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[Doug S]

It seems to me I remember seeing a thread at least similar to this, but the search utility isn't very useful for popular phrases like "not charging fully".

My bike is suddenly not charging fully. I noticed last Friday when I went to get on the bike for my morning commute, it was only at 92%. Keying the bike off and on again didn't clear it up (it has in the past, though that was several firmware upgrades ago). Over the weekend, it did the same thing, so I'd unplug and re-plug, and it would resume charging and finish up to 100%. This morning, I went and checked on it as soon as the alarm clock rang, and it was at 88%. I plug/unplugged it, and it was ready to go by the time I'd showered, dressed and had breakfast.

This is a completely new behavior...it's always charged right up to 100%. I did have the charger failure a year or more ago when several Zeros failed because of a bad batch of chargers; it was replaced under warranty and has been working perfectly since. It also doesn't feel like an actual charger failure since it does charge, and it will resume when I plug-cycle it. My battery was also rebuilt to 2016 specs a few months ago (including BMS and MBB) when I had a disastrous failure.

Since it charges most of the way up and then stops, and resumes immediately after a quick unplug/plug cycle, it almost feels more like a firmware bug than anything else. I'm going to try resetting the BMS and see if the problem goes away, which would seem to be more evidence of a firmware bug.

Has anybody else experienced this? What was your solution or have you found one?

[MajorMajor]

My 2016 FXS was at 97% after a couple of weeks of being plugged in. I'm sure mine went up to 100% and then dropped to 97% over the week.

Try this google search to see if you can pin point more info from the forums:
https://www.google.co.il/search?q=site%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Felectricmotorcycleforum.com+not+charging+fully&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b&gfe_rd=cr&ei=TLjjWI_eN4qg8wfmvZyYBg

[Kocho]

Sorry, my '15 SR charges fine, always stopping at 100% in one go. I realize yours did too until recently, so I'm replying to get on the thread in case there is some insight into that.

My firmware was updated last April, I think, when I had the motor controller replaced under warranty for a low isolation error. I forget what the version I have is, I could check I suppose. It is either a software bug or some physical component getting out of spec for some reason. If there is a way to track the charging temperature when charge stopped, it might help to see if something was getting too hot and thus the charge process stopped. I assume you are using the stock charger only, not a combo with some external chargers when that happens? Keep us posted...

Has anybody else experienced this? What was your solution or have you found one?

[Richard230]

My 2014S did that a couple of times while it was charging at my daughter's home. (I have noticed that her voltage typically runs around 118 volts compared to the 125 volts I see at my wall - which might have nothing to do with anything.)  Anyway, a couple of times the display showed only 92% when the charger shut off.  But when I turned on the bike to leave her home, the display showed a 100% charge and ran normally all the way to my home.  As I have said before, my bike shows 98% when the charger shuts off (like now), but a day later will turn itself back on and continue charging another 450 watt-hours until it reads 100%.  But I can spoof the charger by pulling the plug and pushing it back into the wall, and then it will continue charging to 100%. It is a mystery to me, but as long as my bike continues to run well, I try not to think about it too much.   

[mrwilsn]

Do the pins on your bikes charge port have any residue or corrosion?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Doug S]

...I can spoof the charger by pulling the plug and pushing it back into the wall, and then it will continue charging to 100%.

I actually have my bike plugged into a high-current timer, so I can avoid charging between the hours of 10 am and 6 pm, because the "EV owner" rate triples between those hours during the summer. I'm debating just setting it to turn off for 15 minutes every few hours to reset whatever it is, which might fix the problem...but I'd much rather figure out what's going wrong first. It might get worse or stop charging completely.

Do the pins on your bikes charge port have any residue or corrosion?

Nope. Bright shiny brass.

[mrwilsn]

Do you know if your charger has issues tripping GFCI outlets?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[mrwilsn]

Also, how does your cable look? Maybe try a different cord just to see if you see a change. Probably won't make a difference but it's an easy test to run.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[gyrocyclist]

Sorry, my '15 SR charges fine, always stopping at 100% in one go.

I've no idea if this is related, but my bike seems to charge itself. I've a short commute,
and usually get to work at 97%. When I come out later the dash reads 100%.
I don't really believe the bike is self-charging -- am wondering if others have
experienced this, and what's going on?

[togo]

...I can spoof the charger by pulling the plug and pushing it back into the wall, and then it will continue charging to 100%.

I actually have my bike plugged into a high-current timer, so I can avoid charging between the hours of 10 am and 6 pm, because the "EV owner" rate triples between those hours during the summer. I'm debating just setting it to turn off for 15 minutes every few hours to reset whatever it is, which might fix the problem...but I'd much rather figure out what's going wrong first. It might get worse or stop charging completely.

When I was troubleshooting my 2011 with Zero, I recall there was a normal balancing behavior that kicked in at full charge and there was a more thorough balancing or maintenance mode that kicked in after being plugged in for three days.  I wonder if anything like that remains, and if you are short-circuiting it by using your timer.

I do know my 2014 has had SoC issues when charging, that it would charge full but show 85-90% when charging with the Hollywood Electrics Elcon 2500 but the power draw would reduce and that it would show 100% when you turned it on (after unplugging?  i don't remember).  My Elcon needs new signal cables, so I haven't used it lately.

[caruso56]

Doug,
the outlet voltage sounds as a possible root cause for such a behavior. Can you measure the voltage at different times? Or can you use an alternative outlet, that has a closer connection or thicker cable to the central house power terminal?

[Doug S]

the outlet voltage sounds as a possible root cause for such a behavior.

Funny you should mention that. I just went out to check on how it's charging, and I realized that the porch light (which has an LED bulb in it) is flickering. That reminded me that I have a floor lamp in my living room that I've also installed LED bulbs in, and it's been flickering for a week or so, I just haven't gotten around to looking at it yet. I pulled the LED bulbs out of the floor lamp, put in some old CFL bulbs I still have lying around, and they're flickering too -- BOTH the LED bulbs and BOTH the CFL bulbs. But the LED lights in the bedroom and the bathroom are fine -- and they're probably on a different circuit.

I think caruso56 wins the cigar. I don't have a bike problem, I have a wiring problem.

[caruso56]

So good luck. I keep the fingers crossed. Not only for a charging Zero but as well a non burning house. Flickering electricity easily can smell and smoke.