people that were 99% interested in getting EPS almost completely lost interest :(

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Miller
Posts: 2762
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:54 pm
Location: Reading, UK

by Miller

Any product can have unit failures, just look at the 'DA rubish cassette design' thread; it doesn't invalidate the product.

Nor do I see how the press two buttons thing is 'sketchy'. It's a quick and effective way of tuning the shifting exactly to the cassette that's in place with no need of an external device.

I have just been on a ride on my bike with Athena EPS and the shifting is joyously good.

XCProMD
Posts: 1123
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:25 am
Location: Cantabria

by XCProMD

Really sorry that you have to go through this... It's a really strange case. Counting the two EPS bikes in my garage now, I've been through 7 Campagnolo electronic systems so far, one of them being a "stravaganza" mounted on a dual sus mtb. So far so good.

One of my mates had a similar problem to what you describe and the rear mech stopped working during a ride. The diagnostics mode pointed to the RD, and simply swapping with another solved the problem.

Having a closer look to the faulty RD we found what looked like a nylon thread that had meshed on the worm gear of the actuator, not allowing the motor to wind. After removing it and cleaning the whole thing (which was pretty clogged with debris, this was early spring and we had been doing some gravel in rainy weather) it worked again.

Maybe your mechanic can have a look there?

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maverick_1
Posts: 742
Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2007 4:20 pm
Location: Tokyo

by maverick_1

Had the same problem previously (RD not functioning), based on the LED diagnostics apparently there's a fault on the RD.
Sent the RD back to the shop I got it from. The guys then checked and told me that the RD is functioning perfectly fine with zero faults whatsoever :shock:
Got back the RD, installed it and did a hard reset on the entire system, it all works fine after that.

random101
Posts: 105
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2014 10:15 pm

by random101

Hmm it is a strange one indeed, mostly as it was functioning perfectly as I rode home, on the weds and on the fri it was working find albeit had to adjust or fine tune some of the cogs. Once it got to the top largest that's where it locked up and it wouldn't recover... It will be interesting to see what happened. Don't get me wrong I had the same set up on my previous bike (no issues, apart from a charger that randomly died) - huge fan of EPS. Some people are a bit iffy when it comes to Italian electronics. I think it's great but doesn't take much for people to lose confidence if that makes sense...

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maverick_1
Posts: 742
Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2007 4:20 pm
Location: Tokyo

by maverick_1

Check the limit screws that limits the travel on the upper cog, I suspect it's too tight. That could be one of the reason why the RD is malfunctioning. You should tighten the limit screws then loosen it by half a turn.

by Weenie


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