SRAM Blip Box pairing woes

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liam7020
Posts: 1263
Joined: Tue Jul 27, 2010 10:04 am

by liam7020

In 2016 I bought a SRAM Etap road mini group but only used it for about 150 miles before a serious back injury put me off the bike for nearly a year. I removed the Etap and stored it in the original boxes but, thinking I would eventually either use it again or sell it, I took it out every 4-6 weeks to check that it was still functioning perfectly, which it always was.

So now with the back injury fairly well healed I decided to build a TT bike for next season, selling the Etap levers and buying a Blip Box. The Blip Box arrived yesterday and of course the first thing I did was to pair it with the derailleurs which worked perfectly. However, I went back to have another play with them a few minutes later and when I pressed the buttons on the box there was no response from the derailleurs. The green light was showing on the box ok but no reaction at all from either gear. So I carried out the pairing procedure again and, as before, everything worked fine. After a few minutes of inactivity I pressed the buttons on the box and once again the derailleurs did not respond. I tried re-pairing several more times but on each occasion the box and the derailleurs pair up fine but after a minute or so they stop responding. The green light shows on the box but not on the gears. I have noticed that if I push the function button on either derailleur the whole system comes back to life and then works fine until its left inactive.

Any thoughts about what’s going on here then? I obviously have limited experience with Etap, is there something I’m missing? Ta.
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TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12455
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

Heh. eTap goes to sleep if left motionless. It uses accelerometers to detect movement. If you’re just playing with the derailleurs in your hand or on a table, just move them around and see if they respond to shift commands then.
Last edited by TobinHatesYou on Tue Nov 27, 2018 11:07 am, edited 1 time in total.

by Weenie


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liam7020
Posts: 1263
Joined: Tue Jul 27, 2010 10:04 am

by liam7020

I haven't got the derailleurs on the bike yet. So if I simulate movement in the derailleurs, eg lift them up and move them around a bit, and then try activating them via the blip box it should work? I'll give it a pop. Ta.
Tarmac SL6 & Campag Record EPS https://weightweenies.starbike.com/foru ... 0&t=153968

"Sometimes you don't need a plan. You just need big balls." Tom Boonen

TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12455
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

Yeah, I was just editing that into my reply. Should work. I usually just lift the rear wheel out of my rack about half a foot and that usually does it.

Jugi
Posts: 678
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2018 8:10 am

by Jugi

There shouldn't be anything more to it. I have one complete eTap road group, one complete eTap aero group and a pair of spare levers which I have used in different configurations. I have even tried pairing a BlipBox and a pair of shift levers at the same time. The rear derailleur acts as the host and keeps track of all slave units in the system. The pairing logic is quite simple, and when pairing begins the RD always starts with a blank slate.

Does it make any difference if you move the bike physically or keep it still when the groupset has gone to sleep? My understanding is that the RD should wake up from movement (chain's movement should suffice) or from slave unit's transmission. It sounds like the RD is keeping the paired units in memory, but it's not waking up correctly.

Edit: Tobin speculated faster than me.

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liam7020
Posts: 1263
Joined: Tue Jul 27, 2010 10:04 am

by liam7020

Sorted. Definitely a movement issue – as soon as I lifted the derailleurs off the work bench we were firing on all cylinders! You learn something new everyday. Many thanks gents, appreciate the help.
Tarmac SL6 & Campag Record EPS https://weightweenies.starbike.com/foru ... 0&t=153968

"Sometimes you don't need a plan. You just need big balls." Tom Boonen

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