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[ultrarnr]

Does anyone know anything about contactor errors? I had the Power Tank installed in my SR yesterday and went for a ride after I got it home. First thing I noticed was no regen either when braking or when closing the throttle in any of the modes. After about 68 miles and 24% charge left I was riding at 45 MPH and discovered I could not increase speed. It was like the bike was going into "Limp Home" mode. Speed  rapidly decreased to 35 MPH. I pulled into a parking lot to assess. Charge level rapidly dropped to 20%. The System Warning Indicator is showing a Contactor Error. I will take it back to the dealer this afternoon but wondering if anyone knows anything about this sort of problem. Thanks.

[Richard230]

I had nothing but troubles with "contactor errors" on my 2010 Electric Motorsport GPR-S.  I and a couple of electrical engineering friends took the entire bike apart looking for the problem and put it back together, without any improvement.  The bike would run for a mile of two and then stop due to a "contactor error".  After rebooting and let it sit around for exactly 3 minutes, you could ride off again.  I think it was caused by a short somewhere, but we could never find it and the old-design Sevcon controller seemed to be programmed for this 3-minute stall.

With that off of my chest, I haven't had any running problems with my S's power tank - once things got sorted out with the "tank"'s BMS and a bent electric connector pin.  Assuming that your SR was running fine before the power tank was installed, then the logical conclusion is that the technician made a mistake installing the tank or when shoving the electrical connectors together, thereby bending a pin and causing the BMS to get all nervous about the signals it is receiving.

This is my big gripe about Zero's Power Tank option.  In my opinion the power tank should be installed at the factory and not by some random and perhaps not factory trained, IC motorcycle shop technician.  I have been told that installing the additional module is relatively easy, but you still need to read all of the instructions and have certain electric assembly skills when performing this work.  Not everyone is that well educated and trained anymore.   

[GNU]

Ultranr,
Are we talking about a 2014?
2013 and 2014 models have different contactor issues.

[Richard230]

Ultranr,
Are we talking about a 2014?
2013 and 2014 models have different contactor issues.

If Ultranr's bike is an "SR" and has a "power tank", then it must be a brand-new 2014 Zero.

[ultrarnr]

This all turned out to be a battery cell imbalance issue with installing the Power Tank. My SR had been fully charged prior to taking it my dealer yesterday morning. When I loaded my SR I noticed the battery charge level was still 100%. Just surprised to see the Power Tank had been fully charged. When I got home I plugged in the internal charger anyway for about an hour before taking off on a ride. Despite being fully charged I guess there were cell imbalance issues that played out when the charge level dropped down to 24%. After I got my bike back home last night I plugged it in still on my trailer and it was fully charged when I took it to my dealer this afternoon. When I got the bike off the trailer at the dealer I turned it on and discovered that it would run just fine. I had emailed the bike logs to my dealer and Zero prior to leaving home. Once at the dealer they connected my SR to their laptop so Zero could connect directly into my SR and they were able to download more detailed logs than what you can email to them. Zero is still going over those logs but they don't expect any more problems.

[ultrarnr]

I had another Contactor Error yesterday. I took the bike out, after about 39 miles and having a 48% charge level stopped in a grocery store to get a few things and when I went to leave the bike would not run. Getting stranded everytime you go out is no fun. The bike was flawless prior to the installation of the Power Tank.

[ultrarnr]

After charging overnight the contactor error went away. Same as on Friday morning. With a friend close by on their cell phone I decided to go for another ride today. This time I stopped at the end of my driveway and turned the bike off. When I turned it back on it showed the contactor error.

[protomech]

Between yours and Richard230's issues with the Power Tank, I think Zero might have been better off installing these at the factory.

[Richard230]

Between yours and Richard230's issues with the Power Tank, I think Zero might have been better off installing these at the factory.

I agree.  But I am happy to report that my bike and its "power tank" is now working exactly as Zero claims.  I rode it 90 miles today and ran the battery pack down to 25%.  My ride was about half 55 mph and the other half at 35 mph.  It included a 10-mile 2000 foot climb up a twisty two lane road at about at 35 mph, which used 10% of the available power.  Since my power tank got sorted out by the Zero tech, I haven't had a single problem (other than a faint rainbow across the instrument display).  So (knock on wood) I am very happy with the power tank option as it has greatly expanded my riding envelop to areas that I could previously only get to on my IC motorcycles.

[GNU]

Ultranr,
I've got some good news for you.
I've been in contact with Zero about the chirping/squealing sound at strong acceleration and the contactor issue.
The found the cause of the contactor issue on mine and will address it with a firmware update shortly. The issue is a result of an initiation process taking longer than expected and the fix will likely just be to extend a time out. It sounds like you may have the same issue.

The noise during full acceleration at low speed is still not fixed but the dealership had the bike for over 2 weeks and drilled holes in it last time they had it so I prefer to have the noise rather than let them have another go at it.
If you want to hear what it sounds like then roll your bike backwards down a slope and then hit the throttle hard. That's what mine sounds like

[ultrarnr]

GNU,

Is your contactor error problem related to Power Tank installation? Also now with the Power Tank installed my charger is shutting off at 98%.

[GNU]

Ultranr,
No, I've got no power tank.

It's an intermittent issue that comes and goes for me.

//Arvid

[ultrarnr]

I got a call from my dealer yesterday and they have determined the Power Tank unit that I had was bad and they are going to replace it. Will take another week to get a new Power Tank in. 

[Burton]

That makes two on this forum so far with bad power tanks

[Richard230]

That makes two on this forum so far with bad power tanks

Since the power tank seems to be the same battery module as used by the FX, I wonder if this problem is going to be an issue for that model?  It would appear that Zero may have received a bad set of battery bms circuits from their supplier.