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[Richard230]

I have a 2018 Zero S with PT. Today I noticed that all of my lights are no longer working, including the headlight, tail light, brake light, turn indicators and the horn. Also, I have lost my braking regen, but the coasting regen still works. My dash is functioning normally and there are no fault indicator lights lit.

Could this be a failure of the DC-DC convertor, or could it be the DC-DC 4 amp fuse? Or perhaps something else? I checked all of the 12V fuses and they are OK.  Any suggestions would be appreciated. This is the first time my Zero has ever given me any problems. The troubleshooting guide in the owner's manual doesn't address this issue. 

[TEV]

I have a 2018 Zero S with PT. Today I noticed that all of my lights are no longer working, including the headlight, tail light, brake light, turn indicators and the horn. Also, I have lost my braking regen, but the coasting regen still works. My dash is functioning normally and there are no fault indicator lights lit.

Could this be a failure of the DC-DC convertor, or could it be the DC-DC 4 amp fuse? Or perhaps something else? I checked all of the 12V fuses and they are OK.  Any suggestions would be appreciated. This is the first time my Zero has ever given me any problems. The troubleshooting guide in the owner's manual doesn't address this issue. 

I believe that the dashboard needs 12V to function, so it seems that isn't the DC-DC convertor, did you checked the fuse box under the seat to see if it's getting 12V?

[TEV]

2018 12V Fuse Center

[Richard230]

Dash and Running Lights are from the same fuse, so are the Running Lights working too?

No lights are working and I just noticed that the dash back-light is also out, although the dash display does work fine. I connected the bike on the charger just to see if that works and it does. All the fuses are OK, but are not getting any 12V power.

Right now I am thinking that having a replaceable 12V battery might not be all that bad. I bet the DC-DC converter is located where the sun don't shine, especially as I have the Power Tank and everything under the seat is completely jammed together. The only thing that is easily accessible is the DC-DC fuse, but I can't recall anyone ever mentioning replacing that fuse and getting the fuse case open doesn't look easy.

[Richard230]

Well, I found the DC-DC converter on the AF1 Racing website: Part No. 60-07190 ($365 USD). What I couldn't locate was the "ABC 4A" fuse that apparently controls the DC/DC Converter, according to the Zero Owner's manual and is replaceable by the customer.

I think I found the location of the DC-DC converter. It looks like it is located under the front plastic cover, just below the frame's steering head brace. It appears to be in an area that I could access to replace the converter. I just discovered what an ABC fuse is and found that they are a dime-a-dozen. But do I need a fast-blow or a slow-blow fuse?

It is amazing how much you can learn that you didn't know before when something stops working and you start thinking about performing repairs yourself. 

[ESokoloff]

Bummer
I believe the dc/dc fuse on my 2016 DSR is located under the faux tank behind the storage void (no power or charge tank on my bike).

I can’t remember what side of the bike (left/right) it’s located on but it’s easy to spot the small button fuse holder. 

Hope it’s an easy fix. 

[TEV]

Well, I found the DC-DC converter on the AF1 Racing website: Part No. 60-07190 ($365 USD). What I couldn't locate was the "ABC 4A" fuse that apparently controls the DC/DC Converter, according to the Zero Owner's manual and is replaceable by the customer.

I think I found the location of the DC-DC converter. It looks like it is located under the front plastic cover, just below the frame's steering head brace. It appears to be in an area that I could access to replace the converter. I just discovered what an ABC fuse is and found that they are a dime-a-dozen. But do I need a fast-blow or a slow-blow fuse?

It is amazing how much you can learn that you didn't know before when something stops working and you start thinking about performing repairs yourself. 

 In the past it was reported water ingress in the DC/DC connector. The connectors may need a cleaning and dielectric grease.




https://zeromanual.com/wiki/DC-DC_12V_Converter

 

[ESokoloff]

TEV, you missed Reply #4 where Richard updated that dash lights are out too (Damn Apple)


NOTE: Don’t post in the middle of the night when it’s difficult to proofread 

[TEV]

TEV, you missed Reply “4 where Richard up aged that dash lights are out too.

