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Author Topic: Extreme Charging Makeover  (Read 2523 times)

Rugby4life

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Extreme Charging Makeover
« on: April 13, 2018, 09:21:10 AM »

So I was thinking how much I'm enjoying my 2017 SR but it's basically a $16k occasional use toy. I have to charge for 8.5 hrs to get 1.5 hrs of fun. Well, my SR just got an extreme makeover with a 9.9kw belly pan charging system from Diginow. I now have 7.5 times the charging capacity without sacrificing any luggage space. I no longer have an occasional use toy but a full blown road trip machine.
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Rugby4life

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Re: Extreme Charging Makeover
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2018, 09:28:34 AM »

Two benefits of this double J-plug install is that the inlets mount to the inside of the saddlebag racks so they are well protected yet easily accessible. Also, I have the flexibility to buddy charge another bike at the same time. So if you have a friend (or significant other) who only has the stock charger, you can still road trip together.
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Emtkopan

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Extreme Charging Makeover
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2018, 09:31:56 AM »

So what’s your charge time now? I was looking at configuration or the one below it. How long did the install take?
« Last Edit: April 13, 2018, 09:38:55 AM by Emtkopan »
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Rugby4life

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Re: Extreme Charging Makeover
« Reply #3 on: April 13, 2018, 09:49:55 AM »

One of the positives with purchasing from Diginow is the option of having the founder of the company fly across the country to do the install and then spend the next few days touring with me, teaching me the ins and outs of fast charging. The only gremlin we had to troubleshoot had nothing to do with the chargers. I had very old firmware for my BMS and MBB and the two decided to stop talking to each other. Brandon Stayed an extra day until the dealership opened and did the firmware update himself while on the phone with a Zero engineer. This also rid me of the occasional "zombie charger" bug where the charging light stayed on long after unplugging.
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Rugby4life

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Re: Extreme Charging Makeover
« Reply #4 on: April 13, 2018, 10:02:34 AM »

After the firmware upgrade, we had no further issues. I treated him to some true southern cuisine and made a couple of other charging stops while making new friends. We got our best performance at a public station (full 240v) in Hendersonville, NC and a Tesla station in Greenville SC. We toured over 300 miles and spent $0.00 for charging.
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Rugby4life

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Re: Extreme Charging Makeover
« Reply #5 on: April 13, 2018, 10:09:06 AM »

So what’s your charge time now? I was looking at configuration or the one below it. How long did the install take?
We did a lot of partial charges at different station brands. The closest I've come to a full charge is a 20%-90% on a 208v station in 45 minutes. The Tesla and Hendersonville stations would have shaved about 10 minutes off that time.
I can't believe I got spoiled so quickly, I now view 8.5kw charging (208v) as slow charging.
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Richard230

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Re: Extreme Charging Makeover
« Reply #6 on: April 13, 2018, 08:06:54 PM »

That is really great information and I am sure it will be very helpful to many other Zero owners.  But what really got my attention was your mention of the "zombie charger" light bug.  I have the same issue, but it happens all of the time.  Do you have any idea how it was solved?  I have contacted Zero about the bug but so far I have received no response and my dealer says that they have never heard of such a thing ever happening to the Zeros that they service. I was getting worried that my bug was unique and that there was no fix for the problem.
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Richard's motorcycle collection:  2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.

Rugby4life

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Re: Extreme Charging Makeover
« Reply #7 on: April 13, 2018, 10:41:01 PM »

My layman's understanding is that a certain capacitor gets juiced during charging and after the charger is unplugged,  the capacitor leak into the system until it burns off its excess. Older versions of the firmware see this as a signal that charging is still taking place. My understanding is that newer firmware weeds out the stray signal. Again,  this is a layman's understanding but after my upflash, I haven't had the issue again.
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Richard230

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Re: Extreme Charging Makeover
« Reply #8 on: April 14, 2018, 03:34:19 AM »

My layman's understanding is that a certain capacitor gets juiced during charging and after the charger is unplugged,  the capacitor leak into the system until it burns off its excess. Older versions of the firmware see this as a signal that charging is still taking place. My understanding is that newer firmware weeds out the stray signal. Again,  this is a layman's understanding but after my upflash, I haven't had the issue again.

