Orbea Gain IWOC Blue Tooth issue

[youngoldbloke]

The Blue tooth connection takes for ever - if at all, and recently has started disconnecting during a ride. The app is no longer telling me my distance covered and power levels. However when I get home the full activity information has downloaded itself to my laptop - including distance. I can't work out whether it's the phone or the IWOC in the bike that's at fault. I've reinstalled the app, on a Huawei Android phone. Any thoughts?

 

[NickWi]

Things like this are always tricky to trace, however the first thing I would do would be to see if you can pair the IWOC with another phone. It may not resolve the problem if the bike is at fault, but at least you'll have found out at which end the problem's at.

BTY I've never had any connection issues between my D20 and my Galaxy S5, (apart from the fact having the two paired and tracking an 'activity' drains the battery on the phone faster than Donald Tusk says no to anything Theresa May suggest!).

 

[youngoldbloke]

Unfortunately no other smart phone easily available, but after wading through many pages of pages of IWOC user manual, I realise that the on-phone ebikemotion app is also usable on a conventional bike to record activity and give on-ride information - therefore it should be possible to see whether the app on the phone is the problem by trying it with a non-ebike - shouldn't it? BTW it connected OK today, but still gave no distance covered or gradient information, however ALL that information had been downloaded to my dashboard when I checked later.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Tested the app on a non-ebike. Same issues - no distance shown, gradient shown at a constant 25% (definitely not!). When home saved the 'activity' and all the information was visible in the 'activities' section, on the phone, and subsequently on my dashboard on the laptop, (but no weather information) so the information is being registered somewhere but not appearing on my phone screen. (edit - during the ride) Next step - find another smartphone?

 

[NickWi]

Just a thought, when you deleted and reinstalled the phone app, did you also delete the bluetooth pairing info and re-pair? I haven't had this issue with the Gain app, but I have had it with another device I had trouble with the once.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Just a thought, when you deleted and reinstalled the phone app, did you also delete the bluetooth pairing info and re-pair? I haven't had this issue with the Gain app, but I have had it with another device I had trouble with the once.

I'll check that. It connected (relatively) quickly today, but I think I must try another phone too, as once connected the information is being recorded (and downloads later OK), but not all shown on the phone screen during the ride - no distance covered or gradient information. Could this be some gps issue? - and it's the same when on a non-ebike, (no blue tooth involved) as I said above. I think the app has been updated a couple of times recently as well. It was working OK a couple of weeks ago (once connected!}

 

[NickWi]

I'll check that. It connected (relatively) quickly today, but I think I must try another phone too, as once connected the information is being recorded (and downloads later OK), but not all shown on the phone screen during the ride - no distance covered or gradient information. Could this be some gps issue? - and it's the same when on a non-ebike, (no blue tooth involved) as I said above. I think the app has been updated a couple of times recently as well. It was working OK a couple of weeks ago (once connected!}

Have you checked the 'permissions' within the settings of the app on your phone? If location isn't switched on GPS won't work. On my Android Galaxy the only permissions asked are Location and Storage.

 

[fossyant]

Funny isn't it - third world issues we have.... I'll stick with my olde worlde Garmin 705... hee hee...

PS did your cranks fall off ?

 

[youngoldbloke]

A new phone seems to have fixed it - a Moto E5 paired immediately. Yet to fully test the new set up but looking good. Moto E5 has huge battery too. Had been using a powerbank with the Huawei P8 Lite, but may not need it now. After much searching the net discovered Huawei apparently known for GPS/bluetooth issues - suggested by some joker that they should be renamed 'Whereawei' .

 

[youngoldbloke]

Had further problems with the app. Error 22 message on the phone (Moto E5) after not connecting to the bike. Orbea not very helpful - latest email told me I can still enjoy the bike without the app (!!!!) but no explanation as to what error 22 might be. Recently all seemed to have resolved, but the other day an 'error 133' message on the phone before it finally connected. The ride was then successfully recorded and downloaded, but did not show speed while on the ride. Even when the app is 'working' gradient is not shown, and the download to the dashboard consistently under reports distance covered by 10% (compared with the figure on the app screen, which seems fairly accurate). The bike itself is great, but the app leaves a lot to be desired. Looking at other forums I've discovered I'm not alone in having problems. Anyone know what errors 22 and 133 might be?

 

[NickWi]

TBH, I've given up on the App. My phone somehow lost the free maps I'd download, using the app whilst connected & riding drained the battery on my phone faster than a sieve with extra large mesh and I didn't really like mounting the phone on the bars. All I use it now for is to check what power is left in the battery post ride and occasionally have an experiment with the power assist levels.

Ref error codes, have you asked Ebikemotion ( https://www.ebikemotion.com/web/contact/)? They're the software developers and when I contacted them with a query about not being able to swap from KPH to MPH earlier last year they both responded very quickly and released an update to the App software a few days later.

 

[youngoldbloke]

TBH, I've given up on the App. My phone somehow lost the free maps I'd download, using the app whilst connected & riding drained the battery on my phone faster than a sieve with extra large mesh and I didn't really like mounting the phone on the bars. All I use it now for is to check what power is left in the battery post ride and occasionally have an experiment with the power assist levels.

Ref error codes, have you asked Ebikemotion ( https://www.ebikemotion.com/web/contact/)? They're the software developers and when I contacted them with a query about not being able to swap from KPH to MPH earlier last year they both responded very quickly and released an update to the App software a few days later.

My MOTO E5 has a big battery and copes well, but I had to use a powerbank with an older Huawei. The app will not connect to the bike at all currently and I'm getting the 'error 22' message again. It will record ride activity, but none of the bike information. I do find it useful (if and when it works) for speed, battery and power levels during the ride, but the information that is uploaded is pretty suspect- and the cadence and calories used figures on the dashboard are pure fiction. Thanks for the link - I've sent them a list of the problems I'm experiencing!

 

[youngoldbloke]

Emailed ebm last Saturday re error codes 133 and 22 on phone but no quick response for me.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Still no reply. Emailed them again after 1 week. Also emailed another address earlier this week - no reply either. I'm not impressed by their customer service. Why can't they tell me what the error codes mean? I don't know enough about these things to know whether the fault is with the bike, the phone or the app. Here is the message I get when I try to connect the bike with the phone:

I sometimes get an error 133 message too.

 

[NickWi]

Sorry I can't comment on whether this is a Phone or App error, maybe someome with better knowledge of phone systems could answer that, but I did find this ( https://www.ebikemotion.com/web/error-codes-reference/ ) on the internet about Ebikemotion errors.

I've no idea what "22 PHASEI CONNECTION ERROR Check the motor wire connection. Restart the eBike System. If the problem persists, contact your eBike dealer." actually means or even if it relates to Gains, but it does sound like a loose connection or break in the wiring to me. Unfortunately error codes also don't get anywhere high enough as 133. In addition I also found this ( https://www.orbea.com/downloads/Dealer_APP_Manual_Gain_EN.pdf ) which refers to a dealer app that has error code diagnostics within it.

Lastly, I found this ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=es.usal.bisite.dealer_ebikemotion&hl=en_GB ) which appears to be the Dealer App. Obviously I can't comment on its authenticity and I haven't downloaded or tried but, you know how these things are, twenty four hours after the manufacturer releases something supposedly confidential, some geek uploads it for the world to use.

If that error 22 code is a wiring issue the you ought to be heading to the dealer first as the bike should still be under warranty.