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[talon]

I just have the infamous 2012 ZF9 battery, no bike (no MBB or CCU if the 2012's had one). Couldn't bare to see it go to waste so I'm using it in an off-grid solar set up away from combustibles, moisture, and vibration. I can charge and discharge it fine through the on board charger and accessory Quiq charge SBS75XGRN ports, at up to 30 amps, but this is only roughly 1620-2268 Watts. I need a way to close the contactor so that I can use up to 3000W for my inverter. Solved, this is handled external to battery and has to be custom without MBB.

How can I get the BMS to close the contactor for me? There is a 16 pin connector (only 14 are populated) on the battery that a pin could be an enable on if it isn't done via CAN. As a back-up I could close the contactor manually by disconnecting OEM and attaching my own contacts. The lower voltage of this pack and small capacitance and characteristic of this particular load should mean that I don't need to worry about precharge as much. I can still make a simple precharge circuit even though I'm not concerned with replacing the contactor early.

Update: After taking the case off, I noticed two of the wires labeled CONT SUPP and CONT ENABLE from the contactor go straight into that rear battery connector, and seemingly nowhere else. This leads me to assume and believe the BMS has no direct control over it's own contactor and instead "asks" an external component (like a MBB/CCU/motor controller on other EVs) to enable and disable the contactor when needed. I can't quite make out the part number on the contactor but I see it's labeled as a 24Vdc coil. I wanted to verify if there were any internal diodes or resistors from a datasheet so I'll have to pull the pack fuse to remove it and verify. Anyone know what type of connector this is on the back of the battery? (Molex/Tyco/Delphi/Sumitomo/EBC seem to be common on Zeros) Solved, Molex MX150L Panel Mount Plug.

Disclaimer:  I'm aware of the recalls, I accept the risk fully and am storing this in a detached external shed with provisions for fire and cell rupture. I don't need any judgement for this decision. This is for my private use in a lab with precautions taken. I do not hold anyone accountable for any information given.

If anyone knows how to communicate with the 2012 or 2013 BMS that would be amazing as well. Solved, bottom BMS diag pin is ground, top right two are TX and RX @38400baud. This information is kind of obsolete now and as such is even harder to find. If you know anything about the 16 pin connector wiring to MBB for any year of zero battery please let me know, otherwise I'm slowly reverse-engineering it at the board level.

[talon]

I haven't made much progress, but I've learned a lot. Thanks to those that have reached out to help me communicate with the round 8-pin connector on the front of the BMS. I inspected the battery very carefully and then sealed (water-resistance) and reassembled it. For a battery made in 2011, my cells seem to be in phenomenal shape maintaining great balance under reasonably high charge rates/loads with minimal impedance. This is the lowest self-discharge with BMS that I've ever seen. It's last full charge was in 2016 and it was since stored at 65%SoC.

I searched many connector references and discovered the MBB-to-battery connectors on 2012-2013 and possibly even past 2016 are Molex MX150L. Make sure you get the less-common industrial series "L" version as it is slightly larger.

I've narrowed down the male terminals of the Molex plug that is attached to the battery housing to certain groups of purposes, will post a picture later.

I'm doing my first full discharge test tonight, I will carefully monitor cell temperatures and voltages.