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Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ => Topic started by: nigezero on October 30, 2017, 04:01:54 PM

Title: Totally weird regen response
Post by: nigezero on October 30, 2017, 04:01:54 PM
So, my 2014DS has started progressively acting weirder over the last week or so.

I suspect it could be being caused by more than one thing after some testing.

Symptom one
About a week ago I noticed that it was feeling a bit sluggish off the line. I played around a bit but couldn’t help feeling it was a bit off and even tried changing modes which I rarely do (beyond my custom).

Generally it was ok thought so I ignored it.

Symptom two.
Then a few days later I noticed occasional surging on light throttle. During my regular commute it notably surged just momentarily. After a few times I was noticing it more and could see the blip on my dash. It wasn’t all the time or regular just occasionally. A little scary.

Now, I put a new Domino throttle on about 2 months ago so I wondered if that was it. Emailed them, looked for obvious signs, went over my loom (including a very tidy adapter loom I made) and tested resistance.

My digital meter revealed an inconclusive test - generally ok, but did seem a bit touchy and erratic but that could be my meter.

Symptom three.
After a good once over I “just rode it” today and almost straight away I noticed the same symptom - but on regen! Like when the battery is full, but still happens at 68% SOC. On throttle now seems ok!?

Tried changing modes, adjusted custom, tried all sorts of things, but still surging on regen.

Symptom four
So then I tried turning all regen off in custom mode. Then all on 100%. In both cases, it made no difference!!!!! I can’t change settings in custom? !

I did get regen to wrk a bit better in eco, but still surging.

Symptom five
I think I can also detect that when I’m coasting or slowing and my hand  is off throttle, bumps make it worse.

So now I’m back to suspecting that the throttle is “rattling” in its case, throwing weird feedback to the regen. I know a loose brake lever can easily trigger a similar response right?

Help me
Title: Re: Totally weird regen response
Post by: skoleskibe on October 30, 2017, 05:24:32 PM
have you checked your brake light contacts if they're dodgy, they might flicker btw on and off thus giving you erratic regen.
Title: Re: Totally weird regen response
Post by: DPsSRnSD on October 30, 2017, 05:53:04 PM
have you checked your brake light contacts if they're dodgy, they might flicker btw on and off thus giving you erratic regen.
Also test if the brake lever is too loose by pulling back slightly,  stimulating wind resistance with the force you apply, and listen for a premature click from the brake switch. If this is a problem, I can provide pictures showing where to make the adjustment as well as a link to the unofficial zero manual.
Title: Re: Totally weird regen response
Post by: togo on October 31, 2017, 01:16:12 AM
DPsSRnSD, it would be cool if you could put the pictures in the wiki ay Zeromanual.com
Title: Re: Totally weird regen response
Post by: Shadow on October 31, 2017, 09:50:12 PM
My bet is on motor encoder.
Title: Re: Totally weird regen response
Post by: nigezero on November 12, 2017, 07:05:47 AM
My bet is on motor encoder.
Interesting! I wondered that too, but when I fiddled with the throttle the problem went away, albeit temporarily.
Title: Re: Totally weird regen response
Post by: Burton on November 12, 2017, 08:14:23 AM
My bet is on motor encoder.

If you find it does it in the morning then back the bike up 100' while it is on and see if it "fixes" it ... if it does it is likely your encoder. I had water get in mine because of how the motor was ventilated and it caused my bike to jitter on occasion. Not fun or safe ... the fix was to seal the encoder off.

If you do not have water egress and the backing up temporarily fixes it then you need to take it to a dealer and have them realign the encoder to the motor by recommissioning the motor at the controller.

If it doesn't fix it then it could be your new throttle.
Title: Re: Totally weird regen response
Post by: Shadow on November 12, 2017, 10:45:29 AM
My bet is on motor encoder.
Interesting! I wondered that too, but when I fiddled with the throttle the problem went away, albeit temporarily.
As a follow-on, the hypothesis on my bike is that the target magnet came loose and spun in place or would stick again in a different position.

I can't get the shop that has the bike to actually perform the repair they're busy with Polaris stuff and won't touch my bike until I-Don't-Know-When....  so I've got a loaner '17 FX for the moment.  What I heard is confirmation that the target magnet on my bike had a hairline fracture -AND- during just the calibration procedure that was enough vibration that it would spin and lead to bad settings. Something was mentioned about if the calibration is more than a few degrees out (six? a few? can't recall at the moment) then the bike goes into a lower performance mode and the regenerative braking is greatly diminished. The target magnet is affixed with Loctite bearing mount compound apparently.
Title: Re: Totally weird regen response
Post by: nigezero on November 15, 2017, 04:16:39 PM
Ok, you’ve got me nervous about my encoder now! To eleminate any firmware issues I got everything Updated which was successful. I also tightened my throttle assembly a little which has now settled down a bit still some problems but rarer I’ve ordered a new throttle just in case