Elite Direto Issues: No Resistance and Excessive Noise.

[ernesto.rivillos]

I've always used the trainer without any problems, both with the PC (Zwift) and with the Garmin (Edge 520 and now Edge 530). However, all of a sudden, the trainer has stopped working:

- It offers no resistance when pedaling.
- It makes too much noise (it was never silent, but the current noise is excessive).

I calibrated the trainer through myE-Training without any issues during the process. I also did a test workout using myE-Training, and during that session, I tried adjusting the trainer's power. Same result: no matter how much I change the parameter in the app, I can't feel any change in resistance.

I checked for firmware updates, but there aren’t any.

The noise makes me think there might be a mechanical issue, which surprises me because the trainer hasn’t moved from its spot since I bought it, and I’ve never noticed anything strange before.

Any thoughts? Any ideas?

Thanks

[ernesto.rivillos]

In case it might help someone, I’ve solved the problem:

I completely disassembled the trainer, removed the belt, and explored how the mechanism works:

There is a stepper motor controlled by the electronics, and its shaft is connected to a worm screw that moves a carriage. This carriage incorporates magnets that act more or less on the flywheel or inertia wheel.

My issue was that the carriage's movement was incorrect. The signal sent by the electronics was correct, but the system couldn’t move the carriage to the desired position. The stepper motor tried to move but couldn’t rotate the worm screw, and as a result, the carriage didn’t move. It seems that, for some reason, the motor or the worm screw got stuck along its path. When this happened, that terrible noise was produced (I think the noise of the motor skipping steps).

I forced the motor shaft and the worm screw to rotate in both directions.
I cleaned the entire assembly, degreased it, and then re-lubricated it.

The stepper motor no longer skips steps, the carriage with the magnets moves as it should, and finally, I’m experiencing resistance changes while pedaling.

I hope this can help someone in a similar situation.
Best regards!

[paul.canham124]

Yep same problem, I had excessive break on could hardly turn pedals, squirted some gt 30 in to where the screw going in to motor, went on elites app snd moved the resistance threw 1 to 16..others day it was stuck on 7 and would not back off, clattering. Today, I tried on zwift peddling really fast no resistance, the motor was really humming. What a total pain the elite directo his, I even got a new circuit board. I don't think it's that, it's either no resistance or full on! I greased the screw has suggested by elite,