Guilty as charged 

Thank you.

[Richard230]

Riding in California, my Zero has never been near any water. Maybe some mist from coastal fog, though. My plan is to buy a new DC/DC converter to replace the one that has likely failed. Once it arrives I will document with photos what it takes to access and replace the device. The converter fuse is easy to access, but its cap is locked in place with a very tight zip tie.

[ESokoloff]

You should properly condemn the existing one first (troubleshoot).

Two weeks ago I had an intermittent electrical open circuit that caused my bike to loose ALL power which resulted in a stalled condition on PCH as well as very busy Sunset Blvd (here in SoCal).
I managed to make it back to work were I was able to pinpoint & temporarily fix so I could get home & make a better temp repair.

I believe my issue was caused by a zip tie causing a wire to internally severe but still conduct with occasional opens.

I had been chasing this gremlin for quite some time.

[ESokoloff]

I just now took the seat off my 2016 DSR & find what I thought was it’s DC/DC fuse located under the tank but accessible with tank in place/seat off. 

However according to the owners manual this is a SPT3.15A fuse for the Low Power B+

[Richard230]

Just to wind up this portion of my comments until I receive the new DC-DC converter that I ordered from AF1 Racing, which their automated system said was a "special order" and would take 3 to 4 weeks to arrive, I now realize that my converter didn't fail all at once - thereby proving that it was not a fuse that failed. 

During the past couple of weeks of riding my Zero I would loose the "custom" 100% braking regen that I should have felt and also should have seen as a "below the line" indication on the dash power display. It would come and go. Sometimes I would have regen braking and other times I would not. So I would check the programming to find that my custom setting was still showing 100% braking regen.  However, I didn't bother to check the lights as I was always riding in bright sunshine and couldn't tell if the lights were working or not. And no one stopped to tell me that my tail and brake lights (which are not replaceable by the owner, BTW) were not working.

I now realize that the braking regen must be turned on by the tail light switch and when that would stop receiving power, the braking regen would fail to be activated. It was only when I stopped to mail a letter on Saturday, turned on my emergency flashers, and after mailing the letter, just for fun I looked at them to see how they were working and discovered that they weren't. I tried turning them on and off again and just saw one flash of the lights before they went dark. That was when I decided to check the rest of the lights, discovered that none of my lights were functioning and knew that I had a bigger problem than just a burned out bulb. 

[hein]

Well, it happened to me last night - unfortunately.
No 12V, Not a single light working - at dusk fortunately.
Just coming of the highway 2 miles from home - fortunately.
It's scary to drive home very carefully without lights right by police busy with an accident - fortunately.

It turned out all I had to do (2013 S, 15K miles) was re-seat the two big plugs under the seat, under the 12V fusebox. - fortunatly.
I don't know which one did the trick.

I was about to dig deep, get to the DC-DC converter, measure it out.
I had read about the control signal to the DC-DC converter sometimes not coming thru and hoped for the simple bad-contact failure mode and it was! In a 'doesn't hurt to try' I popped them and re-seated, turned on the ignition and presto!

https://zeromanual.com/wiki/Loss_of_12V_Power

Boy I boy was I happy it 'fixed' it.
This machine is NOT designed for (internal) maintenance.
What a pain to get to anything at all.
Just to get the side-shield off you need to blindly get to a 'hidden' 3mm hex by the rear peg mounts.
I had started on removing the (break) side rear peg to get more working space but even that was nasty with a hidden 13mm bolt which I could only give a 1/12 turn each time with a 12-seat box wrench. Everything is 'from behind'. Bah.

Anyway... here is hoping it will not happen again.

Also I was thinking what if this had happened at a worse time, maybe with the DC-DC converter actually broken.
It made me wish there to be a little backup battery. But to run with head-light, brake-lights with would have to deliver more than 5 amps, so a 'normal' motorcycle battery (heavy!) would last only half an hour or so. Still some setup with LiIon, a diode or two and a hefty warning light on activation could give you 5 or 10 minutes to get to a safe spot.

Hein.