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[MostlyBonkers]

I picked my bike up on 20th Jan and it didn't make it to the end of the month without a show stopper. Damn! I knew there would be problems but I was hoping for a few months grace at least. 11 days and 500 miles isn't great.

Plugging the bike in gets it to initiate but as soon as the contactor clicks on it shits itself, the bike shuts down and the contractor clicks off. What's also bad is that it creates a short circuit somehow which trips the circuit in the house.  Gladys (my wife's name for the bike) wasn't popular last night when half the house shut down along with the heating and hot water...

Fortunately I traced the problem back to the bike and normal service was resumed. 

I've done a video to demonstrate the problem.  I hope some of you don't mind watching it and if you've got any suggestions, or have seen this problem before, please let me know.



In the meantime, I'll have a go at pulling the logs via the app. I've let Streetbike know but they can't pick the bike up until Friday.

[ZEM Tahiti]

Did you had a very wet / muddy ride? Sounds like the BMS went into protection. Check the  plug also with another tool.

[MostlyBonkers]

I found this thread:

Circuit breaker popping with onboard chargers
http://www.electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=5182

I just hope I get one of the new 'redesigned' chargers when it gets replaced. What a bag of shite!  They should have recalled these.

[MostlyBonkers]

I've emailed Streetbike. Their van isn't available until Friday, so it's the train for me for the next three days. Back to an ICE bike for a while no doubt. I just hope I get something half decent as a courtesy. I also hope it's a quick turnaround. I didn't even get a proper honeymoon! [emoji22]

[Testpilot1]

Sorry to hear that Mostlybonkers,I'm disappointed,I'm sure its even more disappointing for you.
I'm sure I've read on this forum,somebody elses thread about the onboard charger on this batch of DSP's ,I assumed Streetbike were in the know on this,and would be making sure the chargers were upto the job !
If and when I get mine,I'll need to know I'm not going to have the same problem, like you ,Streetbike are not just down the road for me, I can't be back and forth,or the bike won't end up paying for itself.
Alarm Bells ringing :-(

[nigezero]

I'll put money on it being the bloody charger; this is 100% symptomatic of my own and numerous others experience.

When the on board charger works it's great. When it fails is seems to present a dead short when plugged in, which trips breakers.

The simplest test/confirmation is to use an accessory charger. If it will charge fine and not pop circuits its a strong indication that its the charger. FWIW, I tell every owner and potential owner to invest in an accessory charger as a) a backup for this situation so you can stay mobile b) faster charging in home when needed, c) faster charging on the road when touring by taking it with you.

[Lipo423]

I picked my bike up on 20th Jan and it didn't make it to the end of the month without a show stopper. Damn! I knew there would be problems but I was hoping for a few months grace at least. 11 days and 500 miles isn't great.

Plugging the bike in gets it to initiate but as soon as the contactor clicks on it shits itself, the bike shuts down and the contractor clicks off. What's also bad is that it creates a short circuit somehow which trips the circuit in the house.  Gladys (my wife's name for the bike) wasn't popular last night when half the house shut down along with the heating and hot water...

Fortunately I traced the problem back to the bike and normal service was resumed. 

I've done a video to demonstrate the problem.  I hope some of you don't mind watching it and if you've got any suggestions, or have seen this problem before, please let me know.



In the meantime, I'll have a go at pulling the logs via the app. I've let Streetbike know but they can't pick the bike up until Friday.

Defective charger. It also happened to me after a few hundred miles. 100% same symptoms. The defective ones blow out after just little use.
Get it replaced, Zero has replacement units in Holland.

Zero got a few defective chargers, which unfortunately they had no way to identify (serial number, serial break or similar), as they broke randomly...so they decided "let the user find out"
Mine was replaced last year for (as it was stated in thew box) an "improved version"
I wish we would go back to DeltaQ quality    but they do not make chargers with suitable size/power for our MY2013+ bikes...

[MostlyBonkers]

Thanks gents.

Fortunately Streetbike are quite happy to send Andy out in their van to anywhere in the country. They also like to make sure that bikers don't go without a ride, so a courtesy bike shouldn't be a problem. I'm just a bit gutted.

It's good to know Zero have stock in Holland. Fingers crossed they haven't run out.

I would love to own an Elcon or Diginow fast charger but I believe all auxiliary chargers rely on the on-board charger to be plugged in and working.

I hope that someone decides it's worthwhile to replace the units in the other DSP bikes at the same time. It's a safe bet that they will have chargers from the same batch. At least it sounds like they've resolved the problem and I can expect the replacement to work reliably.