I have the latest MMB and BMS firmware installed in my 2018 S and the light still will not go off.  It will stay on for at least 3 days, draining the battery pack the entire time. After 3 days the voltage will have dropped from 116 volts to 113 volts. The only way to turn the charging light off and disconnect the contactor switch is to turn the ignition switch on and then off.  Once that is done, the contactor switch clicks off and so does the charging light. So that is what I do after every recharge.  :(

Sorry for hijacking your thread subject.  :-[  I'll be quiet now. I just had to blow off a little steam.  ;)
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Richard's motorcycle collection:  2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.

Rugby4life

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Re: Extreme Charging Makeover
« Reply #9 on: April 14, 2018, 05:42:51 AM »

No problem,  we're all just seeking knowledge to run our bikes better.
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BrianTRice@gmail.com

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Re: Extreme Charging Makeover
« Reply #10 on: April 15, 2018, 12:55:33 AM »

My layman's understanding is that a certain capacitor gets juiced during charging and after the charger is unplugged,  the capacitor leak into the system until it burns off its excess. Older versions of the firmware see this as a signal that charging is still taking place. My understanding is that newer firmware weeds out the stray signal. Again,  this is a layman's understanding but after my upflash, I haven't had the issue again.

That's a good explanation; I'll try to work this into the unofficial manual (somehow; the manual is large enough that the main question is where to put information so people can find it!).
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BrianTRice@gmail.com

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Re: Extreme Charging Makeover
« Reply #11 on: April 15, 2018, 12:59:11 AM »

Two benefits of this double J-plug install is that the inlets mount to the inside of the saddlebag racks so they are well protected yet easily accessible. Also, I have the flexibility to buddy charge another bike at the same time. So if you have a friend (or significant other) who only has the stock charger, you can still road trip together.

That's a new install position and does look convenient.

However, it seems a little less protected from the weather than a tank plug mount (especially a tank with a large windscreen above it). Maybe a cover like a tool tube or the like might provide a little more protection without sacrificing ease of use.
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BrianTRice@gmail.com

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Re: Extreme Charging Makeover
« Reply #12 on: April 15, 2018, 01:07:22 AM »

So I was thinking how much I'm enjoying my 2017 SR but it's basically a $16k occasional use toy. I have to charge for 8.5 hrs to get 1.5 hrs of fun. Well, my SR just got an extreme makeover with a 9.9kw belly pan charging system from Diginow. I now have 7.5 times the charging capacity without sacrificing any luggage space. I no longer have an occasional use toy but a full blown road trip machine.

So what’s your charge time now? I was looking at configuration or the one below it. How long did the install take?
We did a lot of partial charges at different station brands. The closest I've come to a full charge is a 20%-90% on a 208v station in 45 minutes. The Tesla and Hendersonville stations would have shaved about 10 minutes off that time.
I can't believe I got spoiled so quickly, I now view 8.5kw charging (208v) as slow charging.

It's really hard to convey how much fast charging is a game-changer for electric motorcycling, so I really appreciate you writing this up and expressing its effect on your riding.

To contrast, 4-wheeled EV owners have such a higher power draw that they accept whatever the manufacturer has installed as given, and their trip possibilities are far less flexible.

Every electric motorcycle can travel reasonably with the ability to take in ~100A DC from 220V AC single-phase ports (a single Tesla destination charger or 2 J plugs or 1 NEMA 14-50 RV park plug with an aux plug). A fairing makes it more comfortable and less stressful to connect trip legs, so we're now just a few relatively incremental steps from these bikes being accessible travel machines.
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Shadow

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Re: Extreme Charging Makeover
« Reply #13 on: April 16, 2018, 01:33:11 AM »

Nice photos of the belly mount beta test.
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MrDude_1

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Re: Extreme Charging Makeover
« Reply #14 on: April 16, 2018, 06:38:12 PM »


Every electric motorcycle can travel reasonably with the ability to take in ~100A DC from 220V AC single-phase ports (a single Tesla destination charger or 2 J plugs or 1 NEMA 14-50 RV park plug with an aux plug). A fairing makes it more comfortable and less stressful to connect trip legs, so we're now just a few relatively incremental steps from these bikes being accessible travel machines.
how are you connecting the single Tesla plug into the 2 Jplugs? straight Y cable? how is the pilot signal wired?
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