Di2 Problem, no lights, nothing.

Butch Coolidge
Butch Coolidge Posts: 8
edited September 2015 in Workshop
Hi all,

My Di2 system has failed me. The front junction box shows no lights at all and the system appears to be dead.

I have connected the charger and to the best of my knowledge the battery is full, if I connect I get the charging light, then after a few minutes it goes out.

I have connected to the e-tube project software and it detects every component in my system.

I'm at a loss.

I'm making a wild assumption that because the front junction box does not appear to respond by light or by the button, it could be the problem

Comments

  • izza
    izza Posts: 1,561
    Physically check all connections - don't rely upon the e-tube software.

    You say you have done a connection check via software. Have you updated software and checked for errors using e-tube software?
  • Tried disconnecting and re-connecting cables from both mechs and the front junction box, not yet accessed the other junction box, or the internal battery.

    I believe you need the PCE1 for the detailed checks, but I've done all you can using the charger/PC connector and the e-tube software. When I connected the system to the e-tube software it located all the parts and also updated the firmware. After the firmware updates it didn't make any difference.
  • izza
    izza Posts: 1,561
    You will need PCE 1 but often (inc. myself) people will get strange symptoms due to a poor connection to internal junction or battery even when connection check recognizes all parts.
  • bianchibob
    bianchibob Posts: 306
    Sorry to hijack thread but this is typical of all this hi tech stuff....will stick with my Ultegra cable operated system.
    This sort of problem is so frustrating, good luck in sorting it out.
  • izza
    izza Posts: 1,561
    Not typical or common at all. Typically mechanical cables get grime inbetween inner and outer and they need replacing regularly. I'll stick to my faultless electric wires that haven't needed any attention for years.

    Tired rant over - back on topic.

    Butch - have a look at internal battery for any grease used on seatpost and then open up bottom of frame to find internal junction box. Normally a simple job.
  • janwal
    janwal Posts: 489
    You do need to check the bottom junction box and check cables in it.Take off and remove cranks for access and feed it out.I had similar problem on mine when brand new.LBS replaced it and not had any probs at all since.
  • xscreamsuk
    xscreamsuk Posts: 318
    Had similar, it was a faulty battery from new, replaced and new firmware in the replacement and all been perfect ever since. Think I've charged it twice since March :-)
  • bernithebiker
    bernithebiker Posts: 4,148
    I had this problem too.

    Had to borrow the 'other' type of charger to interrogate each component, and only that brought it back on line.

    Scary, when it just all goes dead.
  • It's now working and I'm not really sure why.

    I decided to order a front junction box, because this was my first suspicion. After ordering I thought it might be wise to to the bike to the LBS to hook up to the PCE-1. The LBS deduced that this was a faulty battery, based upon the fact that the battery did not show in the e-tube software (I have to add that is did on mine, but het ho).

    I ordered a new battery and before it arrived I thought I'd give the new junction box a test. When I tried the new junction box everything came back to life! So, I swapped back onto the old junction box and it still worked.

    So it would appear it was a bad connection all along. I think the important thing to note is that in the e-tube software every component had been recognised, so everything had to be connected.
  • It's now working and I'm not really sure why.

    I decided to order a front junction box, because this was my first suspicion. After ordering I thought it might be wise to to the bike to the LBS to hook up to the PCE-1. The LBS deduced that this was a faulty battery, based upon the fact that the battery did not show in the e-tube software (I have to add that is did on mine, but het ho).

    I ordered a new battery and before it arrived I thought I'd give the new junction box a test. When I tried the new junction box everything came back to life! So, I swapped back onto the old junction box and it still worked.

    So it would appear it was a bad connection all along. I think the important thing to note is that in the e-tube software every component had been recognised, so everything had to be connected.

    Sounds similar to what I had. But I still think it was a bug somewhere, as I never actually fixed or changed anything.

    On a ride where the front mech died on me (battery was 80%), I left the bike overnight, next day it was fine.

    Go figure...
  • It's now working and I'm not really sure why.

    I decided to order a front junction box, because this was my first suspicion. After ordering I thought it might be wise to to the bike to the LBS to hook up to the PCE-1. The LBS deduced that this was a faulty battery, based upon the fact that the battery did not show in the e-tube software (I have to add that is did on mine, but het ho).

    I ordered a new battery and before it arrived I thought I'd give the new junction box a test. When I tried the new junction box everything came back to life! So, I swapped back onto the old junction box and it still worked.

    So it would appear it was a bad connection all along. I think the important thing to note is that in the e-tube software every component had been recognised, so everything had to be connected.

    I've seen a system fail because a cable got kinked on installation, I think it either shorted out or just broke internally and that caused the issue. Nothing worked until we replaced that cable, but as soon as we did that it all sprung back to life. Pretty sure it was the battery to junction box cable, although it was a while back.