We heard that Zero are working on a 3kW on-board charger for the European market. If you're listening Zero, I'm happy to test one of these for you! [emoji4]

I wonder why they didn't fit one in the first place? Our sockets can supply up to 3.12 kW and many kettles are now 3kW. It would make a big difference. Cost, I imagine.

[buutvrij for life]

Had exactly the same problem. At lot of 2015 bikes also suffer from it.
You need a new onboard charger. Mine was replaced under warranty in 35 hours.
In Holland, they have stock..

[Lipo423]

Thanks gents.

Fortunately Streetbike are quite happy to send Andy out in their van to anywhere in the country. They also like to make sure that bikers don't go without a ride, so a courtesy bike shouldn't be a problem. I'm just a bit gutted.

Lucky you! 

It's good to know Zero have stock in Holland. Fingers crossed they haven't run out.

[/quote]
99% they do...they know the problem (it also happened to me with a 2015 DS demo bike, and as stated earlier in my new SR 2014)

I would love to own an Elcon or Diginow fast charger but I believe all auxiliary chargers rely on the on-board charger to be plugged in and working.

[/quote]
Yep. No onboard, no charging...they should change that, as you rely in one charger all the time...

I hope that someone decides it's worthwhile to replace the units in the other DSP bikes at the same time. It's a safe bet that they will have chargers from the same batch. At least it sounds like they've resolved the problem and I can expect the replacement to work reliably.

[/quote]
Agreed, but do not expect that to happen...

We heard that Zero are working on a 3kW on-board charger for the European market. If you're listening Zero, I'm happy to test one of these for you! [emoji4]

[/quote]
Me too 

I wonder why they didn't fit one in the first place? Our sockets can supply up to 3.12 kW and many kettles are now 3kW. It would make a big difference. Cost, I imagine.
[/quote]

Both, cost and trying to get to 100% of the public...sometimes old domestic outlets cannot cop up with such current

[MostlyBonkers]

Thanks buutvrij and Lipo. Here's a quick update:

Andy is picking my DSP up tomorrow morning and giving me a Suzuki 650 Gladisis as a courtesy bike. I'm looking forward to seeing what that's like.

Streetbike are keen to stamp on any reliability issues. Their attitude is that  Zeros are commuter bikes for the most part, so reliability is a top priority. Also, as electric bikes are so new and there are plenty of sceptics, it's critical that any issues are resolved quickly.

I have suggested that it would be good to replace the chargers in the other DSP bikes to mitigate any issues for other customers and I think Streetbike share that view. It'll be down to Zero as to how it gets handled; whether they feel it's worth coughing up now or whether they want to see if the other bikes experience the same problem when they hit the road.

I wonder what the overall failure rate of those chargers is? I must have seen maybe four or five people post and say they've had this problem. That's just from those that are active on this forum.

Watch this space if you're interested. Hopefully it'll be good news for everyone. Apart from me that is, who had to get the sodding train into work again today! I mustn't moan... [emoji6]

[buutvrij for life]

It happened to me 2 months ago, after some weeks of ownership.
My dealer, Motoport Amsterdam, told me that Zero will not replace the 'bad' chargers up front.

Only after failure...

[MostlyBonkers]

Thanks buutvrij, good to know. It'll be interesting to see if Zero change their attitude in this scenario. Of the five DSP bikes, I think one other has been sold. If that one fails soon also, it will be difficult for Zero to justify not replacing the others.  Zero should have an overall failure rate for the chargers.  I'm sure that will inform their decision.  I also imagine that if the chargers are going to fail, they are more likely to do so within the first 50 charge cycles or so.  That seems to be the way with electronics.  If it doesn't fail within the first few weeks of use, then there's a much better chance they'll last the life of the bike, I guess.

[stunthamster]

Thought I'd chip in with my experience; looks like my 2015 has suffered the dreaded charger failure, not just once, but twice. The replacement charger didn't even manage a single cycle before blowing again.

Streetbike have been their usual fantastic selves, and I'm starting to feel sorry for Andy the van driver having to take a scenic tour of suffolk this often. You'd hope that Zero would at least ensure the replacement parts are defect free, but it seems that might not be the case.

Does the 2016 suffer from this?

[MostlyBonkers]

Oh dear... Thanks for letting us know and I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with a '15 bike. It isn't great that this issue wasn't stamped on during the 2014 model year either. Third time lucky for you, I hope!